Christine Cassar's blog

The OECD bulletin last week came with a headline that is catchy at the very least - Conditional Aid: Recipients can say “no.”

Of course, whilst a general healthy skepticism towards aid and its conditions is to be kept, what seem to be the main points in this debate are the following:

The first is that, whilst all governments can articulately pronounce the word “no,” the reality is that they are most often obliged to say yes. In its simplest form, it is a case of “beggars can’t be choosers.” Poor countries, specifically those without the resources (not necessarily natural) to spur a process of growth, are unable to stand up to larger (or rather, richer and more powerful) countries offering some short-term remedies for their pain.

Just when we thought the entire world was careening in the direction of currency conglomerations, here’s a new manifestation of what else but a dose of glocalization in the financial sector—a town that’s skipped its national borders to join the European currency, and one that’s retreated from its national borders to create a local one.

Indicators seem to be the talk of the (global) village—development indicators, urbanization indicators, health indicators, indicators of wealth and status, or of racism and equality… Yet are they really worth all this euphoria?

From the little island of Malta, I now blog from Ann Arbor, Michigan—my home for the Northern hemispheric summer… The links between the two distant spots date back to organized emigration programs, where hundreds were encouraged to take the trip to the empire of Henry Ford and other production lines in search of greater and better opportunities.

I have landed in what is certainly a very different socio-economic picture. Malta and Michigan seem to have little in common apart from the presence of a Maltese community here and a spate of returned migrants from the US whose houses fly the stars and stripes on what is now the “other side” of the Atlantic. Yet these economically successful migrants are a generation dying out.

The change in weather brings with it many a connotation: exam time, beach days, and holidaying. Yet for some, the trip they make this summer will not be on a jet plane or to a resort; they will attempt a trip out of misery, for themselves and their families.

The past few weeks I have been exploring the socio-economic impact of remittances. Whilst statistics look promising, with development, education and entrepreneurship gaining ground, I realized that my researched population is somewhat different and suffers many issues that most studies do not discuss.

The Mediterranean—a basin of cultures, the demographics of which, it seems, invite both appeal and criticism…

Gone seem to be the days when water was the key in a process of communication; where those living along the coasts would be absorbing, assimilating and partaking in diversity and exchange. Routes were sea, not land. Trade was linked to ports, transport to ships, and movement to waves.

There was a time when the setting of employment minimum standards was the personification of civilization – no longer can you impose 20-hour days or work without pay. Needless to say, we still allow the importation of products from sweatshops, whilst making weak diplomatic statements against them. Yet that (at least some would insist) is another argument altogether.

But wait – did I say there has been an end to work without pay? Just last week I Googled the word “internship” and got 18.2 million results. The vast majority are unpaid, yet one may not dismiss internships, since they are “necessary for the competitive employment environment…” Unjust, this would seem…

It’s been over a year, but hardly a day goes by when I don’t think about the slums of Cairo. Of course, the incessant talk of slums for no reason other than the cinematization of Mumbai’s own in Slumdog Millionaire may have something to do with this revival of my memories, although I found that its screening did little, if any, justice to the issues or indeed the people living the daily reality of abject poverty.

Some activity on the streets – on a hot summer morning people make their way out of often inadequate housing, many out of formal employment and wondering what the day will bring

There was a time when young people were the driving force of the economy, a time when middle-aged men with graying hair felt as though the world they knew had changed beyond comprehension.

And today - Where are young people? What is youth? Who are the youth?