Finance and the Economy

A World So Changed

August 26, 2018 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental Institute for Social Research. Educate! Finance and the Economy, Floods, Kerala, Türkiye

Over the past month, the Indian state of Kerala has struggled with the worst floods since 1924. Over three hundred people have been killed and millions of people have been affected in this state of about 35 million people. There are many theories as to why these floods have been so severe, climate change amongst them. But, what is certainly very clear is that in the face of this devastation, Kerala’s society came together to ensure the rescue and relief for those who had seen their worlds be torn asunder, and life ‘rush into the past’.

How Do You Deal With White Supremacists?

August 7, 2018 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, Clearing the FOG. Podcast Fascism, Finance and the Economy, Racism, Trump

People in the United States have a long way to go to achieve the social and economic gains that other countries, such as the Nordic ones, have. The big question is – how do we make those gains? We discuss that with George Lakey, a lifelong activist, academic and movement strategist. On the one year anniversary of the Charlottesville rallies, we explore the question of how to confront the overt racism in the US and how to dis-empower white supremacists. We also cover current news and upcoming actions. Do you want to keep the conversation going? Join our Patreon community and you’ll receive

Iran’s Unfinished Democratic Revolution

January 21, 2018 Rohini Hensmen, The Wire. Educate! Democracy, Finance and the Economy, Iran, Regime Change

The Iranian struggle for democracy goes back more than a century. The 1905 revolution, which resulted in the Constitution of 1906 establishing a parliament (Majlis), was essentially against the absolute power of the monarchy as well as British and Russian imperialism. However the first Majlis was dissolved in 1908 after being attacked by the Shah (king), and the second Majlis of 1909 was dissolved in 1911 when Russian and British imperialism re-established control over the country.

The American Savings Crisis, Explained

December 17, 2017 Jeff Spross Educate! Cost of living, Finance and the Economy, New Economy, Wages

Americans are terrible at saving money. Since the 1970s, our personal savings rate has fallen from 12 percent to just 3 percent today. Almost half of all households don't have enough money socked away to meet a $400 emergency. At least one-third of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. It's easy to blame this on failings of individual discipline, and plenty of people do. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) recently griped about Americans who "are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it's on booze or women or movies." And there's a whole cottage industry of personal finance scolds insisting that everyone could save massive amounts if they just had the willpower.

Widespread Protests To Tax Bill, Backlash Brewing

December 10, 2017 Sarah Anderson, inequality.org Resist! Finance and the Economy, Poor People's Campaign, Tax Reform

The tax reform moral abomination is already igniting a firestorm across the country. Over the past two weeks, protests have erupted at 50 universities and in least 100 cities, while nearly 50 people have been arrested on Capitol Hill. And whether or not President Trump achieves his goal of signing this tax deal into law by the end of the year, this fight is just beginning. On December 4, prominent faith leaders announced plans for one of the largest waves of civil disobedience in U.S. history. Dubbed the “Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival,” this effort will mark the 50th anniversary of a similar initiative in 1968 that was undercut by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.

‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Just Beginning

November 26, 2017 Matt Townsend, Jenny Surane, Emma Or and Christopher Cannon, www.bloomberg.com Educate! Bankruptcy, Finance and the Economy, Jobs and Wages, New Economy

By Matt Townsend, Jenny Surane, Emma Orr and Christopher Cannon for Bloomberg. The so-called retail apocalypse has become so ingrained in the U.S. that it now has the distinction of its own Wikipedia entry. The industry’s response to that kind of doomsday description has included blaming the media for hyping the troubles of a few well-known chains as proof of a systemic meltdown. There is some truth to that. In the U.S., retailers announced more than 3,000 store openings in the first three quarters of this year. But chains also said 6,800 would close. And this comes when there’s sky-high consumer confidence, unemployment is historically low and the U.S. economy keeps growing. Those are normally all ingredients for a retail boom, yet more chains are filing for bankruptcy and rated distressed than during the financial crisis.

