Sanctions hit life-saving drugs in Iran

Published on Feb 17, 2013
Despite the concerns of Israel, the U.S. and its Western allies, Iran denies it’s developing atomic arms under the cover of a civilian nuclear program. Meanwhile, the severe international sanctions are hitting the lives of everyday Iranians in need of medicine, as RT’s Maria Finoshina has found out.

French farmers protest over cheap imports

French farmers on Thursday staged a protest in Paris, calling on the government to introduce protectionist measures against cheaper imports.

Fruit growers set out their stalls on the capital’s Place de la Bastille to sell their products at cut prices.

They say big supermarkets are destroying their livelihoods by buying non-French produce.

Raymond Girardi, secretary-general of the MODEF trade union, said the government should introduce a social tax on imports “to balance the price of imported products with the price of ours.”

Cocaine Production in Bolivia (1984)

The cocaine industry had a generally deleterious effect on the Bolivian economy. The cocaine trade greatly accelerated the predominance of the United States dollar in the economy and the large black market for currency, thereby helping to fuel inflation in the 1980s. The escalation of coca cultivation also damaged the output of fruits and coffee, which were mostly destined for local consumption. Coca’s high prices, besides being generally inflationary, also distorted other sectors, especially labor markets. Manufacturers in the Cochabamba area during the 1980s found it impossible to match the wages workers could gain in coca, making their supply of labor unreliable and thus hurting the formal economy.

Hans Rosling – 2020 Shaping Ideas

The advantage of western countries is declining. Soon Asia will dominate the world economy. Professor of International Health Hans Rosling at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm crushes the misconception that there are two kinds of countries rich and poor.