全屏显示专题章节

The economic crisis has spawned a resurgence of interest in Karl Marx.Worldwide sales of Das Kapital have shot up(one lone German publisher sold thousands of copies in 2008，compared with 100 the year before)，a measure of a crisis so broad in scope and devastation that it has global capitalism—and its high priests—in an ideological tailspin.

Yet even as faith in neoliberal orthodoxies has imploded，why resurrect Marx?To start，Marx was far ahead of his time in predicting the successful capitalist globalization of recent decades.He accurately foresaw many of the fateful factors that would give rise to today's global economic crisis:what he called the“contradictions”inherent in a world comprised of competitive markets，commodity production，and financial speculation.

Penning his most famous works in an era when the French and American revolutions were less than a hundred years old，Marx had premonitions of AIG and Bear Stearns trembling a century and a half later.He was singularly cognizant of what he called the“most revolutionary part”played in human history by the bourgeoisie—those forerunners of today's Wall Street bankers and corporate executives.As Marx put it in The Communist Manifesto，“The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production，and thereby relations of production，and with them the whole relations of society...In one word，it creates a world after its own image.”

But Marx was no booster of capitalist globalization in his time or ours.Instead，he understood that“the need for a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of the globe，”foreseeing that the development of capitalism would inevitably be“paving the way for more extensive and exhaustive crises.”Marx identified how disastrous speculation could trigger and exacerbate crises in the whole economy.And he saw through the political illusions of those who would argue that such crises could be permanently prevented through incremental reform.

Like every revolutionary，Marx wanted to see the old order overthrown in his lifetime.But capitalism had plenty of life left in it，and he could only glimpse，however perceptively，the mistakes and wrong turns that future generations would commit.Those of us now cracking open Marx will find he had much to say that is relevant today，at least for those looking to“recover the spirit of the revolution，”not merely to“set its ghost walking again.”

If he were observing the current downturn，Marx would certainly relish pointing out how flaws inherent in capitalism led to the current crisis.He would see how modern developments in finance，such as securitization and derivatives，have allowed markets to spread the risks of global economic integration.Without these innovations，capital accumulation over the previous decades would have been significantly lower.And so would it have been if finance had not penetrated more and more deeply into society.The result has been that consumer demand(and hence，prosperity)in recent years has depended more and more on credit cards and mortgage debt at the same time that the weakened power of trade unions and cutbacks in social welfare have made people more vulnerable to market shocks.

This leveraged，volatile global financial system contributed to overall economic growth in recent decades.But it also produced a series of inevitable financial bubbles，the most dangerous of which emerged in the U.S.housing sector.That bubble's subsequent bursting had such a profound impact around the globe precisely because of its centrality to sustaining both U.S.consumer demand and international financial markets.Marx would no doubt point to this crisis as a perfect instance of when capitalism looks like“the sorcerer who is no longer able to control the powers of the netherworld whom he has called up by his spells.”

Despite the depth of our current prediComent，Marx would have no illusions that economic catastrophe would itself bring about change.He knew very well that capitalism，by its nature，breeds and fosters social isolation.Such a system，he wrote，“leaves no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest，than callous‘cash payment.’”Indeed，capitalism leaves societies mired“in the icy water of egotistical calculation.”The resulting social isolation creates passivity in the face of personal crises，from factory layoffs to home foreclosures.So，too，does this isolation impede communities of active，informed citizens from coming together to take up radical alternatives to capitalism.

Marx would ask first and foremost how to overCome this all-consuming social passivity.He thought that unions and workers'parties developing in his time were a step forward.Thus in Das Kapital he wrote that the“immediate aim”was“the organization of the proletarians into a class”whose“first task”would be“to win the battle for democracy.”Today，he would encourage the formation of new collective identities，associations，and institutions within which people could resist the capitalist status quo and begin deciding how to better fulfill their needs.

No such ambitious vision for enacting change has arisen from the crisis so far，and it is this void that Marx would find most troubling of all.In the United States，some recent attention-getting proposals have been derided as“socialist，”but only appear to be radical because they go beyond what the left of the Democratic Party is now prepared to advocate.Dean Baker，codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research，for example，has called for a$2 million cap on certain Wall Street salaries and the enaComent of a financial transactions tax，which would impose an incremental fee on the sale or transfer of stocks，bonds，and other financial assets.Marx would view this proposal as a perfect case of thinking inside the box，because it explicitly endorses(even while limiting)the very thing that is now popularly identified as the problem: a culture of risk disassociated from consequence.Marx would be no less derisive toward those who think that bank nationalization—such as those that took place in Sweden and Japan during their financial crises in the 1990s—would amount to real change.

