Governments in the United States and Britain have started putting into motion what is by far the biggest robbery of public funds in history.  Massive amounts of public money are being handed over to private corporations.  These bail-out operations are being done i n the name of addressing the economic crisis, and to “restore confidence and stability to financial markets”.

In the US more than $1 trillion (equivalent to Rs. 50 lakh crore) of public funds are being handed out to giant corporations.  This includes $200 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, $123 billion for AIG, $29 billion for Bear Stearns, $25 billion each to Citigroup, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo, and $10 billion each to Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

Following a meeting of European Union ministers on 12th October, the British government announced that it will buy shares in the four biggest banks in the country. Similar pledges by France, Germany and some others add up to a staggering figure of Euro 1.9 trillion or $ 2.5 trillion.

The bourgeois media is creating confusion by calling these actions ‘nationalisation’, or even ‘socialism’.  The aim of these actions is not to bring private profiteering companies under social control.  On the contrary, the aim is to make sure that the greed of monopoly capitalist corporations can continue to be fulfilled. It is to make sure that the parasites can continue to make maximum profits through money lending and speculation.

A fact sheet issued by the White House in Washington, D.C., states: “The government’s involvement is limited in scope.  The government will not exercise control over any private firm.  The government will have voting rights that can be used to protect the taxpayer’s investment – not to direct the firm’s operations”.   It does not clarify how the government can protect the taxpayer’s investment without directing the firm’s operations.  Even the stated aim of “getting credit going again” is not part of the terms of the agreement. The banks are free to use the public funds in any way they please!

The global crisis of 2008 has exposed very starkly that greed and parasitism are characteristic features of the financial system prevailing in the US and Europe.  Banks and other financial institutions trapped large numbers of working people into borrowing more than they could afford, so that money lending can flourish as a highly profitable business.  They created an artificial bubble, thereby expanding the space to reap windfall profits through financial speculation in derivatives and such instruments that had nothing to do with production of goods and services.  And when this bubble burst, people lost their homes, housing prices fell steeply, and numerous banks and mortgage companies started reporting huge losses, leading to a crash in stock prices.  As working people have become poorer, they have now stopped borrowing and cut down their purchases.  This is fuelling recession on the world scale – with more and more people losing their jobs and being driven into poverty.

Those who are guilty of having gambled with public funds for their own private super-profits are not being punished in any way.  On the contrary, they are being rewarded.  This is a clear exposure that the governments in the US and European countries are acting in the interests of the very same monopolies that are responsible for the economic problems in the first place.  Shoring up the financial markets is their central concern, not the rising unemployment, hunger and homelessness.

The actions of the US, Britain and other European governments are facing massive popular opposition on the streets.  People in the US are demanding:  Let Wall Street fail!  No bail, send them to jail! 

Various parties and organisations in Britain are demanding public guarantees for the well-being of working people, not guarantees for money lending institutions to return to ‘business as usual’.

People are legitimately demanding that public funds be used for the public good – such as to provide people with homes, jobs and a decent standard of living. They are questioning why the government is handing over public funds to the parasites that are to blame for the crisis.

It is estimated that some two million families in the US have already been rendered homeless, and millions more will likely be forced out of their homes by the same banks that are now raiding the treasury.

The bourgeois media claims that the problem in the US is that working class families have been “living beyond their means”.   In actual fact, it is the parasitic financial monopolies that have been living off the people and the government. The problem is the refusal of the monopolies to provide wages and benefits consistent with the needs of the working class. The problem is the refusal of government to guarantee the rights of working people, including the right to work and the right to housing.

Working class organisations are demanding interest-free mortgages to all homeowners immediately, as a way to secure the right to housing for all.  They are demanding that the state should guarantee pensions for all workers.  Funds for these actions are available, as the bail out shows. Additional funds can be secured by bringing all US troops home and by stopping war funding.  Many organisations of the working class have pointed out that the 2008-09 Pentagon budget of close to $600 billion can be utilized to fund social programs.

More and more people are becoming aware that the parties financed by the big monopoly corporations do not have the capacity or interest to fulfil their demands. In the US it is becoming increasingly clear that neither the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party will stop funding the war or stop bailing out the monopolies.  The situation is similar in the other major capitalist countries.

The crisis is making more people conscious of the need to address the problems of the political process, as part of seeking solutions to the economic problems. Consciousness is growing about the need to break the monopoly of political and economic power in the hands of the most powerful capitalists and their parties, so that working people can become empowered to direct the economy to meet their needs.