Saint Louis University

School of Law

Human Rights and Economics

(Research Paper)

Submitted by:
PINGAWAN, Charlie S.
LLB II-C

Submitted to:
Atty. Jose Adrian Bonifacio

December 13, 2016

 INTRODUCTION

Ensuring human rights is a vital step toward economic development because when people
are denied their rights, it often results in social instability, war and other conflicts, which have
vast economic consequences.
Economic development organizations (which lend to enhance returns on their assets)
must ensure that their investments, policies and institutions avoid becoming unproductive in
unstable states—ones in which people are denied their rights. The fulfillment of human rights
acts to insure assets’ productivity. Human rights are also important foundations for economic
development in terms of economic performance and markets. They are integral in the legal
frameworks that make up economic incentives like taxes, subsidies and quotas.1
Human rights are one of the most influential and fruitful concepts of modern times and
for many of the planet‟s poor and oppressed they are believed to be the miraculous lenitive that
will bring them that justice and dignity indispensable to dress up their ephemeral earthly
existence. Economics, in its turn, has developed a considerable amount of tools especially
designed to overcome, or at least mitigate, scarcity, probably the most tormenting specter
amongst those haunting the deprived. Human rights and economics have, thus, contributed
immensely to free human kind; human rights from fear and economics from want.
Besides the fact that they share a common object, people, human rights and economics
are yet otherwise intimately connected. On the one hand, one must admit that asserting human
rights demands economic means, and on the other hand efficacy and efficiency of the agent‟s
economic decisions presupposes a significant degree of liberties.2

What are examples of violations of economic, social and cultural rights?

A violation of economic, social and cultural rights occurs when a State fails in its
obligations to ensure that they are enjoyed without discrimination or in its obligation to respect,
protect and fulfil them. Often a violation of one of the rights is linked to a violation of other
rights.

A few examples of violations of economic, social and cultural rights include:

 Forcibly evicting people from their homes (the right to adequate housing)
 Contaminating water, for example, with waste from State-owned facilities (the right to
health)
 Failure to ensure a minimum wage sufficient for a decent living (rights at work)

1
Human Rights Must Be a Consideration for Economic Development Organizations
2
Economics against Human Rights
  Failure to prevent starvation in all areas and communities in the country (freedom from
hunger)
 Denying access to information and services related to sexual and reproductive health (the
right to health)
 Systematically segregating children with disabilities from mainstream schools (the right
to education)
 Failure to prevent employers from discriminating in recruitment (based on sex, disability,
race, political opinion, social origin, HIV status, etc.) (The right to work)
 Failure to prohibit public and private entities from destroying or contaminating food and
its source, such as arable land and water (the right to food)
 Failure to provide for a reasonable limitation of working hours in the public and private
sector (rights at work)
 Banning the use of minority or indigenous languages (the right to participate in cultural
life)
 Denying social assistance to people because of their status (e.g., people without a fixed
domicile, asylum-seekers) (the right to social security)
 Failure to ensure maternity leave for working mothers (protection of and assistance to the
family)
 Arbitrary and illegal disconnection of water for personal and domestic use (the right to
water). 3

Top Ten Economic Challenges

The beginning of 2007 offers a conflicting picture of the global economy for those trying
to discern trends, challenges and opportunities. Concerns about energy security and climate
sustainability are converging-finally bringing consensus in sight on the need for action in the
United States, but prospects for breaking the global stalemate are still years away. While some
developing countries are succeeding in bringing hundreds of millions out of poverty, too many
are still mired in a doom spiral of conflict, poverty, and disease- despite the entry of new
philanthropists, advocates and global corporations into the field of development. China’s
projected 9.6 percent growth rate is sending ripples to the farthest reaches of the planet-creating
opportunities but also significant risks. The United States remains in the “goldilocks” zone, but
this is premised on continued borrowing from abroad at historically unprecedented rates while
many Americans fret about widening inequality and narrowing opportunity. While the United
States concentrates on civil war in the Middle East, most leaders in the region are preoccupied
with putting an outsized cohort of young people to work and on the road to becoming productive
citizens.

