Debt in a time of coronavirus
Video: How has coronavirus boosted household debt, the impact on working-class people and on the capitalist economy, and the possibilities for campaigning and resistance?
Video: The decline of America and the rise of China
Charlie Hore, author of The Road to Tiananmen Square and numerous articles about China, talks about the shifting powers in imperialism in the past decades.
Mariana Mazzucato: Dragons Den or progressive State Capitalism
Mike Haynes looks at the work of prominent left-leaning economist Mariana Mazzucato
Review: Capitalism and Theory
A collection of the writings of Mike Kidron casts light on the heterodox Marxist economist and the revolutionary socialist organisation he once belonged to, writes Brian Parkin.
revolutionary reflections | ‘Green Capitalism’: a critical review of the literature: part 3
Part III of Stephen Graham’s critical review of the ‘Green capitalism’ literature examines debates between advocates of ‘green Keynesian’ approaches and supporters of de-growth.
revolutionary reflections | ‘Green Capitalism’: a critical review of the literature: part 2
Part 2 of Stephen Graham’s critical review of the ‘Green capitalism’ literature examines the relationship between capitalism and fossil fuels.
revolutionary reflections | ‘Green capitalism’: a critical review: part 1
Today, hundreds of thousands of young people around the world have been taking part in climate strikes. Stephen Graham dissects the discourses of sustainability, Green capitalism and the Green economy.
Can capitalism make the whole world rich?
Capitalism seems to be an incredibly successful system. We have seen a massive growth in incomes in many countries. People live longer and better than in the past. But can capitalism make all the countries of the world as rich as the richest states?
Yellow vests: Macron’s fuel tax was no solution to climate chaos
Why Macron’s ‘eco-tax’ on fuel was never a fair or effective way to tackle climate change
Review: Economics for the Many
Mike Haynes reviews Economics for the Many, a new book of essays edited by Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.
The Social Reproduction of Neoliberalism
Listen to Neil Davidson and Mona Dohle discuss the social reproduction of neoliberalism, climate change, and the lingering effects of the Great Recession.
Corbyn, McDonnell and the lion that struggles to roar
The ‘Financing Investment’ report sets out elements of Labour’s new economic thinking. But how radical is it?
On productivity, living standards and the British economic model – thoughts and reflections
In the wake of the Budget Statement, Joe Sabatini ponders Britain’s productivity puzzle.
Anti-globalisation or anti-imperialism? A left case for global de-linking
When the right comes out against free trade, the left must persist in its critique of the global capitalist economy.
Review: Mariana Mazzucato, ‘The Entrepreneurial State’
Harry J Bentham gives his take on Mariana Mazzucato’s The Entrepreneurial State (2013), a book which has influenced Labour’s proposed economic policies in the lead up to the 2017 General Election.
#GE2017: How radical are Labour’s economic policies?
The limitations of the manifesto are those we would expect to find facing any reformist government operating in the capitalist system today.
Don’t mention trade: leaked document reveals EU plans for the COP21
A leak from the EU’s shadowy Trade Policy Committee reveals officials charged with determining EU’s climate policy vowing to keep trade regulations out of the COP21 climate change talks, reports Nick Evans. A recent article on this website argued we need to pay attention to the arcane world of international trade law. Cloaked in bureaucratic […]
Can Corbynomics Work?
Sam O’Brien discusses whether the economic ideas put forward by Jeremy Corbyn when he was campaigning for the Labour leadership could work The election of Jeremy Corbyn has continues to generate a tide of foaming comment from Telegraph columnists, Blairite hacks and Tories alike. As if his views on Palestine, Trident and tuition fees […]
TTIP: capitalism on steroids
Mathilde Dahl is an activist in Students Against TTIP. Here she explains what TTIP is, why we should be worried about it, and how we can stop it. A new set of corporate power grabs are in preparation. These deals are negotiated in secrecy, wrapped up as trade agreements and sold to us with the promise of economic […]
Cat’s Credit Crunching: Has Grexit been averted?
Thoughtful Thanos asks: Has a Grexit been averted? Dear Thanos, When Tsipras caved in to Troika pressures and accepted the implementation of austerity measures, the impression policy makers wanted to create was that a Grexit had been averted. But the reality is a lot more complicated. The Greek state remains broke, and in this the […]
Five books you should read on China
Charlie Hore offers some suggestions to help understand what is happening in the world’s largest country China has hardly been out of the headlines in the last few months. In August, the second stock market crash in two months sent shockwaves around the world financial system. China’s government had taken panic measures after the first […]
Manchester “Time to Act” conference connects climate and social justice campaigning
Rick Lighten reports Over 200 people came together for a conference on tackling climate change on Saturday 10 October. The conference, titled “It’s Time to Act”, was organised by a coalition of climate groups along with trade union and radical left activists. Groups involved included Campaign Against Climate Change, Friends of the Earth, Stop TTIP, […]
Cat’s Credit Crunching: What is quantitative easing?
Regular Robin asks: What is quantitative easing? Dear Robin, Quantitative easing is an economic policy measure used in recessions. It stems from the belief that the key problem during an economic crisis is lack of money in circulation. For example, when banks refuse to lend money, investors are cautious to buy stocks and bonds. Consumers […]
Bubbles, bounces and soft landings – China’s stock-market implodes
Charlie Hore discusses the dramatic recent crash on the Chinese stock market Even by Chinese standards, the figures are eye-watering – from a high point in early June, Chinese stock markets have lost over 3.5 trillion dollars to date, almost fifteen times the value of Greece’s GDP, and there is no end in sight to […]
Remember the dead, fight for the living!
Ian Allinson reports from the Workers’ Memorial Day event in Manchester. About 150-200 people gathered in stormy weather in Manchester’s Albert Square to mark Workers’ Memorial Day. Each year around 20,000 people die due to their work in the UK, mainly due to exposure to dangerous substances. Across the EU there are around 100,000 occupational […]
Low inflation, deflation and pay – The Magpie
In the second instalment of their column, The Magpie explores how to argue for a pay rise when in the face of deflation or low inflation. For several years employers cut real wages by holding increases in average wages below the increase prices. Bosses, workers and our unions now face unfamiliar territory – low inflation […]
The Budget: four reflections and a rule of thumb
by Michael Rosen 1. In the post-Budget fog, there are occasional dissident voices that say something along the lines that obsessing about small differences in “the deficit” is some kind of smokescreen for what’s really going on. In other words, capitalism can cope with what are by all accounts relatively small differences (i.e. people go […]
The spectre of social unrest is haunting Putin’s Russia
The Russian economy is in serious trouble. Gabriel Levy analyses the roots of the problem and what this means for ordinary Russians, Ukrainians, and the rest of us. This article was originally posted on the People and Nature blog. On Russia’s “Black Tuesday” this week (16 December), the Central Bank tried to stop the rouble’s […]
Groundhog day for the eurozone?
Estelle Cooch looks at whether the economic optimism pushed by politicians lives up to the headlines. First published in the autumn 2014 edition of the rs21 magazine. On the 14th August amidst much cheering from the media and economists the eurozone emerged from its longest ever recession. In other words the gross domestic product (GDP) […]
Capitalism and Crisis: Why vampires shouldn’t feed on themselves
Amy Gilligan explains how the contradictions at the heart of capitalism that mean that it is an inherently unstable system, prone to crises.