Tag Archives: capitalism

Energy economics — by physicists. Hurry up with the cold fusion. Independent (UK)This is how UN scientists are preparing for the end of capitalism Nafeez Ahmed

In May of 1949, the first issue of Monthly Review came off the press, with a circulation of 450 copies. It featured an essay by none other than Albert Einstein titled, “Why Socialism?” Why so famous a scientist speaking to so few people, and then out of his field of expertise?…. Actually, it doesn't take an Einstein to answer the question, Why socialism? But Einstein did anyway, in case some didn't get it yet.Counterpunch Why Not Socialism? James Rothenberg

We need to challenge the logic of capital. Elizabeth Warren’s Accountable Capitalism Act only further entrenches it.... JacobinAccountable Capitalism or Democratic Socialism? Stephen Maher | PhD candidate at York University in Toronto

Mariana Mazzucato’s new book is a detailed exposé of the parasitic character of modern capitalism, drawing on Karl Marx’s theory of the source of value creation. But understanding the law of value is only a first step to providing an alternative to a system that cannot overcome its inevitable tendency for periodic crises and which needs to be overthrown, argues Peter Taaffe. Socialism TodayParasitic capitalism exposed Peter Taaff | general secretary of the Socialist Party of England and...

There. Someone finally said it.Grasping Reality Caitlin Rosenthal : How Slavery Inspired Modern Business Management Brad DeLong | Professor of Economics, UCAL BerkeleySee also from BDL Economist : Why is macroeconomics so hard to teach?

Because "shareholder value." [Nirmal Mulye, chief executive of Nostrum Laboratories,] told FT he agreed with Martin "Pharma Bro" Shkreli raising the price of AIDS and cancer drug Daraprim in 2015 from $13.50 to $750 per tablet, saying he was "within his rights because he had to reward his shareholders." We live in a "capitalist economy and if you can't make money you can't stay in business," Mulye said. "We have to make money when we can. Appropriately, nirman means "no mind."The Week...

Weekend thinking.Thoughts On EconomicsA Semi-Idyllic Golden AgeRobert Vienneau

The takeaway: The appropriate modes of economic organization vary from country to country. In saying this, I’m following Edmund Burke, who wrote: Circumstances (which with some gentlemen pass for nothing) give in reality to every political principle its distinguishing colour and discriminating effect. The circumstances are what render every civil and political scheme beneficial or noxious to mankind. The answer might lie in a distinction made by Burke as described (pdf) by Jesse [Norman]....

MR Online Imperialism in the 21st Century — Global Value Chains and International Labour Arbitrage Dev Nathan Originally published: Economic & Political Weekly (Vol. 53, Issue No. 32, August 11, 2018)

But here’s a simple fact which ought to illustrate, in a sense, the question you’ve asked: This is an extremely undemocratic arrangement. What do I mean? Well, the number of people that make all the key decisions in American corporations, and by that I mean deciding what to produce, deciding how, deciding what technology to use, deciding the physical geographic location—will it be produced in Cincinnati or in Shanghai, etc.—and finally, what to do with the profits that the labor of all the...