THE END OF THE BANKERS' PONZI SCHEME?

         Predictions for the global economy and banking system grow more dismal by the day. One financial commentator, Business Insider, puts it thus; “The problem is not Government Debt per se. The real problem is that the $70trillion in G10 debt is collateral for $700 trillion in derivatives--- Yes, that equates to 1200% of global GDP and it rests on very, very weak foundations.”

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       Here in Europe the financial Mafia and their action men, the national governments, waffle with all sorts of ideological theories, from bleak brutal austerity, to austerity with grow, but nothing is actually being done, meetings and discussions keep them busy, sort of fiddling while Rome burns. Of course we shouldn't blame them too much, as in actual fact there is nothing they can do, the ship has a large hole well below the water line, it is called “magic money made from nothing”. What this means to the ordinary people caught up in this the biggest ponzi scheme of all times is dire poverty and deprivation on a scale not witnessed before. At this stage of their game unemployment across Europe is now at 11% for the second month in a row. Spain, has the highest unemployment rate in Europe at 24.3%, about the same as the US during the “Great Depression”. Greece at present has 21.7% unemployment, with Italy and Portugal both having 15.2%. France, one of the supposedly economically strong nations of Europe has unemployment running at 10.2%. Even that saviour of the western capitalist system, the US, unemployment has risen again and is now at 8.2%. These figures equate to 17.4 million people out of work across Europe, of that total 3.5 million are 25 years old or younger, up 214,000 on the previous month. What future does that predict for those young people of today and those still at school? In the face of all this “economic gloom” companies across the globe are shedding jobs like trees shed leaves as winter approaches.

        To any informed observer of the capitalist chaos that is at the present time, destroying millions of lives across the planet, it becomes obvious that the system cannot work for the benefit of the ordinary people, it cannot be transformed into some fair, just and compassionate system that will see to the needs of all our people. It is and has always been an unfair, unjust elitist system and at present it is the the throes of its biggest crisis since its inception, and its only chance of survival is to plunder all public resources and assets and in the process destroy the lives of millions of innocent people. This chaos in the capitalist ponzi scheme is also an opportunity for the ordinary people to organise outside the system and take control of their own lives, control of their communities and their work places. To start to build a system that will produce for the needs of all our people freed from the greed for profit, a system that is built on co-operation and sustain ability. Now is probably the best opportunity we have had in years to bring down a system that has exploited our parents and our forefathers, generation after generation. In the words of the song, “From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success”, however it is up to us, the ordinary people, but we have to do it without, Leaders, Presidents, Monarchs and others of that ilk. Their record is one of greed, disaster, exploitation, war and deprivation.

An attempt to rescue the bankers and their friends.

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OUR WORLD OR THEIR WORLD??

         While the millionaires' club, also known as the G8, discuss how best to save and maximise the unimaginable wealth of their billionaire friends, for convenience let's call them the financial Mafia, the ordinary people are getting screwed. The talk is all about saving the Euro, protecting the liquidity of the banks and reducing the deficit. All very rational sounding, it is all a matter of figures, percentages etc. and as they sit in splendour, munching on lavish meals, the thought of the suffering inflicted on the ordinary people by their policies will not enter their heads. Of course they may discuss how to control any anger that may arise from that suffering, but not how to alleviate it in any way. We are expendable, in their eyes our suffering is necessary to safeguard their wealth. It is necessary to plunder all public assets to help them balance their crooked books. Unemployment helps to keep down wage bills, increases profit and makes them more competitive, in their eyes a great idea.

"We're going through tough times."

        Across Europe unemployment is rising to levels not seen since that last big “capitalist crisis” in the 30s. In this country there has been 270,000 public sector jobs lost in 2011, 71,000 roles disappeared in education and 31,000 disappeared in the National Health Service. Unemployment is at 8.2%, with unemployment among the young (16 to 24) is at 22.2%, a staggering 1,033,000 young lives being blighted to balance the books of the crooked banking system. Closer to home, here in Glasgow we have three parliamentary constituencies in the city where unemployment is 10% or more. It is not just a matter of employed and unemployed, there is also under-employed. The figures for the last quarter show that those in full employment fell by 13,000 but those in part time employment rose by 118,000, part time employment accounts for more than 18% of the workforce. Of course again these are just figures, they don't in any way portray the misery that is attached to them. Unemployment, under-employment, translates into poverty, malnutrition, illness caused by being unable to heat your home in winter, stress related problems which impinge on personal relationships, and all to appease the accountants of the billionaires.

