A million trade unionists marched past Rome鈥檚 Colosseum on October 16 in defence of rights that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi鈥檚 government and Fiat bosses are trying to water down.
The attacks are part of the government鈥檚 鈥渄eficit reduction鈥 measures.
Under red flags, and the banners of the metal workers鈥 union (FIOM-CGTI), workers from metal and other industries, students and opposition politicians shouted: 鈥淪trike, strike, strike!鈥
Global Financial Crisis (2007鈥2008 financial crisis, GFC)
When US director Danny Schechter鈥檚 2006 film In Debt We Trust predicted a huge financial crisis was coming, he was laughed at. It turned out he was right.
His latest film, Plunder: The Crime of Our Time shows how the crisis was created by Wall Street bankers breaking the law to manipulate the markets 鈥 and suggests a bigger crisis is on the way.
Whoops! Why Everyone Owes Everyone & No One Can Pay
By John Lanchester
224 pages
Penguin, Allen Lane
Review by Mat Ward
If you don't know the difference between a credit default swap (CDS), a collateralised debt obligation (CDO) and a cheese sandwich, this highly readable book could help you in a painless, entertaining way.
Its author, John Lanchester, grew up in 1960s Hong Kong. He says the contrasts of obscene wealth and crushing poverty were 鈥渓ike a lab test in free-market capitalism鈥.
After a month of thundering that a rise in the official interest rate was close, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has kept interest rates on hold at its monthly board meeting on October 5.
Most financial commentators were betting on a rate rise of 0.25%, with banks expected to increase their mortgage rates by an even larger margin, despite their record profits, to account for higher costs of borrowing overseas. However, the dark financial clouds over Europe and the US appear to have put the kibosh on the financiers鈥 party.
More than 10 million workers staged a general strike in Spain on September 29 in response to vicious government attacks on their rights and pensions.
The huge mobilisation, organised by the Confederacion Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and Sindicato Union General de Trabajadores (UGT) labour unions, produced a 75% turnout of members, sending a strong message of opposition to the austerity measures.
UGT secretary for organisation and communication Jose Javier Cubillo said that in some sectors of the economy, such as steel and energy, support for the strike was close to 100%.
More than three million people took part in strikes and protests across France on September 23. They were demanding the withdrawal of laws that will dramatically reduce the right of workers to access pensions. The protests, which had been called by a coalition of seven of France鈥檚 union confederations, showed that the passage of the Pension Bill through France鈥檚 lower house of parliament had done nothing to weaken opposition to the attack on pensions.
Edward Bernays, the US nephew of Sigmund Freud, is said to have invented modern propaganda. During the World War I, he was one of a group of influential liberals who mounted a secret government campaign to persuade reluctant Americans to send an army to the bloodbath in Europe.
In his 1928 book Propaganda, Bernays said the 鈥渋ntelligent manipulation of the organised habits and opinions of the masses was an important element in democratic society鈥 and that the manipulators 鈥渃onstitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power in our country鈥.
The global carbon market, which trades 鈥減ollution rights鈥 to encourage industry to cut greenhouse gas emissions, grew in 2009. Far from signaling a success, this reflects a huge increase in fraud, the dumping of surplus emissions permits by industry, and a rise in financial speculation.
The financial reform legislation just passed by Congress was proclaimed by US President Barack Obama as 鈥渢he toughest financial reform since the ones we created in the aftermath of the Great Depression鈥.
This is a kind of doublespeak. The entire thrust of financial reform in the decades since the 1930s has been toward financial deregulation. Being the toughest financial reform measure by that standard merely means that it didn鈥檛 give the house away.
A huge police crackdown on protesters at the June 26-27 G20 Summit in Toronto last week ended in the arrests of hundreds of primarily peaceful activists. Canadian group Socialist Project issued this statement on June 30 in solidarity with the protesters targeted by police. It is reprinted from .
* * *
The massive police presence in Toronto over this week has been officially justified on the basis of protecting the leaders of the G8 and G20 countries meeting in Huntsville and Toronto.
Two million Spanish workers participated in a public sector strike on June 8. A general strike in the Basque country has been called for June 29. Spanish unions have called a nationwide general strike for September 29 and the European Trade Union Confederation is currently attempting to organise a Europe-wide general strike to coincide with it.
Resistance is building in Europe against government attempts to force ordinary people to bailout the failed financial system of 鈥渃asino鈥 capitalism.
After four general strikes in Greece this year, and two more planned, strike action is beginning in Spain against planned attacks on public services and welfare.
- Previous page
- Page 3
- Next page