Modern capitalism has reached the end of its rope, argues Immanuel Wallerstein, Senior Research Scholar at Yale University. Capitalism cannot survive as a system and what we are witnessing now is a structural crisis of the system.
In Wallerstein's view, the structural crisis goes on for a long time. It started in the 1970's and will go on for another 30-40 years. It's not a crisis of a year or of a moment, its a major structural unfolding of a system and we are in transition to another...
The third episode of Al Jazeera's must see documentary, Meltdown, looks at how the victims of the 2008 financial crash fight back. A protesting singer in Iceland brings down the government; in France a union leader oversees the kidnapping of his bosses; and thousands of families are made homeless in California.
Hordur Torfason, an Icelandic singer, leads the way in holding protests over the country's economy, calling for the resignation of the government and new elections.
Geir...
In the second episode of Al Jazeera’s must see documentary, Meltdown, we look at how the financial tsunami swept the world. We hear about a renegade executive who nearly destroyed the global financial system and the US treasury secretary who bailed out his friends.
Henry 'Hank' Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and later an economic advisor to the US government; refused to bail out global financial services firm - the Lehman Brothers. Paulson said it was not the role of...
Labour unions and students joined the growing Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City on Wednesday in the largest march since the protest began 20 days ago. Tens of thousands marched from Foley Square to Zuccotti Park, renamed “Liberty Plaza,” the site of the protest encampment where hundreds have been sleeping since Sept. 17.
People of all ages and backgrounds were on hand for the march that drew tens of thousands into the streets in downtown New York City. Democracy...
Leonard Gentle -
The world is tipping over into unknown territory. All the pundits are now starting to agree with US economist, Nouriel Roubini, famous for his prediction of the 2008 financial crash, that a second recession is inevitable. South Africa’s Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus has also added her voice to the chorus warning of another “Lehman type event.”
Since the last recession, the major governments have spent in excess of $24trillion bailing out the banks, dwarfing the money...
Oscar-winning filmmaker, best-selling author, and provocateur laureate Michael Moore talks about the growing "Occupy Wall Street" protests in Lower Manhattan, which he visited on Monday night. "This is literally an uprising of people who have had it," Moore says. "It has already started to spread across the country in other cities.
It will continue to spread. ... It will be tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people ... Their work ahead is not as difficult...