Companies and governments are racking up massive debts to cope with the impact of COVID-19. Apart from grants for a month or two of partial salaries, the approach has largely been to extend easy short-term credit to those people and businesses struggling to survive. We can expect, once an initial amnesty on repayments has passed, many of these companies will go to the wall, adding to the massive peak in unemployment. How can economies grow when individuals are piled high in debt and governments are forced to use austerity to repay their massive spending programs. Steve Keen has argued that debt needs to be written-off, even before the Corona crisis. Now seems like the right time for society to discuss the benefits of a debt jubilee. The only downside seems to be a significant reduction in the size of the finance sector. Can we live with that? Or, perhaps they can shift their emphasis to more productive investments.
Geopolitics
Norman Finkelstein – Israel, the ICC and the global structures of power
June 17, 2024 We are living through a moment of social and political upheaval – one that has somehow aligned the Houthi rebels in Yemen, South Africa’s greatest legal minds and students across the wealthiest […]
Finance
Tax Justice Network – Winning the Fight for Tax Justice: how do we make multinationals pay?
In this animation we look at how multinationals shift their profits to dodge their taxes and how we can stop them.
Economics
Renegade Inc – Sunset on the West? with Lee Jones and Mitch Feierstein
The rise of China and other emerging economies isn’t a new phenomenon, nor is the rhetoric around the sun setting on the US Empire. But is this analysis of a new world order too simplistic? […]
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