crisis | Terry Bell Writes

Browsing All posts tagged under »crisis«

Unions, crises and tough times ahead

October 5, 2012

A world wracked by crises seems on the cusp of radical change, one way or another — reactionary or progressive — and the role of trade unions is thrown into sharp relief as a result. Whatever the outcome, even tougher times are likely.

Wage gaps, Depressions and war

April 24, 2012

South Africa may not have the largest wage and welfare gap between chief executives and the average pay of workers. That distinction, says Richard Trumka, president of the major labour federation in the United States, the AFL-CIO, belongs to the USA.

The key to ending the race to the bottom

April 13, 2012

A spectre starting to haunt the international labour movement — a spectre of a descent into barbarism. It is the image of a possible future, reflected in signs such as South Africa’s Olympians marching proudly in London in national colours, made in China, and in the ongoing pressure internationally on jobs, wages and conditions. However, […]

Doing dirty work, exposing dirty tricks

March 30, 2012

At the forefront of the fight against local government corruption and maladministration in South Africa are municipal workers, many of them doing dirty, socially necesary labour for wages that are a tiny fraction of what is paid to many managers. This is one aspect of what local trade unions see as a growing social, humanitarian and economic crisis that urgently needs dramatic and radical remedial measures.

Davos and the search for a real alternative

January 26, 2012

The annual Davos bunfight got underway again this week. But this gathering of the super rich and the guests they hope to bribe, bully and otherwise persuade to help shore up a system in crisis is unlikely to produce much that is worthwhile.

Holistic change that is needed — globally

January 10, 2012

This was first posted in January 2012, and has been edited slightly to bring some references up to date. Attention is being drawn to it again because the arguments raised seem even more pertinent now, especially in South Africa, a country that possesses a Bill of Rights that provides a potential — truly democratic — […]

No golden path to stability

January 7, 2012

Ever since Europe slid into crisis there has been talk that gold might be a way out. Why? Because of gold reserves held by various central banks. Italy, for example, could pay off a substantial part of its burdensome debt by unloading it gold stocks at current prices. And here is the rub: at current […]

When the mainstream meets Marx

December 2, 2011

When the well-known mainstream economist Nourial Roubini, a former adviser to the International Monetary Fund, quoted Karl Marx as perhaps being right about an inherent fault in the economic system, he caused a minor stir, but no real criticism. Because the inherent fault is one that is now generally acknowledged and is at the centre of the present — and ongoing — global economic crisis.