tagged w/ Economic Crisis
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Robert Reich has agin hit the nail on the head with his reasoning why Wall St. in current form, is bad for this country and the world.
"Next week President Obama travels to Wall Street where he'll demand -- in light of the Street's continuing antics since the bailout, as well as its role in watering-down the Volcker rule -- that the Glass-Steagall Act be resurrected and big banks be broken up.
I'm kidding. But it would be a smart move -- politically and economically.
Dodd-Frank financial reform law to a pale reflection of its former self. Dodd-Frank is rife with so many loopholes and exemptions that the largest Wall Street banks -- larger by far then they were before the bailout -- are back to many of their old tricks.
If you want more evidence, consider the fancy footwork by Bank of America in recent days. Hit by a credit downgrade last month, BofA just moved its riskiest derivatives from its Merrill Lynch unit to a retail subsidiary flush with insured deposits. That unit has a higher credit rating because the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (that is, you and me and other taxpayers) are backing the deposits. Result: BofA improves its bottom line at the expense of American taxpayers."Robert Reich has agin hit the nail on the head with his reasoning why Wall St. in... more
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kvb1
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1 year ago
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The growing anger directed at U.S. banks (especially the big ones that took federal bailout funds) over recent fee increases coalesced this weekend into a Facebook-driven campaign urging Americans to close their accounts at large banks and move their money to credit unions by Nov. 5.
Though not initiated by the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York and other cities around the country, the effort has been embraced by the protesters, and their “We are the 99%” mantra is all over the “Bank Transfer Day” Facebook page — making this the first specific action by a political movement that has been criticized as unfocused and incoherent.
Bank Transfer Day was started by a 27-year-old Los Angeles art-gallery owner, Kristen Christian. She says she’s not affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street protesters but that many organizers of those demonstrations had reached out to her to express support.
(click on the link for the whole article and the in-text links)The growing anger directed at U.S. banks (especially the big ones that took federal... more
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"I have a message for any Very Serious Person from our elite institutions who's complaining that the Wall Street protests lack a certain focus... that there's an air of naivité about the whole affair: if a real grassroots protest movement actually comes along and turns this country upside down, VSPs will be the last to see it coming. Why? Because our elite institutions are a core part of the problem.""I have a message for any Very Serious Person from our elite institutions... more
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Cabal
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1 year ago
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Uploaded by ChiTownView on Sep 30, 2011
Under the watchful eyes of Ceres the Goddess of agriculturea revolution seems to be brewing.
Another clip from this evenings Occupy Chicago's Federal Building protest. It should be noted that I had no idea this song was going to start playing just as started shooting.
It's an inspirational group of people that are have come together to try and do something about what is going on in this country. It is open to anyone that wants to join and take part in the discussion. They deserve your support.
For more info.
http://occupychi.org/
http://www.occupythenation.com/
For more videos from the various occupations under way and explore some of the issues visit our YouTube station Mindsi2 / Occupation TV http://www.youtube.com/user/Mindsi2?feature=mheeUploaded by ChiTownView on Sep 30, 2011
Under the watchful eyes of Ceres the... more
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We are getting so close to a financial collapse in Europe that you can almost hear the debt bubbles popping. All across the western world, governments and major banks are rapidly becoming insolvent. So far, the powers that be are keeping all of the balls in the air by throwing around lots of bailout money. But now the political will for more bailouts is drying up and the number of troubled entities seems to grow by the day. Right now the western world is facing a debt crisis that is absolutely unprecedented in world history. Europe has had a tremendously difficult time just trying to keep Greece afloat, and several much larger European countries are now on the verge of a major financial crisis. In addition, there is a growing number of very large financial institutions all over the western world that are also rapidly approaching a day of reckoning. The global financial system is a sea or red ink, and when we get to the point where there are hundreds of ships going under how is it going to be possible to bail all of them out? The quotes that you are about to read show that quite a few top financial and political insiders know that things cannot hold together much longer and that a horrific economic crisis is coming. We built the global financial system on a foundation of debt, leverage and risk and now this house of cards that we have created is about to come tumbling down.We are getting so close to a financial collapse in Europe that you can almost hear the... more
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If anyone out there thinks the UK debt situation is under control they need to watch this. Some shocking statistics.If anyone out there thinks the UK debt situation is under control they need to watch... more
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A humorous video on World banking and International debts.
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Is the U.S. government stockpiling huge amounts of food and supplies in anticipation that something bad is about to happen? Is something about to cause a major economic crisis that will require large quantities of emergency food? For a while, I have been hearing things about the government storing food through the grapevine and I have not been sure what to think about those rumors. Well, today I received a phone call that blew me away. I debated for quite a while before I decided whether or not to share this information with you all. Normally I do not like to talk about anything unless I am able to prove it by pointing to an article in the mainstream media. But the source of the information that I am about to share with you is rock solid. I cannot reveal his name, so you will just have to trust me on that. Hopefully the following information will be one more "dot" as we all try to connect the dots about what is really going on out there.Is the U.S. government stockpiling huge amounts of food and supplies in anticipation... more
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What a year. Rage in London, Egypt, Athens, Damascus. All real. Just a metaphor in the new “Planet of the Apes” film? No, much more. Warning: More rage is dead ahead. Across our planet a new generation is filled with rage. High unemployment. Raging inflation. Dreams lost. Hope gone. While the super -rich get richer and richer.
