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For Argentina’s Small Farmers, the Land Is Predictable but the Markets Are Not

Thirty years ago, in my economics textbook in India, the section on international trade referred to Argentina. It would be better, according to the textbook, for Argentina to concentrate on the production and export of beef, while Germany should direct its resources towards the production of electronics. This example was used to illustrate Adam Smith’s […]
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Global Capitalism: Anti-Democratic Politics and Existential Crisis
Though it is not often examined in these terms, the popular disaffection of Americans with government in general and the rise of anti-democratic politics around the world are seemingly predictable reactions to the contemporary global crises in the international capitalist economy. Persistent poverty, pandemics, military conflict, economic displacement, climate catastrophes, migration, widespread corruption and social […]
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Another Look at the Financial Transactions Tax

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash A small financial transactions tax could correct a number of maladies in our economic system, from the federal debt crisis to the widening wealth divide to the rampant financialization of the economy, while eliminating taxes on income and sales. The debt ceiling crisis has again brought into focus the […]
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Beware of Economic Textbooks
Protests by British university economic students against neo-classical economics highlight the notion that economic education is dominated by theories that defy practical applications and applications that cannot predict, prevent, and ameliorate periodic crises. Students learn economics from unverified and outdated theories, many contradicting one another, which leads to a confused understanding of the discipline and […]
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“Free Trade” as Revealed in the China-United States Paradigm

Free trade is much ballyhooed by the US and the capitalist world, but critics have been skeptical as to whether such trade freely takes place. Investopedia provides a useful definition of free trade: A free trade agreement is a pact between two or more nations to reduce barriers to imports and exports among them. Under […]
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Peace Dollars: Putting Our Economic House In Order

The total federal deficit at $31+ trillion? Maybe it’s time for some creative thinking — a totally unique strategy that benefits all Americans, not just capitalist predators. Special use currency is not unprecedented. Abraham Lincoln used “greenbacks” — the paper currency shown above, backed by nothing more than confidence in the government — to finance the Civil War. He […]

