Socialist New World Order: Holy See: no more austerity, it's time for a “New Deal”
“It seems to me that the economic policies of various countries are questioning whether the austerity approach is the right one at this moment...": Monsignor Silvano Maria Tomasi, apostolic nuncio and member of the Vatican Department for the Service of Integral Human Development, presented the latest UN report on trade and development, highlighting and stressing that, in order to finally overcome the financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009 - and the global imbalances that lead many Africans to migrate to Europe and face offenses against their dignity if not the risk of dying - it is necessary to "increase wages and state investments" with a new "New Deal" on the footprints of the economic reform United States launched in the 1930s.
"Without significant, sustainable and coordinated efforts to revitalize global demand by increasing wages and government spending, the global economy will be condemned to a continuous slowness in growth if not worse," the archbishop said, as he presented at the Vatican Radio Headquarters the new report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) entitled "Beyond Austerity: Towards a new global deal.”
Now is the ideal time to “unlock a new way of doing business” and enter into private investment with the help of an arranged fiscal stimulus to restart the engines of growth again, and at the same time help to balance economies and societies that, after three decades of hyper-globalization, have become increasingly unbalanced," the former permanent observer of the Holy See at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva said and added that the New Deal "is the formula that evokes the intervening economic policies that President Franklyn Delano Roosevelt adopted, inspired by the economist John Maynard Keynes, to get the United States out of the economic crisis that began with the Wall Street crash of 1929.”
We must stop, change direction of the road we have taken, and seek to create jobs through the building of new infrastructure and public investment because that is how the economy starts to move. This new sensibility could be the right way to find a solution to overcome the remnants of the 2008-2009 world's economy crisis" Tomasi said. It is not the Holy Father's task to suggest operational economic models but to give a vision that we must reach through a wise use of the economy in compliance with the dignity and participation of every person in social life ".
More specifically, "today too many people in too many places are part of a world economy that produces unfair results. Economic and financial crises like that of 2008/9 are only the more visible manifestation of a world economy that has become increasingly unbalanced in ways that are not only exclusionary, but also destabilising and dangerous for the political, social and environmental health of the planet. Even when a country has been able to grow, whether through domestic consumption, housing booms or exports, the profits have disproportionately increased the privileges of a few only.
All these imbalances, the Archibishop continued, “provide fertile ground for “xenophobic rhetoric and inward-looking policies”. The problem, therefore, is not trade or technology per se. The 2008-2009 crisis is the result of a combination of ethical and technical failures. It showed that to reduce systemic risks we need both external market regulation, as well as morals and self restraint from its players . In the years preceding the crisis, both elements were simply lacking". For this reason, "we need both a strong moral awakening and a global reflection on the regulatory environment to allow the planet a long-term development".
Unctad's report "encourages the transition from a society centered on things, or rather a society oriented towards profit, to a society centered on people, in line with the social teaching of the Catholic Church". And, according to the Archbishop, we should "launch a global "New Deal " and implement the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda" and bring to an end "austerity policies because these policies prevent inclusion by increasing inequalities and penalizing the poor".
Monsignor Tomasi took Africa as an example, stressing that "Low oil prices and the end of the raw materials price boom, hit the African region especially in 2014. As the report explains, the difficult situation in many African countries is due to the enduring inability to achieve growth through diversification: most countries remain heavily dependent on one or very few raw materials. The economic instability of African regions is the main reason for the mass migratory flows that Europe has seen over the last couple of years and that unfortunately have caused many deaths and suffering to migrants and their families."
In the margins of the event, he answered to those who asked whether Pope Francis' latest statements on immigrants mark a change of line in the Holy See, stating that, "Pope Francis’ concern is to create a society that is inclusive and does not exclude categories or groups of people. The sensitivity he shows towards migration is within this general framework, which is not limited to emigrants and asylum seekers but embraces the entire population of society. Therefore, we must interpret and frame the Holy Father's affirmations in this broad context of the Church's social doctrine in which he continually moves".
Is ius soli (birthright citizenship) desirable? We need to see what is the best way for Italy and the Italian population to include immigrants who have decided to stay and invest their future here and make sure that they participate fully in social life". However, “I don’t think it is wise to exploit migrants for immediate political ends, we must protect all Italian citizens and these people, who ask for political asylum motivated by serious reasons, along with the fact that it is an international obligation to accept people who ask for asylum".
At the presentation of the UN report, the president of the Vatican dicastery, Cardinal Peter Turkson, who is currently working in Geneva, sent a greeting message via video. Stephanie Blankenburg and Piergiuseppe Fortunato, respectively head and member of the Development Finance Branch of Unacted, spoke at Vatican Radio’s round table while the moderator was Familia Giovanelli.