(2021-12-23). Structural Reforms Can Ease China's Transition to High-Quality Growth. moderndiplomacy.eu To achieve quality growth over the medium-term, China will need to rebalance its economy across several dimensions, according to Rebalancing Act, From Recovery to High-Quality Growth, the latest China Economic Update released today by the World Bank. Following a strong rebound in the first half of 2021, economic activity in China cooled rapidly in the …
(2021-12-23). With decent work and a sustainable model aquaculture could feed the world. moderndiplomacy.eu Harnessing aquaculture's potential to effectively contribute to feeding the world's growing population in the decades to come will require concerted efforts to promote sustainable enterprises and decent work for its workforce. These are among the main conclusions of the Technical meeting on the future of work in aquaculture in the context of the rural economy …
(2021-12-23). Who Actually Owns Corporations, Anyway? popularresistance.org According to elementary students of economics and Wall Street financiers alike, the answer to this question is as simple as it is intuitive: the shareholders. The standard narrative goes like this: a share is a "piece of a company." Accordingly, the holders of those shares are the company's collective owners. Shareholder ownership explains why an army of retail investors coordinating trades on Reddit could claim they "owned a piece" of the struggling video game retailer GameStop and why Warren Buffet is as certain he "owns" companies as varied as GEICO and Dairy Queen as less wealthy Americans are certain they ow…
(2021-12-23). Mismeasuring progress: A critique of the growth paradigm. roarmag.org Cityscape of Johannesburg, South Africa in 2013. Photo: Nataly Reinch / Shutterstock.com | In recent years, more and more people have begun to question the received wisdom of "economic growth" — the idea that government policies can be measured a success or failure based on an increase in national income. Many, that is, except most economists. For them, growth is still the sacred benchmark on the road to development — for those countries deemed "undeveloped" — and something to be maintained and if possible expanded in all the OECD countries. | Governments follow suit and design their policies ar…
(2021-12-23). Tea Party Redux: How the Koch Network Funds and Fuels the Anti-Lockdown Movement. democracynow.org 
A new report titled "How The Koch Network Hijacked The War On COVID" reveals how a right-wing network linked to billionaire Charles Koch has played a key role in fighting public health measures during the pandemic, including mask and vaccine mandates, contact tracing and lockdowns. The groups include the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), Donors Trust, the Hoover Institution and Hillsdale College. We speak about the contents of the report with co-author Walker Bragman, who says the right-wing network's attack on public health is designed to "maintain…
(2021-12-23). What Russia Says About Its Not-An-Ultimatum Demands To The US And NATO. popularresistance.org Andrei Martyanov also explains the timing. Russia is technologically and militarily in a strong position and currently can survive a break with the 'western' world without too much trouble. The U.S. is in disarray and NATO not ready to fight. It is simply the right moment. | To add to his short video I will also note that it is winter and that Europe depends on Russian gas. Gazprom is no longer offering gas at European spot markets but only delivering in previously agreed quantities to long term contract partners. This puts pressure on German regulators to finally sign off on Nord Stream II which the U.S. and Ukr…
(2021-12-23). Pentagon Clamps Down on Extremism & White Supremacy After Dozens of Jan. 6 Rioters Had Military Ties. democracynow.org 
The Pentagon has announced new rules to slow the spread of extremism in the military, one of which will discipline soldiers for liking or resharing white nationalist and other extremist content on social media. The Pentagon announcement comes just two weeks before the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection, where more than 80 of the 700 individuals charged with the attack had ties to the U.S. military. Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project Susan Corke says these rule changes are welcomed by her organization but don't go far enough to stop extremism in the armed forces. "It sh…
(2021-12-23). New Zealand government will not immediately lock down if Omicron appears in community. wsws.org While the Labour Party-led government claims it wants to keep Omicron out of the community, the cabinet has not put measures in place to prevent its rapid spread.
