An appeal to the European Commission to "take its responsibilities" for the financial crisis, to prevent "the risk of going back to economic nationalism and the risk of worsening the situation", which would increase unemployment and poverty. It was told to SIR today by Patrick De Bucquois, expert in social policies at Caritas Europa, in a statement he made during the pilot conference called "Together against poverty and social exclusion" that took place in Charleroi, Belgium, on October 24th and 25th, on the initiative of Caritas Europa. At the meeting, the problem of the financial crisis surfaced from many different points of view. "We realised says De Bucquois that we should not just wonder what impact the crisis is having on the poor, but what are its causes, which are the same as those of poverty. In other words, the increasingly large differences between people with very high incomes and the majority of the population who cannot cope with the rises in the prices of staple foods". Some economists, explains the expert, "estimate that one of the reasons for the crisis is actually the inequality of incomes, which has grown out of all proportions. People with very high incomes, as they gamble within this gambling-house sort of economy, also put society at risk. This becomes a communal issue, since everyone might be affected by the consequences. (continued)
