The ‘Anglo-Saxon’ Political Crisis – from Reagan & Thatcher to Trump & Brexit

10th August 2017 Socialist Action 0

The following article by John Ross, setting out the economic forces underpinning the current political crises in the US and Britain, was previously published here by Socialist Economic Bulletin.

Every day the media reports deepening political destabilisation gripping both major ‘Anglo Saxon’ countries – the US and UK. Most important for the world, of course, is US political instability where almost daily crises hit the Trump administration – resignation of the President’s Chief of Staff, sacking of the head of the FBI, public attacks by the President on members of his Cabinet, virulent public and even obscene denunciations by the President’s advisers of each other, numerous Congressional investigations, sensational leaks from inside the national security agencies the FBI and CIA, open campaigns by key mass media such as the New York Times and CNN to remove the President etc. This US domestic political instability is clearly tightly intertwined with crises and developments in world politics – US relations with Russia, US disputes over the Iran nuclear deal, differences over US policy to China etc.

Why the US economy remains locked in slow growth

15th June 2017 Socialist Action 0

The following article by John Ross, setting out the growth prospects for the US economy, was previously published by Socialist Economic Bulletin.

Summary

The latest US economic data confirms the US remains locked in a prolonged period of slow growth with major consequences for geopolitics and destabilising consequences for US domestic politics.

Why the ‘Belt & Road’ region will be the main locomotive of the world economy

16th May 2017 Socialist Action 0
The following article by John Ross, explaining why the Belt & Road region is now the main locomotive in the world economy, was previously published by Socialist Economic Bulletin.

The importance of the Belt and Road (B&R) summit for China and participating countries is well known. What is not so widely grasped is that the B&R region is now by far the most powerful locomotive not only of the regional but of the global economy. To be precise:

· Measured at current exchange rates the IMF projects that in the next five years’ growth in the B&R region measured in absolute dollar terms will be almost twice that in North America and four times that in Europe.