Michael Hudson: Banks Weren’t Meant to Be Like This By Michael Hudson, a research professor of Economics at University of Missouri, Kansas City and a research associate at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College A shorter version of this article in German will run in the Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung on January 28. 2012 The inherently symbiotic relationship between banks and governments recently has been reversed. Yet the banks now browbeat governments – not by having ready cash but by threatening to go bust and drag the economy down with them if they are not given control of public tax policy, spending and planning. If there is any silver lining to today’s debt crisis, it is that the present situation and trends cannot continue. Fortunately, it is not necessary to re-invent the wheel. How Banks Broke The Social Compact, Promoting Their Own Special Interests People used to know what banks did. Over time, banks have sought to disable this regulatory oversight, even to the point of decriminalizing fraud. The Present Debt Quandary
The Great Decoupling of Corporate Profits from Jobs) Second-quarter earnings reports are coming in, and they’re making Wall Street smile. Corporate profits are up. And big American companies are sitting on a gigantic pile of money. The 500 largest non-financial firms held almost a trillion dollars in the second quarter, and that money pile is growing larger this quarter. Profits that plummeted in the recession have bounced back. So with all this money and profit, they’ll start hiring again, right? First, lots of their profits are coming from their overseas operations. GM now sells more cars in China than it does in the US, but makes most of them there. GM isn’t just hiring low-tech assembly workers in China. You and I and other American taxpayers still own over 60 percent of GM. GM officials say no American taxpayer money is being used to expand in China. Second, big U.S. businesses are investing their cash in labor-saving technologies. Last Friday, for example, Ford reported a $2.6 billion second-quarter profit.
Deindustrialization and American Hegemony Manufacturing jobs have declined precipitously in the United States since the late 1960s. As the graph below shows they fell from 28% of total employment to 10% last year. The decline is continuous, and, one should add, precedes NAFTA and other Free Trade Agreements, (FTAs) which are often associated with the process of deindustrialization in the US. That the topic is old should be highlighted by the fact that the classic on the subject is Barry Bluestone and Bennett Harrison’s book published in 1982. However, if one looks at the absolute number of manufacturing jobs, rather than their share in total employment, a slightly different picture emerges. However, after 2001 (the year China entered into the World Trade Organization, WTO) manufacturing jobs collapse, with only 11.5 million jobs in 2010. As noted by Fred Block, the United States has a shadow industrial policy machine, that has allowed certain sectors to be weakened, but has promoted vigorously other sectors deemed strategic.
Global capitalism and 21st century fascism Story highlights The crisis of global capitalism is unprecedented, given its magnitude, its global reach, the extent of ecological degradation and social deterioration, and the scale of the means of violence. We truly face a crisis of humanity. The stakes have never been higher; our very survival is at risk. We have entered into a period of great upheavals and uncertainties, of momentous changes, fraught with dangers - if also opportunities. I want to discuss here the crisis of global capitalism and the notion of distinct political responses to the crisis, with a focus on the far-right response and the danger of what I refer to as 21st century fascism, particularly in the United States. Facing the crisis calls for an analysis of the capitalist system, which has undergone restructuring and transformation Facing the crisis calls for an analysis of the capitalist system, which has undergone restructuring and transformation in recent decades. William I. Source: Al Jazeera
The Ideological Crisis of Western Capitalism - Joseph E. Stiglitz Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space NEW YORK – Just a few years ago, a powerful ideology – the belief in free and unfettered markets – brought the world to the brink of ruin. Even in its hey-day, from the early 1980’s until 2007, American-style deregulated capitalism brought greater material well-being only to the very richest in the richest country of the world. Indeed, over the course of this ideology’s 30-year ascendance, most Americans saw their incomes decline or stagnate year after year. Moreover, output growth in the United States was not economically sustainable. I was among those who hoped that, somehow, the financial crisis would teach Americans (and others) a lesson about the need for greater equality, stronger regulation, and a better balance between the market and government. In the US, this right-wing resurgence, whose adherents evidently seek to repeal the basic laws of math and economics, is threatening to force a default on the national debt.
The Crisis of Global Capitalism: ten years on - 2009 Ralph Miliband Series on The Future of Global Capitalism Date: Wednesday 21 October 2009 Time: 6.30-8pm Venue: Old Theatre, Old Building Speaker: Professor John Gray Chair: Martin Jacques The financial upheavals of the past two years have occurred against the background of a decade of crisis in global capitalism. The neo-liberal model has collapsed. What comes next, and what are the geopolitical implications? John Gray is emeritus professor at LSE and author of Gray's Anatomy: selected writings| and False Dawn: delusions of global capitalism|. This event is supported by the LSE Annual Fund. The event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Media queries: please contact the Press Office if you would like to reserve a press seat or have a media query about this event, email pressoffice@lse.ac.uk| Podcast A podcast of this event is available to download from the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel|.
Colonized by Corporations - Chris Hedges' Columns Colonized by Corporations Posted on May 14, 2012 By Chris Hedges In Robert E. Gamer and many others who study the nature of colonial rule offer the best insights into the functioning of our corporate state. A change of power does not require the election of a Mitt Romney or a Barack Obama or a Democratic majority in Congress, or an attempt to reform the system or electing progressive candidates, but rather a destruction of corporate domination of the political process—Gamer’s “patron-client” networks. The danger the corporate state faces does not come from the poor. This is why the Occupy movement frightens the corporate elite. The response of a dying regime—and our corporate regime is dying—is to employ increasing levels of force, and to foolishly refuse to ameliorate the chronic joblessness, foreclosures, mounting student debt, lack of medical insurance and exclusion from the centers of power. Get truth delivered to your inbox every week. Previous item: I’m Not Quitting the Church
Wall Street’s Euthanasia of Industry Michael interviewed on Guns N Butter with Bonnie FaulknerListen here “When I was in Norway one of the Norwegian politicians sat next to me at a dinner and said, “You know, there’s one good thing that President Obama has done that we never anticipated in Europe. He’s shown the Europeans that we can never depend upon America again. There’s no president, no matter how good he sounds, no matter what he promises, we’re never again going to believe the patter talk of an American President. Mr. Topics: The jobless recovery; the debt ceiling and default charade; China; Greece: banks, not countries, receive the bailouts; financial warfare; IMF and EU; European Central Bank; US credit default swaps; US agricultural exports create food dependency; currency devaluation devalues the price of labor; class war of banks against the rest of society. I’m Bonnie Faulkner. That’s why the stock market is down 160 points today. Somebody has to lose when loans go bad. This is happening throughout the world.