07) STORM WARNINGS ON HORIZON

People's Voice Editorial

We've said this before, but it's worth repeating: any idea that the global economic crisis which broke out in 2008 has been resolved is a fantasy. The return of corporate profits to the record levels of 2007-2008, and the overstated decline in unemployment rates, are indicators which have been misread by those who claim that capitalism has been restored to full health. A more accurate view is that the system is entering a fifth year of the crisis, which began with the severe contraction in U.S. housing markets in mid‑2007.

            Fears of new turmoil are reflected in the Dow and the TSX, which have declined by 8-10% from peak levels. Some 15% of U.S. workers remain unemployed or under-employed, counting those who have given up looking for work. The real jobless rate is similar in Canada. U.S. housing prices are falling, and consumer debt levels in the U.S. and Canada are hitting new records. Wages are stagnant, and pensions and other benefits are under sharp attack by employers and right-wing governments. Add to this the raging debt crisis in Europe, and it is clear that serious storms lie ahead.

            The capitalist "solution" is to continue impoverishing workers, which will only make the next economic decline even steeper. Instead, urgent and radical measures are needed to improve the living standards of working people, by reversing the shift of wealth towards the rich. A real "People's Alternative" must include a combination of expanded public ownership of key industries, higher taxes on the corporations and the rich, drastic cuts in wasteful military spending, and restoration of social programs. Only a united, mass struggle led by the labour movement and its allies can block the Harper agenda and achieve these policies. The time to begin is today.

(The above article is from the July 1-31, 2011, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)