The Scottish DailyMail has an article which seems designed to ‘frighten the horses,’ and voters of the constituents of that particular paper. Some  appear not to be wholly in favour of ‘free’ money saying  ‘some may “milk the system”, “that it could reduce motivation to work”, and give “freedom to make bad choices”.

Perhaps anyone enamoured of the capitalist system might find it more profitable, and fulfilling, to learn about the only viable alternative.

The Socialist Party of Great Britain has branches in Scotland (contact details available from https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/contact/ )

“A Scottish Government spokesman told the Mail on Sunday: “Everyone in Scotland deserves to live healthy, financially secure, fulfilling lives and a Minimum Income Guarantee is an important step towards that.”

A SPBG spokesperson commented, everyone in the world deserves to live healthy, secure, fulfilling lives and Socialism is the way to achieve that goal.

There isn’t a ‘communism lite.’ If there isn’t a money-free, class-free, produce for use not profit society, then there’s not socialism/communism.

“Taxpayers in Scotland face footing the bill for an SNP benefits free-for-all which could see every adult in Scotland paid at least £25,000 a year.

Under the plans for a Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG), billions of pounds would be handed to the jobless and lower earners to ensure everyone has a “dignified” quality of life.

Supporters of the proposal – dubbed ‘Communism Lite‘ – say it would help fight poverty and tackle health inequalities and they are clear that it should be funded by massively raising taxes on medium and high earners.”

 https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/scots-face-huge-tax-hikes-29723060

ScottishDailyMail 16/4/23

DC

 The cost of eating at restaurants in the US outpaced grocery prices on a 12-month basis in March for the first time since mid-2021, Labor Department data showed on Wednesday.

According to the calculations, restaurant prices have risen 8.8% over the last 12 months, surging for the third consecutive month and up by 0.6% from February. Meanwhile, grocery, or ‘food at home’, inflation has risen by 8.4% year-on-year, dropping 0.3% from February.

The data may be a bad sign for the American restaurant industry, analysts say, which has already been struggling as consumers cut back on eating out in an attempt to save money amid the cost-of-living crisis. According to CNBC, many restaurants have recently been hiking prices to avoid a drop in their profit margins, forcing consumers to further limit their restaurant visits or spend less when they eat out.

However, Bruce Grindy, the chief economist from the National Restaurant Association, said the statistics may have been distorted by the increase in food prices at schools due to the expiry of free lunch programs that were set up during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As a result, this price index rose sharply in recent months, which is putting upward pressure on the overall food-away-from-home index,” he wrote in a blog post on Wednesday, as cited by CNBC. He noted that he expected this index to continue muddling the overall food-away-from-home readings until the fourth quarter of the year.

RT 15/4/23

DC

Annual urban inflation in Egypt jumped to 32.7% in March, its highest level since 2017, data from the national statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Monday. The increase has been driven by a sharp rise in food prices and the devaluation of the Egyptian pound.   

While consumer prices grew less than economists expected, inflation was still higher than the 31.9% recorded in February, led by a 62.9% rise in food and beverage costs.   

On a monthly basis, urban inflation growth slowed to 2.7% in March, down from 6.5% in February and 4.7% in January.  

Soaring prices are attributed to a plunge in the national currency following a series of devaluations over the last year. Surging seasonal demand during the month of Ramadan, high fuel prices and a shortage of raw materials, as well as a lack of foreign currency were also blamed for soaring consumer prices.  

A major importer of commodities, Egypt has devalued its currency three times since last March, further lifting the costs of most foreign goods.    

Skyrocketing inflation has also dealt a blow to Egyptian households as half of its 104 million people are now living near or below the poverty line.  

In an effort to contain prices, the Egyptian central bank raised interest rates in March by 200 basis points, although analysts have doubted that the measure will bring immediate relief.  

As pressure on the country’s financial system mounts, authorities are seeking ways to boost foreign investment, including plans to sell stakes in a number of domestic companies.

RT 10/4/2

DC

 French President Emmanuel Macron has signed a bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. The reform has sparked nationwide unrest, with the political opposition and unions vowing continue contesting it.

The amendments were published in France’s Official Journal early on Saturday.

“The Social Security Code is thus amended… In the first paragraph, the word: ‘sixty-two’ is replaced by the word: ‘sixty-four’,” the statement reads.

The retirement age will be incrementally raised by three months at a time, starting from September, until it reaches 64 in September 2030.

On Friday, France’s highest constitutional authority gave the green light to most of the amendments proposed by the president. The Constitutional Council also shot down a request for a referendum, filed by left-wing politicians.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne described the decision on Friday as the “end of the institutional and democratic journey.”

The opposition and unions, however, refused to back down, with a decision on a second request for a plebiscite expected early next month.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the right-wing National Rally, predicted that the signing of the bill would “mark the final break between the French people and Emmanuel Macron.”

That sentiment was echoed by the First Secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, who expressed doubt as to whether the president “will be able to govern” after his decision. Faure also pledged to “continue democratic harassment to roll back the president and his government.”

Veteran left-wing politician Jean-Luc Melenchon called for unity among those opposing the reform, and denounced France’s trajectory toward a “presidential monarchy.”

Meanwhile, unions have called on the French to rally on May 1 as part of “exceptional and popular mobilisation.”

Ahead of the Council’s decision, hundreds of thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of French cities and towns on Thursday.

In Paris, rioters vandalised several buildings, with police bludgeoning protesters with batons and firing tear gas into the crowds.

President Macron insists that the reform is necessary to prop up France’s ailing retirement system.

However, much of the French public has objected to the amendments being rammed through by Macron without allowing a vote in the lower House of Parliament. Opposition legislators twice tabled no-confidence motions against the government, ultimately losing both.

