From the End Fuel Poverty Coalition comes this;

‘Following publication of new official data, the End Fuel Poverty Coalition has estimated that 4,950 excess winter deaths in the UK were caused by living in cold homes during winter 2022/23.

Historic records also indicate that when the mean winter temperature in the UK drops below four degrees centigrade, the level of excess winter deaths sky-rockets. The average temperature last winter was 4.3 degrees.

While December 2023 was exceptionally warm, average daily temperatures for the UK in January are forecast to dip as low as -1.6 degrees and fell to -14 in some parts of the UK.

The Government continues to rely on Warm Homes Discounts, Cold Weather Payments and Winter Fuel Payments as the measures of support to households, however these are limited in eligibility and impact.

This winter the Government refused demands to support households through an Emergency Energy Tariff and a help to repay scheme for those in energy debt.

But the Government’s approach is an increasingly dangerous strategy with the effects of climate change taking hold.

The Met Office official guidance is that El Niño winters are more likely to be colder in the UK and scientists predict that these El Niño winters could become more common as global temperatures increase. With 2023 being declared as the hottest year on record, campaigners have urged politicians to grasp the seriousness of the situation.

A spokesperson for End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented

“Figures from the Warm This Winter campaign show that 8.3 million adults are living in cold damp homes this winter and, as temperatures drop, these conditions go from being uncomfortable to downright dangerous.

“But while households struggle, Ministers are sitting on their hands and leaving matters of life and death to chance.

“Instead of taking action on energy bills, they have allowed energy firms to restart using the courts to force households onto prepayment meters and have now ruled out reform to energy tariffs to help those most in need.

“They would rather play politics with a ridiculous Oil & Gas Licensing Bill that will do nothing to improve energy security or lower bills than take meaningful action to help households struggling right now.”

Jan Shortt, General Secretary of the National Pensioners’ Convention, which is part of the Warm This Winter campaign, said:

“We are very concerned at the level of disinterest shown by the government in the welfare of older people at a time when the temperature is dropping well below freezing.

“It fell as low as minus fourteen degrees this weekend even in towns and cities it does not get much warmer until later in the day. This presents a real dilemma for older people struggling with the cost of energy and other inflated bills – we know many are already afraid to turn the heating on at all.

“Add to this the decision by Ofgem and the government to allow the force-fitting of energy prepayment meters to resume, while energy providers continue to enjoy inflated profits, smacks of abandonment of those struggling to pay their bills without any relief on the horizon.”

Greenpeace UK’s climate campaigner, Georgia Whitaker, said:

“This is a national scandal. The UK has the least insulated homes in Western Europe. We’ve known this for years. Yet every year thousands of people are dying as a result. And our government is doing practically nothing to fix the problem.

“Insulating homes at speed and scale right across the UK would drastically reduce these unavoidable deaths, as well as helping to tackle the cost of living and climate crises by lowering bills and slashing household emissions. But until that happens, this shameful government negligence will continue to cost people their lives, and without climate leadership the government will be punished at the ballot box.”

https://www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk/4950-excess-winter-deaths-caused-by-cold-homes-last-winter/

Asking how empirical the figure of almost five thousand excess winter deaths due to insufficiently heated accommodation is doesn’t detract from the cause of the problem. Whether five thousand, fifty, or even five, this is not acceptable in a society that purports to be civilised.

The hand wringing and disgust felt by the various organisations noted above are likely to be shared by most.

The ‘solutions’ offered do not however identify the underlying cause of this particular issue and whereas they might, if implemented, offer some modicum of relief in the short term, they are not a long term fix.

In a society based upon production of commodities and services for profit, not for free use, no matter how many sticking plasters are applied the major wound still remains and continues to suppurate.

To place your eggs in the basket of ‘government’ is naive at best and foolish at worst. There is a solution to the issue highlighted and it’s a straightforward one. It’s the replacement of Capitalism with Socialism. Whilst accepting that the social conscience of the individuals and organisations listed above is admirable it will ultimately be of more practical use to educate themselves as to the benefits of real Socialism and the means to achieve it.

