Some Basic Lessons from the Pandemic
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Some Basic Lessons from the Pandemic

Prabhat Patnaik, March 22, 2020 The coronavirus attack has so far been much less deadly than the Spanish flu of a century ago. That had affected 500 million people worldwide, about 27 per cent of the world’s population of the time, and had a death rate of about 10 per cent among those affected. (Estimates…

Reverse Migration: Why the Long March Home?
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Reverse Migration: Why the Long March Home?

Devinder Sharma, March 31, 2020 “It was poverty that forced me to leave my village, and here I am … I still have no money,” said Sanjay Choudhary, a construction worker in Nagpur, after he undertook an arduous journey to return back to his native village in Garhwa district in Jharkhand, covering a distance of…

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Coronavirus: Why isn’t Indian Media Asking Hard Questions of the Government?

Kalpana Sharma The prime minister orders and a country of 1.3 billion people obeys. That is the extraordinary spectacle we are witnessing after the televised announcement by Narendra Modi that all of India would go into complete lockdown for 21 days from midnight on March 24 in order to contain the spread of COVID-19. Fortunately,…

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Argentina: President Fernandez Prohibits Layoffs for 60 Days

Courtesy: Telesur Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez Tuesday published a decree that prohibits the layoffs and suspensions of workers for 60 days. This decision is part of a package of measures aimed at sustaining economic activity amid mandatory quarantine. More specifically, the decree prohibits dismissals without just cause, dismissals for lack or reduction of work, and…

Catastrophe Capitalism: Climate Change, COVID-19, and Economic Crisis
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Catastrophe Capitalism: Climate Change, COVID-19, and Economic Crisis

John Bellamy Foster interviewed by Farooque Chowdhury [In the backdrop of the ravaging coronavirus pandemic, John Bellamy Foster, editor of Monthly Review, the famous socialist magazine, discusses the pandemic in relation to the present condition of capitalism and economic crisis in the following interview conducted by Farooque Chowdhury in late-March, 2020.] Farooque Chowdhury: You have…

Why is the U.S. so Exceptionally Vulnerable to Covid-19?
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Why is the U.S. so Exceptionally Vulnerable to Covid-19?

Nicolas J.S. Davies The United States has become the new center of the global coronavirus pandemic, with over 80,000 cases, more than China or Italy. More than a thousand Americans have already died, but this is surely only the very beginning of this deadly collision between the U.S.’s exceptionally inadequate public healthcare system and a…

Unsanitized: Bailouts, A Tradition Unlike Any Other
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Unsanitized: Bailouts, A Tradition Unlike Any Other

David Dayen, March 25, 2020 Twelve years ago, banks asked for a bailout after years of irresponsible, highly leveraged lending. The Treasury Department put out a three-page term sheet seeking money from Congress with no strings attached, even eliminating judicial review. Democrats balked, called it a slush fund and worse, then agreed after a few…

Wall Street Wins, Again: Bailouts in the Time of Coronavirus
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Wall Street Wins, Again: Bailouts in the Time of Coronavirus

Jake Johnson, Nomi Prins [This article has been edited by us, using additional inputs from the following articles: Alana Abramson, Philip Elliott, March 25, 2020, President Trump Signs $2.2 Trillion Coronavirus Stimulus Package Into Law, https://time.com Jack Rasmus, “US Senate’s Final Stimulus Bill: Why It Won’t Be Enough”.] President Donald Trump signed a historic $2.2…

A Pandemic in an Unequal India
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A Pandemic in an Unequal India

Harsh Mander If the COVID-19 pandemic lashes India with severity, it will not be just the middle class who will be affected. India’s impoverished millions are likely to overwhelmingly bear the brunt of the suffering which will ensue. The privileged Indian has been comfortable for too long with some of the most unconscionable inequalities in…