Crisis

Crisis

• The South Sea Bubble: England's first stock market crisis 300 years ago

  

  The South Sea Bubble was not an exceptional event but the first of many crises produced by the inescapable tendencies of capitalism, argues Dominic Alexander

• The movement that can dump Trump – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German on the Black Lives Matter impact on US politics and the floundering Tories   

• The looming danger of a US-China military confrontation

  

  The coronavirus and deepening economic crisis is being used as a pretext by Trump to scale up tensions with China, writes Lindsey German

• 40,000 deaths but Johnson pushes us back to work - CounterBlast 5 June

  

  The awful milestone of 40,000 officially recorded deaths shows why the government is reckless in lifting the lockdown, writes Alex Snowdon 

• The schools’ crisis: what can we expect

  

  Children will not be returning to normal schooling this week, explains NEU executive member Philipa Harvey 

• Not until it's safe: stay away on 1st June

  

  Many primary schools will re-open for large numbers of children on Monday. This is too soon, argues NEU activist Tony Dowling

• 5 things the Cummings crisis teaches us which make the country virtually ungovernable - CounterBlast 28 May

  

  The bizarre and obsessive defence of Dominic Cummings shows that the current crop of Tories are incompetent as well as callous, argues Chris Nineham

• Do as I say, not as I do: Cummings must go

  

  The revelations about Boris Johnson’s chief adviser breaking lockdown rules should be the end of his career, writes Sean Ledwith

• Capitalism as a dynamic system: Marx and the Climate Crisis - extract

  

  In the second of two extracts from her new book Marx and the Climate Crisis, Elaine Graham-Leigh explains why climate destruction is a structural feature of capitalism

• Tube drivers: In dubious battle

  

  Tube driver and ASLEF branch chair Unjum Mirza describes the growing conflicts over worker and passenger safety on London Underground

• Contagion revisited: how Hollywood got its pandemic prediction upside down

  

  Chaotic leadership vs calm public: how reality was different from Contagion's plotlines, says Chris Nineham

• Hackney organises against charges and discrimination in migrants' health care

  

  Marion Macalpine reports from the recent Hackney Keep Our NHS Public meeting on migrant health and welfare during the lockdown

• Marx and the Climate Crisis - extract

  

  In the first of two extracts from her new book Marx and the Climate Crisis, Elaine Graham-Leigh looks at why individual behaviour has received so much attention and why this is an inadequate approach to the climate crisis

• Model Letter to your local authority: don't open schools until it is safe

  

  This model letter can be adapted and used to lobby the local authority in your area to put pressure on them not to open the schools until they are safe

• A failed government in a failed system – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German on capitalism committing to its priorities and how we can fight back

• Conspiracies and capitalism: why we shouldn’t end the lockdown

  

  Responses to the Covid-19 crisis that jeopardise the working class have to be rejected, asserts Shabbir Lakha

• Doctor speaks out: this isn't freedom, it's a death sentence

  

  Physical distancing restrictions are not simply a matter of preserving NHS capacity, they are about saving lives, says Red Elmahdi

• Left on our own: a dispatch from the frontline

  

  Counterfire interviewed a care worker from a home in Yorkshire about the Covid-19 issues that are affecting these workplaces across Britain

• World War 2: we weren’t all in it together

  

  On VE Day, we repost Lindsey German's article busting the oven-ready myths that are being used to corral the herd during this crisis

• Corona and the food crisis: how the markets failed us

  

  Corona crisis has exposed how market forces cannot be trusted with our food production, says Kevin Potter

• Set up to fail? Labour’s not so independent inquiry

  

  Nick Fitzpatrick finds glaring issues with the panel put together by the NEC and its remit to investigate #LabourLeaks

• Government and opposition: all in it together? – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German on Covid-19, Labour collusion, the dictates of capital and remembering WW2

• Capitalism: do not resuscitate

  

  The global economic crisis rendered by the Covid-19 pandemic considered by Susan Newman

