THE UK’s bankers and the bosses now face the biggest economic catastrophe in the history of capitalism as they face making a big decision on Thursday.
Megan Greene, an external member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has said that the combination of rising prices and slowing growth ‘puts central bankers in the most awkward position possible’.
Last month, the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to hold interest rates at 3.75 per cent.
Now that there is a new wave of inflation, the Bank’s chief economist Huw Pill says: ‘We have to entertain the possibility that higher rates may be required.’
Today, Britain faces rapidly rising unemployment and ‘mediocre growth’.
‘This makes it harder for workers to demand the pay rises they secured during and after the previous cost of living crisis, which helped to sustain inflation.’
Meanwhile, the bosses have a dilemma: Hold interest rates down for too long and a fresh cost of living crisis could erupt.
Overreact and ramp up borrowing costs too fast and it could crash an already weakened economy, and create the conditions for a general strike.
Michael Saunders, a former member of the MPC who is now at Oxford Economics suspects that the Bank of England will hold rates down again at their meeting this Thursday, but will be forced to raise rates later in the year.
He added: ‘I would pencil in a couple of hikes.’
Two rate rises would be ‘extremely painful for borrowers, but Saunders argues that such draconian measures would be a price worth paying as long as it was the working class doing the paying.
Meanwhile, the Trades Unions Congress stays quiet and allows the bosses to plan and organise the worst possible situation for the working class, with mass sackings and mass wage cutting planned!
As the worldwide capitalist crisis deepens, the issue of the hour is that the TUC Congress must be made to call an emergency meeting to take action to defend the interests of the working class – that is for wage rises that keep pace with all rises in the cost of living, no job losses and the active defence of the right to work, and all basic democratic rights such as the right to strike.
It is now more than obvious to millions of workers that the capitalist system is completely bankrupt, and must be replaced by the common ownership and nationalisation of the means of production.
Youth leaving schools must be guaranteed jobs and careers, so that they can continue with the task of developing and building the means of production, ensuring that production continues to guarantee the maxim ‘from each according to their ability, to each according to their need’.
Capitalism must be dispatched to the dustbin of history and to the museums, while young people leaving school must be guaranteed a job and training so that they can develop their full creative potential.
Socialism, and a worldwide nationalised and planned economy will be able to guarantee the future of workers worldwide.
For this programme to be realised, sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International must be built in every country to organise the working class and the youth to carry out socialist revolutions and go forward to planned socialist economies. This socialist society is within reach.
Capitalism has had its day, and must not be allowed to drive the youth and the working class into despair as capitalism disintegrates and demands cuts in jobs, wages and basic rights.
Millions of workers and youth must be mobilised and organised to carry out the worldwide socialist revolution – abolishing hunger and poverty forever!
