After Beckett Report – Labour can win if voters believe they will be better off

20th January 2016 Socialist Action 0

The Beckett report into why Labour lost the election has finally been published. It offers little comfort to the Labour right, who have made wild and unsubstantiated claims that Labour would have won, or performed much more strongly had it enthusiastically embraced austerity, or by attacked ‘welfare scroungers’, or by increased racism and offering promises on curbing immigration.

Understanding Britain’s wars

11th January 2016 Socialist Action 0
The article below, by Michael Burke, deals with the material reasons for Britain’s wars. Britain has the biggest military budget in Europe and, along with France is the most willing to engage in overseas military adventures, usually at the behest of the US. This article explains that in terms of Britain’s place within the global imperialist system led by the US. It first appeared on Socialist Economic Bulletin.

Latin American left needs to study China’s ‘revolution in production’

8th January 2016 Socialist Action 0
The following article, by John Ross, on the lessons of China’s ‘revolution in production’ for the Latin American left, previously appeared on Socialist Economic Bulletin.

In the later part of the 20th century Latin America suffered an economic catastrophe from neo-liberal policies. Until 1993 average per capita GDP in developing Latin American economies remained below 1981 levels. By 1998 annual average per capita GDP growth was still only 0.9% – taking a five-year average to remove cyclical fluctuations.