I absolutely love how shamelessly frank Naguib Sawiris‘s tweets tend to be. . . Hossam el-Hamalawy is an Egyptian socialist, journalist, and photographer. Visit his blog: . Follow Hossam el-Hamalawy at . This article was first published in his blog on 21 May 2011 under a Creative Commons license. | Print
Subjects Archives: Political Economy
An Independent Citizens’ Debt Audit for Ireland
Introduction We, the undersigned, are sponsoring a citizens’ debt audit for Ireland. In the interest of transparency, we wish to know how the Irish debt — especially the bank debt for which the state has assumed responsibility — was incurred and to whom it is owed. We sponsor this audit as organizations that have […]
On the Political Economics of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s Political Death
What follows below is about the economic and political significance of the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK hereafter), the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. It will say nothing about the merits (or lack thereof) of the charges against DSK. All cases of alleged sexual assault brought against high-profile men place two equally important […]
Storming JPMorgan Chase Shareholders’ Meeting
Over 800 homeowners, clergy, and workers converged in Columbus, Ohio to directly confront JPMorgan Chase and deliver a message that Wall Street banks need to pay their fair share and stop foreclosing on America. For more information, visit <npa-us.org>, <ohorganizing.org>, and <showdowninamerica.org>. var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print
Terminate the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement
Excerpt: On January 11, 2006, the United States signed into law the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which entered into force between the United States and Bahrain on August 1, 2006. In light of the ongoing brutal repression of peaceful protest carried out by the police and armed forces of Bahrain and the Gulf […]
On the True Agenda behind Der Spiegel’s Story That Greece Is Thinking of Exiting the Euro
The Spiegel story that “Athens is considering withdrawing from the euro zone” is not exactly false — just economical with the truth. Yes, a few weeks or months ago, the Greek government commissioned (as it ought to) several secret studies of the repercussions of various scenarios involving different forms of debt restructure, including one desperate […]
The Tea Party Creams Labor
To Tea Partiers and supporters of the Far Right, Madison, Wisconsin has become the latest “Shining City Upon a Hill,” where one of their courageous leaders, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, is waging a heroic battle to tame big government and balance the state’s budget. American Exceptionalism has always defined liberty as keeping government off […]
The Ecological Rift: A Radical Response to Capitalism’s War on the Planet
John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark, and Richard York. The Ecological Rift: Capitalism’s War on the Earth. Monthly Review Press, 2010. 544 pages. Climate change is often called the greatest environment threat facing humanity. The threat is very real. Unless we cut carbon pollution fast, runaway climate change will worsen existing environmental and social problems, and […]
The Euro Crisis as a Twin Recycling Problem: A New Rationale for the “Modest Proposal”
1. Introduction: The Twin Recycling Problems in Brief Europe’s crisis is caused by its institutional failure to confront two recycling problems: a debt recycling problem and a surplus recycling problem.
Invitation to URPE Summer School: “Topics in Radical Political Economy: Marxist Theory”
We invite graduate students and young researchers to participate in the URPE (Union for Radical Political Economics) Summer School entitled “Topics in Radical Political Economy: Marxist Theory,” which will take place in Amherst, Massachusetts on the UMass campus on May 24-27, 2011 (right before the World Association for Political Economy conference on May 27-29). […]
State and Municipal Debt: The Coming Crisis?
Testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on TARP and Financial Resources, 15 March 2011 Thank you, Chairman McHenry and Ranking Member Quigley, for inviting me to testify before the subcommittee and to share my views on the debt problem facing state and local governments. I will make three main points in my […]
From Places Like Mine and Yours
On the progressive potential of small, quasi-autonomous states (like Scotland, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, etc.). . . . The strong Scottish accent was conspiring with the noisy pub background to make it difficult for me to understand the words spoken in my ear by an imposing trade union figure. Thankfully, I managed to decipher his words, […]
Guy Hocquenghem on Homosexual Desire, Capitalism, and the Left
Guy Hocquenghem. The Screwball Asses. Trans. Noura Wedell. Semiotext(e), 2010. 88 pp. $12.95 “Speak to my ass. My head is sick.” — Southern French proverb This little book was first published as an anonymous essay at the end of Félix Guattari’s Recherches no. 12, its March 1973 special issue titled Trois Milliards de Pervers [Three […]
It’s the (German) Banks, Stupid!
Or what’s behind Germany’s hesitant statements on Greek debt restructuring, Ireland’s move against subordinated bondholders, and the ECB’s stance on interest rates. . . . Europe is at it again, trying to pretend that it has stemmed the tide of insolvency through its program of lending huge amounts of money (at high interest rates) to […]
Congratulations to the People of Iceland!
10 April 2011 Congratulations to the people of Iceland! The Repudiate the Debt Campaign welcomes and applauds the decision of the people of Iceland to reject the bank bail-out that would subsidise the wealthy elite. They showed great courage in rejecting the terms and conditions and in resisting the pressure from the European Union […]
Current PEs Make Risk-Free Rate of Return on Public Pensions Highly Unlikely
Debate over public pension funds continues unabated across the nation. Some have argued that states should assume a risk-free rate of return on pension fund assets, which makes funding shortfalls appear considerably larger. A new calculator from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) demonstrates that such a low rate of return is extremely […]
What Wisconsin Means for Immigrant Rights
A few weeks can do a lot to sweep away old assumptions. Last year U.S. leftists were wondering why the worst economic crisis in 70 years hadn’t inspired a stronger response from its victims; now Arabs have toppled neoliberal regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, and U.S. workers have fought cutbacks and union-busting in Wisconsin with […]
House Prices Continue Sharp Decline
The Case-Shiller 20-City index fell sharply again in December, dropping a full percentage point from its November level. This is the third consecutive month that it has fallen by at least 1.0 percent. It is now down by 4.3 percent from its peak in July. Nineteen of the 20 cities had a drop in prices. […]
Ohio AAUP against Senate Bill 5
Testimony before the Insurance, Commerce, and Labor committee, 17 February 2011 Statehouse Mobilization against SB 5 and Kasich’s Anti-Worker Agenda Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 Time: 1 PM Location: Ohio Statehouse, 1 Capitol Square, Columbus, OH Click here for more info. Good morning Chairman Bacon, Vice Chair Farber, Ranking Member Schiavoni and distinguished Committee […]
In Opposition to Ohio Senate Bill 5
Testimony before the Insurance, Commerce, and Labor committee, 17 February 2011 Statehouse Mobilization against SB 5 and Kasich’s Anti-Worker Agenda Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 Time: 1 PM Location: Ohio Statehouse, 1 Capitol Square, Columbus, OH Click here for more info. My name is Sherry Linkon, and I’m John Russo. Thank you for giving […]
