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Increase people’s purchasing power, says Yechury

KOLKATA: The present global financial crisis cannot be overcome unless the purchasing power of the common people is increased. In spite of the turmoil, capitalism will keep trying to tighten its grip on the world’s economy by adopting new methods of speculation and exploitative practices, Sitaram Yechury, member of the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said here on Thursday.

Various “instruments” to increase profits within a minimum time span, such as derivatives, participatory notes and credit swap, had heralded the financial tumbledown.

Mr. Yechury was speaking on the ‘Relevance of the November Revolution and the Future of the Socialist Movement in the Context of the Current World Scenario’ on the occasion of the 91st anniversary of the November Revolution.

He said: “International finance capital is the new-age face of imperialism which aims at the centralisation of wealth in the hands of a few multinational companies and in the process dominates about 60 per cent of the world population, living in countries where the gross domestic product value is negative.”

Money worth $600 trillion was transacted in the global market in 2007 when the world’s GDP was only $50-55 trillion, thus triggering an international finance capital bubble 40 times more than the actual GDP value.

“The capitalist system is fundamentally flawed and a unified socialist movement should be immediately consolidated to replace it."

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