1. The growth of BRICs
2. The decline of the dollar
3. Climate change
4. Peak oil
5. Energy security and alternative energy
6. Shortages of other resources and commodities

FAIR TRADE

• Fair tradeis a social movement whose stated goal is to help producers in developing countries achieve better trading conditions and to promote sustainable farming. 
• Members of the movement advocate the payment of higher prices to exporters, as well as improved social and environmental standards.
• The movement focuses in particular on commodities, or products which are typically exported from developing countries to developed countries, but also consumed in domestic markets (e.g. Brazil, India and Bangladesh) most notably handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, wine, sugar, fresh fruit, chocolate, flowersand gold.
• The movement seeks to promote greater equity in international trading partnerships through dialogue, transparency, and respect.
• It promotes sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers in developing countries.
• Fair trade is grounded in three core beliefs;
  • First, producers have the power to express unity with consumers.
  • Secondly, the world trade practices that currently exist promote the unequal distribution of wealth between nations.
  • Lastly, buying products from producers in developing countries at a fair price is a more efficient way of promoting sustainable development than traditional charity and aid.
• Some criticisms have been raised about fair trade systems.
• One 2015 study in a journal published by the MIT Pressconcluded that producer benefits were close to zero because there was an oversupply of certification, and only a fraction of produce classified as fair trade was actually sold on fair trade markets, just enough to recoup the costs of certification. 
• Some research indicates that the implementation of certain fair trade standards can cause greater inequalities in some markets where these rigid rules are inappropriate for the specific market.
• In the fair trade debatethere are complaints of failure to enforce the fair trade standards, with producers, cooperatives, importers and packers profiting by evading them. 
• One proposed alternative to fair trade is direct trade, which eliminates the overhead of the fair trade certification, and allows suppliers to receive higher prices much closer to the retail value of the end product. Some suppliers use relationships started in a fair trade system to autonomously springboard into direct sales relationships they negotiate themselves, whereas other direct trade systems are supplier-initiated for social responsibility reasons similar to a fair trade system.

MICROFINANCING

• Microfinance, also called microcredit​, is a type of banking service that is provided to unemployed or low-income individuals or groups who otherwise have no other access to financial services. While institutions participating in the area of microfinance are most often associated with lending (microloans can be anywhere from $100 to $25,000), many offer additional services, including bank accounts and micro-insuranceproducts, and provide financial and business education. Ultimately, the goal of microfinance is to give impoverished people an opportunity to become self-sufficient.
• Microfinance is not a new concept: Small operations have existed since the 18th century. The first occurrence of microlending is attributed to the Irish Loan Fund system, introduced by Jonathan Swift, which sought to improve conditions for impoverished Irish citizens.
• But in its modern form, microfinancing became popular on a large scale in the 1970s. The first organization to receive attention was the Grameen Bank, which was started in 1976 by Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. On top of providing loans to its clients, the Grameen Bank also suggests its customers subscribe to its "16 Decisions," a basic list of ways the poor can improve their lives. The "16 Decisions" touch on a wide variety of subjects ranging from a request to stop the practice of issuing dowries upon a couple's marriage to ensuring drinking water is kept sanitary. In 2006, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to both Yunus and the Grameen Bank for their efforts in developing the microfinance system.
• In many instances, people looking to join microfinance organizations are first required to take a basic money management class. Lessons focus on understanding interest rates and the concept of cash flow, how financing agreements and savings accounts work, how to budget, and how to manage debt.
• Once educated, customers are then allowed access to loans. Just as one would find at a traditional bank, a loan officer approves and helps borrowers with applications and oversight. The typical loan, sometimes as little as $100, does not seem like much to many in the developed world. But to many impoverished people, this figure is enough to start a business or engage in other profitable activities.
• Because many applicants cannot offer any collateral, microlenders often pool borrowers together, as a buffer. After receiving loans, recipients repay their debts together. Because the success of the program depends on everyone's contributions, a form of peer pressure helps ensure loan repayment. For example, if an individual is having trouble using his or her money to start a business, that person can seek help from other group members or from the loan officer. Through repayment, loan recipients start to develop a good credit history,allowing them to obtain larger loans down the line.
• Interestingly, even though the borrowers often qualify as very poor, repayment rates on microloans are often higher than the average rate on more conventional forms of financing. For example, the microfinancing institution Opportunity International reported repayment rates of approximately 98.9% in 2016.
• The World Bank estimates that more than 500 million people have directly or indirectly benefited from microfinance-related operations. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the larger World Bank Group, estimates that more than 130 million people have directly benefited from microfinance-related operations as of 2014. However, these operations are only available to approximately 20% of the 3 billion people who qualify as part of the world’s poor.
• The benefits of microfinance extend beyond the direct effects of giving people a source for capital. Entrepreneurs who create a successful business create jobs, trade and overall economic improvement within the community. Empowering women in particular, as many MFIs do, leads to more stability and prosperity for families. 
• While microfinance interest ratesare generally lower than conventional banks', critics have charged that these operations are making money off of the poor – especially since the trend in for-profit MFIs, such as BancoSol in Bolivia and the above-mentioned SKS (which actually began as a nonprofit organization (NPO), but became for-profit in 2003).

