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Who Owns London?

London: Life support system of the super-rich Alpha City:  How London Was Captured by the Super-rich How the super-wealthy took over London
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Global Capitalsm

This falls in the underconsumption theory. It very insighful though, but it would be interesting to see a critique of it, especially that it apparently excludes the relationship between investment and the rate of profit. "Michael Pettis and Matthew Klein's new book  Trade Wars Are Class Wars  begins  with an epigraph from John A. Hobson: "The struggle for markets, the greater eagerness of producers to sell than of consumers to buy, is the crowning proof of a false economy of distribution. Imperialism is the fruit of this false economy." Pettis and Klein update the Hobsonian thesis for the twenty-first century, arguing that, while trade wars are often thought to be the result of atavistic leadership or the contrasting economic priorities of discrete nation states, they are best understood as the malign symptoms of domestic inequalities that harm workers the world over." Trade Wars Are Class Wars
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U.S. Imperialism

The Oil for Security Myth and Middle East Insecurity Related McJihad: Empire and Islam Between the US and Saudi Arabia Why the Gulf Wealth Matters to Britain [and the U.S.]
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Via Michael Roberts The pandemic lockdowns will reduce incomes of low-paid workers in Europe by anything between 10% to 22% on average, depending on how long lockdowns last, according to a new study. Enforced social distancing and lockdown measures to contain COVID-19 restrict economic activity, especially among workers in non-essential jobs who cannot ‘telework’. These have implications for inequality and poverty. This column analyses  the capacity of individuals in 29 European countries to work under lockdown and the potential impact of a two-month lockdown on wages and inequality levels. There will be substantial and uneven wage losses across the board and poverty will rise. Inequality within countries will worsen, as it will between countries although to a lesser extent. "In sum, our analysis reveals that the lockdown and de-escalation periods will potentially increase poverty and inequality sizeably in all European countries, even without accounting for second-roun
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Middle Eastern Cinema

"The 20-year evolution of modern independent Middle Eastern cinema has been exciting, unpredictable, and in some cases, awe-inspiring. A few masterpieces have been made, such as Ala Eddine Slim’s  Tlamess ; Shahram Mokri's  Fish & Cat ; and Annemarie Jacir’s  Wajib . Documentary filmmaking has experienced a major leap in form (see for example the likes of Suhaib Gasmelbari's  Talking About Trees ; and Raed Andoni's  Ghost-hunting ). And film-makers have gained the confidence and experience that previous generations lacked. But foreign money and international exposure have come at a price: the subject matter of films has become repetitive; simplistic liberal politics have become mandatory; and formal experimentation has become a gimmick rather than genuine artistic expression. People tell stories partially to redress historical silences, but if the stories and the resulting images are so ubiquitous, then what’s the point? And if the message and sentiments of
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