In the lead up to the semi-annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank being held in Washington this week, the global aid agency Oxfam has produced a report detailing the horrendous impact of rising inflation, coming on top of the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, for almost half the world’s population. It said the[Read More…]
A report issued by the British-based international aid agency Oxfam last week has highlighted the rapid escalation of economic and social inequality in the Asia-Pacific region during the COVID-19 pandemic, documenting how a handful of the ultra-wealthy have directly benefited from the suffering of millions. The investigation found that 20 new “pandemic billionaires” had been created over the past two[Read More…]
Data from the world’s major economies, released over the past few days, show that the “synchronised” global slowdown pointed to by the International Monetary Fund is worsening. In its report on the latest figures from China, the world’s second largest economy, Bloomberg said the “engines of China’s economy are spluttering with exports falling, factory output slowing, investment at a record[Read More…]
Markets around the world fell yesterday in response to the biggest fall on Wall Street for the year on Wednesday, amid further indications from bond markets and production data that the global economy is moving into recession. In response to the Wall Street decline, markets in Asia fell with Japan’s Topix index down 1 percent while the Australian market dropped[Read More…]
The current turmoil in financial markets was set off by the Trump administration’s threat to impose tariffs on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese goods and its decision to label China a “currency manipulator,” following Beijing’s move to allow the renminbi to fall. The extreme volatility has prompted questions about the stability of the global financial system. But the[Read More…]
The head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde has repeated earlier warnings that the trade war between US and China threatens to result in a cut to global growth and has called on Washington and Beijing to pull back. In a report published earlier this week, the IMF estimated that the latest round of tariffs could see a reduction[Read More…]
The World Bank has added its voice to those warning of a worsening outlook for the global economy this year, amid signs that some major economies could experience a recession. In its Global Economic Prospects report issued last week, entitled “Darkening Skies,” it stated that “storm clouds are brewing for the global economy” and contrasted the situation with that of a year[Read More…]
The growth rate of the Chinese economy has fallen to its lowest level since the beginning of 2009 in the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis. Official figures released at the end of last week put the annual growth rate for the third quarter at 6.5 per cent. This was below market expectations of 6.6 percent and down from[Read More…]
The Trump administration has stepped up its trade war against China with the announcement that US Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, will begin an investigation with a view to putting a 10 percent tariff of $200 billion worth of Chinese goods by the end of August. The latest decision comes on top of the imposition of a 25 percent tariff on[Read More…]
The Trump administration has gone ahead with its threat to impose tariffs on China under section 301 of the 1974 US Trade Act, imposing levies on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods from midnight, with a further $16 billion to be targeted in the near future. The action is the first shot in a direct trade war against China, with[Read More…]
Former trade union boss Cyril Ramaphosa has been sworn in as president of South Africa following an intense battle within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) which led to the ousting of Jacob Zuma who had held the presidency since 2009. The move against Zuma was set in motion last December when Ramaphosa won a closely fought struggle within the[Read More…]
According to the official scenario, the world economy is enjoying its best period of growth since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, which ushered in the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. According to a report issued by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development last month: “The global economy is now growing at its fastest pace[Read More…]
A warning by the governor of the People’s Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan, that the country’s financial system faces a possible “Minsky moment” has again raised concerns over the level of the country’s debt. Zhou, who is expected to retire soon from his position as head of the central bank, made his remarks at a sideline meeting during the Chinese[Read More…]
Eight years after the eruption of the global financial crisis, the conditions are being created for another meltdown of even bigger proportions, amid rising geo-political and economic tensions between the major capitalist powers. This is the implication of three reports issued by the International Monetary Fund in preparation for its annual meeting, which begins in Washington today. The World Economic[Read More…]
Cowardly New Australian Labor Government Fails On Nuclear Weapons, Poverty & Climate Change 
Ukraine Update: Former U.S. Special-ops Soldiers Train Ukrainian Soldiers, Says New York Times 
Selling Weapons, Selling War 
Paradigm for peace applied to Russia, Ukraine, and the US: Proposal for a peaceful pathway forward – Part 4H 
AUKUS Submarines: Beasts of Nuclear Proliferation 
Extreme Life – Or World War III (IV and V), Climate-Style 
IS BIG BROTHER Just a Chubby Republican Neo Fascist? 
Emergency by Rule Of Law And Law-Less Rule Of Undeclared Emergency… 
Oil and Gas Workers Strike In Norway, Europe’s Energy Crisis May Escalate Paradigm for peace applied to Russia, Ukraine, and the US: Proposal for a peaceful pathway forward – Part 4G 
How PR is Preventing Awareness of Global Warming 
Massacre Inside High Security Welikada Prison in Sri Lanka 
The Patriarchal Regulation of Female Sexuality in India 
Debajyoti Misra on his music for Aparajito 
Two opinions on the US, and no extra comment 
Collectively Stronger Paradigm for peace applied to Russia, Ukraine, and the US: Proposal for a peaceful pathway forward – Part 4F 
Justice in Crisis – 2 
Happy B-Day USA 
How sincere is the government in its commitment to natural farming? 
The Major Questions Doctrine: The US Supreme Court Blunts the EPA 
U.S.-Led Holy War to Conquer Russia and China Declared by Pompeo 
How Sri Lanka’s militarized response to Covid led to the unraveling of a nation 
Release Chandrashekhar Azad and his 21 associates now 
Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 completes 60 years Paradigm for peace applied to Russia, Ukraine, and the US: Proposal for a peaceful pathway forward – Part 4E 
Fr. Stan Swamy: his legacy lives forever! 
Political Parties To Receive Foreign Donation? 
Propaganda, Fact checks and Fake news busting sites 
Why Leprosy Should Get Better Priority in Health Programs Paradigm for peace applied to Russia, Ukraine, and the US: Proposal for a peaceful pathway forward – Part 4D 
Japan: Trials and Tribulations of a Land of “Honorary Whites” 
Taming of a Serpent: The Case of Nupur Sharma and the Supreme Court 
Dangerous trends and need for greater restraint and autonomous institutions 
Some pious deeds 
US Marine Press Takes on Hothouse Earth 
Chomsky on Israeli Apartheid, Celebrity Activists, BDS and the One-State Solution 
The United States Contests the Chinese Belt and Road with a Private Corporation 
Colombia: You Can’t Elect an End to Exploitation 
NATO prepares for “warfighting against nuclear-armed peer-competitors” 
Binu Mathew, the editor of Countercurrents.org and the editorial team have been working selflessly with minimal funds and accepting no advertisements. Besides CC abhors foreign institutional funding, corporate funding or government aid. It has been in existence for about two decades and standing on the side of the people and taking an anti-establishment stance. To that extent it is like[Read More…]