Update to SOYMB post, What does upcoming NATO exercise presuppose?

https://soymb.com/2024/01/what-does-upcoming-nato-exercise.html

The MailOnline has a long article, with lots of pictures and graphics;

’Long-range missiles strike civilian targets across Europe. Baltic states are invaded. AI-controlled tanks rule the battlefield. As NATO warns of Russian attack in 20 years, a terrifying prediction of how it will unfold.’

It concludes, ‘So how can the West stop this from happening? According to experts, deterrence is the key. This requires NATO and its member states to have a military that is not only ready to repel any invading Russian force, but strong enough to outmatch Moscow’s armies to the point that the Kremlin will be unwilling to launch an attack in the first place.’

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12983961/Long-range-missiles-strike-civilian-targets-Europe-Baltic-states-invaded-AI-controlled-tanks-rule-battlefield-NATO-warns-Russian-attack-20-years-terrifying-prediction-unfold.html

The Sun, 21 January, has, ’Three emergency moves the West must take NOW to crush Putin’s chilling plan to spark WW3 next year.’

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/25402205/europe-nato-ukraine-russia-putin-ww3/

Are these stories in populist press newspapers being paid for and placed there by the industrial-military complex? Is this the equivalent of putting a frog in warm water then cranking up the heat?

Whilst one swallow does not a summer make it might be deduced that there is beginning to be more to this than appears apparent.

Capitalism, and its cheerleaders, is never to be trusted

THE SOCIALIST PARTY AGAINST ALL CAPITALIST WARS!

Quelle surprise! Handbags at dawn? More like leave my profits alone!

Who knew that multinationals would be so sensitive? Further to the SOYMB post, French food for thought: Still Capitalism, we find the the sensitive souls at corporate Pepsi are upset with the French.

https://soymb.com/2024/01/french-food-for-thought-still-capitalism.html

‘PepsiCo is insisting that it was the one who initiated an inflation-fuelled contretemps with French grocery giant Carrefour, not the other way around.

Though Carrefour said that it had decided to pull Pepsi products off its shelves in France, Italy, Spain, and Belgium because they were getting too expensive too quickly, the Wall Street Journal reported (Jan. 8) that Pepsi had decided to stop.

“Regrettably, Carrefour has mischaracterised the chain of events,” a PepsiCo spokesman told the paper. “Given the lack of agreement on a new contract, we stopped supplying to Carrefour at the end of the year, something they were aware could happen.”

Carrefour’s terse response: “We, at the Carrefour Group, have taken this decision.”

The whole thing started because French inflation spiked to double digits last year. The French government, which usually mandates that retailers and suppliers in the food business negotiate just how much prices will rise, had to step in and push for more talks.’

https://qz.com/pepsi-to-french-grocer-carrefour-you-cant-fire-me-beca-1851153522?

The MailOnline 20 January , has an article about shrinkflation.

‘From teabags to sausages – how we are paying more money for products that are getting smaller and include fewer expensive ingredients.’

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12985601/From-teabags-sausages-paying-money-products-getting-smaller-include-fewer-expensive-ingredients.html

On 23 January the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists will reset the Doomsday clock.

Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean to say capitalism won’t start a world war. How many more pieces does the jigsaw need to make the picture clearer? Capitalism makes life harder than it ought to be for many so the news that Western capitalism seems intent on replaying the Cold War and all the tensions that went with it may understandably not yet have crossed everyone’s radar. But has the softening up begun? Amongst the dross published by The Sun is a short piece which quotes Alexander Osovtsov, a Russian exile and ‘high-ranking Putin enemy.’

‘In a stark warning to policymakers, he argued that peace with the existing Russian state will never be possible.

Any kind of ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow will “only be a chance for [Putin] to increase his forces and begin once again,” he said.

“This is the nature of the modern-day Russian state – [it] cannot live in peace, the only style of life is aggression and destruction.”’

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/25422204/ww3-already-begun-russia-north-korea-putin-enemy/

Capitalism breeds war

‘War, the threat of war, and preparations for war are built into the global capitalist system involving as it does economic competition both between capitalist enterprises and between capitalist states. Economic conflicts arise over sources of raw materials, trade routes, markets and investment outlets, and strategic points and areas to protect these.’

