A crisis is the method by which a capitalist economy partially purges itself of the effects of past mistakes while imposing misery on the masses.
Economists often characterize the outcomes as by the shape of letters of the alphabet.  A “V” indicates a quick collapse and an equally quick recovery.  “L” suggests a collapse followed by [...]

The June edition of the Socialist Voice is out now. You can view the PDF here.
In the current issue:

Employment report will be shelved in pursuit of failed strategy [NC]
Debt crisis significantly worse than the state reported! [NL]
Real jobs needed, not welfare cuts [BH]
Garret Fitzgerald: a bankrupt legacy [CMK]
The legacy of [...]

Dear George,
A few days after the 2009 election that brought you to power, you told your cabinet in a televised meeting: “We are anti-authoritarians in authority”. Most of your cabinet, men and women who had been craving authority for years, looked at you incredulously, while your detractors mocked you. You seemed [...]

The main direction of lobbying for the IMF’s new managing director is unfortunately showing the weak side of that organization, not its strong one.
Serious economic commentary already knows the greatest challenges of the next period. It is only necessary to open a business paper to review them. In the next decade, the world economy will [...]

This post appeared on Yanis’ blog today. Republishing it here with the kind permission of the author.
In his pivotal article in yesterday’s Financial Times, Martin Wolf put the matter starkly: “The eurozone, as designed, has failed.” Paul Krugman quickly added this chilling allegory to Wolf’s detailed argument: “If you ask me, the [...]

Apparently, the Marquis didn’t like the window tax.
‘The Marquis of Dowshire presented two petitions [to the House of Lords], one from Dublin, and the other from Belfast, complaining generally of the excessive burthen of taxes, but especially the Window tax which . . . bore most unfairly as well as most [...]

Amendments to wage-setting mechanisms must protect aggregate demand
The following statement has been issued by members of the TASC Economists’ Network, comprising economists, economic analysts and social scientists:
“We broadly welcome the Report of the Independent Review of Employment Regulation Orders and Registered Employment Agreement Wage-Setting Mechanisms. In particular, the recommendation that the basic JLC framework should [...]

Michael Burke argues on Progressive Economy that IBEC’s attack on the JLC wage setting mechanisms in order to drive pay lower ‘is not simply morally indefensible. It is economically illiterate’.
Looking at the main sectors of the economy: households, corporates and goverments in terms of saving and investment he points out that in a normally [...]

A couple of cheers for Minister Leo, putting both his feet in the mouth of the Government. In a refreshing dose of realism he stated what everyone knows - we’re not going back to the markets anytime soon.
Unfortunately, this realism landed the Minister in a bit of warmish water. Not because of [...]

This post appeared on Yanis’ blog today. Republished with the kind permission of the author.
A Damocles’ Sword is, supposedly, hanging over Greece. We are told (even by the Greek EU commissioner) that Greeks must either accept that their country will be run, and micromanaged, by a committee of foreign creditors or [...]