Presented to the ‘Repoliticizing Debt’ conference Queen’s University Development Studies, Kingston, Canada, 30-31 May 2012 Introduction It is now conventional wisdom amongst political economists that accumulation crisis, geopolitical maneuvres and financialization...
IMF
Populists confront US-European ‘1%’ Bilderbergers at Washington hotel | by Patrick Bond
Very near the Dulles International Airport west of Washington last weekend, I found myself a couple of dozen meters away from a formidable gathering of 150 powerbrokers – the Bilderberg Group (named after a Dutch hotel) – whose capacity to move money and influence...
Time to End the Madness | by C.P. Chandrasekhar
May brought home to the world evidence of the popular rejection of the irrational pursuit of austerity amidst recession in Europe and elsewhere. One telling signal was the victory of Francois Hollande in the French Presidential run-off, making this the first...
South Africa’s Dangerously Unsafe Financial Intercourse | by Patrick Bond
Just before last weekend’s meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) board in Washington, South Africa's finance minister dropped us an obscure news item: “Gordhan concerned about rand volatility”(Reuters, April 16). Hidden away in the business...
Promise-breaking at the World Bank | by Patrick Bond
Promise-breaking at the World Bank, Part 1: Before That 66th birthday month of his, March 2012, was auspicious for adding a little spice to his dreary life, but no, it just can’t last. Born in March 1946 alongside his evil twin, IMF, in Savannah Georgia, after...
News Briefs | Amandla Issue 22/23
Rendition South Africa styleSenior officials in the Hawks and SA Police Service are conducting illegal ‘renditions’ of Zimbabweans, who are deported from South Africa, handed to Zimbabwean security forces and then murdered. Rendition is the illegal kidnapping and...
Where we are in the crisis | by William K. Tabb
The global political economy is likely to remain in crisis for at least another three to five years, with high unemployment and slow growth. The character of this period makes a grim cyclical crisis worse by adding to it both a financial component and a deeper...
South African economy still vulnerable, volatile and violent to poor and working people | by Patrick Bond
A slow dawn of realisation is setting in among sensible elites: that the world economy isn’t going to recover according to any prior experience, that financial markets are rigged to transfer from the 99% to the 1%, and that ecological barriers are emerging fast on the...
Seven Myths about the Greek Debt Crisis* | by Stergios Skaperdas
ABSTRACT: In Greece and other countries of the Eurozone there are a number of misconceptions about the debt crisis. I argue against seven of such misconceptions (or, myths) about the effects of default, the primary cause of the crisis, the likely effects of an exit...

