After the failure of Durban, a promising plan B to reducing carbon emissions rests upon green development industrial strategies being pursued by individual countries. And here China is in the vanguard.

In the run-up to Davos 2012, Martin Wolf has outlined some essential aspects of an overhaul of Capitalism. But does he go far enough, or do we need a more holistic approach? Which points is he missing? openDemocracy writers reflect on the flaws of Capitalism.
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Martin Wolf’s suggestions for an overhaul of our economic system are sensible, but fundamentally insufficient for the Great Transformation we need.

In this podcast, Tony Curzon Price talks to Albert Wenger, partner at Union Square Ventures, the venture capital fund behind a lot of the most innovative and visible web companies of today, to try to understand: is anti-SOPA activism more about principle or about the competing interests of big Tech vs. big Entertainment

Martin Wolf recognizes many of the ills of our existing economic arrangements, but his solutions involve little more than tinkering.

Britain is on the brink of a double-dip recession. She needs to begin the fundamental reshaping of her political economy... and this is where I'd start.

To arrest the drift to social engineering, the voice of those subject to the steering should be inside the institutions responsible for social policy. This means more than putting token ‘community leaders’ on boards. It must be a collective democratic voice. At present, we see the opposite.

If Martin Wolf remained true to his analysis, he would endeavour to explain the win-win-situation of an internationalisation of some taxation in order to regain national tax sovereignty and provide for the appropriate means to generate more equality effectively.

Martin Wolf has presented a provocative diagnosis of the current flaws found in capitalism. Unfortunately, he has nothing to say about the biggest issue of all – how to transform capitalism so that it does not continue to destroy the planet.

Can Davos 2012 offer real alternatives or will it serve up a smiling, gritted-teeth espousal that ‘business as usual’ can and should be sustained?

The correlation between economic growth and inequality is not as strong as many would like to believe. Combating inequality can, in fact, lift the poor out of extreme poverty, but this can happen in countries with only modest growth.

Is the UK wants to diversify its economy and stem rising inequalities it could learn a few tricks from the German model: do away with narrow-minded anti-union attitudes and restore the link between finance and industry

With increasing geopolitical instability in oil producing states and the barriers that stand in the way of reaching a multilateral policy, the threat of sanctions in Iran only serves to intensify uncertainty surrounding oil price forecasts for 2012

Iranian military action in the Strait of Hormuz is highly unlikely. It would not at all benefit most global and regional powers and would have disastrous consequences for Iran itself.

Whether the ratings agencies get this or that decision right or wrong - they were probably right in the case of the European downgrades - is not the point. They have become the buck-passing agencies for weakened states. The most important public judgements of credit-worthiness ought to be made in public institutions, not behind corporate doors

It's true that high pay for bosses serves no purpose except keeping them (and their headquarters) in the country. The only real solution is economic policy coordination. In its absence, Machiavelli would have been proud of the proposals and statements on display this new year in the UK

Land in Ethiopia is being leased to agro-industry investors on very long terms and below market rates. The beneficiaries have good political connections. But land has been the play-thing of centralising authoritarians throughout Ethiopia's recent history

UK inflation at 5% is considered almost a victory by the economic managers of the nation. Yet it is a blunt instrument with strong redistributive effects. So what is a well-managed currency, and can we have an honest political discussion about it?

The Copenhagen criteria for EU accession set strict democratic pre-requisites for any country wishing to join the club. But how should the EU react when members turn anti-democratic? This question of principle is given burning relevance today as Hungary's democracy comes under executive assault – even if Britain's parliamentary absolutism remains historically legitimate.

If you are a banker what you want is risky, high interest rate loans without the risk... Sooner or later it follows that what the bankers need to do above all else is to elevate financial contracts above democracy.