credit crisis
Articles about the financial crisis or "credit crunch" of 2008.
Romania: Protests against austerity measures grow, general strike planned
Areas of the Romanian capital Bucharest were paralysed today by 50,000 demonstrators protesting against the savage austerity measures currently being pursued by the Romanian government. Meanwhile, unions have threatened a general strike on the 31st of May.
The protest was one of the biggest since the fall of the Ceauşescu government in 1989, and follows a number of demonstrations in the Romanian capital since the announcement of the cuts.
In critical and suffocating times - TPTG
The Ta Paida Tis Galarias (The Children of The Gallery) group report on the recent demonstrations in Athens against austerity measures, including the events leading to the tragic deaths of three bank workers and its implications for the movement of opposition.
What follows is a report on the demo of the 5th of May and the one that followed the day after and some general thoughts on the critical situation the movement in Greece is in at the time being.
Austerity measures approved in Greece, protests continue
The new measures have been voted in the Greek Parliament yesterday by a majority of 172 votes out of a total 300, these including the votes of the ruling Socialist Party (PASOK) and the extreme-right party of junta nostalgic creeps, LAOS.
The Conservative party, the Communist Party and the Radical Coalition of the Left voted against the measures. The procedure was not without surprises as 3 PASOK MPs cast a blank vote, leading to their expulsion from the Party. One of them a veteran Socialist politician and Olympic Games champion Mrs Sacorafa is refusing to hand over her seat in Parliament.
General strike paralyses Greece
Greece has been brought to a standstill as angry workers stage a general strike over planned austerity measures.
All flights are grounded and no trains or ferries are running as transport workers join public sector staff who began a 48-hour strike on Tuesday. Thousands have taken part in rallies in Athens and police have clashed with some protesters outside parliament.
New wave of strikes over austerity measures in Greece
A new wave of strikes against austerity measures are under way in Greece as unions react to social security changes ahead.
It has been a lukewarm return to the pre-Easter labour mobilisations, but it seems that another strike wave is on the rise in greece, once again against the austerity measures imposed under the constant shadow of the possibility of the country coming under IMF supervision.
Global Leveraged Buyout or the “Longest Boom in Capitalist History”?: A Reply to Robert Fitch
Loren Goldner's reply to Robert Fitch's article on the crisis in New Politics magazine, containing his critique of fictitious character of 1982-2007 boom.
This article appeared in New Politics, issue 47, spring 2009. See http://ww3.wpunj.edu/newpol/issue46/Fitch46.htm for the article to which it is a reply.
There’s only one thing left to settle: our accounts with capital and its state - TPTG
A report on the working class struggles against austerity measures in Greece by Proles and Poor’s Credit Rating Agency aka TPTG, a Greek communist group.
In periods of crisis, such as the current period of over accumulation crisis, capitalists use the politics of “public debt” in order to devise new ways to intensify exploitation. In contrast with capitalist upturns when the private debt is increased, downturns are characterized by the increase of the “public debt”.
Battle Ground Athens: second general strike leads to pitched battles
More than 150,000 people took to the streets of Athens against the austerity measures in a mass protest marches that have led to extended battles in the greek capital.
Mass strikes in Greece in response to new measures
Mass strikes with only hours prior warning are unfolding in Greece after the government announced new crippling measures for workers
The government's announcements of the new austerity measures dictated by the EU have rendered the greek PM's talk of a "state of war" concrete. The new measures include a 30% cut in public workers' 13th and 14th salary, as well as 12% cut in all salary subsidies, which in reality amounts to a sum of more than 1/12 of the total annual salary.
"State of war" declared by Greek PM
The greek PM, Giorgos Papandreou, has declared the country in "a state of war" after extended meetings with the EU economics commissioner Mr Rehn, leading workers to declare more strikes.
After two days of council with the EU commissioner Mr Rehn, the Greek Prime Minister and President of the Socialist International, Mr Giorgos Papandreou has announced that the country is in a state of war against its economic predicament.