Socialist Standard April 2022

https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-labour-party-flag-and-big-stick-2022.html

‘Two top Swedish officials have warned the country should brace for war as it prepares for the first stages of joining NATO. During a security conference in western Sweden over the weekend, the country’s Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said action needed to be taken rapidly to mitigate against a looming threat from Russia pointing to the developing situation in Ukraine as evidence that war could spread to other parts of Europe.

“Many have said it before me, but let me say it with the force of my office – there could be a war in Sweden,” he said, adding that awareness needed to be translated into practical action, such as investing more heavily on defence spending. Such an effort can only be made quickly enough if the vast majority of people are aware of the situation and understand what is at stake.” The immediate reaction to his comments was mixed, drawing criticism from former officials while military chiefs praised the call to arms.’

The Independent 11 January 2024

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/sweden-nato-ukraine-russia-b2476901.html

It’s reported that, ‘NATO is set to hold its largest round of war games in decades, with some 90,000 troops from all 31 member states – as well as Sweden – planning to participate. The drills will run for several months, and see training operations held across Europe.

Dubbed “Steadfast Defender 2024,” the exercise will kick off in January and continue into May, the US-led military bloc’s Supreme Allied Commander for Europe Christopher Cavoli announced.

“Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024 will be the largest NATO exercise in decades, with participation from approximately 90,000 forces from all 31 Allies and our good partner Sweden,” Cavoli said, adding that the drills would simulate an “emerging conflict scenario against a near-peer adversary.”

At least 1,100 combat vehicles are also set to take part in the war games – including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles – in addition to more than 50 naval vessels from aircraft carriers to destroyers. Around 80 helicopters, drones and fighter jets will join them.

Cavoli went on to say that the training operations would show NATO’s ability to “reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via trans-Atlantic movement of forces from North America,” suggesting the drills would rehearse a major US deployment to the continent.

In a separate announcement, the bloc said the drill would demonstrate NATO’s ability to “conduct and sustain complex multi-domain operations over several months, across thousands of kilometres, from the High North to Central and Eastern Europe, and in any condition.”

UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said London would contribute 20,000 military personnel to Steadfast Defender, including troops with the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force. British fighter jets, warships and submarines will also take part.

The last war games to rival the size of the upcoming exercise came in 1988, at the height of the Cold War, when 125,000 Western troops gathered for the US-led “Reforger” drill. The annual operation was meant to simulate a large deployment of forces to West Germany in the event of conflict with the Soviet Union, but was halted in 1993 following the collapse of the USSR.

German media has claimed that Berlin was bracing for hostilities with Russia, which it projected could arise as early as summer 2025.

Moscow has for decades voiced concerns about NATO’s expansion towards its borders, viewing it as an existential threat. President Vladimir Putin earlier cited Ukraine’s desire to join the bloc as one of the key reasons for the current conflict.’

https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-labour-party-flag-and-big-stick-2022.html

‘After Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in late February, NATO deployed 40,000 troops to its eastern flank, nearly ten times more than a year before. Moscow, meanwhile, considers NATO military sites close to its border as a national security threat and has warned that sending heavy weapons from the West to Kiev risks a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.’

https://soymb.com/2022/12/dig-out-old-copy-of-protect-and-survive.html 2022

‘The essence of the North-Atlantic alliance was a military and political bloc against Russia has not changed since its establishment in 1949. NATO has not changed its goals. In the grand geo-political strategic chessboard little changes ever since Anglo-Austro-Prussian-Franco concerns about an expansionist Tsar in the 18th/19th centuries.’.

https://soymb.com/2012/05/we-hate-nato-too.html 2012

With the ‘Royals’ currently in the news more than usual we repost this piece from the Socialist Standard, October 2006.

In a rerun of 1997, though no one has died, social media and the MSM is full of members of the working class behaving as if their closest relative was experiencing traumatic medical procedures. Others on SM are busy putting on their tinfoil hats.

