Yves here. The headline is hardly news, at least if you’ve been paying attention, but this post does a great job of debunking arguments against Social Security, particularly ones designed to stoke generational warfare.
Read more...Yves here. This article is a portrait of official denial, which is then dutifully taken up and amplified by the media (well, not universally, but widely, as Ilargi’s post also demonstrates). It corroborates one of my pet theories: that we are at the end of an economic paradigm. The powers that be lack the will and imagination to do anything other than patch it up and put it back into operation. That simply assures more frequent breakdowns until the system is beyond repair.
Read more...I really enjoy speaking with Harry Shearer, both for his engaging manner and his thorough preparation. I also hope you’ll see fit to circulate this interview, since the more attention we can bring to this plan to legalize corporate pillage, the better.
Read more...Yves here. I thought it would be useful to feature a post on geopolitics, since America’s declining standing in the world plays directly into domestic politics. The classic guns v. butter issue is a big part of the coming budget battle. One of the reasons that both parties would like to reach a deal in December is that another round of sequester cuts will otherwise kick in in January.
Read more...Michael Olenick unearthed an anomaly that is so extreme that it raises doubts about the numbers that the Department of Health and Human Services is reporting for Obamacare signups and enrollments to date.
Read more...In Germany, Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party and its sister party the Bavarian Christian Social Union are inexorably heading for a “grand coalition” with the Social Democrats. This would give the coalition well over a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament, making constitutional changes a mere formality. What does this mean for Germany and what will its effect be upon the European Union and a resolution of its current economic crisis?In Germany, Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party and its sister party the Bavarian Christian Social Union are inexorably heading for a “grand coalition” with the Social Democrats. This would give the coalition well over a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament, making constitutional changes a mere formality. What does this mean for Germany and what will its effect be upon the European Union and a resolution of its current economic crisis?
Read more...Yves here. The last two Snowden revelations have kicked up the public and even official unhappiness over pervasive NSA spying a notch further. I’d love to be a fly on the wall at the NSA and hear all the consternation.
Read more...I’m sure some readers will protest that comparing Jamie Dimon to Lance Armstrong is unfair. After all, Dimon is better looking than Armstrong. But this post will demonstrate that the big reason that Armstong’s reputation has crashed while Dimon’s remains largely intact is first, that bank CEOs have a powerful and largely compliant messaging apparatus in the financial media and second, that we hold sports stars to much higher standards than titans of finance and commerce.
Read more...Yves here. I hope you don’t mind additional coverage of the pending trade pacts, this from a European perspective. This is bar none the single most important geopolitical initiative underway, yet it’s getting virtually no media play. While this discussion overlaps with our chat on Bill Moyers, many of you have friends, family members, and colleagues who don’t have time to watch a video but would read an article. Please use whatever route you think will work best with the people you know to get the word out.
Read more...I hope you’ll enjoy this chat. Moyers gave Dean Baker and me over a half-hour on his show, so we were able to give a decent treatment of the issues surrounding the mislabeled trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership as well as the ongoing budget battle
Read more...If I were a still a Wall Street type, I don’t think I could have done a better job of sabotaging an effort to impose transaction taxes on big financial firms than the left has managed to do itself with lousy branding.
Read more...By Yanis Varoufakis, professor of economics at the University of Athens. Cross posted from his blog
On 30th October, in its Report to Congress on Economic and Exchange Rate Policies, the US Treasury took a swipe at Germany, accusing it of exporting economic depression to the rest of Eurozone and, indeed, to the global economy. The German Finance Ministry responded the next day with a statement that: “There are no imbalances in Germany that need correction. On the contrary, the innovative German economy contributes significantly to global growth through exports and the import of components for finished products.” There are few occasions in any argument where one side is completely right and the other comprehensively wrong. This is one of them!
Read more...I’m generally very taken with Ian Welsh’s work, particularly two recent posts, A New Ideology and How to Create a Viable Ideology. He then continued with 44 Explicit Points on Creating a Better World. And I hate to say it, but the last piece was no where near as well thought out as the preceding pieces. What troubled me about his latest piece was its combination of confidence (as opposed to modesty and soliciting reactions and input) in combination with it having internal contractions and a lack of precision of language. But perhaps the biggest shortcoming was trying to finesse the question of governance.
Read more...By Raúl Ilargi Meijer, editor-in-chief of The Automatic Earth, Cross posted from Automatic Earth
If your answer to that question is affirmative, I suggest you take a good hard look at what’s coming out of Detroit these days.
Read more...Yves here. This post is important not just in and of itself but also as an example of the methods and costs of rent-seeking.
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