• In response, Compartamos and other for-profit MFIs counter that commercialization allows them to operate more efficiently, and to attract more capital by appealing to profit-seeking investors. By becoming a profitable business, their argument goes, an MFI is able to extend its reach, providing more money and more loans to low-income applicants. For now, charitable and commercialized MFIs co-exist.
• On top of the divide between non- and for-profit microfinance enterprises, other criticisms exist. Some say that individual microloans of $100 or so really are not enough money to provide independence – they just keep recipients working in subsistence-level trades, or just cover basic needs, like food and shelter. A better approach, these critics maintain, is to create  jobs by constructing new factories and producing new goods. They cite the examples of China and India, where the development of large industries has led to stable employment and higher wages, which in turn has helped millions to emerge from the lowest levels of poverty.
• Other critics have said that the presence of interest payments, however low, are still a burden. Despite the high repayment rates, there still are microfinance borrowers who cannot, or do not, repay loans, due to the failure of their ventures, personal catastrophe, or other reasons. The added debt can make these people poorer than when they started, even living hand-to-mouth.

SOCIAL BUSINESS

• A social enterprise is an organization that is directly involved in the sale of goods and services to a market, but that also has specific social objectives that serve as its primary purpose. Social enterprises are not volunteer organizations in that they operate as an enterprise by selling in a market, and can be registered as for-profit or non-profit. Profits are principally used to fund social programs.
• Social enterprises exist at the intersection of the private and volunteer sectors. They seek to balance activities that provide financial benefit with social goals, such as providing housing to low income families or job training. Funding is provided primarily through selling goods and services, though they may also receive money from grants. A social enterprise operates differently than a typical company because profit-maximization is not the primary reason for existing.
• Social enterprises have been founded by activists seeking to support a particular cause, as well as entrepreneurs who want to use a portion of the organization’s earnings to give back to the community. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) identifies social organizations as being highly participatory in nature, with stakeholders actively involved and a minimum number of paid employees.
• Employees of social enterprises can come from many backgrounds, but may be prioritized if they are from more at risk sections of the community. These include long-term unemployed workers, those who have historically worked in jobs where they were informally paid, and marginalized groups. The social enterprise may seek to provide a living wage, which in most cities would be above the minimum wage. Drawing employees from at-risk groups may in itself be the stated goal of the social enterprise.
• Social enterprises are not to be confused with social entrepreneurship, which tends to focus on individuals who develop solutions to social problems using techniques typically used in other sectors.
• Some examples of social enterprises include: Warby Parker, which requires that for every pair of eyeglasses sold, another pair is donated; Tom's similarly has pledged to donate a pair of shoes or sunglasses for every one that is sold; climatesmart trains businesses and gives them software tools that let them track and cut their greenhouse gas emissions; and the Social Good Network uses software to measure how well digital cause marketing campaigns have worked for various brands.

 Video 1: Muhammad Yunus: The history of microfinance

 Video 2: Sangu Delle: In praise of macro -- yes, macro -- finance in Africa

Compare the two videos concerning the various scenarios in relation to economic growth in Third World Countries (focusing on Africa)!