Ironically，one of the most radical proposals making the rounds today has Come from an economist at the London School of Economics，Willem Buiter，a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee and certainly no Marxist.Buiter has proposed that the whole financial sector be turned into a public utility.Because banks in the contemporary world cannot exist without public deposit insurance and public central banks that act as lenders of last resort，there is no case，he argues，for their continuing existence as privately owned，profitseeking institutions.Instead they should be publicly owned and run as public services.This proposal echoes the demand for“centralization of credit in the banks of the state”that Marx himself made in the Manifesto.To him，a financial-system overhaul would reinforce the importance of the working classes'winning“the battle of democracy”to radically change the state from an organ imposed upon society to one that responds to it.

“From financialization of the economy to the socialization of finance，”Buiter wrote，is“a small step for the lawyers，a huge step for mankind.”Clearly，you don't need to be a Marxist to have radical aspirations.You do，however，have to be some sort of Marxist to recognize that even at a time like the present，when the capitalist class is on its heels，demoralized and confused，radical change is not likely to start in the form of“a small step for the lawyers”(presumably after getting all the“stakeholders”to sit down together in a room to sign a doComent or two).Marx would tell you that，without the development of popular forces through radical new movements and parties，the socialization of finance will fall on infertile ground.Notably，during the economic crisis of the 1970s，radical forces inside many of Europe's social democratic parties put forward similar suggestions，but they were unable to get the leaders of those parties to go along with proposals they derided as old-fashioned.

Attempts to talk seriously about the need to democratize our economies in such radical ways were largely shunted aside by parties of all stripes for the next several decades，and we are still paying the price for marginalizing those ideas.The irrationality built into the basic logic of capitalist markets—and so deftly analyzed by Marx—is once again evident.Trying just to stay afloat，each factory and firm lays off workers and tries to pay less to those kept on.Undermining job security has the effect of undercutting demand throughout the economy.As Marx knew，microrational behavior has the worst macroeconomic outComes.We now can see where ignoring Marx while trusting in Adam Smith's“invisible hand”gets you.

The financial crisis today also exposes irrationalities in realms beyond finance.One example is U.S.President Barack Obama's call for trading in carbon credits as a solution to the climate crisis.In that supposedly progressive proposal，corporations that meet emissions standards sell credits to others that fail to meet their own targets.The Kyoto Protocol called for a similar system swapped across states.Fatefully however，both plans depend on the same volatile derivatives markets that are inherently open to manipulation and credit crashes.Marx would insist that，to find solutions to global problems such as climate change，we need to break with the logic of capitalist markets rather than use state institutions to reinforce them.Likewise，he would call for international economic solidarity rather than competition among states.As he put it in the Manifesto，“United action，of the leading...countries，at least，is the first condition for the emancipation of the proletariat.”

Yet the work of building new institutions and movements for change must begin at home.Although he made the call“Workers of the world，unite!”Marx still insisted that workers in each country“first of all settle things with their own bourgeoisie.”The measures required to transform existing economic，political，and legal institutions would“of course be different in different countries.”But in every case，Marx would insist that the way to bring about radical change is first to get people to think ambitiously again.

How likely is that to happen?Even at a moment when the financial crisis is bleeding dry a vast swath of the world's people，when collective anxiety shakes every age，religious，and racial group，and when，as always，the deprivations and burdens are falling most heavily on ordinary working people，the prognosis is uncertain.If he were alive today，Marx would not look to pinpoint exactly when or how the current crisis would end.Rather，he would perhaps note that such crises are part and parcel of capitalism's continued dynamic existence.Reformist politicians who think they can do away with the inherent class inequalities and recurrent crises of capitalist society are the real romantics of our day，themselves clinging to a naive utopian vision of what the world might be.If the current crisis has demonstrated one thing，it is that Marx was the greater realist.

Leo Panitch is Canada research chair in comparative political economy and distinguished research professor of political science at York University in Toronto，and coeditor of the annual Socialist Register.

1.Who do you think are those looking to“recover the spirit of the revolution”not merely to“set its ghost walking again”?

2.What is meant by“from financialization of the economy to the socialization of finance”?

3.“Micronational behavior has the worst macroeconomic outComes.”Analyze and discuss the meaning of this sentence.

4.How does global climate crisis relate to financial crisis in this passage?How relevant is Marx here?

5.Why does the writer dismiss those reformist politicians na6ve while praising Marx as realist?

