Suddenly, we find ourselves in a transformed world. Empty streets, closed shops, unusually clear skies, and climbing death tolls: something unprecedented is unfolding before our eyes. News about the economy are alarming almost everywhere: the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered the sharpest and deepest economic contraction in the history of capitalism. To paraphrase The Communist Manifesto, all that was solid has
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The process of financialisation has been increasingly recognised as one of the main drivers of the neoliberal restructuring of the global economy after the collapse of the post-war boom into the stagflation of the 1970s. The concept gained further prominence as financialisation was recognised as the main driver of the Global Financial Crisis and the ‘austerity’ that followed it. The
Capital accumulation and economic growth depend on the employment of labour and the productive consumption of natural resources, including minerals, agricultural products and, especially, energy. There is overwhelming evidence that the consumption of fossil fuels has been releasing CO2 and other gases in such volumes that they are warming the planet increasingly rapidly. Emissions of greenhouse gases change the Earth’s
There is overwhelming evidence not only that the Earth’s climate is warming up, but also that global warming is accelerating. Human emissions of CO2e (CO2 equivalent) gases have already driven world temperatures to rise by one degree celsius from the pre-industrial revolution baseline, and current trends suggest that temperatures could rise by 4-7 degrees in the next 100 years. This