Section : Economics

Whither Capitalism?

As money flows from government coffers to corporate bank accounts, regular individuals still face the economic crisis’ ever-tightening grip. Layoffs, reduced wages, and personal bankruptcies have become common. Corporate welfare has reached its pinnacle as governments around the world ignore public concerns, and instead focus on subsidizing financial institutions and large car companies. Deranged economists, with their misunderstanding of Keynes, support the propping up of inefficient businesses. And no one appears to be infuriated about the fact that taxpayers are bearing the burden; we regular guys are effectively letting Wall Street fat cats have their cake and eat it too. Has this columnist gone mad, or have we stepped back towards oligarchy?

State of the Chinese Economy

Although the US stock market slumped from Wall Street’s financial crises, many optimistic investors believed that China’s emerging markets would stay strong. Yet as CNN put it, “China and the US are two drunken guys bumped into each other; if one falls, the other will fall, too.” Indeed recent Chinese statistics suggest that the Chinese economy’s problems may be more serious than the US’s.

Oct. 8, 2008 Interview with John Roemer

(John Roemer is Elizabeth S. and A. Varick Professor of Political Science and Economics at Yale University. He received his A.B. in mathematics from Harvard in 1966, and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1974. He has published widely on Marxian economics, distributive justice, and political economy. His work has been published in reputable journals like Econometrica, the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics. Further information about Dr. Roemer and his work may be found on his website. )

Round and Round We Go

One can no longer doubt the World Trade Organization's tremendous inequities.