ELEMENTARY textbooks in economics invariably begin with a completely mythical concept: the concept of “perfect competition”, which is different from the concept of “free competition” that the classical economists and Marx had used. “Free competition” was characterised by the equality of wages (for equal skills) and of profit-rates across sectors; all it required for its realisation was free mobility of labour and of capital across sectors which was by no means a far-fetched assumption in the pre-monopoly era.

DONALD Trump has put off his proposed tariffs by ninety days; but countries like India have to respond to Trump’s measures whether now or after ninety days. These measures are not just an episodic act. Trump clearly threatens with tariffs any country that dares to act in a manner not approved by him; he is weaponising tariffs to assert US hegemony, quite apart from using them for economic ends like raising domestic activity and reducing the US current account deficit.

ONE of the puzzling phenomena in world capitalism today is the bellicosity displayed by Europe vis-à-vis Russia. The claim that Russia has imperialist designs towards Europe, which the European ruling circles keep repeating, is clearly absurd. It is NATO that moved eastwards, in violation of a promise made by the US administration to Gorbachov, and provoked Russia; and it is NATO members, notably US and UK, that torpedoed the Minsk agreement reached between Russia and Ukraine which would have prevented the war.

NOBODY can claim that the rate of growth of agricultural production, especially of foodgrain production, has been higher in the neoliberal period than during the years of dirigiste development that preceded it; it may have been somewhat lower but let us agree that it is certainly no higher. On the other hand the rate of growth of Gross Domestic Product is estimated to be significantly higher; several economists have argued that this growth rate is exaggerated, but again let us agree that taking the period as a whole it has been noticeably higher.

UNDER late capitalism, there is an assault on the working people that is reminiscent of early capitalism and this assault is worldwide, not just in the third world but in the advanced capitalist countries as well. This assault is at three levels, economic, political and ideological.The assault at the economic level has been much talked about, and is the outcome of both higher inflation and greatly enhanced unemployment that currently afflict the capitalist world.