This is a wide-ranging, high level discussion with Yanis Varoufakis about the structural issues facing the world economy. US-based cynics may be amused by the question that expresses skepticism about recent US growth figures.
Read more...The idea of a basic income guarantee is very popular with readers, more so that the notion of a job guarantee. Yet as we have mentioned in passing, this very sort of program was put in place on a large-scale basis in the past. Initially, it was very popular. However, in the long run it proved to be destructive to the recipients while tremendously beneficial to employers, who used the income support to further lower wages, thus increasing costs to the state and further reducing incentives to work. And when the system was dismantled, it was arguably the working poor, as opposed to the ones who had quit working altogether, who were hurt the most.
It is also intriguing to note that this historical precedent is likely to resemble a a contemporary version of a basic income guarantee.
Read more...Keystone illustrates the kabuki that passes for politics on the so-called left. In terms of climate change issues, it’s small beer, diverting resources and attention away from much bigger issues, like the environmental damage done by fracking and the need for much more aggressive energy conservation policies. Thus by virtue of having a small number of potential beneficiaries in economic terms from the project, it’s a group that Democrats could safely afford to alienate while throwing a bone to their base. The irony, as this post points out, is that the fracas may prove to be irrelevant now that oil prices have fallen so dramatically.
Read more...Republicans moved forward their first chess piece in their effort to gut already weak financial reform by passing HR 37 in the House.
Read more...Mr. Market is having a major sad today largely as a result of disappointing retail sales figures for December, a 0.9% fall, well below the median forecast of analysts suveyed by Bloomberg of a fall of 0.1% and lower than the most bearish forecast of 0.5%. Maybe I should just pay attention to NC reader and shopping maven Li, who told me repeatedly that the retail environment was in poor shape based on the fact that major retail stores were putting through December markdowns vastly ahead of their usual schedule.
Read more...The Republicans are not wasting any time in their ongoing campaign to make sure nothing stands in the way of Wall Street’s rapacious quest for more profits.
Read more...This past summer my family and I moved to France, not far from Paris, for work. I’m an American Jew and heard the stories but didn’t worry much. Days after we arrived French Muslims rioted, chanting “Death to the Jews” and destroying Jewish buildings. OK – they’re worked up about Gaza and they’ll settle down I thought. My parents told me that 10,000 Jews had left France for Israel and I told them “well, with my arrival they’re only down 9,999.”
Read more...Many readers have taken the position that we need to put a brake on growth in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce consumption of other resources.
In a Real News Network interview, Robert Pollin goes through the math of carbon output and shows why a no growth approach is inadequate.
Read more...There is an excellent indicator that Senator Warren’s successful effort to block the appointment of Antonio Weiss, an Obama Wall Street bundler, to a senior Treasury position while merely a skirmish was an important accomplishment. The financial media that pander most slavishly to the Wall Street and the City of London’s CEOs is enraged at Warren’s success. The headline in the UK’s Business Insider reveals their angst “Elizabeth Warren Wins, The Treasury Loses.” The article doesn’t try very hard to support that headline with facts because there is no real case to support the claim.
“A number of former Treasury officials thought Warren was way out of line, and that Weiss’ experience was perfect for the position he was being nominated for.
The White House stood by its nominee throughout, stating last month, “This is somebody who has very good knowledge of the way that the financial markets work, and that is critically important.”
No argument on that here.”
Let’s begin with logic. There’s no logical way to declare that “Treasury lost” without knowing who else is willing to take the position of Under Secretary for Domestic Finance. No one thinks President Obama selected Weiss on the merits. He was selected because he bundled Wall Street campaign contributions for Obama’s campaigns. Treasury does not “win” when we appoint such people – Wall Street wins. We have no way of knowing whether Obama will select someone for the position who is better or worse than Weiss. The Undersecretary position is prestigious enough that we know that Obama has the ability to appoint hundreds of people who would like to take the position and are better qualified than Weiss. As a matter of logic, therefore, the authors could not support their claim.
The authors also don’t seem to have felt they could even try to make a case for their claim. They simply quote authority rather than reasoning. Their effort unintentionally made Warren’s opponents look bad. Consider the extraordinary arrogance of the statement “A number of former Treasury officials thought Warren was way out of line.” A U.S. Senator who is a member of Treasury’s oversight committee is completely “in line” to oppose nominees. Warren obviously did not oppose Weiss for partisan reasons. She opposed him on the merits. Weiss does not have a strong background for the skill sets required for the Undersecretary position. Again, no one can claim with a straight face that Obama selected Weiss on the merits. Of course, the same thing was true of many of the Treasury officials who think it is “way out of line” for Senators not to rubberstamp political reward-style appointments of Wall Street bundlers.
The best that the White House could come up with was that Weiss “has very good knowledge of the way that the financial markets work.” That description fits about one million Americans.
Conclusion
Warren has given Obama a golden opportunity – a “do over.” Obama can appoint someone who has a “very good knowledge of the way that the financial markets work” – and a passion for changing how they work in order to end the Wall Street culture of corruption and create radically improved markets based on integrity and service to investors with radically reduced profits. Obama could pick someone good for America, not “Treasury” and its Wall Street overseers. It is “critically important” that the financial markets be restored to a condition in which they aid Main Street and small investors rather than acting as parasites and predators.
At this juncture, the White House is signaling its continued opposition to serious reform.
“‘We continue to believe that Mr. Weiss is an extremely well-qualified individual, who is committed to the policy goals of this Administration and firmly supports the Administration’s policies on fostering economic growth and supporting our middle class. We are pleased that he has accepted the role of counselor to the Treasury secretary.’”
The administration continues its policy of never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity to openly side with the American people (all of them, not simply “our middle class”) and demand the end of the corrupt culture of Wall Street. Warren has given Obama a priceless opportunity for a “do over.” No one expects Obama to do the right thing on the appointment, but Warren is doing the right thing by giving Obama a new the chance to do the right thing.
Read more...Hope you can make our New York City meetup! Details:
Ten Bells
247 Broome Street (between Ludlow and Orchard)
Subways: F to Delancy, J/M/Z to Essex, B/D to Grand Street
Starting at 5:00 PM (note Ten Bells opens at 5:00 PM, so if you get there a couple of minutes early, don’t be alarmed)
Yves here. MMT, or Modern Monetary Theory, is in the process of becoming vastly more visible by virtue of leading MMT advocate, Stephanie Kelton, becoming Chief Economist on the Senate Budget Committee on behalf of ranking member Bernie Sanders. And that means, as this post demonstrates, that MMT has gone through the “first they ignore you, then they ridicule you” stages and is now in the “then then fight you” phase. And one of the chief strategies of MMT opponents is to misrepresent it.
Read more...I’m putting up the entire Boom/Bust show in which Yanis Varoufakis appears, in part because the introductory section discusses how stressed oil producers may use secured lending to borrow more money in an effort to ride out the price bust. That would lead to a further drop in the price of any junk bonds or market value of any existing loans on those companies, since the new secured borrowing would be senior to the existing debt.
Read more...A few weeks ago, conventional wisdom was that oil prices might sink lower, but once excess supply was removed from the market, prices would return to the $80 to $100 a barrel level. Now that consensus view is starting to crack.
Read more...
