Debt Refusal Essential to Rebuilding Popular Democracy

Ultimately Ross’s call for debt resistance is about energizing democracy, since debt stifles “our capacity to think freely, act conscientiously, and fulfill our democratic responsibilities.” Because debt limits democratic participation and decision-making, “economic disobedience is justified as a protective deed on behalf of democracy.” Although it has material effects, debt resistance, then, also functions symbolically, providing an image ... Read more

ICELAND LETS BANKS FAIL; 2% UNEMPLOYMENT IN SIGHT

Unlike other countries who haven’t seemed to learn the lessons that the financial crisis forced upon them, Iceland’s position was “never again.” Frankly, Icelanders knew they couldn’t afford to let banks play dice with their entire country’s economy. Repeated over and over in the streets and in Iceland’s parliamentary house came the words “Let banks fail.” In 2008, while America was hastily putting together a bailout package for its largest ... Read more

The Real Illness Plaguing U.S. Healthcare: Inequality

Making sure everyone has a chance to rise to a level of well-being where their basic needs are taken care of is a laudable, and practical, dream for Americans. But a system that targets the assets of the poor for liquidation and provides care pegged to one’s income level is a system dedicated to reproducing inequality. If we are going to be honest with ourselves we would have to admit that the fault for this current situation lies not in ... Read more

Wall Street’s New Housing Bonanza

Wall Street’s latest trillion-dollar idea involves slicing and dicing debt tied to single-family homes and selling the bonds to investors around the world. That might sound a lot like the activities that at one point set off a global financial crisis. But there is a twist this time. Investment bankers and lawyers are now lining up to finance investors, from big private equity firms to plumbers and dentists moonlighting as landlords, who ... Read more

Is Capitalism Doomed?

By Nouriel Roubini Project Syndicate, August 15, 2011 NEW YORK – The massive volatility and sharp equity-price correction now hitting global financial markets signal that most advanced economies are on the brink of a double-dip recession. A financial and economic crisis caused by too much private-sector debt and leverage led to a massive re-leveraging of the public sector in order to prevent Great Depression 2.0. But the subsequent recovery ... Read more

The Economics of Barack O’Hoover

Obama’s Belief in the Market Economy By Paul Street Counterpunch, August 15, 2011 Pity the poor, powerless, increasingly unpopular president – a pitiful pawn of the plutocrats and the profits system he has done so much to serve and protect. Nearly five years ago, in the misleadingly titled book that pre-announced the launching of his presidential candidacy, Barack Obama grounded the United States’ supposed distinctive “greatness” in ... Read more

The S&P Downgrade Market Plunge Myth

By Dean Baker Huffington Post, August 15, 2011 The Wall Street crew that wants to cut your Social Security and Medicare benefits are sensing that victory is in sight. They have managed to knock jobs completely off the agenda and have made deficit reduction the near exclusive focus of economic policy in Washington. They are now setting the stage to have the Congressional “super-committee” produce a deal that will mean large cuts ... Read more

The Real U.S. Crisis Is Not a Debt Downgrade but a Growth Crisis

By Simon Johnson Bloomberg, August 14, 2011 The U.S. has a fiscal crisis, but not the one that everyone is talking about. Standard and Poor’s proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the U.S. still has the world’s preeminent reserve currency. When shocks hit — and investors have no idea who or what might be next in line for a downgrade — they buy U.S. government securities. Downgrades don’t usually have this effect. For example, if ... Read more

The Standard & Poor’s Agenda

By George Zornick August 8, 2011, The Nation Standard & Poor’s declared in April that if $4 trillion in savings was not achieved in the debt ceiling deal, it would downgrade the government’s credit rating from AAA status. They did so on Friday, citing not only a deal that achieved “only” $2.1 trillion in savings but also Republican intransigence against raising new revenue and the party’s hostage-taking over the debt ceiling. The agency ... Read more

The Economic Illiterates Step Up The Attack On Social Security and Medicare

By Dean Baker Truthout, August 9, 2011 Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgrade of US debt should be seen as the joke it is. The rating agency, which gave investment grade ratings to hundreds of billions of dollars of subprime mortgage-backed securities, made an accounting error of $2 trillion in doing its assessment of the US financial situation. However, when this ... Read more