Archive | October, 2008

It is about time that Jews spoke out strongly and decisively against Zionism, and the newly announced International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) is trying to do just that. IJAN is moving towards an “offensive” against Zionism rather than the customary “reactionism,” responding to outrages, which characterizes most solidarity work. This offensive takes two routes: A […]

The Will Miller Lecture, University of Vermont, October 28, 2008 Like many people who do not live around here, and maybe some who do, I had not heard of Will Miller, so, on being invited to be part of the Will Miller Social Justice Lecture series, I went to the organization’s Web site and learned […]

Página/12: What is your opinion about the decision of the Treasury Department to consider taking ownership stakes in many United States banks?  Do you think this is the right political-economic strategy?  I mean, will it lead to the recovery of the system? JBF: The Treasury Department proposal to purchase majority shares in major U.S. banks […]

The international press only reports on the economic hurricane beating the world. Many present it as a new phenomenon. For us it is not new; it was forseeable. Today, I’d rather deal with another current issue of great interest to our people, too.

To reassure myself completely, I visited my banker.   He welcomed me with his usual warmth.  “Your savings aren’t at risk at all,” he assured me in a firm voice, giving me a big pat on the back.  “Having lost 30% of their value since the 15th of September, your various assets add up to 69,990 […]

No one is more surprised than Shlomo Sand that his latest academic work has spent 19 weeks on Israel’s bestseller list — and that success has come to the history professor despite his book challenging Israel’s biggest taboo. Dr. Sand argues that the idea of a Jewish nation — whose need for a safe haven […]

  Emiliano Brancaccio is a professor of labor economics at the University of Sannio, member of Rifondazione Comunista, and advisor to the largest union of Italian metalworkers FIOM-CGIL. You maintain that the financial crisis is not purely a technical financial phenomenon but has a social cause.  Why? The starting point is the weakness of the […]

CHE… is one of the most noble, exceptional and altruistic men I have ever known, which would have no importance if one did not believe that people like him exist in their millions, millions and millions among the masses. People who stand out in a singular manner would not be able to do anything, if […]

In the minds of some, the name of Stanley Aronowitz — and Social Text and Situations, the two journals he is associated with — may immediately conjure up the specter of postmodernism.  But in Left Turn: Forging a New Political Future, he champions a number of ideas that go against the grain of all that […]

The international financial crisis that originated in mortgages and derivatives in the United States has spread to Europe, Asia, and Latin America, and Mexico will be significantly affected by the crisis.  Government, business leaders and analysts say that for Mexico the crisis means: Less foreign direct investment. A decreasing market for its exports. Lower prices […]

Many Palestinians that I met during my travels in the West Bank told me that to know what Palestine really was about and meant, I had to go to Nablus.  Most of them also told me that Nablus was their favourite city. After spending 5 weeks there this summer, I understand why. Arriving from Ramallah […]

When: World Food Day, Thursday, October 16th, 2008 at 7 PM Where: Great Hall of Cooper Union, 7 E. 7th Street (at 3rd Ave.), New York City Cost: Free (suggested donation at the door) RSVP (encouraged): whyevents@whyhunger.org.  Seating is first come, first served. As U.S. food pantries face long lines and empty shelves while food […]

  “Dreamed about AIG and the stock market, woke up with the urge to stock up on canned goods and shotguns.” — Michele Catalano of Long Island, an angry blogger. The month of September was cruel for Wall Street.  Stormy winds blew away the venerable institutions of Wall Street and they collapsed one by one […]

Lewis Black, Me of Little Faith, New York: Riverhead, 2008 Now even the stand-up comics are embracing godlessness.   First came the scientists, then the pundits, and now Lewis Black and his collection of autobiographical snapshots and pensées, Me of Little Faith.  In a country supposedly under the iron heel of the Christian Right, how heartening […]

  For years, the U.S. never considered Africa as a priority foreign policy agenda.  The only context in which Africa came up in Washington was for preferential trade as in AGOA (Africa Growth & Opportunity Act) or in AIDS funding from PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) and of course humanitarian assistance.  Despite its […]

Saori Katada* poses a most compelling question: why does Japan continue to denominate so much of its accumulated export earnings in dollars?  Katada frames the question slightly differently, asking why Japan has not moved from being a “supporter” of the dollar-denominated currency regime in East Asia to being a “challenger.”  But it’s essentially the same […]

Sunday afternoon, October 5th, 2008, a moment at the height of a global credit crisis, the like of which has not been seen by anyone under the age of eighty.  The time will come when calm has returned, and when we at Monthly Review will point to a record over the last several years of […]

  House members voting for the bailout Friday have collected 41 percent more than opponents from the industries most eager for emergency aid.  Senate vote was similarly divided. WASHINGTON (Oct. 3, 2008) — Members of the House of Representatives who voted Friday afternoon in favor of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 had received […]

Last October 2nd we discussed the international price of our fuel consumption. I am under the impression that its significance attracted the attention of many leaders and cadres.

In recent weeks there have been numerous press reports and articles indicating that Argentina is facing serious economic problems that could lead to a default on its sovereign debt.  Some of these analyses compare Argentina’s current situation to that of 2001, when the government of Argentina did actually default.1 It is not only journalists and […]