2018
April
30
Monday

Monitor Daily Podcast

April 30, 2018
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Mark Sappenfield
Senior global correspondent

“That could be my mum … my dad … my uncle … it could be me.”

Those were the words of Sajid Javid, new home secretary for Britain. He was speaking of the “Windrush generation” – a group of migrant laborers who came to Britain to help rebuild after World War II. The son of a Pakistani immigrant, Mr. Javid was appalled by how his government has treated the Windrush generation, threatening them because of their lack of paperwork.

This weekend, the previous home secretary lost her job amid a mounting public outcry. Immigration is “the most explosive force in British politics,” The Economist argues – and that holds true across the West. President Trump launched his campaign by promising a border wall. Britain voted to leave the European Union. Throughout Europe, the reaction to refugees has recast politics.

We’re working on an article about Javid for tomorrow, but his story raises a point worth mentioning here. At a time when the world’s economies are more open and collaborative than at any point in human history, stories like his happen. An economy wants to grow, and it needs people, wherever they’re from.

Border walls that protect a nation’s ethnic or linguistic identity are battling the tide that successful economies inevitably create.

Javid's family – from bus driver father to millionaire banker son – shows what that growth looks like. Uncomfortably, global capitalism is asking the world to push further.  

Now, here are our five stories of the day, looking at three efforts to find mutual religious dignity, one city's efforts to push the boundaries of water conservation, and the man who has donned the mantle as defender of the liberal world order. 


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Korea Summit Press/AP
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (r.) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in walk at the border village of Panmunjom in Korea's Demilitarized Zone, April 27.

The United States and South Korea have different, though somewhat complementary, motives in pushing for peace with North Korea. And the South Korean president is using every lever he has to move his agenda quickly. 

Patterns

Tracing global connections

For France and its president, this moment has taken the shape of an opportunity. Emmanuel Macron sees a hole in world leadership that he is determined to fill.

"Tolerance" is good, but it's still a pretty low bar. Our next story is about how some religious leaders are working toward a deeper commitment to the civic ideals of a life shared together in mutual dignity and equality. 

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
The water in Theewaterskloof Dam and Reservoir in Villiersdorp, South Africa, which supplies water to nearby Cape Town, is critically low.

Facing a water crisis, Cape Town has redefined what it thought was possible. But it has also reframed the challenges ahead, shedding a different light on what success really means. 

Our Linda Feldmann only heard about this weekend's controversial White House Correspondents' Dinner after the fact. She was traveling with the president. But it struck her that the glitzy, gadfly event embodies what many voters dislike about Washington.


The Monitor's View

AP Photo
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde during a news conference at the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, in Washington, April 20.

After a period of introspection, one of the most powerful bodies in global governance announced in April that it had not been doing enough to stem corruption. This self-reflection by the International Monetary Fund could do wonders for the world economy.

The IMF admitted that it had long used vague phrases such as “the need for a level playing field” to describe rampant bribery in the troubled economies that it rescues from a financial cliff.

And despite having had a 20-year-old policy to deal with corruption, it now says its official “guidance” to graft-ridden countries has been inconsistent.

The IMF also failed to point a finger at wealthy countries that facilitate the flow of ill-gotten money from poor nations.

Having cast the beam from its own eye, the IMF said it will now become more “intrusive” in a country’s affairs if it sees “hanky-panky” in official spending or market regulation. It will also be more candid and evenhanded in applying standards on fiscal integrity and rule of law.

“Corruption prospers in the dark,” says the IMF chief, Christine Lagarde. The IMF’s new efforts, she adds, will help “harness the immense power of sunlight to put the global economy on a healthier and more sustainable path.”

More than half of people worldwide say their government is not doing enough to curb corruption, according to the watchdog group Transparency International. One out of 4 people says he or she has been either asked for a bribe or offered one to access a public service. Overall, bribery reduces the world’s economic output by more than a $1 trillion, finds the World Bank.

The IMF says its anti-corruption drive is necessary to rebuild lost public trust in institutions and prevent a further slide in tax evasion and income inequality. Fighting corruption will also help ensure that governments pay back the loans they’ve received from the IMF. Countries that suffer a “reputational risk” from a corruption scandal, such as Brazil, can be hit hard by global financial markets.

In a few developing countries, some officials welcome stronger intervention by the IMF. “It can help make a country a star rather than a falling star,” says Lea Giménez Duarte, finance minister of Paraguay. Anti-corruption activists will also be emboldened in many countries by the IMF’s new stance.

The most intriguing aspect of the IMF’s new focus is its request for advanced countries to volunteer to be “assessed” on their efforts to prevent foreign corruption. Do they prosecute bribery of foreign officials by their domestic companies? Do they prevent money laundering by foreign entities?

So far, about 10 countries have stepped up to be held accountable, including Britain and the United States. Their willingness to clean their own house may be a model for other countries to do the same.

“All countries may want to do an introspective look at how they operate,” Ms. Lagarde says. The IMF certainly has. A bit of humility about one’s own faults can help others to correct theirs.


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication – in its various forms – is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church – The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston – whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

Today’s column includes an experience that helps illustrate how we can rely on God for healing.


A message of love

Martin Meissner/AP
Visitors walk the staircase on the 'Tiger and Turtle' steel art installation in front of a steel mill in Duisburg, Germany, today. Artists Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth created the 249-step walkable roller coaster out of zinc and steel left over from mining operations.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thanks for joining us today. Please come back tomorrow when we look at a program for the homeless in Albuquerque, N.M., that has been so promising that more than 20 other cities are using it as a model. 

More issues

2018
April
30
Monday

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