We agree with John Donne that no man, or woman, is an island and we wish no harm to anyone. Meanwhile, across the world men,women and children of all persuasions are being slaughtered whilst lame excuses are offered in justification.

‘Dear Editors,

On the road to Socialism there are powerful institutions in the way. Monarchy, with all its associated inequalities and public loyalty, is a powerful support for capitalism. It embodies wealth and privilege alongside emotional adoration by the poor. Cromwell managed to remove a king, but soon after his death the monarchy was re-established.

Why has it been as successful as an institution? It no doubt has its own methods for self-survival (modern PR experts, and years of experience of being a monarch, plus perhaps a genuine love for the British people). Yet the institution can only survive with public consent. None of the political parties that have attained power has bothered to question in any serious way the existence of the monarchy; partly I assume because they dread the loyalty of the British people.

We are been socialised into a culture that respects the royal family, at least in principle (people may frown at certain incidents with the royals, but basically accept their existence). Submission to the monarchy is encouraged from the cradle to the grave, and even if cynical, a person may find it difficult to resist a feeling of pride when a member of the royal family visits their factory or local area. Celebrities have occasionally returned MBEs, but they are few and far between.

Vast arguments are put forward to justify the royal family (e.g. encourages tourism and hence the pockets of the people) We all ‘immersed’ in royalist propaganda and culture. Yet how can it be right for one family to be so well provided for (houses, land, wealth, public adoration etc) when other families struggle from day to day?

They also assist and legitimise other people who have unfair amounts of wealth (in the past kings and queens have helped each other in difficult circumstances – when the peasants are getting above themselves for instance).

The institution also puts unfair pressure on the members of the royal family. The horses the Queen must have sat on horses on rainy days to fulfil her royal duties; and the boredom of watching parade after parade! The lack of privacy – even minor scandals blown out of all proportion, and the difficulty of moving in privacy from A to B.

We are so ‘brainwashed’ into the advantages of monarchy, that we grossly underestimate the disadvantages. Yet it take courage for a politician to suggest to suggest we abolish it – the inaction of millions of indoctrinated people can be a formidable thing to experience. Other politicians would condemn his very words (in the hope of gaining votes for their own parties!).

Are we all involved in a ‘mother-figure’ complex (or for ex-public school types –‘matron’)? Do we feel more comfortable knowing she is then looking after us? Or are we being childish? Shouldn’t we liberate her and her family, as well as the public, from an institution that goes hand-in-hand with unequal society? Draw a line under history and move on?

Redacted

Reply:

Obviously if the monarchy is still around at the time socialism is established it would be abolished immediately. Such institutionalised privilege can have no place in a society of equals. This said, we don’t see any point in wasting time campaigning to get it abolished under capitalism. Whether or not a capitalist state is a monarchy or a republic makes no difference to the economic structure of society, which is the root cause of the problems wage and salary workers face today. Just look at the USA, which has been a republic since the 18th century –

Editors.’

https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2023/10/letters-ted-grant-2006.html

This is hardly a shock horror moment. All sorts of data shows the disparity in wealth, no matter how measured, between the minority ruling class and the majority working class. How many though are asking themselves how did they acquire all this?

A huge 93 percent of stock market wealth in the US is held by the richest 10 percent of the population – a new record. While Americans on the whole have been investing in the stock market at a higher rate, the amount of wealth held is still skewed toward the richest households.

According to Federal Reserve data, 92.5 percent of equities are held by the richest 10 percent of Americans – meaning it is largely the already-wealthy who are benefiting from last year’s stock market boom.

Following a disastrous 2022, Wall Street rallied in 2023. The benchmark S&P 500 index gained 24 percent last year alone, driven mainly by the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ tech stocks including Apple and Microsoft.

Lawmakers were among those who made the most out of trading stocks last year, it has emerged, with some members of Congress making returns as high as 238 percent.

Two decades ago, in 2004, 81.6 percent of stock market wealth was held by the richest 10 percent of the population, Fed figures show.

In 2014, it had risen to 86.8 percent, and has increased steadily since to the most recent figures from 2022.

While much has been said about Americans turning to investing during the pandemic – when they had more time and disposable cash on their hands – it appears that stock ownership has not shifted too much from the richest households.