         What the financial Mafia will be discussing at the G8 is not our world, our world is the well being of all of humanity, theirs is the personal wealth of an army of parasites, we are in conflict with each other. Their decisions negatively impact on our lives, but we don't need them. We can organise the world in a more sane, just, and sustainable manner, we can organise to see to the needs of all our people. The world has enough resources to see to all our needs, it is the money system of the corporate world's wealthy parasites that holds and hordes those resources, creating mass poverty and deprivation in the interests of profit. We should always remember, we are governed by consent, we have the right to withdraw that consent, as I said, we don't need them, but they need us.

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WHEN WILL IT END??

         A little tune to stamp your feet to over the weekend as you make your way to your favourite protest. The question is, when will it end, it'll end when capitalism ends.

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EUROPE, - ONE BIG SWEATSHOP!!

        While the IMF (International Mankind Fuckers) continue with their hatchet job on the Greek people, they are at the same time looking round for another target to strengthen the coffers of the financial Mafia, and sadly it looks like Spain will be next. While the aim is to direct all public money directly into the vaults of the said financial Mafia, and to privatise all public assets to re-capitalise the world of the corporate fascist, there is also another agenda. They are using the "crisis" as an excuse to destroy the working conditions of the entire European workforce. The pretext under which this brutal attack on the working people takes place is that by taking away the conditions won over many a bitter struggle, and also making it easier to fire workers, is a formula that will somehow magically create jobs and make the economy grow. The truth being, of course, is that they want to create a cheap labour force fearful for their jobs, because there is a vast pool of unemployed eager to step into their place should any worker become troublesome, like asking for a wage increase or a paid holiday.

       Though Greece is at the cutting edge, (literally) of this assault, and Spain seems to be the next target, you can rest assured that there are many more to follow. The corporate world has to level the playing field, they want Europe to compete with other corporate power blocks. That means that they have to have the same cheap labour across the continent, the same crap working conditions across the continent, when it comes to low wages and harsh working conditions, the corporate world truly believes in "No Borders".

SPAIN.



GREECE.



Athens on lockdown from Ross Domoney on Vimeo.

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GLASGOW2DETROIT TRAILER.

        Some time back I posted the film, “away ye grow,” made by a bunch of Glasgow people who went to Detroit to see how that city was responding to the usual capitalist crisis of devastatingly high unemployment. Both cities had similarities, both had been industrial giants and in both cases the industry just got up and left, leaving the customary capitalist aftermath of poverty and deprivation. Some of you may have been put off by the fact that it was an hour long movie, though worth every minute of time spent viewing, so here is a wee trailer to whet your appetite.

 

Glasgow2Detroit Trailer from Away Ye Grow on Vimeo.

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IT IS YOUR OWN FAULT!!!!

       What goes through your head when, after years of working for your living and having a feeling of relative security, you find yourself on the dole? At first you think it is just a temporary blip and soon things will get back to “normal”, but will they?

Another fine article from "The Commune" by Henrik Johansson.

      "When the next crisis comes, and it will, you will lose your job. There is a connection, but you will not see it. The management will say it’s a result of reduced orders and lack of work, with what you perceive as honest intimacy and regret.

     You shall consider not telling anything to your family, but every morning to get up, drink coffee and leave home. You imagine that you will be looking for a new job that you can proudly present to them one fine day. The plan is too absurd and you never try it.

It shall not be the crisis’ fault, nor your managers’ fault, nor their managers’ or shareholders’ fault, nor the society’s, nor the government’s. It shall be your own fault – because you could have done better, because you could have reeducated, worked your way up, been more responsive towards your clients and your managers.---"

Read on and think

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THE CURSE OF CAPITALISM.

