Economic collapse

Why The Third Quarter US Economic Rebound Will Falter

July 8, 2020 Jack Rasmus, Predicting the Global Economic Crisis. Educate! COVID-19, Economic collapse, Finanace and the Economy, Recession

All Great Recessions with an initial deep economic contraction, are typically followed by brief shallow recoveries, cut short by subsequent double dips or quarters of no growth stagnation. That was true of the Great Recession of 2008-09, which didn’t really end in June 2009 but bounced along the bottom economically for several more years. A similar trajectory will almost certainly follow today’s 2020 Great Recession 2.0 now concluding its Phase One initial deep collapse. The Phase One deep collapse is now giving way to its Phase Two and what will prove a brief and quite modest ‘rebound’. But that’s not a recovery. Further economic relapses are inevitable after ‘short, shallow rebounds’ that characterize all Great Recessions. That trajectory—i.e. short, shallow rebounds followed by relapses also brief and moderate can go on for years. What it means is there will be no V-shape and true recovery in the US economy in the second half of 2020. What there will be is an extended ‘W-shape’ period, the next two years 2020-2022 at minimum.

The Light At The End

May 21, 2020 Nafeez Ahmed, Yes Magazine. Create! COVID-19, Economic collapse, Industrialization, Pandemic, Transformation

Within just a few weeks—faster than the blink of an eye in geological time—a tiny, microscopic entity brought the global monolith of human civilization, the captains of industry, the might of the world’s militaries, the financial juggernauts of money and manufacturing, to their knees. According to the likely, but still uncertain theory, the novel coronavirus behind the disease named COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) whipsawed its way across East China, from wet markets in Wuhan, before becoming a global pandemic. Within months, two million people worldwide were confirmed infected—with tens of millions estimated to be the real number—and over 150,000 had died. As everyday life ground to a halt amid social lockdowns designed to reduce the impact on flailing health care facilities, so too did the global economy.

US Retail Sales Plunged A Record 16% In April

May 17, 2020 Josh Boak and Anne D'Innocenzio, AP News. Educate! Consumerism, Economic collapse, Recession

Baltimore, MD - U.S. retail sales tumbled by a record 16.4% from March to April as business shutdowns caused by the coronavirus kept shoppers away, threatened the viability of stores across the country and further weighed down a sinking economy. The Commerce Department’s report Friday on retail purchases showed a sector that has collapsed so fast that sales over the past 12 months are down a crippling 21.6%. The severity of the decline is unrivaled for retail figures that date back to 1992. The monthly decline in April nearly doubled the previous record drop of 8.3% — set just one month earlier. “It’s like a hurricane came and leveled the entire economy, and now we’re trying to get it back up and running,” said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist for the consultancy Maria Fiorini Ramirez.

Low-Balling The Unemployed In The 2020 Economic Collapse

May 12, 2020 Jack Rasmus, Predicting the Global Economic Crisis. Educate! Economic collapse, Jobs, Recession, Unemployment

This past Friday, May 8, the US Labor Dept. released its latest jobless figures. The official report was 20 million more unemployed and an unemployment rate of 14.7%. Both mainstream and progressive media reported the numbers: 20 million more jobless and 14.7%. But those numbers, as horrendous as they are, represent a gross under-estimation of the jobless situation in America! One might understand why the mainstream media consistently under-reports the jobless. But it is perplexing why so many progressives continue to simply parrot the official figures. Especially when other Labor Dept. data admits the true unemployment rate is 22.4% and the officially total unemployed is 23.1 million. Here’s why the 20 million and 14.7% is a gross under-representation of the magnitude of jobless today:

A Green Stimulus To Rebuild The Economy

April 10, 2020 The Next System Project. Create! Economic collapse, Economic Recovery, Green New Deal, Worker Rights and Jobs

The open letter for members of Congress calls for “an ambitious Green Stimulus of at least $2 trillion” designed to create millions of family-sustaining green jobs; accelerate a just transition away from fossil fuels; accelerate decarbonizing investments in frontline communities; expand public and employee ownership, especially in private sector enterprises requiring a public bailout; and make our society and economy stronger and more resilient in the face of future crises. The group letter acknowledges that the immediate focus must be halting the spread of the deadly COVID-19. However, the statement goes on to say, we can do all the preparatory work now to make green projects “shovel-ready” as soon as it is healthy to commence the work. The letter lays out a broad range of policy options to begin.

From Strike Wave To General Strike

April 10, 2020 Richard Moser, Be Freedom. Organize! Economic collapse, General Strike, Strike, Worker Rights

The strike wave is here. The strike wave is real. Can workers take the next steps toward a General Strike? The current crisis is a rare opportunity for us to build a movement both outside of electoral politics and based on an organizing model. That matters because the biggest shortcoming of the left and the social movements is our lack of organizing. Organizing can do what good intentions or radical theory or electoral campaigns cannot: turn solidarity from a dream into a living thing. But without some serious solidarity, all our hopes for a General Strike will fail to materialize. As we build the solidarity infrastructure needed for a General Strike lets not lie to each other. It’s called “class struggle” for a reason. Strikes are painful with workers pitting their sacrifice and suffering up against the bosses’ profits. Strikes are no party. But, general strikes, while rare, are a good match for the unprecedented interlocking crises we face.

In The Face Of Corporate Bailouts, Rent Strikers Demand Relief

April 10, 2020 Indigo Olivier, Waging Nonviolence. Resist! COVID-19, Economic collapse, Rent Strike, Strike

On April 1, tenants at 1234 Pacific Street in Crown Heights dropped white sheets over their fire escape — a symbol borrowed from organizers in Montreal — to inform their neighbors that they would not be paying rent this month. These tenants are part of a wave of recent rent strikes in cities across the country responding to nearly 10 million new unemployment claims so far as a result of the coronavirus shutdown. After Pacific Street’s management company refused their collective bargain offer to reduce or eliminate rent for tenants who have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic, the building’s tenant association formally declared they were on strike and are instead appealing directly to the governor — #CancelRent Cuomo, one banner reads.

