HAVANA, Feb. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Specialists from different countries discussed negative impacts of neoliberalism on the world at a World Meeting of Economists which concludes here Friday. ¡¡

    Cuban specialist Agustin Lage, director of the Havana-based Center for Molecular Immunology Research, said Thursday that neoliberalism privatizes knowledge and hinders the development of science in the whole world.

    In the panel on Knowledge and Globalization, Lage pointed out that the present patent system curbs the expansion of knowledge and widens the gap between the North and the impoverished South, making the latter further excluded from scientific and technologic advances.

    Emir Sader, professor of the University of Rio de Janeiro, a renowned thinker and political activist, termed neoliberalism as an inhuman machine and a cruel expropriator of social rights.

    Several experts also denounced the negative impacts of neoliberalism on the environment due to the indiscriminate use of natural resources.

    Judith Cherni from the Imperial College of London said the destructive appropriation of the environment by capitalism depletes resources and increases production costs.

    Cherni said capitalism is digging its own tomb as it is a system in which capital growth spirals out of control, a situationthat creates a recession economy.

    She added that the new technologies employ noxious materials which are dumped into nature, ignoring the environmental variables.

    Neoliberalism is a school of thought which puts the market above other economic actors. Some people use it interchangeably with globalization.

    The forum, which focuses on globalization and development problems, gathers delegates from 36 countries and representatives from many regional and international organizations. Enditem