• Lockdown? This government should be locked up – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German on Covid-19, class crises and the escalation of global tensions

• I don’t mind working but I do mind dying

  

  London tube workers have been fighting to ensure a safe service during the Covid crisis; here’s its timeline, by Unjum Mirza, driver and Aslef branch chair

• Republic of hunger: In the time of lockdown

  

  Deaths by hunger will outpace deaths due to novel coronavirus in India, says Shashi Kant Tripathi

• How long can the government distort facts - CounterBlast 22 April

  

  While the government continues to distort facts, labour movement outside parliament has started to bear fruits inside, says David McAllister

• The coronavirus crisis: Britain’s ugly moment of truth – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German on Covid-19, the Tories and the real value of workers

• The government's callousness is clear for all to see - CounterBlast 19 April

  

  Boris Johnson's government has blood on its hands, says Tom Griffiths

• Shock and awe: Orbán’s corona dictatorship in Hungary

  

  The harsh authoritarianism of Orban’s hard-right regime is a warning to the world, writes Anita Zsurzsan in Hungary

• Thick as thieves: coronavirus and the media

  

  Timid, bland, uncritical - British news media have failed in holding the government to account over the coronavirus crisis, explains Des Freedman 

• PPE: Tories are still failing our frontline workers - CounterBlast 18 April

  

  The government is failing to deliver PPE while trade unions consider strike action to save lives, writes Lucy Nichols

• Capital’s dilemma: the conundrum of neoliberalism and Covid-19

  

  Gramsci’s morbid symptoms reassert themselves in the age of coronavirus, writes Shashikant Tripathi

• Sir Keir Starmer’s deadly crusade: supporting big business and undermining unions - CounterBlast 15 April

  

  Keir Starmer's "forensic" opposition amounts to siding with the government against unions and public health it seems, writes Katherine Connelly

• The coronavirus care home crisis: this is what herd immunity looks like - CounterBlast April 14

  

  The government's attitude to the elderly in care homes is unconscionable, argues Shabbir Lakha

• UK's national scandal: time for accountability and change

  

  In this thorough and damning account of the government's catastrophic failures dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, Dr Raisa Ahmed argues we cannot return to 'normal'

• The government must commit to end homelessness for good, not just during COVID-19

  

  COVID-19 has given the government the impetus to house the homeless, but this should not be a temporary solution, argues Norbert Lawrie

• Is there life outside Labour? That is where the hope lies

  

  Recent events in the Labour Party need to be examined clinically, because they tell us important things both about the party's direction of travel and about how power is wielded within it, says Chris Nineham

• Socialists in a time of plague

  

  John Rees provides an overview of a landscape darkened by the establishments’ failure to deal with the coronavirus pandemic

• Pandemic hammers the US economy

  

  The coronavirus crisis has triggered a deep and sustained economic downturn in the US that will have lasting effects, writes John Clarke

• It’ll Be Over By Easter: How Trump Became the Covidiot-in-Chief

  

  Tragically, the events leading up to the Coronavirus outbreak and the manner in which he has bungled the federal response confirms that the Trump Presidency is destined to go down as one of the most disastrous in US history, says Sean Ledwith

• The Sanders campaign and the corona crisis: stay in the race and retool for the long game

  

  The pressure on Sanders to withdraw is intense. He must stay, and fight the long game, argues Kate O'Neil

• Right turn for Labour – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German on the election of Sir Keir Starmer and the continuing Covid-19 crisis

• Coronavirus crisis: is the tide turning against the Tories?