(2021-12-23). How Public Workers Can Stop The Privatization Of Everything. popularresistance.org Several years ago, Don Cohen, a former central labor council staffer from San Diego, appeared on a panel discussing the privatization threats faced by union members across the country. He and other speakers were addressing a conference of state, county, and municipal workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), a group which did not include any federal employees. When Cohen described propaganda campaigns that proponents of privatization conduct to pave the way for out-sourcing local government or state university jobs, audience members immediately recognized that kind of employer behavior a…
(2021-12-23). Stuart Delivery strike highlights UK's bogus self-employment problem. zcomm.org By misclassifying workers as 'self-employed' companies can trample over labor rights…
(2021-12-23). "It's a Win for Us": Striking Kellogg's Workers Get Raises, Improved Benefits & Avoid Two-Tier System. democracynow.org 
In a major victory for labor rights, 1,400 unionized Kellogg's workers have ended their nearly three-month strike across four states after approving a new contract that provides a wage increase and enhanced benefits for all. The prior agreement that Kellogg's tried to bargain only offered wage increases and improved benefits to longtime workers, whereas the new agreement ensures newer workers have a guaranteed option to receive the same improvements. We speak with Kellogg's worker Kevin Bradshaw, who will return to work on Monday alongside his co-workers. "We didn't have any takeaways and no concessions, so I wou…
(2021-12-23). Silicon Valley Execs Quit Good-Paying Jobs For Crypto Startups, Quick Riches. moguldom.com Some of the biggest tech companies are scrambling to retain employees as a wave of engineers and executives quit jobs that pay as much as seven-figure salaries for what's seen as a once-in-a-generation opportunity — to join crypto startups. Stories of massive crypto wealth amassed by early investors in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptos including …
(2021-12-23). àÅlvaro García Linera: The Central Command of the Latin American Right is the US, not Spain. orinocotribune.com The conservative command of the Latin American right is in the United States, not in Spain. Vox is small and clumsy. On the other hand, Washington promotes a series of basic values: market, individuality, institutionality against social convulsions and wealth as the goal of life, affirms àÅlvaro García Linera. | The vice president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia between 2006 and 2019 is one of the most prominent contemporary leftist intellectuals. His extensive and provocative intellectual production is the result of a political commitment that led him to imprisonment for seven years and of a solid th…
(2021-12-23). NAACP President Sends Message To Biden: If You Can Afford To Pause Student Loan Payments Over And Over, You Can Cancel Them. moguldom.com Some rejoiced when President Joe Biden announced that he was extending the pause on making student loan payments for three additional months while others urged Biden to go further and cancel student loan debt altogether. Among the latter group are NAACP president Derrick Johnson and renowned wealth inequality expert and economist William "Sandy" Darity. Biden …
(2021-12-23). Australia's housing crisis and the new anti-democratic electoral laws. wsws.org The meteoric rise in housing and rental prices across Australia is fueling mounting social discontent, which the party deregistration laws seek to stifle.
(2021-12-23). Google executives dismiss employee demands for pay increases to meet inflation. wsws.org Employees at Google are demanding pay increases for all workers to maintain their living standards while inflation is running at an annual rate of 7 percent and the corporation is making record profits.
(2021-12-23). A For-Profit Company Is Trying To Privatize Public Libraries. popularresistance.org "Even if we don't see a written-out master plan, the banning of books, the attacks on teaching real US history, the efforts to push out professors with views that transgress official US policy: In their myriad forms, these actions tell us that it's important to powerful people to restrict what ideas people can access. It's the land of the free and the home of the brave—except if you want to know what's happened, and happens, here, or to tell people about it. | It all shows us the power of ideas. As infuriating and sad and enervating as it all is, it reminds us that knowledge is power."
(2021-12-23). German banks and big business profit from death in the pandemic. wsws.org Like vultures feasting on the victims of a disaster, the profiteers on the banking floors are enriching themselves from the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
(2021-12-23). UK Tory government weaponises Christmas against COVID restrictions. wsws.org The government's brutal determination to keep the profits flowing at all costs is meeting widespread opposition. Workers are defying all instructions from the mass murderers in Westminster to just keep on shopping and socialising in pubs, clubs and restaurants. Millions have stopped using public transport, are working from home and are already limiting their contacts with other people.
(2021-12-23). New Campaign for $15 Minimum Wage Kicks Off in Michigan. zcomm.org "Michigan persists as one of 43 states with a legacy of slavery—a subminimum wage—and a very low overall wage of just under $10 an hour. Neither is enough for people to live on."
