Just-in-time – for Chaos

Just-in-time production was a key part of the process of neoliberalism and globalization, as part of the drive to maximize profits. First used in Japan in the 1970s, it spread around the world and beyond manufacture to almost every facet of capitalist economics and management systems. The core idea is that manufacturers do not hold […]

Continue Reading

The Truth Behind Inflation

This article is republished from the archives of ISA. Increasingly commentators say that the strike wave affecting several countries, and the level of inflation eating away at workers’ wages are reminiscent of the 1970s. We republish an article from 1971 by Ted Grant, then a member of the CWI — predecessor of ISA. The Tory […]

Continue Reading

The Freeland Doctrine and the New Cold War

Capitalism Does Not Lead to Democracy The end of the neoliberal era was recently recognized by Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. Her speech on October 11, at the Brookings Institution in Washington, outlined a vision, what some are calling the “Freeland Doctrine,” stridently calling out China and Russia as geopolitical enemies of Western capitalism. […]

Continue Reading

Breaking the Rule of the Billionaires

James Graham is a member of Socialist Alternative in the US. A recent Bloomberg article title tells us just about everything we need to know about skyrocketing economic inequality: “World’s Super Rich Drive 77% Surge in Superyacht Sales Last Year.” After noting that sales have also doubled from the 2019 levels, the article continues: Low […]

Continue Reading

Inflation Emergency: Action Needed

Inflation is soaring and devastating workers’ living standards. Every trip to the food store brings a new shock. Canada’s official inflation rate was an 8.1 percent increase in June over May, the painfully worst increase in 40 years. To add to the pain, the Bank of Canada raised its prime interest rate from 1.5 percent […]

Continue Reading

The Big Banks Are Robbing You

A tragic shootout at my neighbourhood Bank of Montreal, near Victoria, recently left two people dead and six injured, grabbing national headlines. And news coverage of this event casually mentioned that this same bank — which is just across the street from the bank I use — had been successfully robbed just four months before: […]

Continue Reading

China’s Deepest Crisis in 30 Years

Vincent Kolo is a contributor to chinaworker.info. A succession of economic and political disasters is casting a dark cloud over Xi Jinping’s impending coronation as China’s dictator-for-life. Paralyzing “Zero COVID” lockdowns of major cities, collapsing GDP growth, record unemployment levels, and accelerating imperialist conflict in the shadow of the Ukraine war have plunged Chinese society […]

Continue Reading

Bankers Don’t Worry about Climate

On May 20, Stuart Kirk, Global Head of Responsible Investments for the mega-bank HSBC (2021 assets $2.9 trillion, 2021 profits $12.6 billion), gave a speech at a Financial Times (ahem) “Moral Money” conference. The talk was titled “Why investors need not worry about climate risk.” Mr. Kirk, whose job with the bank “involves considering the […]

Continue Reading