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Policy Paper: Fairly Trading the World's Timber 

Reducing timber loss through responsible management of the world’s forest stock has the power to reduce poverty, conflict, and greenhouse gases. This policy paper details efforts to date and provides comprehensive proposals for much needed action.

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Age of Greed

Age of Greed - Jeff Madrick

 

WPI Senior Fellow Jeff Madrick describes the history of how greed has bred America’s economic ills over the last forty years, and of the men most responsible for them. He recounts the single-minded pursuit of huge personal wealth that has been on the rise in the United States since the 1970s, led by a few individuals who have argued that self-interest guides society more effectively than community concerns.

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Report: Executive Summary - Axis of Influence - World Policy Institute - Research Project

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Firms Involved in Iraq War Dominate Growth in Pentagon Contracting
Halliburton Contracts Double; Up Sixteen-fold in Two Years Time

By William D. Hartung, 212-229-5808 ext. 106, hartung@newschool.edu and Frida Berrigan, 212-229-5808 ext. 112, berrigaf@newschool.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 17, 2005

New York- New data from the Department of Defense demonstrates that while the Pentagon’s "Big Three" weapons contractors - Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Grumman - continued to control the lion’s share of military contract awards, the biggest winners in the race for new contracts were all companies that played a direct role in providing logistics, rebuilding services, or equipment for the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

In its new report, "DOLLAR SHIFT: The Iraq War and the Changing Face of Pentagon Contracting," the World Policy Institute documents the rapid rise of awards to Iraq rebuilding and logistics contractors like Halliburton, which saw its Pentagon awards more than double from $3.9 billion to $8 billion from FY 2003 to FY 2004, the most recent year for which full data is available; this represented a sixteen-fold increase from 2002, when Halliburton received just $500 million in Pentagon contracts.

Other major winners included Bechtel (up 91%) and Fluor (up 58%), both major players in Iraq reconstruction; the Renco Group, whose AM General division builds the Humvee armored vehicle (up 92%); AP Moller Gruppen, whose Maersk subsidiary ships cargo and tanks to the Persian Gulf for the U.S. military (up 167%); and Alliant Lake City ammunition, which operates an small arms ammunition facility for the U.S. Army (up 157%).

"We are seeing the beginnings of a ‘guns versus occupation’ tradeoff developing within the Pentagon," argues William D. Hartung, a co-author of the report. "If a major U.S. presence in Iraq drags on for years longer, it will put further pressure on the Pentagon to cut big ticket weapons systems in favor of immediate equipment and services needed to sustain the occupation."

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Contact the authors for a copy of the report or click here: Dollar Shift: The Iraq War and the Changing Face of Pentagon Contracting

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