As deregulation, speculation and capital flows soar to record heights in the global economy, a long-held consensus amongst progressive analysts holds that the current debt-based international monetary system is inherently unstable and unsustainable – and destined for an imminent collapse on an unprecedented scale.
Public intellectuals and the Anglo-American left have overlooked the one grievance which cuts across all regimes of the world - namely inflation, especially in vital necessities such as food and fuel costs, writes James Petras.
The flaws of laissez-faire economics are again evident in the latest
set of financial debacles - requiring fundamental reforms in global finance, writes Hazel Henderson.
The food crisis is actually a convergence of two crises - that of
speculation driving a 'bubble economy', and the crisis of global
agriculture created by international financial
institutions, writes Sameer Dossani.
The US mortgage crisis has spiralled into "the largest financial
shock since the Great Depression" and there is a one-in-four chance
that it will cause a full-blown global recession, the International
Monetary Fund warned yesterday.