3
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
 What are the most important challenges we face and what are the potential solutions?
this “top 10” is intended to mark core issues and shed light on opportunities and challenges with
a broader and longer-term perspective.

1. Energy and Environmental Security

Energy and environmental security has emerged as the primary issue on the global agenda for
2007. Consensus has recently been forged on the potential for long-term economic, national
security and societal damage from insecure energy supplies and environmental catastrophe, as
well as the intense need for technological advances that can provide low-polluting and secure
energy sources. Yet despite growing global momentum, there is still little agreement on the best
set of actions required to reduce global dependency on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions.
Confounding the international policy challenge is the disproportionate impact of high oil prices
and global warming across nations, insulating some countries from immediate concern while
forcing others to press for more rapid change.

2. Conflict and Poverty

In a world where boundaries and borders have blurred, and where seemingly distant threats can
metastasize into immediate problems, the fight against global poverty has become a fight for
global security. American policymakers, who traditionally have viewed security threats as
involving bullets and bombs, are increasingly focused on the link between poverty and conflict:
the Pentagon’s 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review focuses on fighting the “long war,” declaring
that the U.S. military has a humanitarian role in “alleviating suffering”.

3. Competing in a New Era of Globalization

Is the new episode of globalization just another wave or a seismic shift. While individual
elements feel familiar, the combined contours are unprecedented in scale, speed, and scope.

4. Global Imbalances

Today’s interconnected world is in uncharted territory: the world’s sole hegemonic

power, the United States, nurses an addiction to foreign capital, while up-and-coming powers
such as China and oil exporters sustain surpluses of increasing magnitudes. Some worry that the
world is at a tipping point, where only a dramatic shift in economic policy can alter the looming
trajectory. Others see underlying structural factors perpetuating gross imbalances for a sustained
period.

5. Rise of New Powers

 The rise of “emerging powers”-a group that usually includes the so-called BRICs (Brazil,
Russia, India, and China), but which sometimes is applied more broadly to include South Africa,
Mexico and others-is reshaping the global economy and, more gradually, international politics.
Growing much faster than the rest of the world, these economies are changing the structure of
international production and trade, the nature and direction of capital flows, and the patterns of
natural resource consumption. At the same time, the growth of these countries is beginning to
shift the global distribution of power forcing the great powers to come to terms with the reality
that they will need to share management of international rules and systems in the coming
decades.

6. Economic Exclusion in the Middle East

The Middle East has before it what could be one of the greatest demographic gifts in
modern history-a potential economic windfall arising from a young and economically active
workforce. Today, young people aged 15- to 24- years old account for 22 percent of the region’s
total population, the highest regional average worldwide. With the right mix of policies, this
demographic opportunity could be tapped to spur economic growth and promote stability.

7. Global Corporations, Global Impact

The private sector is becoming a significant player-indeed some might say the dominant
player-in shaping the global economic and development agenda. Multinational corporations with
operations that span the globe, and in some cases capacities and networks that match those of
governments, have a particularly important role to play in helping to spread the opportunities and
mitigating some of the risks of globalization.

8. Global Health Crises

From responding to the threat of pandemic flu to efforts to control the spread of
HIV/AIDS, the world has begun to realize that global health issues are relevant for any citizen,
regardless of nationality, residence or status. Despite improvements in the world’s collective
ability to battle disease with advances in medicine and technology, global health needs remain
unmet, making the entire world vulnerable to health crises. In particular, the poor continue to
suffer disproportionately from inadequate health services, exacerbating their struggle out of
poverty.

