Economy

Another
variation on the demand to “tax the rich” is the call for a tax on
financial transactions, otherwise known as a “Financial Transactions
Tax” (FTT), “Tobin Tax” (after the Nobel economics laureate, James
Tobin, who first proposed the idea in 1972), or “Robin Hood Tax” (i.e.
taking from the rich and giving to the poor).

The present
economic crisis has been described in various ways by mainstream
commentators. All manner of “solutions” have been posed, both by the
bourgeois politicians and economists, and by the reformist leaderships
of the working class. What these commentators and representatives cannot
admit is that this crisis will not be solved by this or that reform.
Society is living through a crisis of capitalism and the choice facing
mankind is simple: socialism or barbarism

Europe’s economic crisis is being
transformed by the day into a deep political crisis. Italy and Greece
both have new governments – governments of “national unity”, pledged to
solve the economic and financial crisis that has rocked Europe to its
foundations. What are these so-called technocratic governments and what
do they represent?

Last week Angela Merkel was warning
that peace in Europe could be endangered if an agreement was not
reached at the EU summit on how to manage the crisis that has engulfed
the euro and the whole of the EU economy. Speaking to the German
parliament she said, “No one should think that a further half century of
peace and prosperity is assured. It isn’t. And that’s why I say if the
euro fails, Europe will fail, and that mustn’t happen." Some of the more
serious strategists of capital have even raised the prospect that the
euro could break up. The 27 EU leaders on Wednesday night, however,
finally produced a three part deal.

A new International Labour Organisation reports says that as much as 50%
of youth are now unemployed in many countries. Capitalist crisis has
meant soaring unemployment especially amongst the young. The report 
warns of difficult years ahead where young people may resort to violence
to vent their anger at governments worldwide.

The world
crisis of capitalism has entered a new stage. Rather than recover,
several countries are showing features of a depression. This is an
unprecedented situation and shows the deep malaise affecting the
capitalist system, still reeling from the slump of 2008-9.

“When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions!” Shakespeare: Hamlet Act IV.
Each week the financial crisis seems to be moving from one country to another without a pause. No country can feel safe. This is the grim reality for world capitalism today. Political editor, Rob Sewell, looks at the reasons for this ongoing crisis and explains why capitalism cannot find a way out.

The euro zone is heading into stormy
waters. The crisis that opened with the near collapse of the world
banking system in 2008 has now deepened into a crisis of insolvency of
entire nations. The bourgeois has no idea of how to get out of the
crisis, which is sweeping like an uncontrollable tsunami from one
country to another in Europe. In the words of Italy’s finance minister,
“There should be no illusions about who will be saved. Like on the
Titanic, the first class passengers won’t be able to save themselves.”

As I write these lines the destinies of Greece are being decided in a
titanic struggle in which the Greek working class is confronting the big
banks and capitalists of all Europe. The EU is subjecting Greece to the
most shameless blackmail. They say: either accept draconian cuts in
your living standards, or else we will refuse to hand over the next
tranche of 12 billion euros.

Workers have been feeling the pinch for
some time, even before the slump of 2008-09. Now they are in for an even worse
time, the most prolonged squeeze on living standards in recent memory.

Everywhere you look there is upheaval and crisis, from Europe to Japan
and to the United States. This reflects the worldwide malaise of
capitalism that is struggling to emerge from the recent slump. This is a
confirmation of Marxist ideas, which explains that capitalism is a
crisis-ridden system.

The world of international finance has been shaken by the
default in Dubai.
Shares have taken a tumble all over the world. Commentators have suggested that
this could be the cause of the recession moving into a double dip, of a further
downturn in the world economy. Mick Brooks looks at the unfolding crisis in the, until last week,  ‘money no object’ world of Dubai.