     In Europe all the bankers and their yes men the politicians, are running around trying to find ways to save their billions. They keep coming up with grand plan after grand plan, only to find that it isn't working. Though they can hold their meetings in luxurious hotels and wine and dine their way through a multitude of exotic menus, the people at the receiving end of the grand plans are sinking fast.

    Under the present system of bankers corporate fascism, what has Europe got to offer the people? Country after country is seeing unemployment soar, some countries are at the moment away ahead of the others. At the forefront is Greece with youth unemployment almost at the 50% level, while total unemployment is at 18.3% and rising. Spain is in a similar position with total unemployment running at 22.8% and youth unemployment also approaching the 50% mark. Portugal and Ireland have approximately 30% youth unemployment, here in the UK it running at about 20%. All other countries in Europe have varying degrees of this malaise.

    This is the stark reality of conditions for the next generation of young people growing up in Europe, poverty and unemployment. These figures are an indictment against a system that can pour unbelievable wealth into the coffers of the few, while the vast majority struggle to keep their heads above water. A system that, to protect the unearned wealth of the few, is quite prepared to sacrifice country after country to a life of deprivation.

      Unemployment never comes alone, it has constant companions, the obvious is poverty, less noted but just as cruel is mental health problems, then there is the usual rise in suicides, violence, drug addiction and malnutrition. All this brings about the destruction of our social society, but only at our level. The millionaire class responsible for all this misery and destruction, go unscathed and will continue to take their yacht to the Med. fly to Dubai, and soak up the sun at St Moritz.

CRISIS!!  What crisis?

      As across the continent unemployment and poverty rises to scales not seen since the 30s and the 1% parasite class continue living in luxury on the backs of the ordinary people, it is surely obvious that the system doesn't work for the majority of the people. If the people want an end to this corrupt, unjust and exploitative system, they have to take control away from the financial parasites, remove the corrupt political class, (the parasites' managers) and organise society from the grassroots, creating a society that sees to the needs of all our people. A society based on mutual aid and sustainability, one that is free from the profit motive. Capitalism doesn't work.

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SOME THOUGHTS FOR TOMORROW'S MARCH.

          Some little bits of information to remember when on the November 30^th. day of action, march and rally. The chancellor has give his autumn budget report this afternoon and it doesn't make nice reading if you are an ordinary member of the public. When this Oxbridge millionaire laid out his first plan to save the bankers from losing the money they had gambled, it was to be a short sharp kick up the backside of the general public. Two years of austerity cuts and then fantastic growth would propel us all into eternal prosperity. Now it seems that the austerity bit for you and I is to last much longer. Public sector workers, who have suffered a two year pay freeze are to be limited to a 1% pay increase for a further two years. That is a helluva drop in wages over a five year period, remember inflation is running at 5%. On top of that, the original estimate of the number of public sector pay-offs of 400,000 has been revised up to 710,000. That's a helluva lot of people being thrown on the dole. So we are supposed to be grateful to this bunch of millionaire public school thugs for wage cuts/freezes, youth unemployment of over 1 million, total unemployment to rise to 3 million+, social services decimated, National Health privatised, education shredded and fuel poverty. All this to save the bankers going bust after their biggest greed feast in financial history. None of the measures being put in place by this millionaire cabal, will in any way impact on their luxurious parasitical ways. They and their millionaire corporate friends are doing very well, thank you, and will do everything they can to protect their wealth and power, sadly that means screwing you the general public. Though that is not a problem to them.

These are hard times, you'll all have to tighten your belts.

        Dwell on these matters as you march and wave your banners tomorrow. We don't want the millionaire Mafia to be kinder to us and spare us the unemployment and gentler with the cuts. We want the parasites to be removed, the system to be destroyed and a fairer and more just system based on the needs of the people to be created in its place. What's more, we don't want their help to create that system, there are poison to any system of justice and fairness. We have the ability and the imagination to do it the only way it can be done, by ourselves, the ordinary people.

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CAPITALISM - PROFIT = MISERY.