High priest:注意此处的转义。If you call a man the high priest of a particular thing，you are saying in a slightly mocking way that he is considered by people to be expert in that thing.

AIG:Even to this day American International Group(AIG)is one of the world's largest insurance firms.While it remains in the spotlight for staggering losses and government bailouts，the company's subsidiaries are still providing insurance.AIG is a leading US provider of property/ casualty，life，and specialty insurance to commercial，institutional，and individualcustomers.Internationally，thecompanyprovides reinsurance，life insurance and retirement services，asset management，and financial services(including financing commercial aircraft leasing) in more than 130 countries.The US government holds more than 80％of the company，and its future remains in a state of flux.

Bear Stearns:The Bear Stearns Companies，Inc.(former New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol BSC)based in New York City，was once known for its top risk management talent and was one of the largest global investment banks and securities trading and brokerage firms prior to its sudden collapse and distress sale to JPMorgan Chase in March 2008.Themainbusinessareas，basedon 2006netrevenue distributions，were:capital markets(equities，fixed inCome，investment banking；just under 80％)，wealth management(under 10％)and global clearing services(12％).The collapse of the company was a key prelude event to the risk management meltdown of the Wall Street investment bank industry in September 2008，and the subsequent global financial crisis and recession.

Securitization:Conversion of bank loans and other assets into marketable securities for sale to investors.The process of creating a financial instrument by combining other financial assets and then marketing them to investors.Mortgage-backed securities are a perfect example of securitization.

Derivatives:衍生证券，衍生工具　Derivatives are financial contracts，or financial instruments，whose values are derived from the value of something else(known as the underlying).The underlying value on which a derivative is based can be an asset(e.g.，commodities，equities(stocks)，residential mortgages，commercial real estate，loans，bonds)，an index(e.g.，interest rates，exchange rates，stock market indices，consumer price index(CPI)，weather conditions，or other items.Credit derivatives are based on loans，bonds or other forms of credit.The main types of derivatives are forwards，futures，options，and swaps.

Derivatives can be used to mitigate the risk of economic loss arising from changes in the value of the underlying.This activity is known as hedging.Alternatively，derivatives can be used by investors to increase the profit arising if the value of the underlying moves in the direction they expect.This activity is known as speculation.

Foreclosure:止赎权，指的是一旦借款人违约或者停止交纳月供，贷款人将获得房产所有权。房屋作为担保物以减少贷款人的损失。这就是为什么按揭的利率低于信用卡利率，因为后者没有担保物。通常，因为各种法律费用、诉讼期间数个月的月供损失，以及出售维护不当的房产的难度，贷款人诉求止赎权仅能偿付其所贷款项的一半。Legal proceeding by which a borrower's rights to a mortgaged property may be extinguished if the borrower fails to live up to the obligations agreed to in the loan contract.The lender may then declare the entire debt due and owing and may seek to satisfy it by foreclosing.Foreclosure is commonly by a court-decreed sale of the property to the highest bidder，who is often the lender.A procedure by which the holder of a mortgage—an interest in land providing security for the performance of a duty or the payment of a debt—sells the property upon the failure of the debtor to pay the mortgage debt and，thereby，terminates his or her rights in the property.

Think inside the box:此短语显然是熟语　“think outside the box”的反用。Thinking outside the box is to think differently，unconventionally or from a new perspective.This phrase often refers to novel，creative and smart thinking.This is sometimes called a process of lateral thought.The catchphrase，or cliché，has beCome widely used in business environments，especially by management consultants and executive coaches，and has spawned a number of advertising slogans.

Public utility:Enterprise that provides certain classes of services to the public，including common-carrier transportation(buses，airlines，railroads)；telephone and telegraph services；power，heat and light； and community facilities for water and sanitation.In most countries such enterprises are state-owned and state-operated；in the U.S.they are mainly privately owned，but they operate under close regulation.Given the technology of production and distribution，they are considered natural monopolies，since the capital costs for such enterprises are large and the existence of competing or parallel systems would be inordinately expensive and wasteful.Government regulation in the U.S.，particularly at the state level，aims to ensure safe operation，reasonable rates，and service on equal terms to all customers.Some states have experimented with deregulation of electricity and natural-gas operations to stimulate price reductions and improved service through competition，but the results have not been universally promising.

