neoliberalism
The European Commission has proposed a slight loosening of debt limits — but Germany’s neoliberal finance minister Christian Lindner is blocking the change. His zombie economics will impoverish citizens and hasten the rise of the far right.
Coming after sixteen years of Christian-Democratic rule, Germany’s fall 2021 general election appeared to mark a turnaround. The Social Democrats (SPD) edged into first place (25.7 percent) and leader Olaf Scholz promised a new government that would act on poverty reduction and ...
read more "Germany’s Finance Minister Is the Most Dangerous Man in Europe"
read more "Germany’s Finance Minister Is the Most Dangerous Man in Europe"
Will the COVID-19 pandemic drive further privatisation of the services sector and a new wave of austerity, or can we expect a departure from neoliberal orthodoxy, towards re-municipalisation and increased public investments? These were just some of the questions posed in an online debate with Dr Dieter Plehwe and Dr Mirjam Katzin on 11 November.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the injustice and inefficiency of the privatising, outsourcing and commodifying of vital public services. It has also exposed the inadequacy of the current system in ...
read more "Countering the neoliberal privatisation of services"
read more "Countering the neoliberal privatisation of services"
“How to crush fascism and neoliberalism in one blow” – Panel debate in MalmöThe Brussels Office of Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung partnered with the Democracy in Europe Organisation (DEO) from Copenhagen and Vänsterpartiet Malmö to host a live-audience debate to discuss left party strategies in the fight against the far-right and capitalism in Sweden, Denmark and Germany.
“When you destroy a functioning state, that’s a recipe for fascism.” Listen to our keynote speaker Kajsa Ekis Ekman dissect the effects of neoliberal policies and capitalism’s unholy ...
read more "Podcast: Time to get serious"
read more "Podcast: Time to get serious"
All is not well with the G20, which lacks democratic legitimacy, is hopelessly divided and is also losing its political influence. The main reason for this is the conflict between the US and China, the EU and the rest of the world. So how should we interpret the predictably surprising outcomes of the meeting of G20 leaders in Osaka, Japan, with respect to the role played by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), US trade wars and EU strategy?
In the run-up to the G20 summit, most of the mainstream media predicted another battle in the US trade ...
read more "The G20 in Osaka: all quiet on the Eastern front"
read more "The G20 in Osaka: all quiet on the Eastern front"
The car drivers' uprising?Since November 17th, in response to Macron's announcement of a tax increase on petrol and diesel, France has been experiencing mass blockades of road traffic. Macron wants to use this eco-tax to finance climate protection measures. According to media reports, almost 300,000 people participated in blockades on the first day of protest, and there have already been more than 2,000 protests throughout the country. In addition to several hundred injured, two people have already lost their lives. The following Saturday there were visibly fewer ...
read more "The Yellow Vests in France"
read more "The Yellow Vests in France"
Outside France, President Emmanuel Macron is probably viewed in a positive light: young, brilliant, a stark contrast to the grievous presidency of the ‘socialist’ François Hollande. After rising to power in France in May 2017, Macron has earned wide appeal beyond his own borders. When on 1 June 2017 Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement, Macron retorted with a rousing tweet: ‘Make our planet great again.’ The message was retweeted more than 288,000 times, admittedly well below the record set by Barack Obama in 2012 with ...
read more "Macron: neocapitalist, digital, authoritarian"
read more "Macron: neocapitalist, digital, authoritarian"
A North American Left Analysis of the USMCASince its implementation in 1994, NAFTA has been roundly criticized by nearly all North Americans to the left of Clintonian liberalism. The North American Free Trade Agreement freed flows of capital, ratcheted up deregulation, and introduced a variety of other pro-corporate measures. Meanwhile, the agreement did nothing to address pollution, labour standards, or consumer protections. The Economic Policy Institute and a host of others have meticulously documented the many ways that NAFTA was bad for working ...
read more "The New NAFTA: Making Matters Mostly Worse"
read more "The New NAFTA: Making Matters Mostly Worse"
Vision & Fiction
This year’s Public Forum of the World Trade Organization (WTO) focused on a vision of how world trade would look like in 2030. And when it comes to visions, fiction is often not too far. However, one thing seems to be already clear—the primary trade by 2030 will be e-commerce. The CEO of Alibaba, Jack Ma, went as far as to confess his believe not only in ‘free trade’ but also in the internet: “‘Made in USA’ or ‘Made in Switzerland’ or ‘Made in China’ will be out, almost everything will be ‘Made in ...
read more "The WTO goes “e”—but head over heels"
read more "The WTO goes “e”—but head over heels"
A comment from MexicoThe North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, Mexico and the US entered into force on the 1st of January 1994. It is the worst tragedy that has happened in Mexico’s economic history.* Since its beginning, this Free Trade Agreement (FTA) turned out to be a spearhead for a hard offensive by the US to undermine Mexico’s national sovereignty. By being the only country in the world that has followed the Washington consensus to the letter throughout three and half decades, Mexico has ...
read more "Renegotiating NAFTA—an unprecedented reinforcement of subordination"
read more "Renegotiating NAFTA—an unprecedented reinforcement of subordination"
Report of a European Parliament lunch session | 25 April 2018Women are hit twice by austerity – as workers in sectors double affected by structural reforms and as social security recipients. This is demonstrated by case studies from ten European countries commissioned by the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung in 2017. Despite recent growth accelerations, the European economies do not live up to their promise of ending austerity. Poverty remains a daunting scenario for large parts of the population, aggravated by insecure and low-paid employment, shrinking social...
read more "Feminist Responses to Austerity in Europe"
read more "Feminist Responses to Austerity in Europe"