(2021-12-23). Pharmacy Workers Describe Conditions That Sparked US Walkouts. popularresistance.org Retail pharmacy workers conducted a nationwide walkout on Monday in the US, organized on social media, to protest worsening work conditions at large retail chains such as CVS, Walgreens and Walmart. As the hyper-infectious Omicron variant continues to spread throughout the country, this much overlooked section of the health care industry is making its own demands for better working conditions, including patient safety, and an overdue increase in wages. | One pharmacist who requested to remain anonymous told the WSWS, "We work 12 hour shifts without technicians, we have no breaks and no lunch break as the drive-th…
(2021-12-23). Capitalism Contributed to Factory Workers Deaths in Kentucky and Illinois. covertactionmagazine.com The weekend of December 10-11, 2021, saw a reported 30 tornadoes hitting several states from Arkansas to Illinois; as of …
(2021-12-23). Naked @ Work — the Neoliberal Workplace. zcomm.org Capitalism's relentless drive to growth based on global environmental exploitation has not just transformed the entire planet but is about to destroy planet earth…
(2021-12-23). Fatal accidents reveal unsafe conditions in Pakistan's coal mines. peoplesdispatch.org As deadly accidents continue in various coal mines in Pakistan, senior representatives of IndustriALL Global have asked the Pakistani ambassador at Geneva to take immediate steps to ensure that Pakistan ratifies and implements ILO Convention 176 on Safety and Health in Mines…
(2021-12-23). Acteal Massacre Victims Demand Justice from The Mexican State. telesurenglish.net Twenty-four years after the killing of 45 Tzotziles Indigenous people carried out by paramilitaries, relatives and survivors of the attack marched to demand jail time for the intellectual and material authors of this tragedy. | RELATED: | With songs, prayers, crosses, incense, and candles, the Acteal Bees (Las Abejas de Acteal), a Christian and anti-neoliberal organization, remembered the dead in a collective tomb where the bodie…
(2021-12-23). What are the Fundamental Differences Between Capitalist and Socialist Democracy? orinocotribune.com By Danny Haiphong — Dec 20, 2021 | Staying true to the theme of democracy, this article is an amended speech that analyzes the differences between Capitalist vs. Socialist democracies and advocates a defense of the latter. | The United States hosted a "Summit for Democracy" on December 9th and 10th in an obvious attempt to legitimize its unipolar and hegemonic claim of leadership over the so-called "rules-based international order." While on the surface this appeared to be an unproductive move on the part of the world hegemon, it aligned well with the U.S. strategy of cloaking its aggressive and exploitative…
(2021-12-22). The Pentagon's 20-Year Killing Spree Has Always Treated Civilians as Expendable. indybay.org Militarism and neoliberalism in a dance of death…
(2021-12-22). Finance capital and the COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org Since the interventions by central banks, led by the Fed, into financial markets, starting in March 2020, they have been buying financial assets at the rate of $800 million per hour.
(2021-12-22). Building Community, One Fruit Tree at a Time. otherwords.org Some years ago, a young, hippyish couple knocked on my front door. They had noticed that I had fig trees in the yard, laden with summer fruit. If I wasn't going to pick them all, they asked, could they harvest some figs? | Since I was about to take a trip, I said: Sure, have at 'em. | Upon my return, as I stood at the door fumbling for my keys, I looked down — and there were two jars of delicious fig jam awaiting me. | A little common neighborliness can be deeply enriching, in so many ways. | I remembered my happy fig exchange recently when I read that a fast-growing, underground fruit economy is spreading…
(2021-12-22). The Good News in 2022 Will Be the Economy. cepr.net I feel very confident in saying that 2022 will be a very good year for the economy. We are looking at a situation where we have low unemployment, falling inflation, and rising real wages.
(2021-12-22). Affordable Child Care Is the Boost Our Economy Needs. otherwords.org Child care is one of the biggest expenses many families face — in much of the country, it can run higher than college tuition. Could a national child care program ease that burden? | We've come close before. During World War II, the federal government provided child care around the clock to enable more women to work in the war industries. In 1971, we nearly got a national child care program until President Richard Nixon vetoed legislation that had strong bipartisan support. | Now, with Senator Joe Manchin stalling President Biden's Build Back Better Act, we could be on the brink of another disappointment. O…
(2021-12-22). Three Reasons to Be Hopeful as a Hard Year Comes to a Close. otherwords.org There's no getting around it: 2021 has been a tough year. As with 2020, many of us are glad to see its back end. Do let the door hit you on the way out. | Yet, there is more than just Senator Joe Manchin's coal and Omicron fears in our stockings this holiday season. There are some reasons to be hopeful too. | The first reason to be hopeful is — us. We the people. | Social movements, struggling families, activists, and advocates are crushed that Republicans and Senator Manchin have set back the Build Back Better Act. But these movements have done worlds to make long-hoped-for improvements in our economy poss…
(2021-12-22). IMF Admits That Program With Argentina Failed Its Objectives. telesurenglish.net The loan for 57 billion dollars that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) granted to Argentina in 2018, record in its history, was "absurd" and "was not used for anything good", considered this Wednesday the Argentine Minister of Economy, Matín Guzmán. | People wait to pick up food in a dining room in La Matanza, 30 km from the City of Buenos Aires on December 15, 2021…
(2021-12-22). US blockade restricts Cuban economic growth. indybay.org Havana, Dec 16 (Prensa Latina) The intensified economic, financial and commercial blockade of the United States constitutes one of the factors that imposes the most restrictions on the development of Cuban economy, experts on the subject agreed here today.
