Pakistan: Farooq Tariq comments on the Awami Workers' Party.

We reprint below the comments of Farooq Tariq on the formation of the Awami Workers' Party in Pakistan.  The Awami Party came about through the unification of three left parties, The Awami Party, the Labour Party Pakistan, and Workers Party Pakistan. Reprinted from Viewpoint AWP founded: Will it sustain itself?Thursday, 29 November 2012 23:33by Farooq Tariq The merger will survive because it has more positives and no negatives. The cementing...

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US: it’s investment, not consumption

by Michael RobertsJust a short one on US growth now that the Q3’12 real GDP data revision has been released.  Third quarter annualised real GDP growth was revised up from 2% to 2.7%.  That sounds good, but the devil is in the detail.  It was only revised up because of an increased estimate of inventories or stocks of goods produced.  In other words, US capitalists produced too much compared to demand and had to stock the...

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Trace Adkins and the Confederate flag

Trace AdkinsNow this insulting and apart from that, it reflects the biased US mass media. Trace Adkins who I assume is related to Chet Adkins, a country singer, wore an earring decorated with the confederate flag when he performed for the Christmas tree lighting in the Rockefeller Center on Wednesday night."Some regard the flag as a racist symbol" the Associated Press says as it reported the incident. Oh, and "who might that be?" "He meant no offense...

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Burmese workers protest copper mine

I was talking with a friend today about the very important developments in the fast food industry.  We both agreed that the leaders of the US trade Union movement who are involved in this have their own agenda when it comes to organizing workers.  On the one hand they are supporting the decimation of the living standards of the higher paid along with the weakening of Union rights on the job while supporting the Unionization of the low waged which would bring increased income in to what they see as the trade Union business.Below we see...

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Fast-Food Workers Walk Off the Job

McDonald's protest, Auckland NZWe are sharing this piece from the NYT with our readers given the importance of this walk off of fast food workers.  This is occurring as Walmart workers also take steps toward confronting their bosses which in this industry can have unpleasant consequences.  it shows how in the light of the recent crisis, workers are being forced in to action. The economic crisis is savaging the poor and low waged. (this...

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The election's over, Obama's ready to make nice with the Republicans now.

Obama and Boehner: "We'll work it out"The Democrats have their man in the White House for the next four years so the "class war" rhetoric can fade in to the background as the millionaires of the two Wall Street parties continue their assault on workers and the middle class----the actual class war continues.Obama is "showing new flexibility" in the discussions over what the mass media terms, the "Fiscal Cliff.", automatic cuts in spending and tax...

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August Nimtz and Lars Lih: Socialists, Elections and "Soviet Power

Readers might find these two presentations interesting, especially those interested in history and particularly the history of the socialist/communist movements. August Nimtz and Lars Lih from the Historical Materialism Conference in London last month. I have only watched the first one (Nimtz) and enjoyed it. ...

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The vultures gather round to scoop up a non-union Hostess Corp.

Last week, one of the 1%'s bankruptcy Judges  gave the Hostess bosses permission to liquidate the company and sell off its parts.  Along with ridding themselves of fixed stock, the coupon clippers that own it are also ridding themselves of any obligation to that other side of the capital expenditure in the labor process, some 18,000 workers.The bosses have many ways of violating contractual agreements with workers, violence, starvation, the military (always a dodgy option), the police, and their courts which is more favorable.  Being...

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Global growth and the vampire squid

by Michael RobertsJust today, the OECD slashed its global growth forecasts.  It now reckons the world economy will grow in real terms only 2.9% this year, down from a forecast of 3.4% that it made last May.  For 2013, it now reckons global growth will be just 3.4% compared to its previous forecast of 4.2%.  The main reason for the reduction is the weakening of the Eurozone economies, which the OECD expects to grow only 0.4% this...

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Bangladesh- 100 plus workers burnt to death. Walmart again?

Murdered in the quest for profitsOver 100 people died in a fire in a garment factory in Bangladesh over the weekend. At least 111 people died and scores of others are missing or injured. Bangladesh is the second largest exporter of clothing after China. Since 2006 more than 500 workers have died in fires in Bangladesh according to Clean Clothes Campaign an anti-sweat shop group based in Amsterdam. The industry employs more than three million workers...

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The US rate of the profit – the latest

by Michael RobertsIn this blog on economics and economic issues from a Marxist viewpoint, I seem to have become obsessed by two things in particular: measuring the rate of profit and criticising Keynesian economics.  I don’t think these are bad obsessions because I maintain that the level and trajectory of the rate of profit on advanced capital in a capitalist economy is the best underlying guide to the health of that economy.  And...

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Reject austerity: Fight back against the coupon clippers

Here's one reason your public services are cutSteven A Cohen is a rich man.  He is the head of SAC Capital Advisers, one of the "Biggest names in the hedge fund world" says the Wall Street Journal. If you work for a living its not likely you'll be using the services of SAC Capital Management. SAC helps those who prefer not to work for a living.The FBI have been trying to build a criminal case against Cohen as a partner in one of what the WSJ...

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Walmart protests throughout the world.

These developments against Walmart are very positive and a long time coming. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that the leadership of the Union most heavily involved in the drive, like the entire leadership of organized Labor, have the business view of these organizations. They see the Unions as employment organizations with them as the CEO's. To win Walmart would be a huge revenue enhancer in the form of dues.As far as the already existing members in the retail grocery outlet, the UFCW leadership like their colleagues throughout...

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Misery, death and hunger an everyday reality for millions in India

This video is from Bloomberg Business Week.  It accompanies an article I read in the latest issue that gives a vivid account of life in an Indian village as told by an American whose father was born there.What the article lacks of course is any serious criticism of capitalism.  India, the US capitalist class likes to boast, is the world's most populous democracy.  The problem though is corruption and "crony capitalism" and that India has not gone far enough in opening up its economy.  More of the so-called "free market.", that's...

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Black Friday Protest at San Leandro Walmart

I went down to my local Walmart in San Leandro tonight on Hesperian Blvd (Thanksgiving night).  The store opened at 8 and the consumers were there in droves. There was a small but spirited protest or more accurately informational picket about the plight of the Walmart workers I shot some video and have to apologize for the bad volume at times as the I phone takes good video but the mike is not the best. I noticed that the workers referred...

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Bayes law, Nate Silver and voodoo economics

by Michael RobertsNate Silver is the new hero of the liberal left in the US.  This mathematician and statistician correctly forecast Obama’s victory in the presidential election and in the Senate and the result for the electoral college in all 50 states. On the morning of the 6 November 2012, the final update of Silver’s model gave President Barack Obama a 90.9% chance of winning a majority of the 538 electoral votes. Both in summary tables and in an electoral map, Silver forecast the winner of each state.  Silver’s model...

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