A record 58 percent of households owned stocks in 2023, according to the Fed’s Survey of Consumer Finances, but in the aggregate the amount of stock most people own is small.

The bottom 50 percent of Americans by wealth owned just 1 percent of all stocks and mutual fund shares in the third quarter of last year, central bank data shows.

In the third quarter, the bottom 50 percent of households held $4.8 trillion of real estate assets, but just $0.3 trillion worth in stocks, according to Fed data cited by Business Insider.

The top 1 percent, by comparison, held over $16 trillion in stocks, and just over $6 trillion in real estate assets.

Stock market booms have traditionally reaped the most rewards for those who are already wealthy, researchers said in a 2020 study.

That is because the richest tend to have their assets tied up in equities, while the middle-classes tend to have their money in housing, the study said.

Over the past decade, the S&P 500 index has gained 155 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq has risen by a huge 250 percent.

MailOnline 12 January 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/banking/article-12952963/ultra-rich-record-share-stocks.html

This is hardly a shock horror moment. All sorts of data shows the disparity in wealth, no matter how measured, between the minority ruling class and the majority working class. How many though are asking themselves how did they acquire all this?

A huge 93 percent of stock market wealth in the US is held by the richest 10 percent of the population – a new record. While Americans on the whole have been investing in the stock market at a higher rate, the amount of wealth held is still skewed toward the richest households.

According to Federal Reserve data, 92.5 percent of equities are held by the richest 10 percent of Americans – meaning it is largely the already-wealthy who are benefiting from last year’s stock market boom.

Following a disastrous 2022, Wall Street rallied in 2023. The benchmark S&P 500 index gained 24 percent last year alone, driven mainly by the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ tech stocks including Apple and Microsoft.

Lawmakers were among those who made the most out of trading stocks last year, it has emerged, with some members of Congress making returns as high as 238 percent.

Two decades ago, in 2004, 81.6 percent of stock market wealth was held by the richest 10 percent of the population, Fed figures show.

In 2014, it had risen to 86.8 percent, and has increased steadily since to the most recent figures from 2022.

While much has been said about Americans turning to investing during the pandemic – when they had more time and disposable cash on their hands – it appears that stock ownership has not shifted too much from the richest households.

A record 58 percent of households owned stocks in 2023, according to the Fed’s Survey of Consumer Finances, but in the aggregate the amount of stock most people own is small.

The bottom 50 percent of Americans by wealth owned just 1 percent of all stocks and mutual fund shares in the third quarter of last year, central bank data shows.

In the third quarter, the bottom 50 percent of households held $4.8 trillion of real estate assets, but just $0.3 trillion worth in stocks, according to Fed data cited by Business Insider.

The top 1 percent, by comparison, held over $16 trillion in stocks, and just over $6 trillion in real estate assets.

Stock market booms have traditionally reaped the most rewards for those who are already wealthy, researchers said in a 2020 study.

That is because the richest tend to have their assets tied up in equities, while the middle-classes tend to have their money in housing, the study said.

Over the past decade, the S&P 500 index has gained 155 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq has risen by a huge 250 percent.

MailOnline 12 January 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/banking/article-12952963/ultra-rich-record-share-stocks.html

There’s an episode of The Simpsons where the innocents from Hollywood, shooting a film in Springfield, are bilked by the sophisticated hicks living there and return to Hollywood penniless.,

Apparently, the denizens in and around Davos are taking full advantage of free market forces and are implementing eye watering costs for accommodation and other services. Free market forces, is that never give a sucker an even break.

Supporters of such forces might say that it’s really no different from House owners in Wimbledon renting out their drives and car parking spaces during Wimbledon Tennis Championship fortnight.

‘Rental prices in Davos, Switzerland during the World Economic Forum (WEF) have become a spectacle of the absurd. However, for local landlords this is not something outrageous but merely business as usual — a prime opportunity to capitalize on the presence of the global elite to generate substantial income.’

The Swiss government finds itself on the petard: ‘The Swiss government can’t afford to send its own officials to the World Economic Forum’s elite yearly get-together in Davos, and is asking “higher level” dignitaries to share hotel rooms, the Neue Zuercher Zeitung reported.

