I have mentioned many times on this blog that rising global debt reduces the ability of capitalist economies to avoid slumps and find quick way to recover (and see ‘Debt Matters’ in my book, The Long Depression and also in World in Crisis). As Marx explained, credit is a necessary component in oiling the wheelsContinue reading “The debt dilemma”
Category Archives: economics
The scarring
Optimism reigns in global stock markets, particularly in the US. After falling around 30% when the lockdowns to contain COVID-19 virus pandemic were imposed, the US stock market has jumped back 30% in April. Why? Well, for two reasons. The first is that the US Federal Reserve has intervened to inject humungous amounts of creditContinue reading “The scarring”
The Greek tragedy: Act Three
On Thursday night, EU leaders again failed to agree on how to provide proper fiscal support for hard-hit member states to cope with the health costs of the coronavirus pandemic and collapse of their economies from the lockdowns. The EU leaders have already agreed to a €540bn package of emergency measures. This sounds a lotContinue reading “The Greek tragedy: Act Three”
COVID-19 and containment
It is a risky thing to start analysing the COVID stats and coming up with some conclusions at this still early stage of the pandemic. It is even riskier for an economist to delve into areas beyond his or her supposed expertise. But after looking at myriads of articles, heaps of data and lots ofContinue reading “COVID-19 and containment”
The euro’s corona crisis
This coming Thursday 23 April there is a video conference meeting of the EU leaders to discuss once again what to do about the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing lockdown of production across the area. In particular, there is the vexed question of how to help out those EU members states like Italy and SpainContinue reading “The euro’s corona crisis”
The post-pandemic slump
The coronavirus pandemic marks the end of longest US economic expansion on record, and it will feature sharpest economic contraction since WWII. The global economy was facing the worst collapse since the second world war as coronavirus began to strike in March, well before the height of the crisis, according to the latest Brookings-FT trackingContinue reading “The post-pandemic slump”
Lives or livelihoods?
There are now two billion people across the world living under some form of lockdown as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. That’s a quarter of the world’s population. The world economy has seen nothing like this. Nearly all economic forecasts for global GDP in 2020 are for a contraction of 3-5%, as bad ifContinue reading “Lives or livelihoods?”
Engels on nature and humanity
In the light of the current pandemic, here is a rough excerpt from my upcoming short book on Engels’ contribution to Marxian political economy on the 200th anniversary of his birth. Marx and Engels are often accused of what has been called a Promethean vision of human social organisation, namely that human beings, using theirContinue reading “Engels on nature and humanity”
A war economy?
If all country pandemics were the same, then the figure below would be how this pandemic will come to an end. The start-to-peak ratio of Covid-19 infections for all countries would be 40-50 days. Many countries are not yet near the peak point and there is no guarantee that the peak will be at theContinue reading “A war economy?”
Lockdown!
According to AFP estimates, some 1.7 billion people across the world are now living under some form of lockdown as a result of the coronavirus. That’s almost a quarter of the world population. The world economy has seen nothing like this. Nearly all economic forecasts for global GDP in 2020 are for a contraction ofContinue reading “Lockdown!”
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