ACTION SOCiAlist THE LAST three weeks have seen the failure of international attempts to 'co-ordinate' a capitalist response to the stock market crash. In the United States the budget deficit cutting package finally agreed between Reagan and the US amounted to only a $7 billion cut this year — with the budget deficit likely to run at $160 billion next year. It is not even clear if these cuts will get through the US Congress unscathed.
The second leg of the announcement of interest rate cuts in western KuroDe agreement in the US. Spengovernment amount to only $1 billion over a ten year against fective international action led to a renewed tall in share *The market for US measured by the Dow Jones tober (the day of the crash). "here is no panic lhe tal vious The west European LUTLICi Lilall based on raw material proing their conclusion atter The growing capitalist bear the brunt of the crash means of minimising the eftects on its own economy of Christopher Smallwood in states to take part in tne alpean states, during the first was cosmetic.
Dal tion, they did not one a ment at any rate, currency stability is not an objective which is undermintheir deficit; while at the same next year. The sliding dollar will keep growth going for a crushing its West European that:
the prospect of rising inflanoTe capitalism functions -pean 'allies' until it conbeen met. It is intent on offloading as much as Jane coman devanado is now reaching acute propound. This year the dolla has tallen by and by West porters West Euro pean third of the Even Western Europe, by tale exports.
do not fall on other West European states Thatcher explained the situation clearly in an interview with Ine Times on November referring to Japan and West Germany: 'no-one is entitled to have a balance of payments surplus entrenched in the way in which they run thei were to be because if that so, then when the US deficit goes down, it means the rest of us would have to carry a can than we shoul of proportion But Thatcher is no more going to get help trom many and Japan than the! • are going to get help fron the United States.
The mechanism that triggered the crash, the inTable 1 Decline in world stockmarkets in 1987 High Tokyo 26,646 Canada 2,372 New York 2,722 London Rome Frankfurt 2,061 Madrid The Hague Paris Stockholm 2,103 Sydney 2,306 creasing competition between the imperialist states is now simply shifting into a arena. 11CW States has now turned into reality what theory alway. made clear it would do. I intends to try to get out of its crisis not in cooperation with its international allie but at their expense chief weapon it has chose is dollar devaluation The chief target it will hit will be Western kurope allu the countries of the • "third 7 December 1987 % fall 22,586 -15 3,508 -32 1,812 -33 1,263 1,293 3,550 1,247
----- pull-quotes -----
in the stock erchanges pressure on its West Euro-