Listen to that hissing: The fuse is rapidly burning, warning us. Wake up before the rage explodes in your face. This firestorm is endangering America’s future. From forces outside, yes. But far more deadly, from deep within our collective psyche. We have lost our moral compass. We are self-destructing.
Crackpot warning? No. This warning comes from the elite International Monetary Fund. A recent IMF report looked at “the causes of the two major U.S. economic crises over the past 100 years, the Great Depression of 1929 and the Great Recession of 2007,” writes Rana Foroohar, an economics editor at Time magazine.
“There are two remarkable similarities in the eras that preceded these crises. Both saw a sharp increase in income inequality and household-debt-to-income ratios.” And in each case, “as the poor and middle-class were squeezed, they tried to cope by borrowing to maintain their standard of living.”
But the rich “got richer, by lending, and looked for more places to invest, bidding up securities that eventually exploded in everyone’s face. In both eras, financial deregulation and loose monetary policies played roles in creating the bubble. But inequality itself — and the political pressure not to reverse it, but to hide it — was a crucial factor in the meltdown. The shrinking middle isn’t a symptom of the downturn. It’s the source of it.” Today the consequences of the meltdown still haunt us — there’s more to come.
(much more at link)What a year. Rage in London, Egypt, Athens, Damascus. All real. Just a metaphor in the... more
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this is a great article and pushed my understanding of allot of issues I couldn't link together he did a nice job helping me to get larger connection and also the road blocks to needed solutionthis is a great article and pushed my understanding of allot of issues I couldn't... more
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... there are other options than the usual clap trap economic speak, other ways of assessing what the economic present day designs we are chained to are looked at. It's time to re-think the whole damn mess - and get on with it.... there are other options than the usual clap trap economic speak, other ways of... more
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The budget law was supposed to make Wall St feel better that we are getting our financial house in order. What it proved was that Washington, the RIPublicans in particular, are unable to compromise on anything to create a balance approach to solving problems. Just when the economy needs a boost, as in 1938, the RIPublicans have pushed through an austerity measure that will doom the economy to a double dip recession. The austerity measure did not work in '38, in fact, the economy did not improve until massive government spending was initiated on entering into WWII.
I have stated this before, like many Keynesians, that government creates jobs during recessions, not business. Business will do everything it can to hang onto capital, regardless of the effects on the economy. Without government spending money on job creation through infrastructure development, there will be no knock effect to the economy. We will drift further into the red. Tax revenues will decrease further, making the "debt ceiling" arrive even faster as the government will have to borrow more fund to make up the lost revenue.
The only way to make the economy move is for the government to spend money to create jobs. The only way to pay for that is to increase tax revenues and change the tax code to make it unfavorable to hold onto capital, move it overseas, or to speculate. Loop holes need to be closed and fast. Capital gains need to be changed to a time basis for the security help from 90% for less than 1 day to no tax for holding it for 10 years or more. Jobs shipped overseas should fall under a special tax to compensate the country for lost revenue for loss of jobs and not being able to tax earnings made in a foreign country.
The RIPublicans are running this country into a ditch, just as they did after taking over from Clinton and after controlling the government during the 1920s. This is the Party of the rich and not so famous, but powerful. This is the Party of corporations, wealth generation, and subjugation of the working people. This is the Party that, as Karl Rove said, is looking for one party rule-the RIPublican Party. This is the Party that is a 5th column for the fascists. What the base of the Tea Party doesn't understand, is that they are supporting the destruction of the country as they know it, and will put corporations firmly in power and out in the open.
http://ubsnews.blogspot.com/2011/08/dow-falls-400-points-nasdaq-drops-100.htmlThe budget law was supposed to make Wall St feel better that we are getting our... more
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kvb1
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1 year ago
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The problem is the government's $14.3 trillion debt, the equivalent of $46,580 for every man, woman and child in the U.S.
~ The threat is, not a debt ceiling, but the debt, at what point do we stop the excuses, and actually do something right, instead of more of the same of doing everything wrong?
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".
No one, absolutely no one has ever been able to coherently explain to me how ANY country can borrow and spend their way out of debt - - Can you?The problem is the government's $14.3 trillion debt, the equivalent of $46,580... more
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Useless news alert: Tax cuts and war contribute more to our burgeoning debt than Obama's new policies
Talk about your left-wing blogger link bait! On Sunday, the New York Times published a chart demonstrating the relative contributions to the deficit made by George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Short version: The total cost of new policies initiated during the administration of George Bush: $5.07 trillion. Barack Obama: $1.44 trillion.