The Alpine resort town of Davos will play host to politicians, business leaders and celebrities when the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting kicks off on Monday. The gathering is an opportunity for like-minded, mostly liberal, elites to network and discuss eliminating fossil fuels, boosting “diversity and equity,” and planning for calamitous diseases, among other much-maligned proposals.

The influx of elites naturally drives the cost of accommodation in Davos through the roof, and even the Swiss government is feeling the pinch, according to an official audit cited by the Neue Zuercher Zeitung.

The WEF made 25 hotel rooms available to representatives of the Swiss federal government last year. 20 of these were inside the heavily-policed “security zone,” and priced at 1,269.90 francs ($1,472) per night, while five outside this zone cost the Swiss taxpayer 599.90 francs ($705) each.

According to the audit, the prices were set after “complicated negotiations” between the WEF and local hotels, and were considered “favourable” rates.

However, federal expense regulations only allow Swiss government officials to spend a maximum of 180 francs ($211) per night, or 250 francs ($293) in what the newspaper called “justified exceptional cases.”

With prices running nearly ten times this rate, the government is making some cutbacks this year, Economy Minister Guy Parmelin told the paper. The size of this year’s delegation is being kept “as small as possible,” Parmelin said,and that some members will stay in the town of Chur, 50 kilometres from the Davos site.

While the government has managed to secure hotel rooms in Chur for the comparative bargain of 190 francs per night, delegates will still have to share rooms in some cases. Even those at the “higher levels of the hierarchy” will have to bunk up, Parmelin stated.

Some 5,000 Swiss soldiers will be deployed throughout the country during the WEF gathering, the Swiss Defense Ministry said last week. A sizable contingent of these will be housed outside the town, but will not be subjected to the same spending limits as the government delegation, the newspaper reported. Soldiers on duty at last year’s summit had an even better arrangement, staying in the resort itself.

Back in 2016, five soldiers tested positive for cocaine consumption after their week in Davos and were sent home, while another seven were disciplined for smoking cannabis while protecting the rich and powerful.

Rental prices in Davos, Switzerland during the World Economic Forum (WEF) have become a spectacle of the absurd. However, for local landlords this is not something outrageous but merely business as usual — a prime opportunity to capitalize on the presence of the global elite to generate substantial income.

Speaking of suckers, we, the majority, are suckers for letting Capitalism, a system which exploits far far many more on a daily basis, year in and year out, continue to take advantage of us.

The recently installed President of Argentina, Javier Milei, is in Davos.

‘Argentina’s traditional asado barbecue is no longer affordable for many households due to soaring meat and vegetable prices, according to a Reuters report.

The word ‘asado’, which is derived from the Spanish word for ‘roasted’, refers both to the unique grilling method for Argentinian barbecue and also to the vibrant social gathering among friends that traditionally accompanies the meal.

However, with inflation in the country having topped 200% last year, more Argentinians have been further tightening their belts.

Latin America’s third-biggest economy is bearing the brunt of a severe economic crisis after decades of debt and financial mismanagement. An estimated 40% of Argentinians are living in poverty.

According to official statistics, inflation rate hit 25.5% month-on-month in December. It is expected to climb faster in the months ahead after President Javier Milei’s government devalued the peso by over 50% last month as part of his so-called ‘shock therapy’ reforms to stabilize the ailing economy.

Milei, who has been in office for a month, has warned it will take time for the results of his program to be seen and that things could get worse before they get better.

President Javier Milei has announced sweeping economic reforms in a bid to combat the worst economic crisis in the country in decades.

They include the privatization of state-owned companies, as well as steps to end limits on exports and loosen price controls.

The newly elected president, who describes himself as an anarcho-capitalist, signed a decree on Wednesday setting out over 300 measures as part of his “economic shock therapy.”

“I’m signing an urgent decree that will kick-start the process of economic deregulation that Argentina needs so much, The objective is to return freedom and autonomy to individuals and start dismantling the enormous amount of regulations that have impeded, hindered, and stopped economic growth,” Milei said.

