International

Over the last week it became painfully clear how the financial sector and casino capitalism works. On the stock market, large investors, so called ‘hedge funds’ had betted large sums on the demise of an American computer game chain store, Gamestop. When masses gathered on the internet to keep the company up and running by buying stocks on a large scale, these investors started losing money. Because powerful capitalists came under pressure, the rules of the market were suddenly changed.

SP-MP Mahir Alkaya: ‘Normal people, in the Netherlands, too, were denied access to ‘the free market’. Suddenly they were no longer allowed to buy shares, though they were allowed to sell. Only investors who bet on a decline in value, benefitted from this. A very suspicious situation, that raised many eyebrows around the world.’

That the financial world oftentimes is completely detached from the real world, was already clear, according to Alkaya: ‘During the corona crisis the AEX-stock market rose to the highest market value in 20 years. Fat profits for shareholders, in the middle of all the misery. On top of that, it’s important to know that the 10% richest Dutch people own 85% of the stocks, and the bottom half only own 2%. So, what is good for the stock market value was already was not automatically good for the country, and in addition it was shown over the past week that the rules of the game can suddenly change when powerful large investors are endangered with losses.’

Therefore, Alkaya, with success, insisted on an investigation by the financial authorities into market manipulation.