           The capitalist system is in crisis, it sounds all so rational and academic, but what it means is that across Europe people are suffering in ever increasing numbers, and to an ever degrading degree. Country after country comes under the spotlight of the media and all the talk is about the “debt” crisis, never the human side. In Greece, a country with an unelected Prime Minister, unemployment has risen from 6.6% in 2008, to 16.6% in 2011, while youth unemployment went from 18.6% to 40.1%, and heroin addiction rose by 20% during the same period. Add to this human disaster the fact that the government during the same period has cut the health budget by 40% and reduced the street-work programs by 33%. Put that toxic cocktail together and you have human suffering and deprivation approaching third world proportions. Spain fares little better, with unemployment at 20%, and 10% of families with no wage earner, plus, during 2011, 1 in 8 business closed. Italy another country with an unelected Prime Minister, is about to embark on a series of vicious slashes to public spending, which will heap more people on to the already mountainous mound of misery that exists in Europe. Here in the UK we have now passed 2.6 million unemployed, 8.3% and rising. Our youth unemployment is now over 1 million and rising, add to this our wage freeze/cuts and an inflation rate of 5% and you can see the misery indicator shooting up. Meanwhile our Millionaire cabinet cabal, keep blaming the Euro-Zone for all our ills. The fact that growth in Europe is above that in the UK, and inflation is lower than the UK, doesn't seem to register with them, it is all Europe's fault.

CRISIS? What crisis?

         The simple fact is that capitalism is crisis, it can't work for the benefit of the ordinary people, it is basically a system that feeds the rich at the expense of the poor. Profit is the aim, not human welfare, and as such, that profit must be protected at all costs. The human misery resulting from this type of value structure is never taken into account on the balance sheets of the corporate world. Throughout the entire period of history where capitalism has been the main system we have had continuous wars, raging poverty, mass unemployment and the resulting misery such circumstances produce. Of course the numbers who gain a reasonable life varies from time to time, but it is a temporary respite, soon along comes another recession, or crisis and the numbers change again, with poverty and misery growing, wiping out any benefits that some of the ordinary people had fought for and temperaly gained.

        If we want to fix the “crisis” so that all the people will benefit, then we have to demolish the present system and change our value structure to one of profit free thinking. The only answer is to create a society of mutual aid and co-operation based on sustainability. The present “crisis” of the system can only be remedied by eliminating capitalism and building a needs based system. Only then will be see an end to the misery of deprivation, only then will our youth be able to flower to their full potential.

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AMERICA,LAND OF THE FREE, PLENTY AND OPPORTUNITY!!!

        America, the most developed capitalist country in the world, land of the free, opportunity and plenty?? Well the figures on the ground don't paint that picture.

      Land of the free-- According to a recent study America has more than 2.3 million people behind bars, and leads the world in both the number and percentage of residents it incarcerates, leaving far-more-populous China a distant second. This is costing state governments $50 billion a year plus a further cost to the federal government of $5 billion each year. These figures are on the rise year by year.

        Land of Opportunity---Unemployment in America is running at 13.9 million, approximately 9% of the population. According to recent figures, 49.1 million, approximately 16%, are classified as poor. The figure for 2010 for those who have accessed emergency food programs more than twice  was 5.6 million, 4.8% of all households. Approximately 50% of American workers have an annual income of less than $25,000.

         Land of Plenty---The figures for 2010, classified the number of households in food insecurity as 48.8 million, approximately 17.2% of the population. In household with children the figure was higher, 20.2%. According to government figures more than 16 million low income families paid more for rent and utilities than the federal government said was affordable. Another very disturbing figure for a so called civilised country, more than 46 million Americans have no form of health insurance.

          From a report by “World Hunger Education Service” "There are, we believe, three main causes of poverty in the United States: poverty in the world; the operation of the political and economic system in the United States which has tended to keep people from poor families poor, and actual physical mental and behavioural issues among some people who are poor."

         America is also seen as the consumer capital of the world, but even that doesn't hold water. Recent figures show that 40% of all consumer spending in America is done by the 5% richest section of the population.

        America, the richest country in the world, has a a government debt of $10.5 trillion, spends 4.7% of its GDP on defence, twice that of China, and in spite of that massive debt managed to pour over $1 trillion of borrowed money on its adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

         "Three years after the onset of the financial and economic crisis, hunger remains high in the United States. The financial and economic crisis that erupted in 2008 caused a dramatic increase in hunger in the United States. This high level of hunger continues in 2010, according to the latest government report (with the most recent statistics) released in September 2011 (Coleman-Jensen 2011)."