9. Global Governance Stalemate

Today’s global challenges-nuclear proliferation, the deadlock of global trade

negotiations, the threat of pandemic flu, and the fight against global poverty-cannot be solved by
yesterday’s international institutions. To resolve the world’s most pressing problems, which
touch all corners of the globe, we must adapt our global governance approaches to be more
representative and thus more effective by encouraging and enabling the key affected countries to
take an active role in generating solutions.
10. Global Poverty: New Actors, New Approaches

The challenge of global poverty is more urgent than ever: over half the world’s
population-nearly 3 billion people-lives on less than $2 per day; nearly 30,000 children die each
day-about 11 million per year -because they’re too poor to survive. With such a toll, addressing
poverty in new and more effective ways must be a priority for the global policy agenda.
Fortunately, a variety of new actors are bringing new perspectives, new approaches and new
energy to the challenge.4

PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS THROUGH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

1. Good Governance

Good governance and human rights are mutually reinforcing. Human rights
principles provide a set of values to guide the work of governments and other political
and social actors. They also provide a set of performance standards against which these
actors can be held accountable. Moreover, human rights principles inform the content of
good governance efforts: they may inform the development of legislative frameworks,
policies, programmes, budgetary allocations and other measures.
On the other hand, without good governance, human rights cannot be respected and
protected in a sustainable manner. The implementation of human rights relies on a
conducive and enabling environment. This includes appropriate legal frameworks and
institutions as well as political, managerial and administrative processes responsible for
responding to the rights and needs of the population.5

Key attributes of good governance

The concept of good governance has been clarified by the work of the former Commission on
Human Rights. In its resolution 2000/64, the Commission identified the key attributes of good
governance:

 transparency
 responsibility
 accountability
 participation
 responsiveness (to the needs of the people)

4
https://www.brookings.edu/research/top-ten-global-economic-challenges-an-assessment-of-global-risks-and-
priorities/
5
Good Governance and Human Rights
By linking good governance to sustainable human development, emphasizing principles such as
accountability, participation and the enjoyment of human rights, and rejecting prescriptive
approaches to development assistance, the resolution stands as an implicit endorsement of the
rights-based approach to development.

Resolution 2000/64 expressly linked good governance to an enabling environment conducive to

the enjoyment of human rights and "prompting growth and sustainable human development." In
underscoring the importance of development cooperation for securing good governance in
countries in need of external support, the resolution recognized the value of partnership
approaches to development cooperation and the inappropriateness of prescriptive approaches.

2. Protecting the most vulnerable and ensuring non-discrimination

Governments have an immediate obligation of non-discrimination which must be

applied to all policies and programs. This prohibits responses to the crisis that benefit
wealthier groups over traditionally marginalized groups or peoples. It also means taking
into account, and compensating for the disproportionate effects of the crisis on different
groups, in order to ensure substantive, as well as formal, equality ( UN CESCR, 2009). It
also requires that governments take special measures to protect the rights of women,
migrants, minorities and other groups that are being particularly threatened in this crisis.

3. Prioritizing a basic minimum of effective economic and social rights for all

Governments have an immediate obligation to ensure the “minimum essential

levels” of social and economic rights which are essential to the survival and a life with
dignity. Meeting this obligation must trump all other policy considerations. This means
immediately instituting social protection programs to Center for Economic and Social
Rights Human Rights and the Financial Crisis (2009), relieve poverty, hunger and
homelessness. It also means ring-fencing government budgets to ensure that there is no
retrogression in the provision of essential goods and services (including those necessary
to prevent maternal or child mortality and to ensure completion of primary school
education). It also means ensuring that economic stimulus packages and counter-cyclical
economic policies (in countries where they are possible) should be focused on limiting
the worst human consequences of the crisis, and priority in distribution of resources must
be given to the most vulnerable and marginalized.6

4. Integrating human rights principles with national economic policymaking

Human rights principles require establishing processes for policymaking that are
participatory, transparent and institute mechanisms for accountability and redress. Rather
than being subject to forms of democratic deliberation, decision-making on economic
6
Human Rights and The Global Economic Crisis
 policies has become increasingly left to technocratic experts. Redressing the balance will
require recognizing that it is not only outcomes, but also the processes that are important.
7

Conclusion

For economics, ignoring human rights, in other words simply unfolding its logic
regardless of any other, is equivalent to denying them. Well, in a democratic society 16
economics cannot ignore human rights, not only would it be senseless, but it would also be
harmful to its own purposes. But can it integrate them? When dealing with rights economics can
basically take one of two approaches. The first option consists in taking rights as a constraint
within which choice is made, the second option in assuming rights as an integral part of
normative economics, and in this view exercising rights is just another manifestation of making a
choice (see Weikard, 2004). Along the lines of the first option, economics can roughly adopt two
secondary approaches that may actually be contradictory. On the one hand, economics can look
for resolving its maximization problems considering human rights as primordial and, on the other
hand, economics can take human rights as an insupportable constraint rendering the
maximization exercise unattractive, obliging, consequently, people to choose between human
rights and economic efficiency.

