Recession

Central banks: boom or slump?

3 February 2023 - by Michael Roberts

Three of the major central banks met and raised their policy interest rates yet again in the so-called ‘fight against inflation’. Interest-rate levels are now at 15-year highs. But the financial markets took the comments of the central bankers (...)
The US rate of profit in 2021

20 December 2022 - by Michael Roberts

Every year, I analyse the US rate of profit on capital. This is because the US data is the best and most comprehensive to use and because the US is the most important capitalist economy, often setting the scene for trends in global capitalism. (...)
Energy, cost of living and recession

5 September 2022 - by Michael Roberts

The G7 governments have a problem. The war in Ukraine against Russia is not won. It looks set to be a long grinding conflict, possibly with no end. And yet the world and particularly Europe depends on Russian energy supplies. The G7 has (...)
Europe: caught in a trap

27 July 2022 - by Michael Roberts

The major economies are moving closer to recession, if they are not already there; and yet inflation rates continue to rise (for now). The latest surveys of business activity, called Purchasing Managers Indexes (PMIs), show that both the Euro (...)