He has set out a list of initial policy changes, which include a “modernization of labour law to facilitate the process of creating real jobs” and a series of other deregulatory measures affecting tourism, satellite internet services, pharmaceuticals, wine production, and foreign trade.;’

[These measures are designed to make life easier for Argentinian and international capitalists and to increase the exploitation of the working class.]

‘His plan comes one week after Argentina’s new government announced a 54% devaluation of the peso, cuts to energy and transportation subsidies, and a freeze in spending on some major state programs.

There are also plans to hike taxes for Argentina’s grains exports – a key source of global supply for processed soybeans, corn, and wheat.

The initiative was met with harsh criticism from agriculture groups who warned that the measure would harm the industry. Grain exports are a major source of foreign currency reserves for the country’s central bank and are needed to finance imports and repay debts.

The changes have already proved divisive as thousands took to the streets of Buenos Aires to voice their discontent over the government’s austerity plans and to demand more support for the poor.

Latin America’s third-biggest economy is challenged by a severe economic crisis after decades of debt and financial mismanagement, with annual inflation surpassing 160% and 40% of Argentinians living in poverty.

Annual inflation in Argentina exceeded 211% in 2023, marking the highest rate in more than three decades, according to the latest data released by the government’s statistics agency INDEC.

Argentina’s year-on-year rise in prices has also propelled it above Venezuela for the first time in decades, sending the South American country to the highest rankings among nations struggling with soaring inflation.

The data underscores the strong impact of a series of shock measures there, including a 50% devaluation of the nation’s currency and a hike in the key interest rate to 133% in an effort to eventually tame the country’s roaring inflation. The government has also allowed price-fixing agreements to lapse.

The annual inflation more than doubled from 2022’s rate of nearly 95%. Meanwhile, monthly inflation stood at 25.5% in December, up from 12.8% in November but slightly below the 30% projected by the country’s government.

Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to unlock $4.7 billion for Argentina as part of a debt-restructuring plan and despite the fact that the nation has missed targets related to its $43-billion loan program.

The drastic steps taken by the new government have had a significant negative impact on prices in the country and on food prices in particular.

Argentines’ purchasing power dropped some 10% on average in December as wages rose slower than prices, according to Fernando Marull, director of financial consultancy FMyA, as cited by the FT.

In addition, a regular poll carried out by Argentina’s Federation of Medium-Sized Businesses among retailers showed a 13.7% drop in sales in December compared with the same month in 2022.’

A google search for ‘sex workers in Davos’ reveals fourteen and a half million results. SOYMB will leave readers to do their own research on this topic.

Capitalist economic law, when the demand is high the supply follows the need.

The Guardian reports, 16 January, ‘Labour intends to restore Britain’s reputation as a place to do business after 14 years of Conservative economic failure, the shadow chancellor will tell members of the global elite in Davos on Wednesday. [17 January].

Stepping up Labour’s pre-election boardroom charm offensive Reeves will tell a breakfast meeting hosted by the US investment bank JP Morgan that boosting private sector investment is key to the party’s growth strategy.

“ Fourteen years of stagnant economic growth and political uncertainty has left Britain weaker: the chaotic departure from the European Union…This instability has turned businesses away, damaged our reputation and made us a less attractive place to do business.”

Labour went into the last election with an expansion of public ownership at the heart of its economic strategy but Reeves and Keir Starmer have spent the past four years pursuing a more business-friendly approach. The shadow chancellor is being accompanied in Davos by Labour’s business spokesperson, Jonathan Reynolds.

“The lifeblood of economic growth is private sector investment,” she is expected to say. “That is why we have put business investment at the heart of our plan for growth.

“With Labour, Britain will be open to business. We will restore stability and security into our economy. We will restore Britain’s reputation as a place to do business. And we will be a trusted partner with business in delivering the change our country and our economy needs.”’

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/jan/16/labour-will-restore-uks-reputation-for-business-rachel-reeves-to-tell-davos

Will this appear in Labour’s Election Manifesto or on the leaflets they’ll be shoving through doors? Labour – the capitalists friend. You have been warned.