Kyoto Protocol:京都议定书　An international agreement that aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the presence of greenhouse gases.Countries that ratify the Kyoto Protocol are assigned maximum carbon emission levels and can participate in carbon credit trading.Emitting more than the assigned limit will cause the violating country to be penalized by lowering its emission limitation in the following period.The Kyoto Protocol separates countries into two groups.Annex I includes developed nations，while Non-Annex I refers to developing countries.Emission limitations are only placed on Annex I countries.Non-Annex I nations participate by investing in projects that lower emissions in their own countries.For these projects，they earn carbon credits.These credits can be traded or sold to Annex I countries，which allow them a higher level of maximum carbon emissions for that period.

Das Kapital:or Capital，is an extensive treatise on political economy written in German by Karl Marx and edited in part by Friedrich Engels.The book is a critical analysis of capitalism.Its first volume was published in 1867.The central driving force of capitalism，according to Marx，was in the exploitation and alienation of labour.The ultimate source of capitalist profits and surplus was the unpaid labor of wage laborers.Employers could appropriate the new output value because of their ownership of the productive capital assets—protected by the state.By producing output as capital for the employers，the workers constantly reproduced the condition of capitalism by their labour.

Das Kapital does not propose a theory of revolution(led by the working class and its representatives)but rather a theory of crises as the condition for a potential revolution，or what Marx refers to in the Communist Manifesto as a potential“weapon，”“forged”by the owners of capital，“turned against the bourgeoisie itself”by the working class.Such crises，according to Marx，are rooted in the contradictory character of the commodity，the most fundamental social form of capitalist society.In capitalism，improvements in technology and rising levels of productivity increase the amount of material wealth(or use values)in society while simultaneously diminishing the economic value of this wealth，thereby lowering the rate of profit—a tendency that leads to the paradox，characteristic of crises in capitalism，of“poverty in the midst of plenty，”or more precisely，crises of overproduction in the midst of underconsumption.

Neoliberal:There are two principal meanings of the term neoliberalism.The first refers to a set of market-liberal economic policies.In the developed world neoliberalism is often coupled with Thatcherism and grew up in opposition to Keynesianism.In the developing world it emerged in opposition to the development strategies based on importsubstitution industrialization which had dominated the period 1945 to the early 1980s.Here it is often linked to the so-called“Washington Consensus”(privatizationandderegulation；tradeandfinancial liberalization；shrinking the role of the state；encouraging foreign direct investment)and to the structural adjustment programmes promoted by the IMF and World Bank.More recently，it has been used(for example by the anti-globalization movement)to characterize the economic ideology behind capitalist globalization.Whilst all of these usages are related，the economic use of the term neoliberalism is somewhat general and imprecise.

The second use of the term is within academic International Relations.Here it describes a theoretical approach to the study of institutions(sometimes described as neoliberal institutionalism or regime theory).Developed in the mid-1980s as a reaction to the dominant neorealist paradigm，neoliberalinstitutionalismsoughttodemonstratethat international cooperation is possible，even on realist premises—namely that states are rational，unitary actors which seek to maximize their utility in an anarchic international system.Although recognizing that the absence of a sovereign authority at the international level creates opportunities for conflict，defection，and cheating，neoliberals argue that institutions and regimes help states cooperate by reducing uncertainty，linking issues，monitoring behaviour，and enhancing the importance of reputation.These arguments are countered by neorealist theorists who stress the importance of relative rather than absolute gains and the extent to which powerful states can shape institutions for their own purposes and avoid them when they are too constraining.

The Communist Manifesto:Also Manifesto of the Communist Party，a pamphlet written in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to serve as the platform of the Communist League.It beCome one of the principal programmatic statements of the European socialist and communist parties in the 19th and early 20th centuries.It argued that industrialization had exacerbated the divide between the capitalist ruling class and the proletariat，which had beCome impoverished，and called on the proletariat to overthrow the capitalists，abolish private property，and take over the means of production.It predicted an eventual classless society and the gradual elimination of the need for a state.It ends by stating，“The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.They have a world to win.Workingmen of all countries，unite.”The Manifesto embodied the authors'materialistic conception of history(“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”)，and it surveyed that history from the age of feudalism down to 19th-century capitalism，which was destined，they declared，to be overthrown and replaced by a workers'society.The communists，the vanguard of the working class，constituted the section of society that would accomplish the“abolition of private property”and“raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class.”

Invisible hand:A term coined by economist Adam Smith in his 1776 book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations《国富论》.In his book he states:“Every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can.He generally neither intends to promote the public interest，nor knows how much he is promoting it...He intends only his own gain，and he is in this，as in many other cases，led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.Nor is it always the worse for society that it was no part of his intention.By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it.I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.”Thus，the invisible hand is essentially a natural phenomenon that guides free markets and capitalism through competition for scarce resources.