Most Workers And Businesses At The Heart Of US Economy Can’t Meet Financial Needs

April 10, 2020 Popular Resistance. Educate! Class war, COVID-19, Economic collapse, Small Business, Workers

A survey of small businesses and workers conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management published on April 1 finds that small businesses and workers are being hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis. Their findings reveal the real class divide in the United States in that those workers who are essential, such as those who work in construction, manufacturing, transportation, education, and food, have the highest rates of not being able to meet their basic needs because of the shutdown while professionals are less affected. This poll highlights the need to demand financial security for everyone during this time of necessary physical distancing. We need a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, full coverage of health care by the government, higher pay for essential workers and adequate unemployment benefits for those who are unable to work.

Capitalism Has Failed In Fighting Coronavirus

April 10, 2020 Richard D. Wolff, Brave New Europe. Educate! Capitalism, COVID-19, Economic collapse, Socialism

The desperate policies of panic-driven governments involve throwing huge amounts of money at the economies collapsed in response to the coronavirus threat. Monetary authorities create money and lend it at extremely low interest rates to the major corporations and especially big banks “to get them through the crisis.” Government treasuries borrow vast sums to get the collapsed economy back into what they imagine is “the normal, pre-virus economy.” Capitalism’s leaders are rushing into policy failures because of their ideological blinders. The problem of policies aimed to return the economy to what it was before the virus hit is this: Global capitalism, by 2019, was itself a major cause of the collapse in 2020. Capitalism’s scars from the crashes of 2000 and 2008-2009 had not healed.

US Gunning For Trouble

April 9, 2020 Finian Cunningham, Sputnik News. Educate! Economic collapse, Gun violence, Guns, Recession

The spectre of the coronavirus pandemic in the US has darkened decidedly, with President Trump warning of a harrowing next few weeks from a surging disease death toll. Into the malevolent mix are reports of American citizens buying up firearms as if there is no tomorrow. In recent weeks, gun sales have hit record highs amid public fears of a breakdown in law and order. Most of the sales were among first-time buyers, according to reports. During March, before the government-ordered shutdown of businesses due to the coronavirus epidemic, mandatory FBI background checks showed a huge spike suggesting gun sales had gone through the roof. Some 3.7 million checks were carried out in that month alone, corresponding to individuals purchasing firearms. Bear in mind too that each individual can buy several guns under the same application.

Can Cooperatives Save Us From The Next Economic Crisis?

January 24, 2019 By Laura Flanders, Truthout.org Strategize! Cooperatives, Crisis, Economic collapse, New Economy

In the summer of 2009, economists reported that one-third of the capital equipment in the United States stood idle while some 17 percent of the workforce were either unemployed, forced into part-time jobs, or “discouraged” from even seeking work. The Great Recession revealed just how much surplus capital and surplus labor was simply lying about, even in a time of urgent need. In this context, it’s no surprise that people started looking for ways to put labor and capital back together. Interest spiked — especially in worker-owned enterprises — and cities from New York to Madison, Oakland and Jackson, started investing in worker-owned businesses and business incubators.

Richard Wolff: The Next Economic Crisis Is Coming

January 23, 2019 By Lee Camp, Truthdig.com Educate! Crisis, Economic collapse

Every time I sit down with economist Richard Wolff, he demonstrates why the field of economics is so necessary in the cultural critique of our American empire. In my recent interview with him, we discussed why the thriving economy touted by President Donald Trump hasn’t translated into real gains for the majority of Americans. We also went over what is hidden by the economic indicators that allow the financial industry to celebrate while so many Americans are still suffering.

Comparing Crises: 1929 With 2008 And The Next

October 14, 2018 Jack Rasmus, Kyklos Productions. Educate! Banks, Economic collapse, Finanace and the Economy, Wall Street

It is often said that the initial months of the 2008-09 crash set the US economy on a trajectory of collapse eerily similar to that of 1929-30. Job losses were occurring at a rate of 1 million a month on average from October 2008 through March 2009. One might therefore think that mainstream economists would look closely at the two time periods—i.e. 1929-30 and 2008-09—to determine with patterns or similar causes were occurring. Or to a deep analysis of the periods immediately preceding 1929 and 2008 to see what similarities prevailed. But they haven’t.

JP Morgan Chase Warns Mass Social Unrest Ahead

September 16, 2018 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, Popular Resistance Strategize! Class Struggle, Economic collapse

In a 168 page report, 10 Years After the Financial Crisis, issued this month, JP Morgan predicts another economic crisis and concludes warning, "The next crisis is also likely to result in social tensions similar to those witnessed 50 years ago in 1968." It is this scenario, on top of the already existing unrest and anger at the unfair economy, that will continue to expand the popular movement and create the national consensus for an economy that puts people and planet first, which could lead to a positive change -- IF we prepare for it.

The Coming Collapse

May 27, 2018 Chris Hedges, TruthDig. Educate! Banks, Economic collapse, Wall Street

The Trump administration did not rise, prima facie, like Venus on a half shell from the sea. Donald Trump is the result of a long process of political, cultural and social decay. He is a product of our failed democracy. The longer we perpetuate the fiction that we live in a functioning democracy, that Trump and the political mutations around him are somehow an aberrant deviation that can be vanquished in the next election, the more we will hurtle toward tyranny. The problem is not Trump. It is a political system, dominated by corporate power and the mandarins of the two major political parties, in which we don’t count.

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