  

  Number Ten’s Covid-19 media strategy appears to be unravelling, notes Alex Snowdon

• Herd from the hub: a frontline dispatch

  

  What happens when precarity and key working meet head-on in a pandemic, Andrew Emerson reports

• A Knight’s leadership heralds a return for the Labour right – CounterBlast 4 April

  

  This grave result is at loggerheads with the dictates of our present reality, observes Alex Snowdon

• Gaza finds itself embroiled in another kind of seige

  

  Gaza still needs our help, let us not give up on it in these testing times, argues Maddalena Dunscombe

• Staff and workers still remain exposed - CounterBriefing 30 March

  

  The attempt to look competent by providing regular updates the government is just trying to hide its inadequacies, says David McAllister

• Can Johnson gain politically from this crisis? – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German assesses the balance of forces

• Crisis management Tory style - CounterBriefing 29 March

  

  Another day and another suit delivering the same excuses as the fear and anxiety mounts for the rest of us, writes Chrissy Brand

• Test, test, test: the politics of coronavirus in microcosm

  

  A crisis is always an opportunity for the right; our side has to start setting the terms of its own agenda, writes Kevin Potter 

• Dominic Cummings vs the people - podcast

  

  Following his article Coronavirus: the politics of Cummings' cull, Sean Ledwith speaks to Parallax Views

• The sociopathic calculus of capitalism in a crisis

  

  The ruling class is debating whether or not it's worth saving the lives of those it can no longer exploit; this is barbarism, writes Kevin Ovenden

• Protect the NHS? Call their bluff and we can win – CounterBriefing 25 March

  

  Don’t underestimate the power of popular pressure at this moment, argues Katherine Connelly

• Pandemic basic income is not the solution

  

  UBI lets the bosses off the hook and does nothing to challenge a system in crisis, argues John Clarke

• Clap for the NHS: fight for testing and protection

  

  As testing continues not to be rolled out, NHS workers and those in their care are increasingly at risk, argues Alia Butt. Clap for them this Thursday

• Message to the government: your friends, the super-rich, are the hoarders - CounterBriefing 21 March

  

  The government is trying to deflect blame from its failings by blaming ordinary people for the shortages, argues Katherine Connelly

• Universal Credit: a coronavirus catch-22

  

  People could lose money if they claim UC under the new proposals, reports Jim Scott

• Criminal negligence while the virus lets rip - CounterBriefing 19 March

  

  In the second CounterBriefing, Chris Nineham looks at the verbal gymnastics of the government to cover its own back after its policy has been declared utterly impractical

• The viral bug that crashed the economy

  

  The seeds for the economic meltdown that we face now were planted a long time ago, says David Bush

• Endless conflicts are deepening Coronavirus crisis

  

  In this critical hour, all sanctions and hostilities must cease argues Chris Nineham

• Teachers in New York forced schools to close; we need to do the same

  

  Don't play dice with people's lives. Close schools now, argues Shabbir Lakha

• Laugh through the lockdown

  

  Five of the best novels to keep you laughing while you sharpen your critical faculties from John Rees

• Coronavirus is exposing capitalism - video

  

  Kevin Ovenden speaks to Double Down News on how the nature of capitalism is being shown for what it is in this crisis

• Stop the profiteering: requisition the private hospital beds

  

  The government should use the power it has to requisition private hospital beds, instead of going ahead with plans to let the private sector profit once again, argues Mona Kamal.

• Coronavirus: market failure

  

  In his third note on the Covid-19 outbreak, Dr Yannis Gourtsoyannis examines the role of the market in the apparent crisis on our shelves

• Coronavirus – the trigger for a slump?

  

  Michael Roberts explains why Coronavirus has destabilised the global economy

• Fire, floods and emergencies: these are what the election is about - election briefing 18 November

  

  Lindsey German on broken infrastructure, social crisis and covert war crimes  

• The devil and the deep blue sea: Labour and Johnson’s deal

  

  Final stage Brexit fatigue cannot be allowed to override fundamental class imperatives, argues Kevin Ovenden

• Their democracy and ours – weekly briefing

  

  Current attacks on democracy have to meet maximum resistance but this is not an end within itself, argues Lindsey German

• Johnson out, Corbyn in: we need a general election – weekly briefing

  

  No summer recess for our side as vitalising extra-parliamentary pressure becomes a priority, argues Alex Snowdon