 Video 3: The International

Louis Salinger, an Interpol detective, and Eleanor Whitman, an Assistant District Attorney from Manhattan, are investigating the International Bank of Business and Credit (IBBC), which funds activities such as money laundering, terrorism, arms trading, and the destabilization of governments. Salinger's and Whitman's investigation takes them from Berlin to Milan, where the IBBC assassinates Umberto Calvini, an arms manufacturer who is an Italian prime ministerial candidate. The bank's assassin diverts suspicion to a local assassin with political connections, who is promptly killed by a corrupt policeman. Salinger and Whitman get a lead on the second assassin, but the corrupt policeman shows up again and orders them out of the country. At the airport they are able to check the security camera footage for clues on the whereabouts on the bank's assassin, and follow a suspect to New York City.

In New York, Salinger and Whitman are met by two New York Police Department (NYPD) detectives, Iggy Ornelas and Bernie Ward, who have a photograph of the assassin's face when he arrived in New York airport. Salinger, Ornelas, and Ward locate Dr. Isaacson to whose practice the assassin's leg brace has been traced. They find the assassin and follow him to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Jonas Skarssen, the chairman of the IBBC, reveals to his senior men White and Wexler that the bank had Calvini killed so that they could deal with his sons to buy missile guidance systems in which the bank has invested. Since the bank knows that Salinger and Whitman are close to finding their assassin, they send a hit team to kill him at a meeting between him and his handler, Wexler. Wexler leaves and is arrested by Ornelas. As Salinger speaks to the assassin, a spectacular gunfight at the Guggenheim erupts when a number of gunmen attempt to kill them with automatic weapons. They escape, but the assassin is mortally wounded.

In interrogation, Wexler, a former Stasi colonel, explains to Salinger that the IBBC is practically untouchable because of its utility to terrorist organizations, drug cartels, governments, and powerful corporations of all complexions. Even if he succeeds in bringing the IBBC down there are hundreds of other banks which will replace them. If Salinger wants justice, he needs to go outside the system, and Wexler indicates a willingness to help. In Italy, Salinger tells the Calvini brothers of the IBBC's responsibility for their father's murder, prompting them to cancel the deal with the bank and have White killed.

Salinger then accompanies Wexler to Istanbul, where Skarssen is buying the crucial components from their only other manufacturer. Salinger attempts to record the conversation so that he can obstruct the deal by proving to the buyers that the missiles will be useless, but he ultimately fails. Both Wexler and Skarssen are then killed by a hitman contracted by Enzo and Mario Calvini to avenge their father's murder by the bank. Salinger is left stunned, his investigation, pursuit, and determination to bring down the IBBC, have led him to nothing.

During the closing credits, it is indicated that the bank is successfully continuing with its operations despite the death of its Chairman—as Skarssen had predicted to Salinger before he was killed. However, with the new and more aggressive chairman, it is hinted that the IBBC's increased expansion and aggression will ultimately lead to its downfall, as shown by the last panel, revealing the beginnings of a United States Senate investigation, headed by Whitman.

 Video 4: Syriana

• U.S.energy giant Connex Oil is losing control of key Middle East oil fields in a Gulf kingdom ruled by the al-Subaai family.
• The emirate's foreign minister, Prince Nasir (Alexander Siddig), has granted natural gasdrilling rights to a Chinese company, greatly upsetting the U.S. oil industry and the American government.
• To compensate for its decreased production capacity, Connex initiates a shady mergerwith Killen, a smaller oil company that recently won the drilling rights to key petroleum fields in Kazakhstan. Connex-Killen ranks as the world's twenty-third largest economy, and antitrust regulators at the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) have misgivings.
• A Washington, D.C.-based law firm headed by Dean Whiting (Christopher Plummer) is hired to smooth the way for the merger. Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) is assigned to promote the impression of due diligenceto the DOJ, deflecting any allegations of corruption.

Emir storyline

Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon) is an American energy analyst based in Geneva, Switzerland. Woodman's supervisor directs him to attend a private party hosted by the emir at his estate in Marbella, Spain, to offer his company's services. The emir's illness during the party prevents Woodman from speaking directly with him while, at the same time, the emir's younger son, Prince Meshal Al-Subaai (Akbar Kurtha), shows the estate's many rooms and areas to Chinese oil executives via remote-controlled cameras. No one notices that a crack in one of the swimming pool area's underwater lights has electrified the water. Just as Woodman and all the other guests are brought to the pool area, Woodman's son jumps into the pool and is electrocuted.

