The propagandistic exhortation that we all need to need to learn to love or at least accept the crappy economy known as “the new normal” is starting to wear a bit thin. One of the things that has allowed the punditocracy to pretend that “the new normal” really isn’t all that bad are various myths that they get investors and sometimes the broader public to believe in succession or better yet simultaneously:
Read more...As much as your humble blogger still regards Elizabeth Warren as preferable to Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race, the evidence from her campaign is that she is no progressive, unless you define “progressive” to mean “centrist/Hamilton Project Democrat willing to throw a few extra bones to the average Joe.”
We’ve warned repeatedly that Warren not being all that left leaning was a real possibility.
Read more...Please welcome Carol Smith, who is based in Austin and has considerable experience in financial services industry research and analysis. I’m pretty confident she’s also listened to more analyst conference calls than most Naked Capitalism readers have, and you’ll see her put her experience to good use.
By Carol Smith
A Financial Times article today showcased recent comments by bank executives and politicians (and even Erick Erickson of RedState.com!) sympathizing with the sentiments behind the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Read more...Readers may recall that we discussed a Financial Times op ed by University of Massachusetts professor of political sciences and favorite Naked Capitalism curmudgeon Tom Ferguson which described a particularly sordid aspect of American politics: an explicit pay to play system in Congress. Congresscritters who want to sit on influential committees, and even more important, exercise leadership roles, are required to kick in specified amounts of money into their party’s coffers. That in turn increases the influence of party leadership, since funds provided by the party machinery itself are significant in election campaigning. And make no doubt about it, they are used as a potent means of rewarding good soldiers and punishing rabble-rousers
A new article by Ferguson in the Washington Spectator sheds more light on this corrupt and defective system.
Read more...Dylan Ratigan interviews David DeGraw about the political impact of Occupy Wall Street, and Bill Black joins to discuss legal strategies.
Read more...By Rob Parenteau, CFA, sole proprietor of MacroStrategy Edge, editor of The Richebacher Letter, and a research associate of The Levy Economics Institute
Wolfgang Munchau has raised a very important point in his current Financial Times article, “Why Europe’s officials lose sight of the big picture.” The eurozone, Wolfgang points out, is more like a large closed economy than a collection of small open economies, and this has implications for fiscal policy outcomes, yet these implications remain largely unrecognized by policy makers within the region. Wolfgang noted:
Read more...We’ve been astonished that anyone is treating the alleged Iranian assassination plot seriously after it has been debunked by Glenn Greenwald and others. Even the New York Times, which usually falls into line, ran an article which made clear that there were pretty large gaps in the official narrative, and CNN was skeptical as well. Yet the NPR is feeding the story (hat tip reader furzy mouse) and one of my sources with good Democratic party contacts says all the faux leftie and even some real leftie groups are supporting the saber-rattling against Iran.
Real News Network has been giving good coverage, and has found yet more chinks in the Administration’s narrative. Please take the time to view both segments of their coverage to date:
Read more...Daily Kos publicized a story captured on Global Revolution, of perhaps as many as 30 people being arrested for attempting to close their Citibank accounts. Kos originally said 30 people were arrested; an update now says 17, again per Global Revolution.
The Post reports that 24 people were arrested; its characterization is that a “mob stormed” a branch at Laguardia Place. The basis for the arrests appears to be plenty dubious. Later accounts indicate that people trying to close their accounts were locked in the branch and then arrested for illegal trespass. This video (hat tip Mike Stark) appears to support the protestors’ claims. Notice that the people in the branch are not disruptive, and a woman outside the branch, who had documents to show she was a Citibank customer but apparently had been inside the branch, was grabbed by the police and forced into the branch:
Read more...Michael Hudson, in the Real News Network segment, stresses that the bailouts (with tons of hairshirt measures) being imposed on Greece do not have the consent of the population. Hudson exaggerates a bit on how the debt was entered into. However, a critical aspect is that, as Floyd Norris pointed out, the overwhelming majority of the borrowings are subject to Greek law. That means Greece could repudiate that with no legal consequence. And collecting on the portion under English law would not be a party.
But a far more serious issue is the Greek banking system would collapse unless there was an immediate (or done over the course of a one week banking holiday) switch back to the drachma.
Read more...I’m sorry to be late to this item which broke this afternoon, but I’ve been off the grid all day, and hope readers seeing this now have or will take action to support OccupyWallStreet.
Bloomberg has decided to crack down on OccupyWallStreet, and the ruse being used is that Zuccotti Park needs to be “cleaned” as in cleared. I was down at OWS on Tuesday and remarked that it was notably cleaner than most New York City streets.
The cleaning is device to force the removal of the belongings of people encamped there; they will not only not be permitted to bring their goods back, but even lying down on the ground or benches or putting a covering on the ground will be prohibited going forward.
Read more...It has become fashionable to criticize unions in the US, when many of their shortcomings result from corrupt or at best unimaginative leadership. The fact that we have child labor laws, restrictions on working hours, workplace safety rules, were all the result of hard fought battles by workers. And as an article in Foreign Affairs stresses (hat tip reader Crocodile Chuck), Europe has much less income inequality than the US, which the author George Packer sees as a serious and difficult to remedy contributor to America’s decline. Strong unions have been a significant contributor to Europe’s less skewed distribution.
This discussion on Real News Network describes how unions have unduly narrowed their focus and gives some ideas and examples for ways they could be more effective on their own behalf and for the broader community
Read more...If you had any doubts the Murdoch’s NewsCorp was a criminal enterprise, this story by Nick Davies of the Guardian (who has been out in front on NewsCorp reporting) should settle it.
Read more...What a pleasant surprise. I was on the phone and heard chanting and drumbeats outside, and lo and behold, it was OccupyWallStreet across the street from me (on the west side of Park Avenue). Unfortunately, I have meetings this PM and so I could only run out briefly to see them on the street, but this was a perfect day to come this far uptown. The police told me they had walked up from Zuccotti Park, that’s a good 7-8 mile hike.
Read more...NZ Science Minister who praised New Image runs for cover…New Image spokesperson in a spin…New Image “stand by” colostrum quack cure testimonials but simultaneously repudiate them by taking them off their web site…New Image still flogging worthless fuel economy product Powerpill Fe-3 to Malaysia.
Business As Usual in New Zealand!
Read more...The police decided to clear out the OccupyBoston crowd overnight.
The video footage shows the police moving in, then about 90 seconds of crowd unhappiness, and then it gets a bit chaotic. It looks like some veterans were forced to the ground with the crowd calling “Shame”.
Read more...