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The latest news and analysis from The Communist, alongside reports of our activity. For Marxist theory and history, click here.

All Keynesians now?

All Keynesians now?

Graham Turner has published The
Credit Crunch.  (The credit crunch by
Graham Turner, published by Pluto Press) Turner is an independent consultant
who worked in the City of London for many years.  What singles out this book is that it claims
to approach the problem from a socialist perspective, or at least it has been
adopted by the left.  Turner has spoken
at many left forums in recent months.

What is Graham Turner’s message?  He outlines his aim in the preface: “the
roots of this crisis must be understood to ensure there is no repeat of the
flawed economic policies that have created the biggest credit bust since the
1930s.  If we understand the causes, the
damage can be mitigated”.

Report: UEA Socialist Society Food Crisis Debate 19th November

Report: UEA Socialist Society Food Crisis Debate 19th November

On Wednesday 19th November UEA’s Socialist Society hosted a joint meeting
with the UEA Green Party. The meeting took the form of a debate between Norwich
City Councillor Rupert Read (Green Party) and Fred Weston on the important
issue of the food crisis. The question of whether the crisis is one of
production or distribution was the starting point of the debate, enabling the
speakers to explain their perspective on the cause of the crisis and
ultimately, their proposed solutions.

Benefit claimants in government’s firing line

Benefit claimants in government’s firing line

Single parents and those on incapacity benefits are due to
suffer as a result of government rule changes. From now they will be
transferred from Income Support to Job Seeker’s Allowance. They will have to
show they are ‘genuinely seeking work.’ If not, their benefits could be cut by
up to 40%. This is workfare on the way.

Same old Tories – no answers there

Same old Tories – no answers there

What a difference a few months make! In the summer Gordon
Brown was on the ropes. Over the past couple of months he has picked up a
thoroughly undeserved reputation as the ‘saviour of the world economy.’ Brown has embraced Keynesian policies wholeheartedly,
without explaining his U-turn. His solution to our economic ills is to hurl
money at them. ‘Never apologise, never explain’, seems to be his motto. So what
is making Brown look good? The Tories, that’s what.

Editorial: Merry Christmas? Not likely

Editorial: Merry Christmas? Not likely

As our editorial last month pointed out,
what killed the citizens of Pompeii was not the pyrotechnics of the explosion
of Mount Vesuvius, but the resulting ash that choked the people. It is
possible, though not inevitable, that we have seen the worst of the banking
collapse. But the results are destroying jobs all over Britain.

How Blair felt ‘instant sympathy ’ for Murdoch

How Blair felt ‘instant sympathy ’ for Murdoch

Buried on page 11 of the Guardian on 1st
November is an article, extremely enlightening in its simplicity, reporting the
‘news’ that during office Blair was only too happy to do Rupert Murdoch’s bidding.
According to Lance Price, former Downing Street
spin doctor, Murdoch was ‘one of the four most influential people in the
administration’. Never mind that he was totally unelected, not actually a part
of any ‘administration’, or that he is a US citizen whose company (News Corp.)
pays no net tax.

Three trade union leaders killed in Venezuela

Three trade union leaders killed in Venezuela

We
have received news of the assassination of three prominent trade union leaders
in Venezuela. Their comrades point the finger at the bosses in the Colombian
owned Alpina factory, where the workers are on struggle and where the three
killed comrades were coming from. They also point out the responsibility of
Didalco Boliviar, former governor of Aragua, defeated in the regional elections
last week. Didalco, was elected on a Bolivarian ticket but then joined the
opposition, and was known for his support for the bosses and the use of the
regional police against the workers.

What is really behind the food crisis?

What is really behind the food crisis?

We are told that there is not enough food for everyone, that
there are too many human beings on the planet and therefore we must all reduce
consumption – a handy idea in the hands of the bourgeois propagandists. The
real facts and figures reveal that the world produces enough food. So where
does the problem lie?

Brown: The Hero of the Hour

Brown: The Hero of the Hour

"ANDREA: Unhappy the land that has no heroes!"
"GALILEO: No, unhappy the land that needs heroes."
Bertolt Brecht (The Life of Galileo)

He is the
Hero of the Hour, the man who single-handedly has saved the world financial
system from meltdown. When all around were panicking and in despair, here was a
man who kept his head and, emanating a sense of absolute calm akin to the
Buddhist Nirvana, issued the command that re-established the Order of the
Universe. Nothing remotely similar has been seen since that far-off time just
before the Big Bang when the Almighty pronounced the immortal words: Let there
be Light. And there was Light. And God saw the Light, that it was good.

Working Time – Britain’s opt-out to end?

Working Time – Britain’s opt-out to end?

A vote at the Employment and Social Affairs
Committee of the European Parliament could signal an end to the British opt-out
from the Working Time Directive. Of particular significance was the unanimous
vote of British Labour MEPs to kill it. This is in sharp contrast to the
determination of New Labour in Whitehall to keep the opt-out – at the expense
of the British working class. The resoluteness of our MEPs, in behaving like
real Labour representatives, has rightly been described as an “embarrassment”
to the UK government.

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