In this week’s issue of EIR, released Dec. 4, we highlight the core issue of physical economics versus the long-term drift into speculative finance. Our feature article comes from a report given by Paul Gallagher on why the Glass-Stegall law is a necessity. Comparing the decreasing ratios of loans to deposits in the biggest Wall Street banks, Gallagher shows that less money than ever is circulating in the real economy, while a growing amount is being used for financial speculation—a situation that can only be solved by the reimplementation of Glass-Steagall. In contrast to this, we run an article by Richard A. Black on China’s newest Five-Year Plan, in which he makes clear that China has chosen investments in physical productivity, with a particular focus on innovation, as the core of their economy.
The next section covers the powerful panel on African development from the Nov. 8 Solidarité & Progrès conference in Paris. We include the speeches from six African leaders to that historic event, encompassing the subjects of nuclear energy, education, the ending of colonialism, a mission for African youth, and more.
