Crisis This Time

Crises have a way of clarifying things. The Left has always recognized that crises mean, first and foremost, untold suffering by the most vulnerable sections of society, the scars of which remain long after the crises abate. This is why serious socialists have never welcomed economic breakdown. But precisely because of their disruptive effects on business as usual, economic crises also present political opportunities. In previous crises, such as in the Great Depression, and even in the late 1960s and 1970s, economic dislocation became the occasion for massive social explosions and gains for the working people. Since the current crisis began, it is the ruling classes not labour movements which have seized the crisis as an opportunity. Even while the public stands disgusted with the speculative orgy that neoliberalism unleashed, even while the mythology of market fundamentalism has been discredited, and even while public sentiment is hostile to the bank bailouts - the response of capitalist states has been to shore up, however they can, the very model that brought the economy to ruins. It appears we are entering a new age of austerity. This portends a further assault on trade unions and the social entitlements of the working classes. The themes this volume encompasses include: - putting 'the crisis this time' in historical and theoretical perspective - analyzing the role of banks and derivatives in global financialization - interrogating Wall Street and City of London before and after the crisis - surveying the crisis in the US, the UK, Europe, Japan and South Africa - taking the measure of the impact of the crisis on working class families. - showing how 'exit strategies' are reviving neoliberalism - surveying the struggles against the new public austerity in Greece, Ireland, UK and US