Occupy Wall Street

For long Americans witnessed scenes of demonstrations in Arab countries and talked of Arab Spring. Now they witness scenes of demonstrations in their own country and they can talk of American Autumn. There is protest against corporate greed and bail outs. Billions of dollars were given in bail outs and officials responsible for losses got millions of dollars in bonuses. Unemployment is high in USA. Officially it is close to 10%. The unemployed are not ready to put up with a system that rewards failures.

Some Americans favour taxing Chinese imports. China is not the only country to engage in currency manipulation but China’s currency manipulation has hit USA the most and has resulted in huge trade deficits and job losses.

Some consider Occupy Wall Street movement as left reaction to rightist Tea party movement. Three years after the depression of 2008 there is fear again of another depression. Some do not want to call it depression and say double dip recession.

Imposing anti-dumping duties on imports from countries that devalue their currencies will help Americans to some extent. It will not help in getting jobs that have gone to other countries due to outsourcing like call centres, medical transcription and legal documentation.

It is nice to watch Americans demonstrating against injustices in their country. Democracy is more than elections. Corporatism and democracy cannot go together.