Skip to main content
Regional secretary with the National Education Union
The ‘general crisis of capitalism’ has returned with a vengeance
In an international address, ROBERT GRIFFITHS gives an overview of the tasks of the communist movement in Britain and worldwide

THE impact of the Covid pandemic on many capitalist economies has had the effect of masking and disrupting their increasingly synchronised economic cycle. Growth rates in the major economies (the US, Germany, Britain, France and Japan) were stagnant or declining in 2019 and almost certainly heading for recession. Covid plunged them into deep decline in the course of 2020.

Thus, a virus — rather than capitalism — is being held responsible for the steep downturn that might well have happened anyway. And the fact that the downturn was so extreme means that the recovery looks all the more impressive — in mathematical terms at least — when coming up so quickly from such a deep trough.  

Yet the speed and extent of the recovery — funded by state spending — is such that the major central banks are now worried about inflation and its impact on economic stability and currency values.  

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
A ballot box arriving during the count for the Blackpool South by-election at Blackpool Sports Centre, Blackpool, May 2, 2024
Features / 19 July 2025
19 July 2025

In the run-up to the Communist Party congress in November ROB GRIFFITHS outlines a few ideas regarding its participation in the elections of May 2026

Claudia Jones
Features / 27 February 2025
27 February 2025
From McCarthy’s prison cells to London’s carnival, Jones fought for peace and unity while exposing the lies of US imperialism, says ROBERT GRIFFITHS, in a graveside oration at Highgate Cemetery given last Sunday
REDISTRIBUTION NOW: Protesters march against austerity measu
Features / 4 November 2024
4 November 2024
In the second of two articles on Labour’s weak Budget, ROBERT GRIFFITHS argues that Britain’s massive private wealth and offshore tax havens show clear potential for radical redistribution through progressive taxation
Features / 3 November 2024
3 November 2024
In the first of two articles, ROBERT GRIFFITHS argues that despite a parliamentary majority, Labour’s timid Budget fails to seize a historic opportunity and lacks the ambition needed to address Britain’s deep social and economic crises
Similar stories
A ballot box arriving during the count for the Blackpool South by-election at Blackpool Sports Centre, Blackpool, May 2, 2024
Features / 19 July 2025
19 July 2025

In the run-up to the Communist Party congress in November ROB GRIFFITHS outlines a few ideas regarding its participation in the elections of May 2026

MONEY TALKS: A general view of City workers on Bank Street a
Full Marx / 6 April 2025
6 April 2025
Labour’s fiscal policy is already in trouble. But simply printing money is not a solution, says the Marx Memorial Library and Workers School
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage
Features / 27 October 2024
27 October 2024
In the second of a three-part analysis, PHIL KATZ looks at areas where the labour movement should be able to demolish the new right-wing upstart party: its economic policies and attitude to the welfare state
Features / 28 August 2024
28 August 2024
Capitalist exploitation and the civilisational crisis are global in nature. The left needs to transcend its frequently localised outlook if its to address the concerns of the exploited sectors worldwide, warns LUIS GARATE