• Universities take global steps to fight climate disaster

  

  Universities around the world are organising together to declare an emergency and combat climate change, reports Pete Morgan

• Tory values meet the rights and wrongs of women - weekly briefing

  

  The nasty party displays its true colours as it flounders towards a new stewardship, observes Lindsey German   

• Rebels for life: next steps for the climate justice movement

  

  Recent climate activism has shifted the debate but unless the system of profit-seeking is addressed then the ecological danger will remain, argues Bill Perry

• The Russians are Coming, Again - book review

  

  Kuzmarov and Marciano's analysis of the US media demonisation of Russia warns of the danger of a new cold war, in full historical context, finds Martin Hall

• Bungled Brexit beggars belief - weekly briefing

  

  General Election Now has to be the clarion call for all those resisting war, austerity and inequality, argues Lindsey German

• A Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank merger spells trouble

  

  The proposed merger of German banks is a disaster waiting to happen and exposes the weaknesses at the heart of European capitalism, argues Chris Bambery

• Brexit and the left: the crisis is not going away

  

  The left must face up to the scale of the crisis and respond robustly, writes Jonathon Shafi

• May's Brexit deal is dead: we need a general election now

  

  Theresa May's second catastrophic defeat in Parliament is a masterclass in Tory failure. The only way out is a general election, argues Shabbir Lakha

• Eurozone blues

  

  The economic crisis intensifies across Europe, with the US and south east Asia close behind, argues Chris Bambery

• No government should survive this kind of rout. May must go.

  

  After the catastrophic loss in Parliament, it's clear the Tories are unable to govern and Theresa May should already have resigned, argues Chris Nineham

• The travesty that is Theresa May’s government has to end – weekly briefing

  

  As Tory rule hits an unprecedented crisis, the left must keep its eyes on the prize: the boldest and strongest of Corbyn victories, argues Lindsey German

• Bigger than Brexit - weekly briefing

  

  EU monomania shouldn’t blind us to the starker realities of global economic crisis and ever increasing class tensions, argues Lindsey German  

• Theresa May: more than a lame duck, less than a dead duck

  

  Theresa May clinching the confidence vote solves nothing for her or the country, argues John Rees

• Theresa May fiddles while the country burns

  

  John Rees counts the days left for the Prime Minister

• The rise and fall of neoliberalism

  

  The neoliberal order established since the 70s is collapsing and what comes out of it is down to us, argues Chris Bambery

• Fighting fascism: what we can learn today from the tragedy of the 1930s

  

  To stop a violent movement set on crushing democracy and the left, we must begin by building a mass united front of the working class, writes Vladimir Unkovski-Korica

• Brazil’s election and the Global South’s debt trap

  

  The media present today’s Brazilian elections as a special case but, argues Vladimir Unkovski-Korica, Brazil’s troubles reflect the troubles of the world economy

• The neverendum won’t help Labour, but it will help the right - weekly briefing

  

  The Labour party mustn’t lose sight of its base as the Salzburg shenanigans highlights an EU still fixated on elites and privilege, argues Lindsey German 

• Learnt nothing and forgotten everything: the next crash is coming - weekly briefing

  

  Finance capital is a game for the rich and when it goes wrong it's our side who are expected to pay the price, argues Lindsey German

• UK wage stagnation is not a puzzle to solve, but an injustice to fight

  

  Wealth redistribution has to become the key priority in our fight against austerity, insists Susan Newman

• Fight for Corbyn, Freedom for Palestine - Counterfire Freesheet September 2018

  

  Corbyn's leadership in danger, solidarity with Palestine, People's Vote vs People's Brexit, UK wage stagnation, Yemen and fighting the far right

• Inequality and the City: CEO salaries soar while we still pay for the crash

  

  Falling wages in a growing economy and ever increasing pay for bosses show a system undeterred by crisis in consolidating wealth at the top of society, argues Josh Newman

