Buddy Can You Spare $27 Billion ?

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Under these conditions it is executive meeting two weeks ago absolutely essential that the work- in Florida the AFL-CIO council Police attack youth and anti-fascists in Birmingham, Feb 18.

"Screw more out of your workforce'' is the blunt warning to US employers from the international bankers and oil magnates, delivered in the form of a slump in the value of the dollar in the money markets.

The bankers are concerned by the massive $27 billion annual deficit in the US balance of payments last year, and by evidence that a similar figure will arise in 1978.

This occurs at a time when a shrinking, recession blighted world market is forcing every other ruling class to impose drastic "austerity" measures, rationalisation and mass sackings to drive up the rate of exploitation of their own working class.

The US economy, which was the bedrock of the post-war reconstruction of capitalism, and, through its massive aid programmes, provided the basis for the rationalisation and reequipment of German and Japanese industry, has lagged behind such developments.

US manufacturers now find themselves outpriced and outproduced in world markets, while growing penetration of imported goods into the US has brought widespread appeals from the bosses for protectionist measures to safeguard less competitiv domestic industry.

Congressional committees in Washington are now investigating anguished calls for protectionist trade measures on goods which comprise two-thirds of the imports at present coming from EEC countries!

Vicious package

The weak competitive position of US industry can only be "solved" by the Carter administration through a vicious package of anti-working class and defiationary measures designed to force through cuts in public spending, cuts in working class living standards, a ruthless rationalisation of outdated plant, and the imposition of drastic speed-up and sackings on the powerful US labour movement.

The difficulties of carrying through such attacks are clearly shown by the current miners' strike. Carter's need to impose attacks also coincides with figures suggesting that inflation is well on its way towards double figureslending added fuel to the fires of working class resistance.

The dollar crisis finds the capitalist class internationally caught indissolubly in the contradictions of their own system.

To strengthen the dollar and restore stability to the money markets, Carter must prune back the US economy.

But to impose such measures would deal a savage blow at the already depressed level of world trade-forcing a further round of closures and redundancies in each capitalist country.

Yet if the dollar is not stabilised in value, then key sections of the capitalist class-in particular the Middle East oil producers, who sell their oil for dollars and keep huge dollar reserves-stand to make thumping losses.

This is why oil producers in Kuwait, Iraq and Qatar are already pressing for an increase in the price of oil, to compensate for the loss in value of the dollar.

Such an increase as took place with the five fold price increase in 1973, would of course signal a new leap in inflation internationally and a further attack on the chronically depressed levels of production in the capitalist countries.

Protectionism Carter faces no easy options. Whichever road he follows to safeguard the dollar and US industry must lead into the capitalist cul-de-sac of intensified protectionism, all-out trade war, and galloping recession.

class international complete politica ce, opposing all for aboration.

Gangrene Protectionism is today a ment.

it is one of the economic last resorts of a leadership which refuses to fight for the independent interests of the working class.

It is rife union leaders It is a major munist Party.

And, not surprisingly, it is most widespread of all inside the workers' leadership closest to imperialism, the leaders of the AFL-CIO union confederation in the United States.

Carter's government is already imposing wholesale protectionist measures-mostly in such disguised forms as "voluntary" export restrictions from other countries.

Shining But this is not enough for the AFL-CIO leadership. At an preserve heesen indi s of among fake 'left' and MPs in Britain. policy of the Comadopted a 15 point protectionist Most of this is not new. But in the new programme there is stronger emphasis than ever before on restricting imports, especially from "low wage countries" and on demanding that US capitalist corporations invest at home and not abroad.

"If all of our manufacturing continues to move overseas we are going to be reduced to shining Carter each other's shoes."

So says pro-imperialist AFL-CIO president George Meany, a man accustomed to having his shoes shined for him by US and other workers.

The US working class can be led along a proletarian internationalist road only by the destruction of such leaders and the construction of a political party representing the independent interests of labour.

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gangrene infecting sections of the leadership of the workers' move-