What explains Pawar’s defence of Adani and the government?

Bharat Bhushan Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar surprised everyone by breaking ranks with the Opposition in defending controversial businessman Gautam Adani. He has distanced himself, though not his party, from the demand of 19 Opposition parties for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) inquiry into the Adani affairs. Even as he may be exploring an alternative political… Read More What explains Pawar’s defence of Adani and the government?

Huge strikes in Germany disrupt flights and trains

By Claudia Otto and Inke Kappeler Nationwide strikes in Germany — among its worst in decades — are causing huge disruption at the country’s airports, on public transport and at its largest port Monday. The walkouts have been called by two major transport unions in Europe’s biggest economy. Ver.di, one of the unions, has demanded a 10.5% pay raise for… Read More Huge strikes in Germany disrupt flights and trains

Noam Chomsky: Savage capitalist lunatics are running the asylum

Noam Chomsky and David Barsamian: When Lunatics Run the Asylum I’m proud to have lived through the last 20-odd years at TomDispatch with Noam Chomsky, now a remarkable 94. In the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, I stumbled into creating this site and, in October 2003, first posted a piece of his… Read More Noam Chomsky: Savage capitalist lunatics are running the asylum

Robert Urquhart: Capital accumulation as eternal recurrence: theology of the bad infinity

The uneasy cohabitation of science and theology in neoclassical economics is an indication of its ideological character If the lion had consciousness, his rage at the antelope he wants to eat would be ideology: Theodor Adorno; Negative Dialectics. Extract: Neoclassical economics — most notably in the model of general equilibrium — gives an exhaustive quantitative… Read More Robert Urquhart: Capital accumulation as eternal recurrence: theology of the bad infinity

Breaking corporate monopolies is the only way to save democracy

Nick Dearden A few months into his presidency, Joe Biden signed an executive order to promote competition in the American economy saying: “We’re now 40 years into the experiment of letting giant corporations accumulate more and more power […] I believe the experiment failed.” While those might seem unlikely words from the once centrist champion of corporate… Read More Breaking corporate monopolies is the only way to save democracy

French anger spreads after Macron forces pension age rise

Strikes escalate and MPs call for protection as interior minister warns protesters against wreaking havoc Angelique Chrisafis in Paris Refinery strikes have escalated in France as the interior minister spoke of protesters wreaking havoc across the country and some MPs called for police protection, amid anger at the government pushing through a rise in the pension age without… Read More French anger spreads after Macron forces pension age rise

Formula Pinochet: Chilean Lessons for Russian Liberal Reformers during the Soviet Collapse

Tobias Rupprecht Journal of Contemporary History: Vol. 51, No. 1, Special Section: The Dark Side of Transnationalism (January 2016) Numerous references to the Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet run through Soviet and Russian political discourse from the 1970s to the late 1990s. Official representations of Pinochet, a carefully constructed bogeyman of Soviet domestic and foreign… Read More Formula Pinochet: Chilean Lessons for Russian Liberal Reformers during the Soviet Collapse