• The dynamics of disaster

  

  Capitalism will destroy humanity. Only working class mass mobilisation and struggle can stop this, argues John Westmoreland

• May Day, May Day: this ship is sinking – weekly briefing

  

  This latest Tory crisis is an opportunity the left must seize and the week’s protests are all the means to do so, argues Lindsey German  

• Too rich to fail - weekly briefing

  

  “One rule for them and one rule for us” is a key mantra for neoliberalism and it has to be destroyed, argues Lindsey German 

• The limits of Keynesianism part three: Marx, Keynes and the analysis of the trade cycle

  

  In the third part of our series on Keynesianism, Dominic Alexander looks at cycles, crisis, and why Keynesianism always looks to fix capitalism 

• Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Marx on his 200th birthday

  

  On 5 May, leading Marxists are getting together to celebrate Marx’s 200^th birthday. Chris Nineham argues why the event matters so much.

• Rudd down, May to go

  

  Amber Rudd resigning because of popular pressure is a victory and a reminder that what the left does can make a decisive difference argues Chris Nineham

• The limits of Keynesianism part two: the assumptions Keynes makes

  

  In the second part of our series on Keynesianism, Dominic Alexander outlines the economic and philosophical underpinnings of Keynesian thought

• The limits of Keynesianism part one: John Maynard Keynes and orthodox economics

  

  In the first part of our series considering the merits and pitfalls of Keynesian economics, Dominic Alexander looks at the history of Keynes' contribution

• Why we’re heading for another economic crash

  

  Our economy continues to be tied to the vagaries of speculative finance

• Brexit: the need for independent working-class, anti-capitalist politics

  

  We build on the schism in capitalist politics resulting from Brexit divisions by putting anti-racism grounded in working class politics front and centre argues Kevin Ovenden

• What does this week's stock market crash mean?

  

  As the stock market plunged this week and fears of a 2007 repeat spread like wildfire, Michael Roberts analyses what the crash could mean

• Save the NHS - Counterfire Freesheet February 2018

  

  The Tory manufactured crisis in the NHS, Carillion, Labour, Palestine, Grenfell and more...

• NHS Emergency Demonstration - model resolution

  

  The People's Assembly have drafted a model motion to submit to trade union branches, Trades Councils, CLPs and other campaign groups to support the NHS Emergency demonstration on Saturday 3 February

• Corruption and Crisis in Peru

  

  As the Peruvian establishment reels, the left must seize the moment, take to the streets and strike a blow, argues Jonathan Maunders

• Today’s fringe is tomorrow’s respectable racism - weekly briefing

  

  POTUS' tweets are a symptom not a cause: our side has to start presenting credible alternatives, argues Lindsey German

• The many crises of the British state

  

  The British state is enveloped in crisis more than at any point for 30 years. One more push could topple this government, argues Chris Bambery

• Now is the time to fight back - Counterfire Freesheet October 2017

  

  Tories in crisis, Catalonia, German elections and more - Counterfire freesheet edition 21, October 2017

• Uncertain Futures: An Assessment of the Conditions of the Present

  

  Edmund Berger’s Uncertain Futures provides an important defence of Marxist economic theory, and an analysis of crisis, argues Sean Ledwith

• The Long Depression: How It Happened, Why It Happened, and What Happens Next

  

  An understanding of capitalist crisis needs to make use of all parts of Marx’s theory, including the declining rate of profit, argues Dominic Alexander

• The election which showed that class is back - Final Election briefing (for now)

  

  All change - and things are shifting in our direction at last, writes Lindsey German

• Bring it on

  

  We need to make Theresa May's election gamble her last, argues John Rees

• Heroin, hope and Hibernian FC: T2 Trainspotting reviewed

  

  “The world kept moving forward - and we didnae”, Chris Bambery finds a lot to like in the recently released Trainspotting sequel CONTAINS SPOILERS

• The new balance of forces: lessons from Saturday

  

  As the old order stumbles, our side must embrace the internationalism that underpins anti-Trumpism, asserts Kevin Ovenden

• The state, capital and predictions for the global economy

  

  Amidst the festive season Chris Bambery asks what 2017 holds in terms of what affects us most directly: jobs, housing, income - in other words the economy

• Royal Bank of Scotland: socialism for the rich

  

  The final reckoning of the 2007/8 crash will be played out in the realm of politics not economics, argues Chris Bambery  

• Deutsche Bank crisis: too big to fail?

