It is obvious that both the crisis of COVID-19 and the united American people’s resistance to racial oppression have exacerbated the underlying economic crisis of the ruling class. The significance of an escalating division within the ruling class of the USA is less appreciated. We review a few recent events on these inter-capitalist divisions.
- The objective problem facing all USA capitalists regardless of sector
Current ruling class divisions reflects contradictions between big finance capitalists and new technology industries – and big oil, and old manufacturing. [1] This is not an absolute contradiction since capitalist interests inter-penetrate, and have done since Lenin examined it. Nonetheless, there are sectional contradictions. Loosely, the Democratic Party predominantly represents financial capital while the Republican party predominantly represents oil and old manufacturing. But exacerbating divisions is the impossibility of capital solving its problems. At core, this reflects the falling rate of profit and the increasing fragility of the environmental burden of unrestrained capitalism. The new problems post-COVID and Black Lives Matter make it worse for the ruling class. The Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard recently warned:
“The nonfinancial business sector started the year with historically elevated levels of debt. Already this year, we have seen about $800 billion in downgrades of investment-grade debt and $55 billion in corporate defaults—a faster pace than in the initial months of the Global Financial Crisis.” [2]
[1] Hari Kumar “What is Behind Trump – Is There Method Behind His Madness? Finance Capital and Industrial Capital – An Evolutionary History September 28, 2018; Marxism-Leninism Currents Today
[2] Pam and Russ Martens, Warnings Grow, “We are in a massive Economic Downturn”; Wall Street on Parade; July 15th 2020;