(2021-12-22). Protesters against Israeli ambassador exonerated by university. electronicintifada.net London School of Economics says "no evidence whatsoever of protestors having broken the law."
(2021-12-22). The 2020-21 Worldwide Corona Crisis: Destroying Civil Society, Engineered Economic Depression, Global Coup d'État and the "Great Reset" globalresearch.ca We are at the crossroads of one of the most serious crises in modern history. We are living history, yet our understanding of the flow of events since January 2020 has been blurred. Worldwide, people have been misled both by their governments and the media.
(2021-12-22). Why Italy is not our country of the year. peoplesdispatch.org The London-based publication The Economist The Economist notes three reasons for this change: First, a new prime minister Mario Draghi who is described as responsible and confident; second, a rapid economic recovery from the COVID crisis compared t…
(2021-12-22). Boric Win in Chile Is "Huge Victory" for Social Movements. zcomm.org Boric has vowed to fight for progressive social reforms and overhaul the neoliberal economic policies left by the U.S.-backed dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet…
(2021-12-22). Taiwan export orders from mainland, Hong Kong up 25.3 pct in November. ecns.cn Taiwan companies received export orders from the mainland and Hong Kong worth 16.08 billion U.S. dollars in November, an increase of 25.3 percent year on year, the island's economic affairs department said.
(2021-12-22). Cuba prevé recuperación económica y crecimiento del PIB en 2022. telesurtv.net Transformar el sistema empresarial estatal, sujeto principal del modelo económico, es un desafío en la gestión gubernamental cubana.
(2021-12-22). China's growth likely to moderate next year, World Bank says. ecns.cn China's economic growth is projected to moderate to 5.1 percent in 2022, after achieving 8 percent this year as predicted.
(2021-12-22). The "Selling" of Degrowth. zcomm.org Can those who advocate hitting the brakes on economic growth get their message across before it's too late?>
(2021-12-22). Major countries should shoulder responsibilities amid Omicron surges: Chinese ambassador. ecns.cn Major countries must shoulder their responsibilities, take the lead to provide COVID-19 vaccines for low-and middle-income countries, and help them foster production capacity as the Omicron variant is rapidly spreading around the globe.
(2021-12-22). Kentucky 'Rock of Labor' memorial survives tornado, symbolizing workers' resolve. peoplesworld.org 
The powerful tornado that ravaged Mayfield, Ky., on the night of Dec. 10 left the 1880s-vintage Graves County Courthouse in shambles, tearing away the cupola and most of the second floor. Yet, the "Rock of Labor," a 14-year-old rough-hewn brown sandstone memorial to old United Steelworkers Local 665, weathered the violent storm that scourged western …
(2021-12-22). How Labor Can Stop 'The Privatization of Everything'. zcomm.org Review of The Privatization of Everything: How The Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back…
(2021-12-22). No 'forced labor' in Xinjiang: A revealing trip to U.S.-sanctioned silicon factory. ecns.cn The vast expanses of Gobi deserts in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are normally devoid of life, yet this is where numerous tall futuristic iron structures glow in the dark throughout the night.
(2021-12-22). STOP FCMAT Attack On Oakland Public Schools! OEA, Community & Pols Oppose $90 M In Cuts. indybay.org The Oakland Education Association, politicians and community organizations spoke out against the demands of the FCMAT for $90 million in cutbacks in the public schools or the district would be put under trusteeship.
(2021-12-22). Low Wages and Exploitative Conditions Are Sparking Graduate Student Strikes. zcomm.org The will to collective action now reemergent on the campus represents a path toward reversing the trends of exorbitant tuition, an exploited contingent labor pool and the concentration of power in administrative hands…
(2021-12-22). U.S. Labor Unions on the March in 2021 After Years of Decline. zcomm.org Workers went on strike and pushed union drives in record numbers after corporations made giant pandemic profits…
(2021-12-22). Cifra de muertos tras naufragio en Madagascar ascienden a 64. telesurtv.net El presidente Andry Rajoelina decretó un día de duelo nacional por las víctimas del naufragio y las labores de rescate.