Since the start of E(E)C / EU the monetary union was a paramount goal in this political project of Western European industrial and financial capitalists. However, after the Treaty of Rome was established, there were more primary short-run targets to long for, and the idea of a common currency remained a rather abstract or a rhetorical notion for some time. But even in those times it figured as a darling of conservative ideologues, and of some ambitious politicians, too. Anyway, the Werner- and the Tindemans-report remained dead letter. Helmut Schmidt and V. Giscard d'Estaing personally tried to draft a scheme for a European Monetary System in 1978, but it failed miserably. To use the terms of an old debate in the left movement, we have to revisit imperialism as the nec plus ultra of … [read more]

In the poorest countries of the world, where hundreds of thousands of people die of hunger and diseases, many have celebrated the massacre of New York. Among those peoples who in the last decades have been suffering from all kinds of humiliations, aggressions, massacres and injustice, many have cheered in occasion of the twin tower collapse. They see the evil where the rich see the good. Only priests with fully stuffed stomachs could condemn these extreme sentiments of the damned of earth. In fact, the poor and miserable consider the USA and their allies as those responsible for their inhuman conditions of life, for the hopeless barbarism they have to suffer from. Are they wrong? The hypocrite governors of the US and the NATO states are threatening, cursing and crying that peace … [read more]

I. Crisis of unequal distribution II. EU under German hegemony III. The only solution: dissolve the eurozone IV. Breaking with casino capitalism   This catastrophic crisis is at the same time a great chance: in some of the most crisis-stricken countries the rule of the EU financial oligarchy might be toppled. Trying to analyse the acute crisis of the last five years and the build-up that preceded it, we suggest a rough separation into two basic levels: a global momentum on one hand and a specific European one on the other hand. The latter is connected to the actual constitution of the EU and the economic predominance of Germany, combined with the political weakness of its elites. This configuration triggers a powerful amplification of the crisis, turning Europe into its centre … [read more]

Acute crisis of capital flight The current stage of the crisis of the EU/Euro is marked by capital fleeing the European south. The symbol for this are the increasing interest spreads over German bonds. But also banks and the corporate sector are in acute shortage of capital while private consumption is plunging. Together with the severe austerity imposed by the EU centre the European south is suffering deep recession of which the worst is still to come. Large sections of the population including the middle classes are being impoverished to an extent and in a pace unprecedented since decades. For any peripheral country this would mean immediate default and devastating social crisis as countries like Mexico, Indonesia, Argentina and many other countries did suffer from. Only being … [read more]

A. The developments The EU finds itself in the heart of the crisis, wounded as never before. The diverging strategies and the explosion of the contradictions within the EU and the Eurozone (European Monetary Union) may lead the course of the “European integration adventure” to unanticipated consequences. While the integration formally advances, in reality it sheers off. The hegemonic role of German imperialism and the insolvable interconnection of the EU institutions with the most parasitic and rapacious financial capital reveal today more and more clearly the real nature of the EU: an absolutely anti-democratic, anti-social, aggressive, barbaric and cynical imperialist construction. The EU is internationally in the vanguard of the application of the harshest neoliberal policies … [read more]

“.”So spoke Venezuela President Hugo Chavez from the plenary podium on the last afternoon, December 18, of the 12-day long Climate Conference.“While the conference was a failure, it, at least, led to more consciousness of what the problem is for all of us. Now starts a new stage of the struggle for the salvation of humanity, and this is through socialism. Our problem is not just about climate, but about poverty, misery, unnecessary child deaths, discrimination and racism—all related to capitalism,” Chavez said at the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Latin America (ALBA) press conference held at the Bella Centre conference immediately following Chavez’ last remarks at the plenary.Bolivia President Evo Morales followed Chavez’ remarks by … [read more]