Trump Cracks Down On Trade And Travel To Cuba

November 17, 2017 Medea Benjamin, www.popularresistance.org Educate! Cuba, Finance and the Economy, Right to Travel, Trade, Trump

By Medea Benjamin. On Wednesday, November 8, just as President Trump was clinching new business deals with the repressive Communist government of China, the Trump administration announced its new rules rolling back President Obama’s opening with Cuba. The new regulations restricting travel and trade with the Caribbean island will make it once again illegal for Americans to travel to Cuba without a special license from the Treasury Department and will dramatically reduce the number of Americans traveling there. The regulations, which include a list of 180 banned entities, are supposed to punish hotels, stores and other businesses tied to the Cuban military and instead direct economic activity toward businesses controlled by regular Cuban citizens.

The Political Economy Of Obama/Trump

October 15, 2017 Richard D. Wolff, www.counterpunch.org Strategize! Finance and the Economy, Neoliberalism, Obama, Trump

By Richard D. Wolff for Counter Punch. US capitalism is again careening down blind alleys. Earlier it had crashed into the Great Depression from 1929 to 1933 before lurching into the New Deal. After 1945 it concentrated on rolling back the New Deal until it turned sharply to neoliberalism and “globalism” in the 1970s. That provided the comforting illusion of a few decades of “prosperous normalcy.” When the second major crash in 75 years hit in 2008, it exposed the debt-dependent reality of those decades. It also sent capitalism careening through a new depression followed by a devastating austerity regime. The economic careening provokes the political: its establishment center cannot hold.

New Report Claims UBI Would Grow U.S. Economy By $2.5 Trillion

October 6, 2017 Dom Galeon, www.futurism.com Create! Finance and the Economy, Universal Income

By Dom Galeon for Futurism - The new study based its forecasts on three basic income scenarios. According to the first of these, if adults are given $1,000 every month, the U.S. economy could grow by 12.56 percent after an eight-year implementation. With current GDP pegged at $19.8 trillion by the Congressional Budget Office, this translates to a total growth of $2.48 trillion. In the second and third scenarios, a monthly UBI of $500 and $250 could lead to a GDP growth of 6.5 percent and 0.79 percent, respectively. It’s also worth noting that the report used an economic model that assumed that growth is constrained due to low household incomes, which the researchers note is debatable. Proponents of UBI now include experts from various fields, including some of the tech industry’s most prominent figures and entrepreneurs, as well as some of the world’s leading economists. Yet, just like any radical idea, UBI isn’t without its skeptics, and the biggest source of concern for these critics is funding. Just how would a government pay for a UBI program? An obvious answer would be through taxes, but according to the Roosevelt report, this set-up would essentially be pointless for the economy: “When paying for the policy by increasing taxes on households rather than paying for the policy with debt, the policy is not expansionary. In effect, it is giving to households with one hand what it is taking away with the other. There is no net effect.”

Destructive Stock Buybacks—That You Pay For

September 15, 2017 Ralph Nader, www.blog.nader.org Educate! Finance and the Economy, New Economy, Ruling Class

By Ralph Nader for The Nader Page - The monster of economic waste—over $7 trillion of dictated stock buybacks since 2003 by the self-enriching CEOs of large corporations—started with a little noticed change in 1982 by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under President Ronald Reagan. That was when SEC Chairman John Shad, a former Wall Street CEO, redefined unlawful ‘stock manipulation’ to exclude stock buybacks. Then after Clinton pushed through congress a $1 million cap on CEO pay that could be deductible, CEO compensation consultants wanted much of CEO pay to reflect the price of the company’s stock. The stock buyback mania was unleashed. Its core was not to benefit shareholders (other than perhaps hedge fund speculators) by improving the earnings per share ratio. Its real motivation was to increase CEO pay no matter how badly such burning out of shareholder dollars hurt the company, its workers and the overall pace of economic growth. In a massive conflict of interest between greedy top corporate executives and their own company, CEO-driven stock buybacks extract capital from corporations instead of contributing capital for corporate needs, as the capitalist theory would dictate. Yes, due to the malicious, toady SEC “business judgement” rule, CEOs can take trillions of dollars away from productive pursuits without even having to ask the companies’ owners—the shareholders—for approval.

Beijing’s “Belt And Road” Initiative, Towards An Economy Of Peace?