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WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON---.???

        To the cops hassling the protesters taking part in the world wide occupy movement, who and what are you protecting? Do you think that the corrupt oligarchs that sit in their plush offices counting their millions, give a shit about you? Do you think your pensions will be safe while the pensions of all others are cut? Do you think that your kids education will be fine as they cut the spending on education? Do you think that your kids will get a good job as unemployment keeps rising?

        You're on the wrong side friend, you are portecting the wealth and power of those who will in the end shaft you, just as they do everybody else. You are part of that 99%, you are not part of the 1% you are protecting, get onboard the right side, get among your own people, you are being used by a ruthless, corrupt, duplicious oligarchy, and to them you are just fodder for the machine, you are expendable.

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THE CUTS ARE FOR YOUR BENEFIT!!!

      

       Our millionaire public school thugs keep spouting that what they are doing is for the benefit of the country. What do they mean by “benefit of country”? What most people would think is that it is for he benefit of the people of that country. However the policies being administered by this bunch of millionaire parasites is most certainly not for the benefit of the people. Let's start with the £9billion cut from disability benefit, hitting some of the most vulnerable in our society. Then of course there is those effects that are not linked to any specific cut, like for example the fact that in the last year FareShare, which redistributes waste food from food manufacturers and super markets to various social care charities, has seen the demand for its food rise from 29,500 to 35,000 and increase of 20%. A lot of those coming forward for the food are from what would be termed “stable families” affected by rising unemployment. The number of charities applying to the FareShare scheme has risen from 600 to 700 over the last year. Almost half of those charities signed up to the scheme have claimed that the demand for their food services has risen by more than 50%. That's an awful lot of people depending on food handouts to survive, in what is one of the richest countries in the world. So much for “the benefit of the country”. Another action for “the benefit of the country” is a wage freeze, and in some cases, a wage cut, on public sector employees, while inflation is running at 5% and fuel bills for heating have risen by 18% this year alone. What is the total so far that are benefiting from these policies?

WE HAVE PLANS FOR THE SOCIAL SERVICES.

     Cuts in social services and benefits, wage freeze and wage cuts, high inflation and rocketing fuel prices, cuts in education, closure of libraries, leisure centres, and school, attempts to privatise the National Health Service, higher pension contributions, working longer and lower pensions at retiral, plus unemployment rising, all for your benefit. Of course you won't benefit now, but in 20 years or so this will be a great country for big business, lots of cheap labour and hundreds chasing every job. What you are being promised is the usual pie in the sky for you, and an immediate killing for the millionaire parasite class. So as far as they are concerned what they are doing is for “the benefit of the country”, as they consider it is their country, we are just the tools by which they make their fortunes. In the words of that old song,”When will we ever learn”?

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DEPRIVATION TO END HUMILIATION!!!

        The Greek foreign minister Mr. Venizelos stated that the IMF (International Mankind Fuckers) had failed to “give a definitive and complete answer to the attacks on the Euro.” and said that Greece had been blackmailed and humiliated. His answer to the blackmail and humiliation of the Greek people was the need to do three things.

 1. Greece achieving its 2011 and 2012 fiscal targets. This translates into, slash the living standards of the Greek people and put them in a state of deprivation for the next 15 to 20 years or more. His 2^nd point: Achieve annual budget surpluses “as soon as possible”. Translation, sack thousands of public sector workers, pushing unemployment to previously unseen levels increasing the poverty of the ordinary people. Mr. Venizelos's 3^rd. Point; Carry out structural changes to allow Greece to become more competitive and productive. Translation; Sell off all Greece's public assets at bargain prices to the rich investors of the greed driven corporate world, in so doing, add billions of Euros to the coffers of the banking system and remove any control the Greek people might have over their own assets. This then is the Greek political class's answer to end the humiliation of the Greek people. It sounds to me that the cure is worse than the disease, think of the mess we would be in if they were in the medical profession!!

 

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CAPITALISM IN CRISIS.

