Evo Morales: ‘MAS Fulfilled Its Promise, It Became Millions’

VICTORY OF THE BOLIVARIAN PEOPLE

teleSUR | October 19, 2020

Former President Evo Morales gives statement in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct. 19, 2020. | Photo: EFE

He thanked Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, and Cuba for their solidarity with the Bolivian people over the last year.

Bolivia’s former president Evo Morales Monday assured from Buenos Aires (Argentina) that “sooner or later” he will return to his country as he thanked the support of the Latin American progressive governments over the last year.

Luis Arce: ‘We Recovered Democracy and Took Back Our Country’

VICTORY OF THE BOLIVARIAN PEOPLE

teleSUR | October 19, 2020

Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca celebrate the results of the elections, La Paz, Bolivia, Oct. 19, 2020. | Photo: EFE

In El Alto, La Paz, and Cochabamba, firecrackers were heard as a sign of celebration.

The winner of Bolivia’s elections Luis Arce Monday celebrated the unofficial results of the quick vote-counting as he said, “we will govern for all, we will redirect the change without hate.”

Socialist Luis Arce Wins The Bolivia Election

VICTORY OF THE BOLIVARIAN PEOPLE

 Countercurrents | October 19, 2020

A year after former Bolivian president Evo Morales was ousted in a military coup that installed a far-right regime, Morales ally Luis Arce declared victory after exit polls showed the socialist candidate with a large advantage over his two main competitors.

“Democracy has won,” Arce, who served as Morales’ finance minister, said in an address to the nation after one exit poll showed him leading the race with 52.4% of the vote and former president Carlos Mesa in a distant second with 31.5%. Right-wing candidate Luis Camacho—an ally of unelected interim President Jeanine Añez—won just 14.1% of the vote, according to the survey.

The Pandemic could Cost U.S. Economy Its Entire Annual Output

ECONOMIC CRISIS IN U.S.

A Journal of People report

The U.S. economy may lose $16 trillion due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, both in output and people’s lives, estimated a new research.

“The economic loss is more than twice the total monetary outlay for all the wars the U.S. has fought since September 11, 2001, including those in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria,” said the research.

It said: “By another metric, this cost is approximately the estimate of damages (such as from decreased agricultural productivity and more frequent severe weather events) from 50 years of climate change.” 

Most studies assess the costs of the deadly virus by its impact on the national gross domestic product (GDP).

The Pandemic has Benefited Billionaires

COVID-19 AND INEQUALITY

Countercurrents | October 08, 2020

Roughly 3 out of 4 American billionaires have seen a rise in their net worths. Elon Musk alone has tripled his net worth during the pandemic.

Michael Hobbes, Senior Enterprise Reporter, The Huffington Post, wrote in The Huffington Post:

“Other than Netflix, Andrew Cuomo and the virus itself, no one has benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic more than American billionaires.

Amidst Pandemic, while Billions Struggle for Survival, Billionaires’ Wealth Tops $10 Trillion

COVID-19 AND INEQUALITY 

Farooque Chowdhury

Countercurrents | October 08, 2020

Billionaires are “smart” enough. Their wealth now, in this pandemic, tops trillions of dollars.

A new report – Riding the Storm, billionaires insights 2020 – by UBS and PwC reveals that the world’s uber-rich have increased their already-huge fortunes by more than a quarter; and this “miracle” happened amidst the ongoing pandemic ravaging life of billions of the poor in continents.

Wealth of this handful of uber-rich, according to the report, grew by 27.5 percent – $10.2 trillion – during April-July period. That was the apex point of the Covid-crisis.

Cuba Elected to Human Rights Council by 88% of UN Members

UNDAUNTED CUBA

 Milagros Pichardo Pérez

Granma | October 14, 2020

U.S. manipulation and coercion have once again failed. Their desperate efforts to organize a boycott of the election of Cuba as a member of the UN Human Rights Council went nowhere and Cuba was elected, for the fifth time, yesterday, with the votes of 170 countries, to occupy a seat within this body, among the eight reserved for the Latin American and Caribbean group of member states.

“Despite imperialist lies and distortion, the world recognizes Cuba, admires and respects the country for the firmness of our convictions and example. A resounding victory,” tweeted President of the Republic Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, upholding the humanist work of the Revolution, which has promoted human rights on the basis of its very nature and principles.

Canada’s Anti-War Movement Needs to Challenge Government

IMPERIALIST CANADA

Yves Engler

Should antiwar forces challenge power or praise government officials in the hopes of getting some crumbs for their pet issue?

Douglas Roche’s recent Hill Times column suggests the latter. In an article extolling Canada’s new ambassador to the UN Roche writes: “When Canada lost its bid for a seat on the UN Security Council the second successive time last June, I thought a foreign policy review from top to bottom was the solution to get Canada back on track internationally. But I’ve changed my mind for two reasons: the world is in multiple crises revolving around COVID-19 that need to be acted on now, and Bob Rae has arrived on the scene. I don’t mean to present the estimable new Canadian ambassador to the UN as a world saviour, but he has quickly established himself as a champion of the UN humanitarian agenda, which centres around reducing the grotesque economic inequalities that the pandemic has worsened.”

2020 Nobel for Economics: A Prize for Privatization

NOBEL PRIZE IN ECONOMICS

Tony Kurian

People’s Dispatch | October 18, 2020

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (popularly known as the Nobel Prize in Economics) was awarded to the former student–teacher duo of Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson for their pioneering work in auction theory.

The work done by Milgrom and Wilson has advanced auction theory and they were instrumental in taking auction theory to many applications. To quote the Swedish Academy: “They have also used their insights to design new auction formats for goods and services that are difficult to sell in a traditional way, such as radio frequencies. Their discoveries have benefited sellers, buyers and taxpayers around the world.”

Mainstream Economics Today: Neoclassical

POLITICAL ECONOMY

David F. Ruccio

Occasional Links and Commentary | October 05, 2020

In this post, I continue the draft of sections of my forthcoming book, “Marxian Economics: An Introduction.” The first five posts (here, here, here, here, and here) will serve as the basis for chapter 1, Marxian Economics Today. The text of this post is for Chapter 2, Marxian Economics Versus Mainstream Economics (following on from the previous post).

Mainstream Economics Today

Readers today will be more familiar with contemporary mainstream economics than with the mainstream economics of Marx’s day. So, let’s start there.

Mainstream economics is the predominant approach that is taught in academic courses, applied in government policymaking, and used in media stories about economic ideas and events. Today, what we refer to as mainstream economics is a combination of neoclassical economics and Keynesian economics.