September 1, 2017 Peter Koeing, www.informationclearinghouse.info Create! China, Finance and the Economy, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, New Economy

By Peter Koeing for Information Clearing House - August 31, 2017 "Information Clearing House" - Why is the world one huge fireball of hostilities, conflicts, threats of economic sanctions, propaganda of lies and mind manipulations, fearmongering – killing – massive killing – 12-15 million people killed since 9/11? – Why is that? And all provoked and executed by ONE country, and her vassals in the form of NATO, stooges of Brussels and the Middle East, and their prostituted proxies, paid mercenary whores, Islamic State, by the one Rogue Nation the world is subjected to – the United States of America. All that at the cost of trillions of dollars, tax-payers’ money – really? – More likely privately FED, Wall Street created fiat money, pyramid money, based on usury and debt, subjugating debt to be pillaged from the ordinary citizens; but government debt never to be repaid, as per Alan Greenspan (FED Chairman, 1987-2006) to an exasperated journalist who asks, when will the US ever pay back its huge debt? – “Never – we will just print new money”. – So, is it really ‘tax-payers’ money’? – Would tax-payers’ money be able to pay for these trillions and trillion spent on conflicts, wars and hostilities – hundreds of billions spent on propaganda of deception and lies to promote endless assassinations around the globe? Hardly.

Amid Warnings Of Financial Crash, Fed Chair Promotes Illusions

August 27, 2017 Nick Beams, www.wsws.org Educate! Federal Reserve, Finance and the Economy, Recession

By Nick Beams for World Socialist Web Site. Wyoming (August 26, 2017) - Yesterday’s speech by Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen to the conclave of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming recalled events at the gathering 12 years ago. At that meeting, the growing signs of the devastating financial crisis that was to strike in 2008 were completely ignored. That was likewise the situation at this year’s meeting, held under conditions where the surge in stock markets is bringing warnings of a major collapse. The 2005 meeting was organised as a celebration of the achievements of the "Maestro,” Fed chief Alan Greenspan, whose policies, it was claimed, had brought a new era of prosperity to the global economy.

US Vastly Escalates Economic War On Venezuela

August 27, 2017 Staff, www.telesurtv.net Educate! Finance and the Economy, Sanction, Trump, Venezuela

By Telesur. Venezuela - President Nicolas Maduro says the new financial sanctions imposed by the U.S. president on Venezuela are illegal, and the first to suffer will be U.S. investors. He said the prohibiton on U.S. citizens and companies buying Venezuelan bonds and securities, is an attempt to strangle Venezuela's economy. "Can the world accept this?" he asked, and called for solidarity from the world community. He recognized that the sanctions will mean sacrifice for the Venezuelan people. But he said they also open up the opportunity for a new era of independence. On this day in 2017, he said, "begins the stage of post-domination by the United States, with Venezuela again at the center of this struggle for dignity and liberation."

Is The Market Economy Working?

August 27, 2017 William Blum, www.williamblum.org Educate! Capitalism, Ethics, Finance and the Economy, Socialism

By William Blum for the Anti-Empire Report. Speaking in very broad terms … slavery gave way to feudalism … feudalism gave way to capitalism … capitalism is not a timelessly valid institution but was created to satisfy certain needs of the time … capitalism has outlived its usefulness and must now give way to socialism … the ultimate incompatibility between capitalist profit motive and human environmental survival demands nothing less. The system corrupts every important aspect of our lives, including the one which takes up the most of our time -– our work, even for corporation executives, who demand huge salaries and benefits to justify their working at jobs that otherwise are not particularly satisfying.

Fossil Fuel Subsidies Are A Staggering $5 Tn Per Year

August 12, 2017 John Abraham, www.theguardian.com Educate! Finance and the Economy, Fossil Fuels, New Economy, Profit

By John Abraham for The Guardian - Fossil fuels have two major problems that paint a dim picture for their future energy dominance. These problems are inter-related but still should be discussed separately. First, they cause climate change. We know that, we’ve known it for decades, and we know that continued use of fossil fuels will cause enormous worldwide economic and social consequences. Second, fossil fuels are expensive. Much of their costs are hidden, however, as subsidies. If people knew how large their subsidies were, there would be a backlash against them from so-called financial conservatives. A study was just published in the journal World Development that quantifies the amount of subsidies directed toward fossil fuels globally, and the results are shocking. The authors work at the IMF and are well-skilled to quantify the subsidies discussed in the paper. Let’s give the final numbers and then back up to dig into the details. The subsidies were $4.9 tn in 2013 and they rose to $5.3 tn just two years later. According to the authors, these subsidies are important because first, they promote fossil fuel use which damages the environment. Second, these are fiscally costly.

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