(more at link)Useless news alert: Tax cuts and war contribute more to our burgeoning debt than... more
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This is a video that explains in layman terms what happened to the housing market and the economy crash from the end of the Bush Administration and into the Obama Administration. Narration and research by Ryan Dawson of Rys2Sense. Please share this video with as many people as you can.This is a video that explains in layman terms what happened to the housing market and... more
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It seems that "Communist" China understands how to make their economy grow. They are not really communists, just a dictatorship with a highly regulated economy. Yet to make it work "the rise of the middle class is creating a huge demand for almost anything. There’s an old saying, “a rising tide lifts all boats,” and increasing purchases of everything from electronics to apartments have lowered the risk of starting a business.
Second, the government has expanded its support for small and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs, over the years. This was stepped up during the global financial crisis through new backing for education, financing, startup incubation, and tax breaks", according to Ge Dingkun, a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai.
Mr. Dingkun adds that "the government’s determination to build a more sustainable economy will create new incentives and opportunities for high-tech industries. As times change, spending on education will also grow".
Can you believe that the rise of the middle-class is what is driving China's economy. 1.33 billion people is enough to make them the drivers of the world economy. You can't be a part of that if you do not make products that they want to import. China's economy is growing at 5.3% annually, according to official numbers, but many economists say the rate is higher than that. When prices go up, wages must follow, or there will be unrest. We are only starting to see that in the US as people are seeing how out of balance wages and wealth are in this country.
Without a strong middle class, you cannot have a thriving economy; you cannot have entrepreneurship; you will not have innovation, you will only become a third world nation.It seems that "Communist" China understands how to make their economy grow.... more
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kvb1
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1 year ago
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This critical documentary made by Greek artists and activists seeks the real causes of the country’s crippling debt crisis — and proposes an economically and socially responsible solution.
Exactly a year ago, Greece sank into the dark abyss of global capital markets and the EU and IMF reluctantly came to the ‘rescue’ with a 110 billion euro bailout.
Attached to the rescue package came the same draconian austerity measures that had previously triggered social crises and popular uprisings in Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, Thailand and Indonesia. Once again, the neoliberal ‘medicine’ is threatening to kill the patient.
Now, the Greek debt crisis is flaring up anew amidst confirmations by EU officials that either a second bailout or a restructuring of the country’s debt will be necessary — and amidst rumors in the popular press that Greece is actually planning to leave the eurozone.
At this critical juncture comes Debtocracy, a spectacular crowd-funded Greek documentary made by artists and activists, and freely shared online under a creative commons license. The film reveals the shocking truth behind the neoliberal propaganda that has been so greedily spread by the mainstream media in Europe and the US.
The myth of Greek laziness is exposed for what it is — a racists ploy to distract the European people from the indelible reality behind the bailout: Germany and France wanting to save their banks. Rather than having Greece default on the reckless speculators at Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas, Europe would like to see Greece defaulting on its own people.
And so millions are pushed into abject poverty — a recent estimate by a London School of Economics survey is that nearly a third of Greece’s 11 million people live near or under the formal poverty line — while public funding for crucial social services such as health and education are being cut across the board.
In a bizarre parody on even the wildest persiflage of the ‘immoral capitalist’, the EU even managed to include a clause in the bailout agreement that would see Greece continuing to buy up heavy military hardware from German and French weapons producers. The last shreds of Greek sovereignty and democracy have been crushed by the powerful forces of European capital.
Indeed, in a total aberation on the notion of European solidarity, we are forcing families earning less than 500 euros per month to cut back their spending while simultaneously forcing their government to keep spending its austerity-squeezed tax receipts on buying more weapons! How such nefarious practices are allowed to continue unabated remains one of the greatest mysteries and injustices of our time.
Yet there is an alternative to the inhumane denigration of Greek national sovereignty by the henchmen of the global financial industry. In the uplifting second part of this documentary, the filmmakers outline the concept of odious debt and the possibility for an Ecuadorian-style default.
After all, why would the Greek people have to pay for a debt they were never officially informed about and that didn’t benefit them one single bit?
Featuring some of the heavyweights in critical political economy of our day (including David Harvey, Samir Amin, Alain Badiou and Manolis Glezos), this documentary is truly a must-see.This critical documentary made by Greek artists and activists seeks the real causes of... more
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albyom
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added this
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1 year ago
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In the International Monetary Fund’s latest assessment of the US economy, the IMF warns America that it is “playing with fire” unless it makes some immediate changes.
In April the IMF predicted that the US gross domestic product would grow only a meager 2.8 percent in 2011. Now only two months later, the global lender forecasts that growth will be more along the lines of 2.5 percent. They also estimate that growth in 2012 will only come at around 2.7 percent, compared to the 2.9 prediction they issued earlier this year.
Read more and watch video here:
http://www.politicalfailblog.com/2011/06/imf-and-greenspan-predict-gloom-for-us.html?utm_source=BP_recentIn the International Monetary Fund’s latest assessment of the US economy, the... more
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