Every year the G-7, the heads of state of the seven richest countries, meet to determine their course of action on major global issues. The power of the G-7 governments allows them to heavily influence the rules of the global economy through institutions such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In June 1996 in Lyon, the G-7 issued its annual economic communiquŽ entitled, `Making a Success of Globalization for the Benefit of All'; however, their assessment of the global economy contradicts the realities of `globalization' which confront people around the world.

G-7 Fiction

" characteristics of globalization have led to a considerable expansion of wealth and prosperity in the world." -- paragraph 2

" Since[the last G7 meeting] economic developments have been on the whole positive and disparities of economic performance among us have been narrowing." -- paragraph 7

" Sound macroeconomic policies and progress toward market-based institutions have contributed to improving economic performance in many developing countries and countries in transition." -- paragraph 7

" -- the developing countries have a fundamental responsibility for promoting their own developmentIt is up to these countries to give priority to funding social and economic development programs and to avoid unproductive expenditures." -- paragraph 36

G-7 Fact

Three out of four US workers have lost economic ground since 1980. (http://www.stw.org/home.html) 358 billionaires, with combined assets of $762 billion, now own more than the annual incomes of the world's poorest 2 billion people. (Human Development Report 1996, UNDP)

The annual salary of the average Fortune 500 CEO is now more than 170 times the annual wages of their company's lowest paid worker. In the US the wealthiest 1% of Americans now has more wealth than the bottom 92% of the population combined. (http://www.stw.org/home.html)

In 1995 the International Labor Organization (ILO) announced that 1/3 of the world's working age population was either unemployed or underemployed, the worst situation since the Great Depression.

Since 1993 there has been a net transfer of wealth -- through debt payments -- from the `developing' countries to the G7 nations; in 1994 net payments to the US from `developing' countries reached $2 billion.

In Uganda $3 per person is spent on health compared to $17 per person on debt repayments; in Zambia between 1990 and 1993, $37 million was invested in primary school education while $1.3 billion went to foreign creditors. (http://www.oneworld.org/eurodad/g7_gb.htm)

Have you benefited from globalization?

Globalization has created an expansion of wealth, but mostly large multinational corporations and a few individuals are reaping the benefits of this process. Meanwhile, the living standards of the majority of the world's population are declining through budget cuts, job losses, lower real wages, and the pillage of the earth's resources.

April 1997