Most of us thought Marxism died with the fall of the Soviet Union. And most of us were glad to see it off because it never delivered on its promises.

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While a handful of countries have remained communist in name since then, three of them have welded Marxism to centrally controlled capitalism to forge vigorous, market-based economies. Only North Korea and Cuba remain wedded to the old orthodoxy, with Cuba's days as a workers' paradise numbered.

But perhaps we wrote off Marxism prematurely. A glance under the bed reveals a faint but growing pink tinge, fuelled by rampant, under-regulated capitalism.

In the United States, New York last year elected Zohran Mamdani, an unashamedly socialist mayor. And in a major upset for the establishment Democratic party, another socialist, Abdul Al-Sayed, recently won the senate primary. President Trump seized on the victory, calling Al-Sayed a "communist".

Pauline Hanson's reaction to the federal government's property tax reforms was equally predictable. It was a "Marxist, socialist, communist" budget, she said. If so, not many Australians were complaining, judging by polling which suggested most supported lower house prices, even if their own property values were falling.

This week, Newspoll recorded Labor neck and neck with One Nation at 29 per cent of primary votes, the Coalition still in the doldrums at 18 per cent and, interestingly, the Greens, who position themselves as democratic socialists, up two points to 14 per cent. The poll was taken the week the fuel excise discount came to an end, adding pain to the cost-of-living crunch.

While our hip pockets were hurting, not least because of surging fuel prices, oil refining companies were basking in huge profits thanks to what's known as the "crack spread". That's the margin between the price of crude oil and what the market is prepared to pay for the refined product. High fuel prices have meant the crack spread is widening. In other words, our pain is someone else's profit.

There's nothing new in this. As interest rates began to climb in an attempt to drive down inflation after the pandemic, Australia's banks profited. We suffered; the banks prospered. Now, the banks are grizzling because home loan activity - and their profit outlooks - is weakening.

There's also nothing new in the Marxism we thought dead enjoying a resurgence in times of financial........

© Canberra Times