Justin Villamil is a London-based freelance reporter covering the consequences of the financial system. Previously, he worked as a correspondent for Bloomberg News in Mexico City.
After many failed attempts to rein in vulture funds, New York lawmakers are trying an obscure medieval legal defense to stop them from profiting off the debt of poor nations. This last-resort option faces stiff resistance from Wall Street’s lobbying machine.
Four years ago, BlackRock promised to steer away from environmentally destructive investments. Since then, it has faced predictable backlash, gotten cold feet, and dropped the act. Let that be a lesson about pinning our climate hopes on capital.
The developing world owes a total of $29 trillion to richer nations. Fifteen countries spend more on interest payments than they do on education, and forty-six spend more on interest than they do on health. It’s time for a global debt reckoning.
Joe Biden has announced sanctions on Israeli settlers in Palestinian territory. But the sanctions themselves are toothless — a way to signal displeasure with the Israeli government without actually doing anything to change the situation.
Chinese president Xi Jinping’s focus on green investments overseas under the Belt and Road Initiative is ambitious and environmentally necessary. But tighter enforcement of its climate pledge is necessary to curb coal on a global scale.
Taking issue only with the “woke” part of “woke capital,” GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s asset management firm Strive promises to invest in the most damaging industries on the planet. It will likely fail — but he’s making a lot of money along the way.
An Asian challenger to the International Monetary Fund has garnered support from China. But without a radical departure from the existing neoliberal model, more of the same international development financing isn’t the answer.
In exchange for a reduction of the national debt, Ecuador has ceded sovereign control of the Galapagos Islands to an independent trust based in the United States. The trust promises to invest sustainably — but no one can make it follow through.
A strategy called litigation finance, where firms foot the bill for legal cases and take a huge cut if plaintiffs win, is on the rise. As a recent case against Argentina shows, the trend leaves developing countries vulnerable to lawsuits backed by big money.