análisis por bacosta

Economic sanctions deliver bigger global shocks than ever before and are easier to evade 

Not since the 1930s has an economy the size of Russia’s been placed under such a wide array of commercial restrictions as those imposed in response to its invasion of Ukraine. But in contrast to Italy and Japan in the 1930s, Russia today is a major exporter of oil, grain, and other key commodities, and the global economy is far more integrated. As a result, today’s sanctions have global economic effects far greater than anything seen before. Their magnitude should prompt reconsideration of sanctions as a powerful policy instrument with major global economic implications.

Sanctions are not the only source of turmoil in the global economy. Energy prices have been rising since last year as the economic recovery from the pandemic encountered overburdened supply chains. Global food prices rose 28 percent in 2020 and 23 percent in 2021, and they surged 17 percent this year between February and March alone. The war has also harmed Ukraine directly as fighting has closed the country’s Black Sea ports, blocking its exports of wheat, corn, sunflower oil, and other goods. 

     La importancia del cuidado del agua es un tema recurrente y las campañas de ahorro suelen centrarse en las actividades cotidianas de las personas. Sin embargo, las industrias representan aproximadamente el 92% del consumo total del líquido vital. Se destina más agua a las cosas que al consumo humano. Esto demuestra que la responsabilidad del cuidado hídrico recae principalmente en los hombros de las grandes empresas que dirigen las industrias mencionadas y otras, y no sólo en las decisiones cotidianas de los individuos. La deslocalización de la producción hace que estas industrias se dediquen a expoliar el agua de los países en desarrollo. Los ricos consumen y los pobres se quedan sin agua limpia o sin agua.

For decades, the mainstream of both the Democratic and Republican parties favored expanding trade between the U.S. and other countries. Greater globalization, these politicians promised, would increase economic growth — and with the bounty from that growth, the country could compensate any workers who suffered from increased trade. But it didn’t work out that way.

Instead, trade has contributed to the stagnation of living standards for millions of working-class Americans, by shrinking the number of good-paying, blue-collar jobs here. The incomes of workers without a bachelor’s degree have grown only slowly over the past few decades. Many measures of well-being — even life expectancy — have declined in recent years.

All along, many politicians and experts continued to insist that trade was expanding the economic pie. And they were often right. But struggling workers understandably viewed those claims as either false or irrelevant, and they refused to support further expansions of trade.

Las experiencias en Eurasia y América Latina son alternativas viables y reales de un regionalismo post-hegemónico; estas regiones, al igual que otras del Sur-global, han ganado terreno frente a Occidente y el eurocentrismo. China ha construido redes de cooperación favorables a sus intereses; con la IFR y el desarrollo de sus países vecinos, logró mover el eje de la economía mundial del Atlántico Norte a la Cuenca del Pacífico. Moscú y Beijín están del mismo lado del multilateralismo bipolar. América Latina, siempre en busca de autonomía, mira cada vez más hacia oriente.

Headlines are abuzz with the return of inflation, which, according to some measures, is now reaching 40 year highs. Considering that vanquishing inflation is supposed to be the one undisputed achievement of neoliberalism, why is it rising? Many explanations – from excessive money creation to disrupted supply chains to tightening labour markets and a post-lockdown surge in demand are offered.

The view that it would be a short term affair is giving way to a more sobering assessment of its persistence, particularly since geopolitical conflict gave inflation a booster shot. As for its solution, one thing is clear, dealing with it as Paul Volcker famously did in the late 1970s is not a politically affordable option for governments beholden to elites whose outrageous fortunes depend on low interest rates.

This panel will seek to examine this phenomenon by asking question such as why is inflation rising? Can we expect it persist? What are the major policy-options being discussed and what are their political implications of each? How should socialists think about this new problem?