As we go to press, on Sunday, July 12, Greece’s Syriza government has just submitted a new proposal to EU leaders and financial institutions that contains significant concessions to their demands for austerity. This proposal follows by days the referendum vote by the Greek people that strongly rejected any further austerity measures. As background to … Continue reading Interview with Greek socialist
Category: Economy
Greece votes against austerity
By OKDE-SPARTACOS The class struggle has sharply intensified in Greece since June 27, when Greek Prime Minister and Syriza Party leader Alexis Tsipras called on the people to vote NO in a referendum against blackmail and humiliation by Greece’s capitalist creditors. On Sunday, July 5, nearly 62% voted NO, and only about 38% voted YES. … Continue reading Greece votes against austerity
Greece: NO! End the negotiations
By OKDE-Spartacos — ATHENS, June 28 — The Greek government, despite its persistent efforts, failed to win the confidence of the institutions (EU, IMF) and the favor or the hegemonic bourgeois classes of Europe. The vows of loyalty to the repayment of the debt “fully and timely” and the renunciation of unilateral actions, as well … Continue reading Greece: NO! End the negotiations
TPPA: Capitalism at its predatory best
BY JEFF MACKLER President Obama was granted “Fast Track” authority by Congress on June 24, thus clearing the way to rapid passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). The TPPA has been 10 years in the making, including the last six under the aegis of the Obama administration. The agreement, written in secret by some 600 top corporate … Continue reading TPPA: Capitalism at its predatory best
Greece: Class struggle has no intervals
Statement by OKDE-Spartacos (Greek section of the Fourth International) 1) Αll hopes that the working class can get rid of austerity by voting and electing a “government of the left” collapsed very soon. SYRIZA won the election and formed a government. Not a government of the left, of course, but a collaboration government along with … Continue reading Greece: Class struggle has no intervals
Capitalism versus the climate
By BARRY WEISLEDER The following presentation was given by Socialist Action (Canada) National Federal Secretary Barry Weisleder at the SA educational conference at the University of Toronto, May 22-23. “This Changes Everything” is the theme of this conference. But what exactly does it mean? Firstly, there are the obvious signs of dramatic environmental change. Sea … Continue reading Capitalism versus the climate
U.S. setback at Panama Summit
By CLAUDIO KATZ Mainstream media presented the Panama Summit as if it were the beginning of a new era of cooperation. They pondered the end of the Cold War and painted Obama as a model of detente, as opposed to the hawkishness of Maduro. They also contrasted the reintegration of Cuba in the region to … Continue reading U.S. setback at Panama Summit
April 15: Huge protest by low-wage workers
By BILL ONASCH “Largest Protest By Low Wage Workers In US History.” That was the Guardian headline above a perceptive story about the 4/15 4 15 actions by Steven Greenhouse and Jana Kasperkevic. They wrote, “Some 60,000 workers took part in the Fight for $15 demonstrations. ... The demonstrations were the latest in a series … Continue reading April 15: Huge protest by low-wage workers
Will SYRIZA fight the Euro-bank bully?
By MARTY GOODMAN On election day, Jan. 25, working people in Greece stood up to the bloodsucking European banks and said, “No more!” The 36.3% vote for the SYRIZA (Coalition of the Radical Left) party made it the highest vote getter in a crowded field. For the first time in many decades, an ostensibly anti-capitalist … Continue reading Will SYRIZA fight the Euro-bank bully?
Climate change demands a radical solution
BY EVAN ENGERING “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate”, by Naomi Klein, 566 pages, Knopf Canada, September, 2014. The latest book of Naomi Klein, the influential Toronto-based journalist, author, and activist, may live up to its ambitious title, “This Changes Everything.” In it, Klein turns her thorough, eye-opening brand of investigative journalism to the … Continue reading Climate change demands a radical solution
Obama’s lame duck quackery
By BILL ONASCH The annual ritual of President Obama’s State of the Union address to Congress (SOTU), required by law and custom, comes without any mandate for action. It has evolved into Reality TV viewed by tens of millions—but with less lasting impact than the style decrees of Fashion Police. It is one component of … Continue reading Obama’s lame duck quackery
Europe: News from the frontlines
By STAN MILLER Europe has been experiencing major recession since 2008. All figures point out that we’re in it for the long haul. In the United States, strong attacks against the working class combined with a policy of quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve and the ability of the U.S. to borrow money almost indefinitely … Continue reading Europe: News from the frontlines
Unmasking the hype of capitalist economics
BY JEFF MACKLER The U.S. working class, the nation’s poor and oppressed, and the youth won a resounding victory on Election Day 2014 when they cast their “votes” for the most popular candidate of all—“None of the Above.” Indeed, “None of the Above” won the much-hyped midterm election “contest” hands down, when 64% of eligible … Continue reading Unmasking the hype of capitalist economics
Europe hit by economic slowdown
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER Below are portions of the World Political Situation Report, delivered by Michael Schreiber to the Socialist Action National Convention on Oct. 18. Capitalism’s offensive against the world’s working class—which gathered momentum as a consequence of the major economic recession that began in late 2007—continues unabated. Even in the major industrial nations, the … Continue reading Europe hit by economic slowdown
We need a plan to forestall climate disaster
By BILL ONASCH To stop climate change short of climate disaster, the United States—which has been the world’s largest polluter for many years—has to lead the way to restructure our global economy to rapidly reduce, and ultimately eliminate, use of fossil and nuclear fuels. That’s a giant task—but even more will be required to create … Continue reading We need a plan to forestall climate disaster
Snowden demonized; Obama affirms spying
BY JEFF MACKLER Thirty years after George Orwell’s futuristic and predictive novel, “1984,” Orwell’s 1949 police state prediction is here in full bloom. Wikipedia’s description of “1984” is apt indeed. Readers will forgive my bracketed insertions aimed at bringing Orwell’s Oceania to life: “Life in [the United States] the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is … Continue reading Snowden demonized; Obama affirms spying
Budget deal in Congress — who won?
