The window of opportunity is closing (tags)
Oscar Wilde wrote: "A map of the world in which Utopia is not marked is not worth looking at, for it undercuts the shore on which mankind will eternally land." "Disobedience, for anyone versed in history, is man's true virtue. Through disobedience came progress..." (Wilde 2014)
Greece: Approving Its Own Death Sentence (tags)
Greece
The poorest and weakest persons must pay the price for misguided political decisions. Political-economic decisions decide over the life and death of persons. The New Deal stands for an effective debt reduction. Germany has been an active driver of austerity.
The Abiding Economics of John Kenneth Galbraith (tags)
From The Great Crash, we have of course the conviction that financial panics affect real activity. No one in the 19th century or with experience of agriculture ever seriously doubted that the economy runs on credit or that real activity depends on banks. Only in the higher reaches of academic life could such a thing be denied.
Liberating the Economy from Prejudices (tags)
Economics is not an immutable unchangeable fate but a human system where changing rules changes outcomes. James Galbraith and Joseph Stiglitz are two well-known economists who question the myths of conventional economics, the self-healing, efficient and deregulated market
"Change of Direction": James Galbraith (tags)
The economy should be a part of life, not a steamroller crushing self-determination and creativity. The time is right for alternative economics, access instead of excess, enough instead of more and qualitative growth instead of quantitative growth.
Some Economists Got It Right - Who Are These Economists? (tags)
Twill 14: The Impossible Magazine is a tour de force. Alternative economics emphasizes reduced working hours, investment in the infrastructure, person-oriented work, labor-intensive investment, community centers, redistribution, free Internet books and soft power.
Video: Obama and the "Gang of Six" (tags)
"Gang of Six" Plan is all about cuts not increased taxes. Obama represents Wall Street faction of Democratic Party.
The Washington establishment suffers a serious defeat (tags)
"Today was Waterloo for Fed secrecy," a victorious Grayson said afterwards. The bill still faces substantial hurdles in becoming law, of course, but yesterday's vote has made that outcome quite possible, and it's worth noting several important points highlighted by what happened here: (1) Our leading media outlets are capable of understanding political debates only by stuffing them into melodramatic, trite and often distracting "right v. left" storylines. While some debates fit comfortably into that framework, many do not. Anger over the Wall Street bailouts, the control by the banking industry of Congress, and the impenetrable secrecy with which the Fed conducts itself resonates across the political spectrum, as the truly bipartisan and trans-ideological vote yesterday reflects. Populist anger over elite-favoring economic policies has long been brewing on both the Right and Left (and in between), but neither political party can capitalize on it because they're both dependent upon and subservient to the same elite interests which benefit from those policies. For that reason, many of the most consequential political conflicts are shaped far more by an "insider v. outsider" dichotomy than by a "GOP v. Democrat" or "Left v. Right" split. The pillaging of America's economic security by financial elites, with the eager assistance of the government officials who they own and who serve them, is the prime example of such a conflict. The political system as a whole — both parties' leadership — is owned and controlled by a handful of key industry interests, and anger over the fact is found across the political spectrum. Yesterday's vote is a very rare example where the true nature of political power was expressed and the petty distractions and artificial fault lines overcome.
How Neoliberal Ideology Destabilized the World Balance: Krugman and Galbraith (tags)
"If the depression has not openly erupted, all the features of the 1930s are having a spectacular comeback." (Paul Krugman) To free the US from the claws of private interests, James Galbraith urges the public authority to set social and ecological norms.
The Shortwave Report 9/26 Listen Globally! (tags)
A weekly 30 minute review of news and opinion, recorded from a shortwave radio. With times and freqs for listening at home. 2 files- broadcast and slow-modem streaming. Free to rebroadcast. China, Netherlands, Cuba, and Russia.
Bankruptcies Prohibited (tags)
Capitalism is a system based on debts and credit. To function, it needs trust, trust that banks will always meet their obligations. Fannie and Freddie could not do this any more. Alan Greenspan promoted market forces after extremely overrating them.
Disturbing 2008 Global Peace Index Report (tags)
GPI unfairly targets Venezuela.
The Most Dangerous Double Standard in the Middle East (tags)
Iran and Israel: Ambiguous Nuclear Weapons At present, there is only one country in the Middle East with "secret" and ambiguous stockpiles of nuclear weapons. (full references and links at bottom)
US Taxpayer: Your itemized bill for the Iraq Occupation (tags)
Findings by the Institute for Policy Studies and Foreign Policy in Focus: over 9,000 Iraqi civilians were killed; al-Qaeda's membership stands at 18,000; costs will exceed $3,400 for every US household.