Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

En Français , Arabe and English Good news for many: ‘there is no hope for Arab countries; it is in their culture.’ Full Speed Ahead … to Nowhere

There is a focus on capitalism in the UK .  I don’t understand what Michael Roberts means by three socio-economic systems. Is it not capitalism the socio-economic system of our era?

“The electoral infrastructure and the mobilisation of the security apparatus — the police and Islamo-nationalist militias rather than the army — may get Erdoğan re-elected. But the three pillars of his political project — the credibility of the state, his assertive foreign policy and economic success — have been shaken by the earthquake .”

The Royal College of Nursing is balloting all of its UK members for strike action for the first time in its 106-year history . Let’s hope this goes ahead and be effective. Related Labour leader refuses to back striking workers

“ It seems that today’s Tories – even (or perhaps especially) their most committed ideologues – are once again prepared to ‘pay up’ if it allows them to win a class fight. And let’s not delude ourselves: Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget … shows that a class fight is underway.” Sound money? “Class war is traditionally a term levelled at the left – typically when arguing for radical things such as housing or food – but it is clearer than ever that it is the Tories who wage it.” The class war is upon us

According to a leading liberal, new Keynesian economist, “The next crisis will not be like its predecessors. In the 1970s, we had stagflation but no massive debt crises, because debt levels were low. After 2008, we had a debt crisis followed by low inflation or deflation, because the credit crunch had generated a negative demand shock. Today, we face supply shocks in a context of much higher debt levels, implying that we are heading for a combination of 1970s-style stagflation and 2008-style debt crises – that is, a stagflationary debt crisis.”

“The statistics show very clearly that the cost of living crisis is not being driven by workers demanding higher wages. The combination of the war in Ukraine and disturbances to supply chains that took place during the Great Lockdown are the main factors explaining higher prices. As I argued in  Tribune  last week, the crisis in  global shipping  is particularly important in explaining why prices have risen so much over the last few years. But the issue isn’t simply macroeconomic changes that are beyond our control — it’s also the profiteering of large corporations in response to the inflationary environment.” Rising prices are not driven by rising wages

An alternative to monetary or wage policy

Pass the bill to the workers

Bring class struggle back in

Is this shift sufficient to tackle the century’s social and ecological crises? Not nearly. Does it alter essential class relations? On the contrary: it strives to re-legitimize the social order. Is it unambiguous? No: while private finance has been kept out of new domestic infrastructure projects, the US is still driving privatization and deregulation in the global south and intensifying its new Cold War on China. Will it propel a new phase of economic expansion? I doubt it, due to the sheer scale of global overaccumulation and the fade-out of the industrialization bonanza. 1979 in Reverse

Venezuela's crazy economics I wonder though what is this "international community" that is holding a solution to the disaster in a world dominated by a hegemon, international capital, and a continuing rise of far-right regimes.  Is the author speaking about the same "international community" that should have done something about the slaughter in Syria, the genocide in Myanmar, the detsruction in Libya, or the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, one of the worst in moder history?

Prior to the 12 May demonstration in London, the Trade Union Congress had publised the results of a research: "The current period of wage stagnation is the worst for two centuries. Not since the beginning of the 18th  century (when it took 24 years ) , has it taken so long for real wages to recover from a slump." Britain's 17-year real wage squeeze

Egypt's economic crisis 

Venezuela: Near the End?