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Showing posts from October 3, 2021

A Saudi-British Comedy?

“A Saudi Arabian takeover of Newcastle United is close to being agreed.  Approval from the Premier League could possibly come in the next 24 hours after a consortium proved the Saudi state would not have control of the club.  Instead the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is set to provide 80% of funds for the £300m deal, will be seen as separate to the state and therefore allow the takeover to pass the Premier League owners' and directors' test.” — the BBC “The  Public Investment Fund  is the  sovereign wealth fund  of  Saudi Arabia . It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of at least $500 billion.  It was created in 1971 for the purpose of investing funds on behalf of the government of Saudi Arabia. It has been characterized as among the least transparent sovereign wealth funds in the world. In 2016, the  Wall Street Journal  noted that none of the fund's investments were named.” — Wikipedia

On the ‘Evils’ of the Present Economic System

Did what Bertrand Russell say in 1916 still relevant today? “Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.” —  Bertrand Russell, Sceptical Essays (1928), Ch. 13: Freedom in Society.

The Most Powerful Man in Iraq

A detailed article but too much political science, almost nothing about Iraqi capitalism and why it is not providing. Note that there are no classes anymore in Iraq; no economic institutions and capitalists; no form of economic development; no rate of profit; no foreign capital; no IMF…   In a long article by two journalists about the Sadrist movement and “the most powerful man in Iraq,” there is no word about the man’s economic programme! The word economy itself does not feature at all.  U.S. enemy and friend of Iran? Related Iraq’s “March for Reforms”