Archive | Commentary

It is true that banks are less leveraged, but the outflow of capital is intensifying.  Internationalized industry is hit by global overproduction, and lower prices of raw materials depress growth.  Moreover, attempts at stimulation collide with reduced resources from the central economies. Those who expect geopolitical benefits to follow from the crisis forget that the […]

  Economic ignorance is widespread in the United States. People think they know something about the subject, but few do.  My mother is convinced that China is the cause of all our economic problems.  When I challenge her, she doesn’t think it matters that I have spent forty years studying and teaching the dismal science.  […]

  The 4th quarter US GDP figures confirm that the economic downturn, in its domestic aspect, is taking the classic form of an investment-led decline. As seen in Figure 1 US fixed investment already started to fall from the 1st quarter of 2006 onwards — US consumer expenditure and GDP, in contrast, continued to rise […]

  Written, shot, edited, and directed by Tatu Laukkanen and Matti Pohjonen, in collaboration with NEGATIVEWARMACHINE in Helsinki, Finland.  “Philosophy of Dogs,” Part III of Elephantasma? (a feature-length experimental documentary film that examines economic change in Bombay, India from three different angles), “has already managed to get censored from one seminar on Indian economic growth” […]

23.02.2009 I hope you will understand that after everything I have been through I am neither physically nor mentally capable of facing the media on the moment of my arrival back to Britain.  Please forgive me if I make a simple statement through my lawyer.  I hope to be able to do better in days […]

A delightful surprise awaited us as the 3rd phase of Digna Rabia (Dignified Rage) began on January 2nd.  Philosophers, writers, activist organizations, journalists, musicians, and the EZLN participated in panels, all addressing the general theme of Otro Mundo, otra política (Another world, another politics).  Several thousand packed the CIDECI auditorium to overflowing and managed to […]

John Gibler, Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt, 356 Pages, City Lights Publishers (January, 2009). Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world, calls Mexico home, as do millions of impoverished citizens.  From Spanish colonization to today’s state and corporate repression, Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt, by John Gibler, is written from […]

When Israel’s 18th parliament opened today, there was only one Arab woman among its intake of legislators. حنين زعبي Haneen Zuabi has made history: although she is not the first Arab woman to enter the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, she is the first to be elected for an Arab party. Sitting in her home in […]

Is talking about homosexuality still a taboo?  In the Arab world, specifically Lebanon, the answer to this question is yes and no.  Sure, you can have an actual discussion about homosexuality.  People can freely discuss homosexuality being a disease, unnatural, and even disgusting.  The Arab world doesn’t seem to have an issue with such discussions. […]

In neighborhoods around New Orleans, there’s a buzz of excitement gathering among this city’s Arab population.  A new wave of organizing has brought energy and inspiration to a community that is usually content to stay in the background.  The movement is youth-led, with student groups rising up on college campuses across the city, but also […]

The text below is composed of short excerpts (abstract, introduction, conclusion) from Jörg Bibow, “Insuring Against Private Capital Flows: Is It Worth the Premium?  What Are the Alternatives?” published online by the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College in December 2008.  The full text of “Insuring against Private Capital Flows” is available (in PDF) at […]

  Nearly two hundred people gathered yesterday afternoon at the crossroads of Sodeco in Beirut to protest against violations of the rights of social minorities in Lebanon.  The defense of the homosexual community was clearly the dominant theme of the demonstration, organized at the initiative of the Helem association, which has been fighting for the […]

  Analytical Monthly Review, published in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, is a sister edition of Monthly Review.  Its February 2009 issue features the following editorial. — Ed. We have lost twice over from the late November terror attacks in Mumbai.  We must add to the anguish of the loved ones of the poor people who […]

Winning the “hearts and minds” of the civilian population, according to counterinsurgency field manuals, is key to defeating the resistance.  It is a lesson that imperialists learned a long time ago, but one that they seldom put into practice, let alone successfully impart to their clients.  Israel’s attack on Gaza is a case in point.  […]

There are, of course, other ways to “support and stimulate” the declining US economy: those that congressional debaters, presidential advisors, and the dutiful media never discuss.  All the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury ever do is justify their functions as lenders and spenders “of last resort” (when the private sector will not).  Neither ever […]

  “Look on us, Look on them. Who looks more like you? Us! We have McDonald’s and soon H&M. They don’t even have a Subway-type chain.” “Support US! Hate THEM!” Eretz Nehederet (A Wonderful Country) is a satirical Israeli television program.  H/T to Norman G. Finkelstein.

  Since February 2003, Iran’s nuclear program has undergone what the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) itself admits to be the most intrusive inspection in its entire history.  After thousands of hours of inspections by some of the most experienced IAEA experts, the Agency has verified time and again that (1) there is no evidence […]

The Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle of New York invites you to join us in April for a 10-day trip to Venezuela examining advances in food sovereignty and other initiatives for social change.  Start off in the capital city of Caracas, then travel to four additional states, including visits to newly formed cooperative farms and rural […]

The text below is composed of short excerpts (abstract, introduction, conclusion) from Esteban Pérez Caldentey and Matías Vernengo, “Back to the Future: Latin America’s Current Development Strategy,” International Development Economics Associates Working Paper No. 07/2008. The full text of “Back to the Future” is available (in PDF) at <networkideas.org/working/dec2008/07_2008.pdf>. — Ed.

  Part 1 Part 2 Cf.  Kamran Rehmat, “Swat: Pakistan’s Lost Paradise” (Al Jazeera, 27 January 2009); “‘Peace March’ in Pakistan’s Swat” (Al Jazeera, 19 January 2009); Sanjeev Miglani, “Pakistan Islamists in a Deal with China Communists: a Sign of the Times?” (Pakistan: Now or Never?  19 February 2009); Patrick Goodenough, “Turn to China, Islamists […]