So Peter Mandelson, the ‘Prince of Darkness’ is incredibly back in the government after having had to quit on two previous occasions. His is to take up the job of Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform - naturally.  People new to politics may wonder what all the fuss is about, not least since Mandelson has been hiding away in euro-bureaucracy land for the last four years as EU Trade Commissioner.

Last month we reported how insurance giant AIG had to be bailed out by the US government for $85bn. It’s all part of ‘Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor.’

Less than a week after the bailout, the company held a week-long retreat for its executives at the luxury St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, Calif., running up a bill of $440,000,

At the opening of a House committee hearing about the near-failure of the insurance giant, Congressman Henry Waxman showed a photograph of the resort. Waxman said the executives spent $200,000 for rooms, $150,000 for meals and $23,000 for the spa. 

In the early hours of this morning (08.10.08), the government and the financial authorities have finally agreed an ambitious plan to save the banks. They present the £50bn bail-out as decisive action to stop the rot. In fact their hands were forced, and there’s no sign that it will stem the panic on UK stock markets in any case.

Last Tuesday shares in two of our biggest banks, HBOS and RBS, plummeted by 40%. Let Nils Pratley (Guardian 08.10.08) chronicle the damage. “At the close of trading, Royal Bank of Scotland, a bank that raised £12bn of fresh capital from its shareholders in June, was worth only £18bn.” (That is what the sum total of its shares came to.)  “Shares in HBOS were priced 50% below the value of a bid from Lloyds TSB to buy it.” The banking system faced catastrophe.

Marxist Economics

Marxists approach economics from a particular perspective. We have to accept that wealth is concentrated in the hands of a very small number of people, the capitalist class. The overwhelming majority of people have no wealth. All in essence they have is themselves and their ability to work, which they have to sell on the open market. Marx called these people the proletariat. Steve Jones, of the Socialist Appeal editorial board, talks on the basics of Marxists economics.

Listen to  part 1 and part 2. To download the audio file click with your right mouse button and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As".  

Marxism and the Black Struggle

What is the most effective way of combating racism? Fred Weston, of the marxist.com editorial board, spoke at the Marxist Day School held recently in London on the effects of positive discrimination and the lessons for the labour movement, touching on  the origins of racism, the Black question in the USA, South Africa and the struggle against apartheid and Brazil where today the Black Socialist movement is opposing racial legislation. 

Listen to part 1 and part 2. To download the audio file click with your right mouse button and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As".