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Straits Times
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Sanctions, on rise, are as deadly as armed conflict, study says
Unilateral and economic sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union lead to a substantial increase in mortality. Sanctions can cause as many fatalities as armed conflict, with unilateral penalties being associated with more than half a million deaths per year, according to a new analysis. Unilateral and economic sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union lead to a substantial increase in mortality that disproportionately hurts children younger than five years old, the study published in the Lancet Global Health journal found. Sanctions can hobble public health provision and keep humanitarian organisations from operating effectively, weighing on the death toll. The researchers found that unilateral sanctions cause more than 560,000 deaths each year worldwide – falling within a range that the researchers calculated for annual deaths from armed conflict using past literature and their own calculations. 'Woodrow Wilson referred to sanctions as 'something more tremendous than war.' Our evidence suggests that he was right,' authors Francisco Rodríguez, Silvio Rendón and Mark Weisbrot wrote. 'It is hard to think of other policy interventions with such adverse effects on human life that continue to be pervasively used.' The researchers, whose work was funded by the Centre for Economic and Policy Research, a progressive think tank, looked at mortality rates by age group in sanctions episodes for 152 countries between 1971 and 2021. They used four unique econometric tools to isolate the causal relationship between categories of sanctions and higher mortality rates. Their findings were consistent across all four methods: Global, economic and unilateral sanctions are all associated with higher death tolls. United Nations sanctions are not, to any statistically significant level. The term 'global sanctions' in the study refers to all penalties, whereas 'economic sanctions' are trade and financial deterrents and 'unilateral sanctions' are imposed by either the US or the EU. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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'Many times, a rogue regime will blame sanctions for all the problems of its country,' Mr Jeremy Paner, a sanctions lawyer at Hughes Hubbard, told Bloomberg before seeing the study. 'It's easy to blame the US or Brussels.' Mr Paner, who previously served as lead sanctions investigator at the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, was skeptical of the study's conclusion, emphasising that the office works to ensure that humanitarian groups can work in sanctioned countries effectively. 'The point of sanctions is to further foreign policy and American values, including humanitarian work,' he said. Mr Rodríguez, the study's lead author and an expert on sanctions and the crisis in Venezuela, countered that even if humanitarian aid is allowed into sanctioned countries, there are formidable obstacles to delivery. Banks and nonprofits often avoid interactions with the sanctioned nation regardless of the exceptions for aid. 'Saying, 'I'm going to block your oil exports, but I'm going to allow you to continue importing humanitarian goods,' is almost like saying to somebody who has just lost their job, 'Don't worry, you can still go into the store and buy whatever you want,'' Mr Rodríguez said in an interview. For decades, academics have debated how sanctions affect mortality, but have struggled to prove such a relationship. Ms Joy Gordon, who focuses on sanctions at Loyola University in Chicago, said the Lancet study offers a 'compelling argument, supported by rigorous methodology, that sanctions directly impact mortality' across age groups. The researchers urged policymakers to exercise restraint with sanctions, especially as the tool's use has ballooned. Some 25 per cent of countries were sanctioned by the US, EU or UN between 2010 and 2022 – up from 8 per cent of countries in the 1960s, according to the study, which cited Global Sanctions Database figures. 'Sanctions have their origins in economic warfare strategies such as blockade, which aimed to starve civilians,' sanctions expert Nicholas Mulder said. 'For sanctioning governments, pure intentions are no guarantee of clean hands.' BLOOMBERG
The Guardian
02-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
US jobs market better than expected even as hiring slowed in April
Hiring in the US slowed in April, according to official figures, with the workforce adding 177,000 jobs as Donald Trump's aggressive trade strategy clouded the economic outlook. As the White House pressed ahead with sweeping tariffs on overseas imports, claiming this would revitalize the US economy, employers across the country continued to add jobs at a steady pace. The April reading is down from the revised 185,000 jobs reported for March – and above the 133,000 expected by economists. the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.2%. It comes days after official growth data revealed that US gross domestic product shrank by 0.3% in the first quarter – an abrupt reversal from 2.4% growth in the preceding quarter, and the first drop in GDP in three years – fueling fears of a recession. While Trump sought to blame Joe Biden for the stunning slowdown in growth, economists said it was largely driven by an unprecedented surge in imports, as consumers and companies braced for the US president to impose his controversial wave of tariffs. Dean Baker, co-director of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research, predicted the healthcare sector would lead the continued source of job gains, while construction and manufacturing was expected to see a modest decline. 'The economy and the labor market do not turn on a dime, and these forces will persist, at least for a while,' Baker wrote ahead of Friday's release. 'However, there are all sorts of clearly visible headwinds in various economic indicators.' These include fears of the impact of tariffs on the US economy, and how sweeping cuts to the federal workforce will impact the job market. According to the ADP National Employment report, 62,000 jobs in the private sector were added in April, the lowest level since July 2024.
