Hi Fred.
Again I am not simply saying that strike "determines" current flight
of capital (although this may also be the case in certain
circumstances). I am hinting at broader patterns of class relations,
of which "strikes" are just a moment. You say that the
" current flight of capital from Asia has a lot more to do with
the build up of a huge speculative and unsustainable debt burden than
it does with increased strike activity"
which - at a first glance - is certainly true. In fact, the
"liquidity problem" has been presented as "the cause" of the
crisis. But this very cause depends on a set of things:
patterns of short term debt => current account imbalances =>
**relative** decline in competitiveness vis a vis (say) China,
etc. Where do we want to stop the potentially endless chain of
causation? I think this depends exactly on the kind of question we
want to ask. So, what I want to ask is not simply the effect of the
crisis on the working class, but what is the extent the working class
constituted a rigidity for the requirement of accumulation in the
region. What I am suggesting is that the liquidity problem has
arisen out of a particular current inadequacy of south-east Asia to
extract surplus labour from the regional working class (read compete
efficiently). This of course should be analyzed not so much in
absolute terms, but in relative terms vis a vis other economies in the
region and the rest of the world's pattern of accumulation and
competitiveness requirement.
And yes, we are witnessing serious stuff here.
ciao
Massimo
>
> Hi Massimo, welcome back.
>
> I think the current flight of capital from Asia has a lot more to do with
> the build up of a huge speculative and unsustainable debt burden than it
> does with increased strike activity. The deepening crisis will no doubt
> severely affect the working class and their response will be crucial in
> determining how the crisis is resolved, but their militance is not the
> main cause of the crisis.
>
> By the way, the dimensions of the crisis seem to be broadening daily
> (now S. Korea and Japan). This is starting to look serious.
>
> Comradely,
> Fred
>
>