Capitalism
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Coronavirus Will Require Us to Completely Reshape the Economy
The Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic is a far more profound event for the global economy than the great financial crisis of 2008-9. It will have more significant consequences for the simple reason that it is operating at a more fundamental level of our economic relationships than the 2008-9 crash ever did. Continue reading
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Engels’ pause and the condition of the working class in England
On this day, 15 March 1845, Friedrich Engels published his masterpiece of social analysis, The Condition of the Working Class in England. This year is the 200th anniversary of Engels’ birth. Below is a short (rough) extract from my upcoming book on the contribution that Engels made to Marxian political economy. Continue reading
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It was the virus that did it
I’m sure when this disaster is over, mainstream economics and the authorities will claim that it was an exogenous crisis nothing to do with any inherent flaws in the capitalist mode of production and the social structure of society. It was the virus that did it. This was the argument of the mainstream after the… Continue reading
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The Emperor’s New Virus
Panic selling on Wall Street, and panic buying in supermarkets, those are the twin axes, in both meanings of the word, upon which the black hole of capitalism rests, rotates, wobbles, staggers, turns, turns, turns, and above all else, spins. Welcome to the culmination/collapse/triumph/apex/nadir of neo-liberalism, Friedmanism, the Reagan “revolution,” the cult of the Iron… Continue reading
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Sugar and Spice and Everything Vice: the Empire’s Sin City of London By Cynthia Chung
The over 1000 point plunge of the stock market on Feb 27th and broader ruptures of the financial system last week have been yet another wake up call for those who have been contented so far to “live in the moment” of fast money. Continue reading
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This Is How America And Britain Are Maximising Coronavirus Deaths
If you search on the web for the term ‘coronavirus bloodbath’, you’ll notice that the headlines are not about the mass deaths of vulnerable people that are inevitable on the sort of bungling business-as-usual trajectory adopted by the likes of President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Continue reading
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BigPharma’s Role: U.S. Sanctions Lead To Global Rise In Coronavirus
March 10 – As COVID-19 (coronavirus) spreads, it is a clear reminder that germs and viruses don’t respect national boundaries in an interconnected world. But the mainstream press has certainly not publicized how corporate capitalism and imperialism cross national boundaries to destroy people’s health. Continue reading
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Mike Davis on COVID-19: The monster is finally at the door
COVID-19 is finally the monster at the door. Researchers are working night and day to characterize the outbreak but they are faced with three huge challenges. Continue reading
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THE “GETTING IT DONE” BUDGET SOON TO BE UNDONE
12 March 2020 — theplanningmotivedotcom What left reformists and right populists have in common, their only commonality, is their profound failure to understand capitalist political economy. The Chancellor’s “Blue Sky” budget based on a “Strong and Resilient economy” facing a “temporary medical emergency” is an exercise in delusion. By the Autumn statement it will be… Continue reading
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Capitalist agriculture and Covid-19: A deadly combination
A socialist biologist explains the tight links between new viruses, industrial food production, and the profitability of multinational corporations. Continue reading
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“It’s Getting ‘The Ugly’” – What Can We Really Do About Covid-19?
IT’S GETTING “THE UGLY” A few weeks ago we published a special report on Covid-19 which projected four scenarios for the virus’s economic and market impact: “The Bad”, “The Worse”, “The Ugly”, and “The Unthinkable”. Continue reading
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How black swans are shaping planet panic
Is the planet under the spell of a pair of black swans – a Wall Street meltdown, caused by an alleged oil war between Russia and the House of Saud, plus the uncontrolled spread of Covid-19 – leading to an all-out “cross-asset pandemonium” as billed by Nomura? Continue reading
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The Big Heist: U.S. Imposed Economic Sanctions on One Third of Humanity
The US has become increasingly dependent on the use of unilateral economic sanctions to achieve its policy objectives against its declared targets since the start of the great recession in 2008. Presently, sanctions impact one-third of humanity in 39 countries. Economic sanctions not only cause untold death and devastation to a given country by denying… Continue reading
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The Virus & the Working Class
US politicians and media are reporting approximately 500 cases of the virus in the US as of March 8. The actual number is almost certainly much higher, however. Perhaps as much as 10-fold that number, according to some sources. Why? Continue reading
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Coronavirus: New York Won’t Close Schools Because Homeless Kids Have Nowhere Else to Go
9 March 2020 — Mint Press For many thousands of students across New York City and the United States, school is the only place they receive regular meals, shelter, medical care, and other vital services. By Alan Macleod @AlanRMacLeod Continue reading
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CoVid-19 – What the government is really covering up
The UK government led by Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings have taken a rather Laissez–faire attitude towards the coronavirus CoVid-19. They came under attack for not taking it seriously and not being visible. It wasn’t until March 3rd that suddenly No10 Downing Street realised they needed to contain the negative stories emerging about their administration and… Continue reading
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Let’s get fiscal!
How to grease the aching wheels of a sickening world capitalist economy? Let’s get fiscal is the universal cry of economists and policy makers. The COVID meltdown and impending global recession is forcing authorities to consider fiscal stimulus. Continue reading
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COVID-19 Is A Classic Example Of The Dangers Of Putting Profits Over Health
It is unusual for Popular Resistance to cover an issue two weeks in a row but the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is developing rapidly, and there is a lot of misinformation about it. In the US, we are being misinformed by false information from the corporate media. K. J. Noh writes that “Instead of voicing support or… Continue reading
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VIRALLY INDUCED MARKET CONVULSIONS
It is difficult to explain the over-reaction to this novel virus except that this is consistent with the thirty- year use by governments of the fear factor. The ruling class knows that fear is a means of control. The ruling class knows that as long as workers are fearful, they will not seek change. And… Continue reading
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Primary Notes from a Shit-Hole Superpower: Crashing the Party from the Top Down
12 noon: Just to be clear, the Dem establishment will gladly enable a second fascistic and ecocidal Trump term before it will get behind a progressive Dem/Sanders nomination. The neoilberal Dem masters will do everything they can, including sabotage of Sanders, to sustain the party’s status as a thoroughgoing ruling class institutional asset. They are… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 