The first attitude respects human rights although it does not scare away the specter of a
paralyzing conflict between both logics. The second attitude, on the contrary, contributes to
hinder human rights with such arguments as them being too costly. This is a most convenient,
although biased, approach as most of the time economics only considers part of all the costs
related to human rights. Indeed, if many economists, with some cynical intemperance even,
devote themselves to calculate the costs of social security, for instance, with the confessed goal
of demonstrating society‟s incapacity in paying the price of overgenerous policies, very few are
those that, according to the same principles, are coherent enough to also calculate the costs of the
inexistence of social security, revealing, thus, the ideological bias which, hiding under the mask
of analytical rigor, dictates the alleged frivolity of economic, social and cultural rights. Human
rights also generate benefits though these are harder to monetize and consequently harder to
handle within the typical cost benefit confrontation dear to economics. However, even if this
confrontation could produce tangible results, cost and benefit could never be the basic criteria for
the integration of human rights and economics. Human rights altogether were not born from any
evidence revealed to the individuals through some kind of positive reasoning in the shape of an
unequivocal demonstration of the social utility maximization obtained through its adoption.
Human rights resulted from a normative reasoning according to which individuals considered a
dignified existence impossible to reach without them. Thus, the choice individuals are called to
make does not concern whether human rights should be adopted or not given 17 the economic
system, on the basis of human rights being favorable or not to economic performance, but which
is the most favorable economic system given the indispensable character of human rights. In a
democratic society if the human-rights option collides with a definite system of economic rules,
it is necessary, then, to enrich this system and modify its rules.

7
Supra
 If human rights are taken, essentially, as a mechanism protecting minorities from
decisions taken by majorities in their profit but resulting in prejudice for the former, this means
that the enrichment of one part of the world, for instance, cannot be pursued at the expense of the
material, cultural and spiritual impoverishment of another part, especially if this constitutes its
weakest link. Asserting economic rights cannot, therefore, be taken as an equivalent to
maximizing utility, better said within this process social utility cannot be mistaken with
aggregate utility. This clearly tells us that economic goals must be rephrased. Take production.
Indeed, producing one particular commodity having in mind the satisfaction of demand or the
assertion of human rights doesn‟t mean the same, although this enterprise might be undertaken
in a similar fashion. Within economic mainstream thought, meeting effective and viable demand
is satisfying enough as a social role for the producer, and that part of the population which in
consequence is deprived of access to a particular good on account of budget constraints should
not be of concern.

On the contrary, in the case of human rights assertion through the supply of this same
good no one should be left out, regardless of individual budget constraints. On the one hand, one
is meeting private demand, because its nature is mainly individual, and on the other hand one is
meeting a public demand because, in contrast, its nature is now mainly social or collective. Well,
according to corporate logic, meeting private demand is a normal procedure whereas meeting
public demand is not. The essence of the conflict between economics and human rights also
resides in the ways the political and the social are apprehended. As Henri Bartoli states the social
and the political should be taken as the territories where major social choices are made rather
than those where the conflicting natures of the economy and the society are expressed (Bartoli,
1996). It is important to stress that a cohesive and sympathetic society is as important for both
the economy and human rights as courts and the market. Therefore, aiming at the integration of
human rights, economics‟ methodology, needs to shift from the concept of satisfying individuals
to the more inclusive concept of satisfying all individuals. 8

8
ECONOMICS AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS (The Conflicting Languages of Economics and Human Rights) Author:
Manuel Couret Branco