The shift in international currency strength after the Ukraine war will not form into some West-East bloc, as most argue, but instead towards a fragmentation of currency reserves, argues economist Michael Roberts. To quote the IMF: “if dollar dominance comes to an end (a scenario, not a prediction), then the greenback could be felled not by the dollar’s main rivals but by a broad group of alternative currencies.”

Sam Gindin | Reframing the narrative does not mean that we should, as some sections of the left have argued, set the issue of inflation aside. Reinforcing inflation as a key economic concern, the argument goes, only legitimates the call for wage restraint and austerity. Better, it follows, to keep focusing on militant wage demands, expanding unionization, and lobbying for social programs.

Last year, the Teamsters attempted and failed to unionize Amazon in Alberta, Canada. A reporter working for Jacobin and Ricochet went undercover at an Amazon warehouse for almost five months and witnessed firsthand the challenges put to the Teamsters’ union drive.

Ultimately, the only way poor countries can reduce their exploitation by multi-nationals and international finance is through state control of their banking and strategic sectors of their economies. That, of course, is anathema to international capital.

The Public Service Pension Investment Board is teaming up with real estate firms and betting on displacement of low-income renters