The U.S. share of the global economy has shrunk dramatically since 1960. On the other hand, China is on pace to surpass the U.S. in GOP terms in 2030.
Archive | Newswire
Bidenfreude: COVID-19 in post-Trump U.S.
A jokester once characterized Yale University as a hedge fund with a campus attached to it. One might say something similar of the country in which Yale is based.
Biden nominees call for tough stance on China during confirmation hearings
During Tuesday’s confirmation hearings before the Senate, nominees for positions in Joe Biden’s cabinet expressed their support for a tough stance on China.
China tech ban mirrors 1980s attempts to destroy Japanese competition
In the 1980s, the U.S. imposed a 100% tariff on virtually all Japanese electronics and forced Tokyo to sign a one-sided trade deal that reserved much of its domestic semiconductor sector for American companies.
The class composition of the Capitol rioters (First Cut)
The extensive commentary I have read on the Capitol Seizure of January 6 has not, to my knowledge, focused on two aspects of the event: The first is the class composition of the rioters. The second is the actual cost of the event.
The patriots
Protesting farmers are reclaiming the idea of the nation.
U.S. makes aggressive opening move on Russian chessboard
A regime change project in Russia was launched on Sunday with the return of political activist Alexei Navalny to Moscow. It was a highly symbolic event—except that Navalny was traveling by an airplane from Germany and not in a sealed train.
The Jewish supremacist state (A comment on B’Tselem’s ‘apartheid regime’ designation for Israel)
During the past two decades, many respected individuals and organizations designated the regime Israel has established in the occupied Palestinian territory—the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza—as a form of apartheid.
Citing famine, UN urges reversal of terrorist designation for Yemen’s Houthis; U.S. refuses
Mark Lowcock of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that recent labeling of Houthis as a terrorist organization by the U.S. would likely trigger a “famine on a scale we have not seen in 40 years.
COVID-19: How the world fought in 2020
In December 2019, China’s Wuhan city witnessed an abnormal rise of what was initially thought to be cases of pneumonia, as identified by the Wuhan Municipality Health Commission. However, upon further investigation by Chinese officials, a novel coronavirus was identified. By then the city’s health system was already dealing with dozens of cases of coronavirus.
Illicit Financial Flows: Africa is the world’s main creditor
Contrary to the dominant discourse, it is actually the case that the 54 African states finance developed countries and not the other way round.
TNCs reviving TPP Frankenstein
The incoming Biden administration is under tremendous pressure to demonstrate better U.S. economic management. Trade negotiations normally take years to conclude, if at all. Unsurprisingly, lobbyists are already urging the next U.S. administration to quickly embrace and deliver a new version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Burying Pinochet
The Chilean media were quick to label the October 2019 popular uprising an ‘estallido social’, a social explosion. As the cry of ‘Chile despertó!’– Chile woke up!–rang out in the streets, the refrain in television studios was that ‘no one saw this coming’.
Engels on the Peasant War in Germany
At a time when peasant masses in the country are engaged in a valiant struggle for the repeal of the Central government’s three infamous laws, and have laid peaceful siege to Delhi, braving rains and bitter cold, it is worth recalling Friedrich Engels’ study of the peasant war in Germany in 1525, that also celebrated […]
The U.S. recovery on pause, December brings new job losses
A meaningful working-class recovery from the recession seems far away.
Prepare for a surge in Global inequality
The evidence clearly is that the Covid-crisis has upended the fiscal conservatism that has been the hallmark of the neoliberal era since the 1980s.
Aaron would have been 34 years old
November 8, 2020 would have been Aaron’s 34th birthday, but instead we mourn our friend and wonder what could have been, had he not taken his own life seven years ago after being terrorized by a career-driven prosecutor and U.S. Attorney who decided to just make shit up, make an example out of Aaron, impress […]
Struggling for ecosocialism in the time of Elon Musk
Elon Musk has been pronounced the wealthiest person on earth, slightly overtaking Jeff Bezos. Musk is known for his unhinged outbursts online and generally bizarre behaviour. In this respect, he epitomises the increasing craziness of capitalism.
The country where liberty is a statue
On 6 January, the world witnessed an interesting spectacle, an assortment of what appeared to be characters from fantasy television shows taking possession of the U.S. Capitol, where the legislature sits.
“What abyss are we talking about?”
The essay published by Timothy Snyder in the New York Times Magazine on January 9 has a beautiful title, even if it is not very original.
