A review of Gillian Tett, Fool’s Gold: How Unrestrained Greed Corrupted A Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed a Catastrophe (Abacus, 2009), £8.99; Paul Krugman, The Return of Depression Economics (Penguin, 2008), £9.99; and Joseph Stiglitz, Freefall: Free Markets and… Continue Reading
A review of David McNally, Global Slump: The Economics and Politics of Crisis and Resistance (Spectre, 2011), £12.95; and Leo Panich, Greg Albo and Vivek Chibber (eds), Socialist Register 2011: The Crisis This Time (Merlin, 2011), £25 David McNally’s Global… Continue Reading
The 2007 financial crisis has reignited the discussion on crises, their origin and possible remedies.1 At present the most influential thesis on the left sees the crisis as caused by underconsumption and recommends Keynesian policies as a solution. This paper… Continue Reading
Just as medical science progresses through pathology, Marxist political economy develops through the analysis of the actual crises of capitalism. It is therefore no surprise that the current paroxysm has sparked both a revival of interest in Marxism1 and a… Continue Reading
“We are on the edge of the abyss. One slip and we will be into depression like that of the early 1930s.” That message has been repeated a thousand times in one way or another since the banking system imploded… Continue Reading
The United States is caught up in the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression.1 This crisis calls into question the stability and indeed the very survival of capitalism. Unlike the savings and loan crisis 20 years ago, which… Continue Reading
The biggest financial crisis for 79 years, followed by the most expensive nationalisation of all time; a combination of recession and inflation with completely unpredictable effects; a new explosive flashpoint of international tension, this time on the Black Sea midway… Continue Reading
The following statement was issued by the Coordination of the International Socialist Tendency on 13 October 2008. The extraordinary waves of panic that have swept through global financial markets in the past few weeks have filled ordinary working people around… Continue Reading
I agreed with much of Chris Harman’s latest article.1 My comments below will focus on the disagreements in order to further the discussion. (1) As I have argued before, I think there has been a substantial recovery of the rate… Continue Reading
We cannot understand the system we live in or how to fight it simply by the repetition of slogans. We need serious analysis and debate. For that reason, I welcome Jim Kincaid’s rejoinder to my articles in recent issues of… Continue Reading