RT  15/4/23

DC

The number of bankruptcies in the Netherlands has more than doubled in the first quarter of 2023, the NL Times portal reported on Sunday, citing data by Faillissements Dossier.

According to the report, cafes, restaurants, retail shops and online retailers have been the most affected businesses.

Some 781 companies and institutions reportedly went bankrupt in the country from January to March, compared to 506 a year earlier. The number of bankrupt cafes and restaurants nearly tripled to 54, the data showed.

The report attributed the growing number of insolvencies in the Eurozone’s fifth-largest economy to a sharp increase in energy prices and high inflation levels.

The Statistics Netherlands agency (CBS) said last month it would change the way it measures energy prices paid by consumers in order to improve estimates of inflation. According to CBS, it will start using transaction data from energy suppliers to determine the real costs for consumers.

Credit insurer Atradius earlier forecast that more than 4,000 companies in the Netherlands could go bankrupt in 2023 due to high energy costs, rising interest rates, and high wage demands.

RT 11/4/23

DC

 Argentinian inflation saw an enormous year-on-year surge to 104.3% in March, marking the highest annual rate since 1991, according to data released by the National Institute for Statistics and Census (INDEC) on Friday.

The inflation-rate reading for the month came in at 7.7%, higher than the median forecast of 7% among analysts polled by Bloomberg. Economists surveyed by Reuters had provided a more pessimistic outlook of 7.1%.

Total inflation for the first three months of the year was 21.7%. In February, the inflation rate hit 102.5%, meaning the price of many consumer goods has more than doubled since the same period a year ago.

The highest increase and the biggest influence on the overall index came from the cost of education, which saw a month-on-month surge of 29.1%. The massive increase was attributed to the start of the school year.

Clothing as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages, where the hike was caused mainly by the cost of meat, dairy products and eggs, increased by 9.4% and 9.3% month-on-month respectively. Also, due to a breakout of avian flu in Argentina, prices for chicken and eggs soared over 25%.

Argentina has been among the countries with the highest inflation rates for several years in a row. Buenos Aires has long tried to contain inflation but divisions have marred the nation’s economic policy. Last summer, three economy ministers succeeded one another in the space of just four weeks as the economic crisis deepened.

In December, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved another $6 billion of bailout money. It was the latest payout for Argentina in a 30-month programme that is expected to reach a total of $44 billion.

RT 15/4/23

DC

 UK consumers slashed spending on luxuries and dining out in March as household incomes continue to suffer amid stubborn double-digit inflation, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing Barclays data.   

More than half of Barclays cardholders cut spending on luxury items and one-off treats, while six in ten trimmed expenses on eating out and purchases of new clothes, the bank said after analysing data on credit and debit card transactions.   

According to the lender, overall consumer spending grew 4% last month from a year earlier, with expenses in supermarkets climbing 7.8% – well below the rate of increase in prices for food and non-alcoholic drinks.  

Overall inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages surged to 18% in February, the highest level since 1977.

The data indicates that British consumers are increasingly changing their shopping habits to save money amid the worsening cost-of-living crisis. Cash-strapped households are becoming more exposed as wage growth fails to keep pace with the biggest jump in prices in 40 years.

Annual inflation unexpectedly rose to 10.4% in February, marking the sixth straight month in double digits and placing further pressure on UK households.

RT 12/4/23

DC

 The price Kiwis pay for nationwide overnight postage is “ridiculously cheap” and should cost at least twice as much, the chief executive of listed company Freightways says.

Mark Troughear said on the Herald’s Stock Takes podcast that overnight $3 postage to get a small parcel from the North Island to the South was “chronically underpriced” for the undertaking required, using expensive aircraft and often unsuitable roads.

“The reality is we have some services that are just chronically underpriced. It’s nuts.

“It’s a phenomenally high level of service … For a ridiculously cheap price.”

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/stock-takes-postage-in-nz-chronically-underpriced-freight-ceo-warns/NZBO7GGBEJHP3OXCKD3UJNZFGE/

There are only two things certain in life – death and taxes. Christopher Bullock (1716)

With the transition to a money-free, class-free society one of these will no longer exist.

“Progressive” politicians, and their supporters, can often be heard hollering the slogan, ‘Tax the rich!’  Labour politician Denis Healey said, ‘until the pips squeak.’ It is not surprising that  the capitalist class should resist attempts to reduce the wealth accumulated from the exploitation of the working class.

“A  record number of super-rich Norwegians are abandoning Norway for low-tax countries after the centre-left government increased wealth taxes to 1.1%.

More than 30 Norwegian billionaires and multimillionaires left Norway in 2022, according to research by the newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv. This was more than the total number of super-rich people who left the country during the previous 13 years, it added. Even more super-rich individuals are expected to leave this year because of the increase in wealth tax in November, costing the government tens of millions in lost tax receipts.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/10/super-rich-abandoning-norway-at-record-rate-as-wealth-tax-rises-slightly

The Socialist Party of Great Britain provides a more relevant solution to the problem of the capitalist class and their continued clinging to wealth and to power.

Don’t tax the rich – Abolish them 

http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2022/04/dont-tax-rich-abolish-them-2021.html

 CHARITIES are warning the increase in state pension will be wiped out by a soaring cost of living.

From today (April 10), pensioners will see their weekly payments rise by almost £19 after the government increased the rate by 10.1%.

But charity bosses have warned the rising cost of essentials such as food, energy, fuel, social care and accommodation will cancel out the boost, reports The Daily Mail.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/21994818/warning-state-pension-cost-of-living-benefits/