In reparation and out of sympathy for the loss of his son, Prince Nasir, the emir's older son, grants Woodman's company oil interests worth US$75 million, and Woodman, though initially insulted by the offer, gradually becomes his economic advisor. Prince Nasir is dedicated to the idea of progressive reform and understands that oil dependency is not sustainable in the long term; Nasir wants to utilize his nation's oil profits to diversify the economy and introduce democratic reforms, in sharp contrast to his father's repressive government, which has been supported by American interests. His father, at the urging of the American government, names the younger Meshal (who has gained the favor of Whiting) as his successor, causing Nasir to attempt a coup.

Assassination storyline

Bob Barnes (George Clooney) is a veteran Operations Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) trying to stop illegal arms trafficking in the Middle East. While on assignment in Tehran, Iran, to kill two arms dealers, Barnes notices that one of two anti-aircraft missiles (actually the Stinger MANPADS) intended to participate in an explosion was diverted to an Egyptian (Amr Waked), while the other explodes and kills the two arms dealers, who are later also revealed to be "Iranian Intelligence agents." Barnes makes his superiors nervous by writing memos about the missile theft and is subsequently reassigned to a desk job. However, unaccustomed to the political discretion required, he quickly embarrasses the wrong people by speaking his mind and is sent back to the field with the assignment of assassinating Prince Nasir, whom the CIA identifies as being the financier behind the Egyptian's acquisition of the missile. Prior to his reassignment, Barnes confides in his ex-CIA agent friend, Stan Goff (William Hurt), that he will return to Lebanon. Goff advises him to clear his presence with Hezbollah so they know he is not acting against them. Barnes travels to Lebanon, obtains safe passage from a Hezbollah leader, and hires a mercenary named Mussawi (Mark Strong) to help kidnap and murder Nasir. But Mussawi has become an Iranian agent and has Barnes abducted. Mussawi tortures Barnes and prepares to behead him. Just before he is about to cut off Barnes' head, the Hezbollah leader arrives and stops him.

When the CIA learns that Mussawi plans to broadcast the agency's intention to kill Nasir, they set Barnes up as a scapegoat, portraying him as a rogue agent. Barnes's boss, Terry George, worries that Barnes might talk about the Nasir assassination plan, about the possibility that Nasir's coup might have a greater likelihood of success, and that killing Nasir with an MQ-1 Predatordrone would make it obvious as an American-backed assassination. He has Barnes's passports revoked, locks him out of his computer at work, and initiates an investigation of him. Barnes, however, learns from Goff that Whiting, working on behalf of a group of businessmen calling themselves The Committee to Liberate Iran, is responsible for Barnes's blackballing and the assassination job, and threatens him and his family unless he halts the investigation and releases Barnes's passports.

After Barnes eventually learns why he was portrayed as a rogue agent, he returns to the Middle East and approaches Prince Nasir's convoy to warn him of the assassination plan. As he arrives, a guided bomb from a circling Predator drone strikes the automobile of Nasir and his family, killing them instantly. Woodman, having earlier offered his seat in Nasir's car to members of his family, survives the missile strike and goes home to his wife and son.

Wasim storyline

Pakistani migrant workers Saleem Ahmed Khan (Shahid Ahmed) and his son Wasim (Mazhar Munir) board a bus to go to work at a Connex refinery, only to discover that they have been laid off due to a Chinese company outbidding Connex for the rights to run the facility. Since the company had provided food and lodging, the workers face the threat of poverty and deportation due to their unemployed status. Wasim desperately searches for work but is refused because he doesn't speak Arabic. Wasim and his friend join an Islamic school to learn Arabic in order to improve their employment prospects. While playing soccer, they meet a charismatic Islamic fundamentalist cleric—the same man who earlier acquired Bob Barnes' anti-aircraft missile in Tehran—who eventually leads them to execute a suicide attack on a Connex-Killen LNG tanker using a shaped-charge explosive from the missing Tehran missile.

