Trump’s economic destabilisation
Leading official forecasters do not expect the main industrialised countries’ growth to accelerate in the next period, and the UK economy is expected to be the weakest of all.
Economics
The US is attempting to impose an international ‘economic dictatorship’
The US issuing almost simultaneously a series of economic ‘demands’ to China, and withdrawing from the nuclear arms agreement with Iran and re-imposing sanctions on that country, has now led to very wide layers understanding that actions by the US administration are at present attempting to de facto impose an international ‘economic dictatorship’.This is a sharp turn in international opinion because this understanding goes far beyond those who are opponents of the US or are in general favourable to China.
Growth in the G7 ‘Great Stagnation’ will be slower than in the Great Depression
The following article by John Ross, examining the current slow growth of the G7 economies, was previously published on Learning from China.
The Western G7 economies are in, and will remain locked in, very slow growth. How slow this growth is can be seen starkly by taking an historical comparison: the average growth in the Western economies in the entire period since the international financial crisis in 2008 will actually be slower than in the Great Depression after 1929!
After Trump’s victory China is the main strategic pillar for globalisation
The following article by John Ross, examining the significance of Donald Trump’s election for world trade, was previously published by Socialist Economic Bulletin.
Trump’s election as US President means 2016 is ending with a stark public contrast between the positions of China and the US on global trade. The US has its first president proclaiming support for protectionism since World War II, while China states its support for increased international trade and economic globalisation.
Pro-austerity monolith starts to fracture
by Nicky Dempsey
The near-unanimous support for austerity policies in the ruling classes of the main capitalist powers is showing signs of strain. This is not because there is some recognition of the social and economic damage from the crisis, nor because of the valiant level of social resistance in some countries, or even because of the entry of populist and other unpredictable parties of the right.
Marxism and under-consumption
By Tom O’Donnell
The current crisis is leading to a revival of interest in Marxism in general and in Marxist explanations of capitalist crises in particular. Even in Britain this occasionally reaches the commentary of the mass media. Unfortunately, the commentary is usually produced by non-Marxists who mangle ideas and reproduce only their own misunderstandings.
In particular, a persistent distortion of Marxist ideas is the notion that economic crises are caused by ‘under-consumption’. Under-consumption is the process where workers are denied the full value of their expended labour-power in the production of commodities, and so cannot consume all the commodities produced in any economy.