Smith assumes that individuals try to maximize their own good(and beComewealthier)，andbydoingso，throughtradeand entrepreneurship，society as a whole will be better off.Furthermore，any government intervention in the economy isn't needed as the invisible hand would best guide the economy.

Macroeconomics:The field of economics that studies the behavior of theaggregateeconomy.Macroeconomicsexamineseconomy-wide phenomena such as changes in unemployment，national inCome，rate of growth，grossdomesticproduct，inflationandpricelevels.Macroeconomics is focused on the movement and trends in the economy as a whole，while in microeconomics the focus is placed on factors that affect the decisions made by firms and individuals.The factors that are studied by macro and micro will often influence each other，such as the current level of unemployment in the economy as a whole will affect the supply of workers which an oil company can hire from，for example.Study of the entire economy in terms of the total amount of goods and services produced，total inCome earned，level of employment of productive resources，and general behaviour of prices.Until the 1930s，most economic analysis focused on specific firms and industries.The aftermath of the Great Depression and the development of national inCome and production statistics brought new interest to the field of macroeconomics.The goals of macroeconomic policy include economic growth，price stability，and full employment.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/oct/15/marx-germany-popularityfinancial-crisis

Joseph Choonara talked to Socialist Worker about his new book unravelling Capitalism and the renewed interest in Marxist economic ideas

1. May，2009

http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/features/2172131/face-itmarx-was-partly-right-about-capitalism.thtml

As financial markets crash，the reputation of Karl Marx soars.So has his time Come at last?Our writer examines the evidence，while other commentators from the Left discuss his validity

英语新闻标题中时态的简化。新闻标题有其自身独有的时态特点，以达到使动词既传神达意又具时间感的目的。英语报刊的新闻标题一般不用过去时态，而采用现在时态。读者通过这种“新闻现在时”读报时如身处于这条新闻事件中。英语新闻标题中常用的动词时态主要有三种:一般现在时、将来时和现在进行时。在标题中的动词一般现在时可表示:过去发生之事、正在发生之事、将会发生之事、已经发生之事；动词的将来时更多地直接采用动词不定式来表达，即“系动词be+动词不定式”结构，其中系动词be通常省略，以节省标题字数；现在分词直接表示正在进行的动作或事件。英语新闻标题采用现在进行时“be+现在分词”这一形式，但其中“be”又通常省略。如:

●Husband and Wife Team Unlock New Gene Secret夫妻联手解开新的基因奥秘

●French Culture Is In Doldrums法国文化颓然不振

●Two Beirut Hostages To Go Free贝鲁特最后两名人质“获释在望”

●Bush and Blair to Hold Talks Today(Bush and Blair are to Hold Talks Today)布什和布莱尔今天将举行会谈

Ⅰ.According to the article，determine which statements are true and which are false.

1.Today's global economic crisis is caused by those factors that Karl Marx referred to as the inherent“contradictions”in capitalism.

2.Karl Marx foresees and gives his support to globalization.

3.In Marx's view，crises in the course of capitalist development are inevitable and only incremental reform could prevent such crises.

4.In recent years consumer demand has been more dependent on credit cards and mortgage debt and people have beCome more vulnerable to market shocks.

5.The US housing bubble had the most devastating impact among a series of recent financial bubbles.

1.According to the article，which of the following plays a“most

A.The bourgeoisie.

B.The proletariat.

C.The oppressed.

D.The working class.

2.To Marx，capitalism_________.

A.beeds social isolation and passivity

B.leaves societies mired in egotistical calculation

C.forces people to think of alternatives to capitalism

D.both A and B

3.Which of the following would Marx find most troubling of alltoday?

A.The old order has not been overthrown.

B.New collective identities have not been formed to resist the capitalist status quo.

C.The societies have not beCome more isolated.

D.The securitization and derivatives still go unchecked.

4.Dean Baker's proposal on salary cap and fina ncial transaction tax_________.

A.would impose some restrictions on the target problem

B.would be considered perfect by Karl Marx

C.would explicitly oppose the culture of risk detached from consequence

D.both A and C

5.Why does the writer consider it ironical that Buiter suggests banksBe publicly owned and run as public services?

A.Being an economist at the London School of Economics and a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee，Buiter is no Marxist at all.

B.Buiter considers this proposal“a small step for the lawyers”.

C.Buiter's proposal echoes the demand for“decentralization of credit in the banks of the state”in Marx's Manifesto.

D.Buiter envisions this proposal as“a huge step fro mankind”.