By JACK RASMUS This article is excerpted from The Green Shadow Cabinet website, greenshadowcabinet.org, with permission of the author. This past week the U.S. House of Representatives voted 332 to 94 in favor of changes to the federal budget for 2014. The House vote in effect adopted the proposals of the “Joint Congressional Committee,” chaired … Continue reading Budget deal in Congress — who won?
Capitalism’s government shutdown scam
BY JEFF MACKLER With blazing hyperbole and drama, corporate America pulled off yet another multi-trillion dollar rip-off of working people in the course of the fake “budget debate.” This time the consciously orchestrated scenario included a government shutdown that furloughed 800,000 federal workers and left another million working without pay. Added to the mix was … Continue reading Capitalism’s government shutdown scam
Behind the Fed’s ‘economic stimulus’
BY JEFF MACKLER In the old days—very old days like the last Great Depression of 1929—most people understood the term “economic stimulus” to mean some form of government investment in the economy aimed at directly producing jobs for working people through various kinds of public works programs. Considerable investment in ventures like construction of massive … Continue reading Behind the Fed’s ‘economic stimulus’
The rich don’t pay taxes!
BY JEFF MACKLER Armed to the teeth with a scalding report prepared by researchers of the U.S. Senate Permanent Committee on Investigations revealing that Apple Computer had avoided paying billions of dollars in taxes on its nearly unprecedented foreign profits, members of the Senate were momentarily outraged. The senators took to the corporate media to … Continue reading The rich don’t pay taxes!
The real roots of the U.S. economic crisis
By BRUCE PARDOLL I think that a comprehensive understanding of how the present U.S. economic crisis came about, and how things have considerably worsened not only since December 2007—when the Great Recession began—but also since 1974 (when wages for the working class began a steady downward slide) is greatly needed. Marxism is uniquely qualified to … Continue reading The real roots of the U.S. economic crisis
Cyprus bank crisis rocks Europe
By ANDREW POLLACK The outrage of workers in Cyprus against a plan to “save” the country’s finances by seizing cash in small depositors’ accounts forced the country’s parliament to vote unanimously in late March against it. The plan was intended to avert the wrath of the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and the … Continue reading Cyprus bank crisis rocks Europe
Capitalism damns the environment
By JEFF MACKLER Capitalism, the system—Chinese, American, or European style—has struck yet another devastating blow against all humanity. One of the world’s largest solar-panel manufacturing plants, employing 10,000 Chinese workers at the city of Wuxi on China’s east coast, has declared bankruptcy—a victim of its own “success” and capitalism’s inherent drive to destruction. The Wuxi … Continue reading Capitalism damns the environment
Congress makes workers pay for crisis
By JEFF MACKLER In today’s era of U.S. and worldwide capitalist austerity, not a day or month passes when the corporate media do not inform us that the nation faces yet another economic crisis. From the deficit crisis, in which the U.S. budget falls short $1 trillion yearly; to the “fiscal cliff” crisis, wherein “across-the-board” … Continue reading Congress makes workers pay for crisis
Congress: Smaller paychecks for workers
By USMAN KHAN YUSUFZAI New Year’s Day has come and gone; the impending “fiscal cliff” disaster that so occupied the fears of politicos and businessmen throughout the country has, at the 11th hour, been averted by heroic deal-making by Republican and Democratic legislators. They made some “tough decisions” in the face of the (manufactured) crisis … Continue reading Congress: Smaller paychecks for workers