Merger storyline

Bennett Holiday meets with Dean Whiting (Christopher Plummer), who is convinced that Killen bribed someone to get the drilling rights in Kazakhstan. While investigating Connex-Killen's records, Holiday discovers a wire transfer of funds that leads back to a transaction between Texas oilman and Killen colleague Danny Dalton (Tim Blake Nelson) and Kazakh officials. Holiday tells Connex-Killen of his discovery, and they pretend not to have known about it. Holiday advises Dalton that he will likely be charged with corruption in order to serve as a "body" to get the DOJ off the back of the rest of Connex-Killen; Dalton responds with a fervent defense of how corruption is simply the way of competition and how America "wins" against the rest of the corrupt world. U.S. Attorney Donald Farish III (David Clennon) then strong-arms Holiday into giving the DOJ information about illegal activities he has discovered. Holiday gives up Dalton, but Farish says this is not enough. Holiday meets with the CEO of Killen Oil, Jimmy Pope (Chris Cooper), and informs him that the DOJ needs a second body in order to drop the investigation. Pope asks Holiday whether a person at Holiday's firm above him would be sufficient as the additional body. Holiday acknowledges that if the name were big enough, the DOJ would stop the investigation and allow the merger.

Holiday is brought by his colleague and mentor Sydney Hewitt (Nicky Henson) to meet with the Chairman & CEO of Connex Oil, Leland "Lee" Janus (Peter Gerety). In a surprise move, Holiday reveals an under-the-table deal that Hewitt made while the Connex-Killen merger was being processed. Holiday has given Hewitt to the DOJ as the second body, thereby protecting the rest of Connex-Killen. Janus is able to accept the "Oil Industry Man of the Year" award with a load taken off his shoulders. Throughout the film, Holiday has angrily crossed paths with his alcoholicfather Bennett Sr.; at the movie's end when the merger has been completed, Bennett Jr. brings his father into his house.^[4]

Compare the effects of corruption in the movies!

 Video 5: The Constant Gardener

1. How would you describe the characters of Justin and Tessa? What attracts them to each other?
2. What, if any, significance do you think there is in Justin’s obsessive love of gardening? In what ways is it different from Tessa’s obsession?
3. Why do you think Tessa keeps so much of her activity secret from Justin?
4. What motivates Justin to take up Tessa’s quest to stop the drug trials?
5. Why is Sir Bernard Pellegrin (and, by extension, the British Government) unwilling to pay attention to Tessa’s report? What effect does the complicity between governments and multinational corporations have on the world?
6. Why do you think Justin goes to Lake Turkana to wait for his killers?

 Video 6: Backstabbing for Beginners

 Video 7: Michael Clayton

 Executive 1: Quiz

1. The law firm of Kenner, Bach and Ledeen had been litigating a class-action lawsuit for six years. What was the name of their client?

 Blue Sun

 InGen

 U/North

 Cybernetics

2. Michael was in the midst of extricating himself from a failed business venture. Who had been his partner in the business?

 Gene

 Marty

 Tim

 Arthur

3. After Arthur Edens experienced a breakdown, Michael was sent to Milwaukee to take care of the situation. Where did Arthur have his breakdown?

 At the client's headquarters

 In a courtroom

 At a deposition

 At a restaurant

4. In Milwaukee, Michael instructed the Kenner Bach associates to find an item of Arthur's. What was this item, which ended up in the hands of Karen Crowder?

 Jacket

 Briefcase

 Journal

 Laptop computer

5. Given only a week to get the money which was owed on the failed bar, Michael went to Marty for a loan.

 True

 False

6. After Arthur's death, Michael found out that Arthur had had bound copies of Memorandum #229 printed with the title "Summons to Conquest". From where did Arthur get the title for these booklets?

 Michael's son, Henry

 His boss, Marty

 One of the plaintiffs, Anna

 A sign in Times Square

7. When Michael went to Marty with the copy of Memorandum #229 and asked "what if Arthur was right", Marty said they should immediately go to the judge with proof of their client's negligence.

 True

 False

8. While he was at his card game, Michael received a call about a client who needed help. What had the client done?

 Embezzled

 Shoplifted

 Hit a pedestrian

 Driven under the influence

9. After leaving the client in Westchester, Michael was driving along when he suddenly pulled over to the side of the road. What caused Michael to stop and exit his vehicle?

 A flat tire

 A hitchhiker

 Geese in the road

 Horses on a hill

10. When Michael approached Karen Crowder at the board of director's meeting, he demanded $10 million to keep quiet about Memorandum #229. What did he accept from her?

 A job as legal counsel for her company

 Nothing

 $5 million

 A lifetime supply of their products