       

        Deleveraging, structural adjustments, severely adverse developments, how these words translate for you and I is, harsher conditions, slashing social spending, rising long term unemployment, as the billionaires, hedge funds and bond markets try to get out of the shit they dropped themselves in by their rampant greed. For those interested in information that hasn't been neutered via the mainstream media, you could do no better than visit, Capitalism in Crisis. The following is just a short extract.

      

       After four years---the financial crisis and the ensuing policy responses continue to cast long shadows. Economies and financial systems are still vulnerable to even modest shocks, and the likelihood of severely adverse developments has not decreased.

        In the advanced economies at the centre of the crisis, overall deleveraging and structural adjustment is still incomplete.

Http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

  - - - "We estimated in 2009 that the world had about $30 trillion in ghost assets. Almost half went up in smoke in six months between September 2008 and March 2009. For our team. It's now the other half's turn, the 15 trillion USD of ghost assets remaining, purely and simply vanishing between July 2011 and January 2012. “The insolvency of the global financial system, and of the Western financial system in the first place, returns again to the front of the stage after just over a year of political cosmetics aimed at burying this fundamental problem under truckloads of cash.”

       Do we need a system that throws the majority of the population into deprivation, and robs them of the future and all hope, so that the billionaires can try to recover their losses from their addiction to the gambling casino?

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WHOSE "MORAL COMPASS"!!

I am delighted that our millionaire public school thugs, Cameron and Co. are going to look at our “broken society” they are going to discuss the loss of our “moral compass”. That must be great news for all the ordinary people in this country, perhaps they will start by looking at our MP's fiddles, their massive expenses, unbelievable pensions and their rather generous pay-offs. They could then move to the corporate world and question their ever increasing greed and power, the way the drive down wages, increase the work load and export jobs, creating unemployment, all to satisfy the greed of their shareholders. Then of course there is the subsidies to the private schools for the rich and the deprivation of our public education system. They could also look at the millions that they are spending bombing and killing in Afghanistan and Libya while cutting social services here. Let's hope they don't forget to look at the culture of jobs for the boys among their political and corporate millionaire friends. Yes, there seems to be a group in this country that have lost their “moral compass” but somehow or other I don't think that our millionaire lords and masters will be looking in that direction. To them all that is just fine, it's those bloody youths that seem to be taking a leaf out their masters rule book, and helping themselves to what they want, that will come under the millionaire cabal's scrutiny. It is single mothers that will be criticised, it will be the unemployed for not looking hard enough for a none existent job, and those rascals on sickness benefit that have to be sorted out. Somehow or other I don't think the millionaire public school thugs' “moral compass” will look anything like mine. Theirs will point them in the same old direction, legislating so that the rich can get on with their plundering and looting and the poor can be kept in control.

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CHANGING FORM OF CAPITAL CRISIS.

      
         Some interesting details on the on-going crisis that's, according to the optimistic, is over and we are now looking for GROWTH, the capitalist's panacea. You can read the full article at LINKS Internation Journalof Socialist Renewal.

         "---Perhaps the first indicator that the capitalist crisis is still unfolding is the rise in unemployment in many advanced capitalist countries.

         How many are affected by this? According to the latest figures of the International Labor Organisation, 205 million workers are jobless and the capitalist crisis has destroyed 30 million jobs since 2007.

        Unemployment in the United States rose from around 4.5% in late 2006 to 10% in 2009. In March 2011 it had slightly fallen to 9%. In Europe, the crisis has restored mass unemployment in a number of countries: in Spain (20% in 2010), Ireland (14%), Greece (12.5%), Portugal (11%). Millions of people are thus reduced to idleness since the unfolding of the crisis.

        The second form of the continuing capitalist crisis is the crisis in state finance. Sovereign debt has thus become the centre of the crisis since 2010 and the default of Greece.

       The global recession, but also state intervention to save the banking sector, led in the advanced capitalist countries to a significant increase of the weight of sovereign debt in national economies. This does not concern only the peripheral economies of the eurozone since the same phenomenon affects the US, Japan and the core EU countries. Hence, the austerity measures adopted by governments (“left” and right) to reduce public spending and satisfy the demands of financial markets (whose criteria is a more or less 60% of GDP in public indebtedness). ---"    READ ON---

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