The lesson of the Russian NEP is that economic liberalization does not necessarily signify the democratization of a country, and that it may be accompanied by the elimination of democracy.
Category: Political Economy
Does Biden’s American Rescue Plan Open a New Era of Reform?
Democrats claim that Biden’s ARP continues the work of Roosevelt and Johnson and that it will transform America. Yet, while these reforms are much needed, none of the programs begins to transform the fundamental structures of American capitalism.
Thomas Piketty and Karl Marx: Two totally different visions of Capital
Piketty proposes a scenario that suggests capital has been present from the origins of humanity and that revenue from a savings account held by a limited-income retired person is the same as revenue derived from capital.
Climate Change Comes to Republican Texas Producing a Disaster
Twenty years ago, Republicans took over Texas’ governorship, house, and senate and then deregulated and neglected the state’s energy systems, leading to this catastrophe.
State-Corporatist Alliance and Farmers’ Unrest in India
The ongoing Indian farmers’ protest in reaction to corporatisation of agricultural land and access to Mandis (open markets) demands an urgent legal reexamination of its impact on agrarian labour and small-scale farmers.
Trump Acquitted, Biden Builds Business Support for Relief
While Trump remains a major figure and his mass base a serious problem, today his party is weaker than ever. While Republican disarray benefits Democrats, Biden’s party still faces COVID, economic depression, climate change, and racism.
How the GameStop Saga Fell Short
The Wall Street establishment’s swift suppression of GameStop trading has illuminated how the endless drive for profit, inherent in capitalism, extends not just to destroying the lives and jobs of the working class, but even to thwarting the market itself.
Biden Moves Ahead as Republicans Line Up Behind Trump
President Joseph Biden, in office for less than a month, continued to move ahead with his plan to solve the American health and economic crises and to reassert U.S. global dominance. As he pushes ahead with his relief program, Republicans have lined up behind Trump.
A Novel Challenge to the 1% as Populism Comes to the Stock Market
America’s contemporary populist impulse that gave us both the Bernie Sanders progressive campaign and Donald Trump’s reactionary Make America Great Again, has now given us the small trader rebellion against the hedge funds.
The Cost of “Financial Literacy”
The book suggests that the key to ascending from the working class is to join the owning class through investing, where you can forever feed from the golden trough of passive-income, typically replenished by the working class you were once a part of.
review
A Leftist Perspective on China’s Environmental Destruction
As “part of China,” we Hong Kongers have seen how China’s economic growth has contributed to the degradation of its environment. To be fair, Hong Kong’s economic takeoff had already harmed its environment before China took over the city. We . . .
Biden Will have a Short Honeymoon
The current celebratory mood of the Democrats and the honeymoon with the president is not likely to last long, given both who Biden is and the health and economic challenges that he faces.
review
Capitalism, Romanticism, and Nature
Robert Sayre and Michael Löwy’s Romantic Anti-capitalism and Nature is an extremely interesting book—enjoyable, informative, and intellectually stimulating.
review
Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste
The Occlusion of Political Economy
Wilkerson’s adroit storytelling jumps off the page, but the glaring omission in her book is political economy.
Latin America in the Time of COVID
Gonzalez examines the development of Latin American political economy and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Western Imperialism and the Role of Sub-imperialism in the Global South
An examination of the significance of BRICS countries as “sub-imperial” powers in the context of global capitalism and imperialism.
Bolivia’s Elections
The Return of Democracy and an Uncertain Future
Bolivia has given the world an impressive lesson in democracy, but reactionary sectors of the country are once again revealing their anti-democratic impulse.
The empire strikes back: Joe Biden’s plan to restore U.S. hegemony
Biden is proposing to combine Obama’s muscular multilateralism with Trump’s focus on great power rivalry with China and Russia. This augurs not the peace that liberals hoped for, but a dangerous reassertion of U.S. imperial power.
In Appreciation of Leo Panitch
The sudden death our friend and comrade Leo Panitch has led to an extraordinary outpouring of sadness and appreciation across the world. Very few intellectuals on the left have had the intellectual impact on progressive thinkers and activists that Leo has had.
Top