The US government is frantically relieving banks of their "toxic assets". But even the huge amount of dollars used for the buyouts is unlikely to rescue a system which shows all the signs of further collapse
As the worst economic crisis since the 1929 crash rips through the world's markets, Alex Callinicos analyses the factors driving ever greater political instabilities across the globe
The ruling classes of the US and Britain are reeling in the face of the economic meltdown of their system and the real character of capitalism is exposed, writes Chris Harman
George Bush’s apocalyptic televised address in the US last week will have signalled the seriousness of this economic crisis – even to those not already aware of it.
Would any sane person bail out a bank in order to take control of its debts but not its profits? No. Yet that’s exactly what George Bush, Gordon Brown and governments across the world are currently doing.
Is this crisis over? Was it the result of a few rogue bankers? Is the world economy “fundamentally sound”? Could more regulation of financial markets stop this chaos? Or is this a crisis rooted in something more fundamental – the failure of the free market and capitalism itself?
The world financial system went into meltdown last week as the collapse of the housing bubble in the US and Britain brought down banks on both sides of the Atlantic.