  

  Chris Bambery looks at the Deutsche Bank crisis in Germany, and speculates about the consequences for the European and global economies

• Bubbles always go pop: capitalism and the Hanjin bankruptcy

  

  Chris Bambery takes a look at what happened to Hanjin shipping company and what it tells us about comptemporary capitalism

• Corbyn: realpolitik or radicalism?

  

  Jeremy Corbyn's path to victory lies in remembering his roots and staying connected with the streets, argues Alex Snowdon

• Cutting student bursaries only makes the NHS crisis worse

  

  Danielle Tiplady takes a look at how the Tories' policies are destroying the NHS

• An opening for the left - keep Corbyn, keep fighting

  

  Chris Nineham takes a snapshot of the current political crisis and argues for a fast and sharp strategic realignment

• To stop the far right we must oppose the EU

  

  Kevin Ovenden argues for an internationalist approach to the European crisis in the second half of a two-part series on the European question

• Thousands march calling for Cameron to resign

  

  In response to the largest exposé of tax evasion in history, the British public have taken to the streets calling for David Cameron's resignation

• Big trouble for Ireland's rulers: the election analysed

  

  The radical left finds itself in a stronger position than ever before, but must build on this momentum, argues Rob Winkel

• Stock markets plunge: there may be trouble ahead

  

  As stock markets tumble again, the recovery Osborne was boasting about rests on shaky foundations

• Hollywood takes on the bankers? Review of The Big Short

  

  Mckay's film exposes the greed at the core of the system, but fails to tell the story of those most affected by the crisis

• 'Marauding migrants': demonising the victims of western wars

  

  The migrant crisis is not a threat to Britain but a human catastrophe for those fleeing for their lives, often as a result of Western intervention

• Two announcements, one crisis

  

  Two big announcements on economic policy are due this week - one from New York and one from Whitehall. James Meadway looks at how they will shape the future of this country

• Why you should join the march for homes

  

  Protests will converge on London Mayor Boris Johnson's HQ on 31^st January in a rapidly growing campaign demanding action on the housing crisis writes Sarah Hatch

• European elites menaced by the danger of debt deflation

  

  Unless the nettle of debt write-offs is grasped, we are entering a second, more serious round of the European crisis argues James Meadway

• Homes for people, not profit

  

  The pro-market policies of successive governments have caused a growing housing crisis - we need to start building council houses again in large numbers argues Alastair Stephens

• Video: The Crisis of the British Regime

  

  Chris Bambery, Lindsey German, Liz Fekete and Danny Dorling discuss the crisis of the British regime, inequality and broken politics

• Austerity isn't working, and here's why

  

  James Meadway: you can’t have consistently rising debts, and consistently falling incomes. The two must collide at some point. That means a crisis

• Crisis and Control: The Militarisation of Protest Policing

  

  In a period of social and economic crisis, Crisis and Control by Lesley J Wood, provides an understanding of the state logic that leads to increased police militarisation, finds Adam Tomes

• Not if, but when‏ - the next crisis approaches

  

  James Meadway: reports from the last few weeks say that the world economy is on course for another financial crisis - with Britain dangerously exposed

• Britain's economy: one shock away from another crash

  

  James Meadway writes on the growing danger of a new crash facing the debt laden British economy

• Marxism and the crisis - a strategy for the left

  

  John Rees looks at the left's analysis of the crisis and outlines a strategy for resisting our rulers attempts to make us pay for it