The paper aims to promote a shift in focus towards the role of foreign capital in the economic transformation of ex-communist countries. It looks briefly at the context of the transnationalisation of economic activity, and looks at the objectives of foreign capital in the region, by examining the patterns of direct investment since 1990. Then the author reviews the impact of foreign capital on host countries, as well as policy responses of the region's governments.

An introduction of the journal of socialist economists in the UK. The journal, beyond more than 50 issues, is a recognised forum for progressive thinking in the tradition of Marxist political economy.

In the first of a new series of reports examining "Great Market Failures", the authors argue that market forces are preventing the development of a successful national football team and a balanced league structure. They argue that the problems of English football are structural. They call for the appointment of a football supremo to run the game, for a ban on mid-season transfers and for the axing of 4 teams from the Premiership.

Sociologists have been analysing the transition from the so-called Fordist model into another one named Toyotism. This process culminates in a return to a class structure before the socially reformed capitalism. Labour depreciates, and wage-earners tend to lose their social entitments. The state that used to be a counterveiling power to capital, now stands on the side of increasing class exploitation. The author argues that the left must seek the way by linking basis democracy to internationalisation.

Although it is not clear for all, western economics is in a crisis, seeking the way forward after a period when irrationalism prevailed. In a broader sense, the theoretical crisis began with the crisis of the real economy sixty years ago, and the last six decades have witnessed an interesting interplay between the political process and the development of economic theory. A new, and progressive tendency in economics cannot develop without addressing the problem of value.