Yearly Archives: 2013
More on Devolution and the Walmartization of Our Economy
A couple of months ago, I wrote about devolution:
Read more...It’s become fashionable to discuss the creeping decay in advanced economies, particularly the US, both in term of third worldification and end of empire. The more apocalyptic turn to theories of collapse from writers like Jared Diamond and Jacques Tainter. But I think they miss one aspect that may prove to be important, that of how the pursuit of efficiency doesn’t always produce net gains, as economic theory might tell us.
TransPacific Partnership Threatens Sovereignty and Public Ownership
Although the TransPacific Partnership negotiations are being kept firmly under wraps, what little has leaked out is so appalling that it legitimates Alex Jones-type fears about world government, or more accurately, a market state where the interests of globe-spanning businesses come first. The TPP expands on NAFTA’s extreme investor-state regime that allows foreign companies to directly challenge a government’s derivatives regulation, capital controls, and other financial, health, and environmental policies.
We’ll be writing more about the TPP, and this Real News Network segment provides a good introduction.
Read more...Wells Fargo’s “Reprehensible” Foreclosure Abuses Prove Incompetence and Collusion of OCC
Two bankruptcy cases in Louisiana that have revealed systematic, persistent foreclosure abuses by Wells Fargo have gotten enough media attention that it is inconceivable that banking regulators don’t know about them. The lack of any intervention, or even so much as a throat-clearing by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is yet another proof of how the regulator apparently sees its role as fronting for banks rather than enforcing rules.
Read more...Links 3/31/13
Pop Quiz: How Big Is the Bailout Of Cyprus?
By Antonis Polemitis, a venture capitalist based in Manhattan. Cross posted from Ledra Capital
Most publications talk about the €10 billion or €17 billion Cyprus bailout. Let’s take a pop quiz on the right answer.
Read more...Obama Plans to Sacrifice Ordinary Americans Yet Again in “Public/Private Partnership” Infrastructure Scam
Apparently Obama’s idea of a Holy Week sacrifice is to feed American citizens to rapacious bankers, this time through the device of “public/private partnerships” to support infrastructure spending.
Read more...Links 3/30/13
Destruction of Cyprus Economy Proceeding Ahead of Schedule
When I first heard about the Cyprus ritual execution bailout, I had thought that the widespread predictions that the island nation’s economy would contract by 20% to 30% over the next two years were off base.
Michael Hudson Discusses Why We Need Public Banks to Prevent Cannibalization of the Economy on Real News Network
Michael Hudson continues his discussion of banking on Real News Network by focusing on the role banks played in different economies in the early period of industrialization.
Read more...Links 3/29/13
Will Slovenia Be the Next Victim of German Politics?
The IMF says that Slovenia will need to issue €3 billion in bonds this year. The country may be forced to seek painful assistance from the Troika. Will Germany be the heavy as it was with Cyprus?
Read more...The Capital Controls in Cyprus and the Icelandic Experience
Cyprus has imposed temporary capital controls. This column sheds light on how temporary and how damaging they are likely to be, based on Iceland’s experience. The longer controls exist, the harder they are to abolish. Icelandic capital controls, which have been ‘temporary’ for half a decade, deeply damage the economy by discouraging investment.
Read more...More Scientific Evidence Linking Fracking and Earthquakes
By John C.K. Daly, the chief analyst for Oilprice.com. Cross posted from OilPrice
As the practice of hydraulic fracturing to produce natural gas continues to spread not only in the U.S. but worldwide, the scientific community has increasingly focused on the environmental consequences of the technique. The most worrisome side effect of “fracking” is the rise of earthquakes in areas where the practice is extensive.
Read more...
