By Bruce Livesey of Progressive Economics Forum.  Originally posted here.

In an announcement that largely went unnoticed last week, U.S. Steel said it plans to close down the blast furnace at Stelco’s Hilton Works in Hamilton, Ontario.

Hilton Works was once the main steelmaking operation of what was once Canada’s largest integrated steelmaker. Its demise exposes how Stelco has been reduced to a mere shell of its former glorious self. Indeed, since purchasing Stelco in 2007, U.S. Steel has strived to shutter the Stelco factories, even forcing the Harper government to sue the American company for reneging on promises to keep Hilton Works open and for selling American-made steel in the Canadian marketplace.

Yet the tragedy of Stelco highlights an alarming trend in the development of finance capital. In many respects, Stelco fell victim to the parasitic phenomenon of investment and hedge funds preying upon manufacturing companies and, basically, raping them of their capital. As witnessed by the credit crisis, finance capital has become less about investing in the productive capacity of the economy, and more about sucking out whatever profits exist in often vulnerable and shaky industrial sectors. Continue reading “Finance Capital Turns Parasitic”