News

What is behind the oil price plummet?

Real economic recovery remains as elusive as ever, writes Alex Callinicos

Ed Miliband has shown he doesn’t get class

If you want to get a sense of how Ukip’s rise is debasing political debate, you need look no further than the absurd martyrdom of “White Van Man”.

Election turmoil lies behind Labour crisis

Alex Callinicos looks at the reasons for the electoral crisis Labour and the other main parties have found themselves in

Anger at Obama let the right make gains in US mid-term elections

It’s hard to recapture the extraordinary atmosphere in which Barack Obama was elected the first black president of the US six years ago

Rising markets are sign of deep malaise

Faced with disaster on almost every front, David Cameron and George Osborne are desperately talking up the British economy.

Cameron is twisting on the hook of Europe as party system is in crisis

David Cameron may have just avoided becoming the prime minister who lost the Union. But he stands a reasonable chance of presiding over Britain’s departure from the European Union (EU).

The left must unite to be an alternative

The media cliche machine has been in overdrive since the by-elections on Thursday of last week. Tedious though this is, undoubtedly something big has happened.

US power is in crisis from Iraq to Ukraine

Amid the hubbub of media and official commentary on and denunciation of the jihadi Islamic State (Isis), only one thing is clear—no one has a clue what to do.

Ukraine crisis and the two imperialisms

The Ukraine crisis is a paradoxical situation—a conflict between two imperial powers, both of which see themselves as acting defensively, writes Alex Callinicos

Palestinian resistance is wearing down Israel's might

No one should be under any illusion that the latest fighting in Gaza is anything but an episode in a much longer war between Israel and the Palestinians. Overt bouts of fighting come and go, but the war is permanent.

This is a war Israel may come to regret

There is a ghastly familiarity about Israel’s assault on Gaza. The scenes of carnage and destruction inflicted by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) recall very similar scenes during Operation Cast Lead in 2008-9.

Cameron's cabinet reshuffle is a sign of weakness

The reshuffle shows how Tory party has largely lost connection with reality, and is being driven by ultra-Thatcherite ideologising writes Alex Callinicos

As the rich enjoy housing bubble, the poor see no recovery

Firms aren’t investing because they don’t expect a big enough profit to make it worthwhile. So they’re relying on lower wages and a property boom instead, writes Alex Callinicos.

EU row over Juncker has nothing to do with democracy

The whole row over Jean-Claude Juncker is symbolic politics, writes Alex Callinicos

FT's attack on Piketty is not about numbers

The fact that Thomas Piketty has been able to brush off Chris Giles’s demolition job in the FT so easily is a sign that, thanks to the crisis, a lot of people also believe that rising inequality doesn’t arise from bad policies but from the structural logic of capitalism as a system, argues Alex Callinicos

Years of bitter financial crisis fuels Euro poll shocks

The recent elections are the second to take place under the long shadow of the financial crisis, writes Alex Callinicos

Far right feeds from eurozone depression

Alex Callinicos considers how the recovery of the eurozone is not quite the success our complacent rulers believe

Claims of economic recovery and China's growth don't live up to hype

Much recent economic news around the world is best described as smoke and mirrors. It’s true that there is some real evidence that advanced economies are starting to recover from the Great Recession of 2008-09.

Capitalist logic has skewered the Co-op

As the Co-op staggers from disaster to disaster the conflict arises from its very nature, writes Alex Callinicos

The elite's arrogance strengthens Ukip's Nigel Farage

Ukip is polling 28 percent for next month’s European elections—only two points behind Labour—according to the latest YouGov survey. This five point rise is a big boost for Nigel Farage’s party. All the main parties have slipped back, with the Tories at 22 percent and the Lib Dems at 9 percent.