By J.D. ALT
The principal dilemma of the progressive cause is that it has allowed a bedrock conservative premise to go so long unchallenged; indeed the progressives themselves have either overtly or implicitly agreed with the premise, making it virtually impossible for them to effectively advocate their goals:
This memorable scene in Misery is a perfect metaphor for the ECB’s much vaunted bond buying program.
In essence you have two distinct, but related problems: the solvency issue and the problem of deficient aggregate demand.
There appears to be an emerging consensus that the euro will survive, especially now that Mario Draghi has apparently grasped the nettle and persuaded his colleagues that the ECB is prepared to initiate unlimited purchases of national government bonds in order to underwrite their solvency. Of course, as usual
with the ECB, there’s a sting in the tail, the sting being additional “conditionality” (for which one can read more fiscal austerity) as a quid pro quo. It’s like dealing with Hannibal Lecter.
Two of our nation’s most influential progressive journalists — Slate’s Matt Yglesias and Business Insider’s Joe Weisenthal — just took on two powerful economic myths.
1. The Myth that The US Government is Out of Money
2. The Myth that A Government Surplus is a Sign of Fiscal Responsibility
It’s hard to imagine a more empowering message. As word spreads, elected officials in both parties will lose their primary excuse for inaction on on a whole range of neglected and underfunded programs. “I’d love to help, but I’m all tapped out,” simply won’t sell.
Nor will the desperate calls for “shared sacrifice” and “entitlement reform” in the name of fiscal responsibility.
A very big thank you to these men, who will undoubtedly suffer the slings and arrows of many of their progressive followers, who have long considered the Clinton surpluses the crowning achievement of modern Democratic governance.
By Aitor Calero García
Once upon a time, in a small and remote village across the mountains, in a faraway country, there was a small rural school. It was one of those schools with children of different ages together in a single classroom, a village school like any other, but this is a minor detail. It had a strict teacher. However, everybody in the village loved the teacher, as she was just and fair and she cared very much for her pupils. She was the kind of teacher who gave advice like “you always have to not live beyond your means.”
By William K. Black
(Cross posted at Benzinga.com)
I examine how highly conservative newspapers are covering the interplay of widespread “control frauds” by the world’s most elite banks, the carefully structured de-evolution of financial regulators through descent from the subphylum Vertebrata into the phyla of the invertebrates, and the global failure to prosecute the elite frauds that drove the ongoing financial crisis. The three factors are interrelated. Vigilant financial regulators serving as the vital “regulatory cops on the beat” are essential to the successful prosecution of large numbers of elite financial frauds. Continue reading
Posted in William K. Black
Tagged accounting control fraud, media, media coverage, regulators
By Dan Kervick
An important anniversary is approaching. On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed and issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation that sounded the final end of the depraved institution of American slavery was presented to the nation and the world as an emergency war act, a “fit and necessary” measure for suppressing an armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States. The language of the Emancipation Proclamation is restrained by the customary legalisms of government writ; and yet, vibrating through and beyond the tight cords of executive propriety, the drama and permanence of Lincoln’s statement sound clearly, along with the solemn national commitment to sustain the liberation of the newly freed men and women by force of arms:
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
The pace of Wall Street’s war against the 99% is quickening in preparation for the kill. Having demonized public employees for being scheduled to receive pensions on their lifetime employment service, bondholders are insisting on getting the money instead. It is the same austerity philosophy that has been forced on Greece and Spain – and the same that is prompting President Obama and Mitt Romney to urge scaling back Social Security and Medicare.
By Stephanie Kelton
My Twitter followers are constantly asking me if I think more spending would really help the economy recover. I understand their skepticism. Many are probably struggling with high debt levels, and the last thing they want is some economist urging them to rack up more debt for the good of the economy. (Bad advice, indeed.) Others have heard President Obama talk about putting Americans back to work by investing in our nation’s infrastructure, educational system, energy future, etc., but many aren’t sure if the “stimulus even worked“, so they, too, wonder if more spending is really the right way to grow the economy. Well, here’s the answer.
By William K. Black
(Cross-posted from Benzinga.com )
At the invitation of the Steamboat Institute’s “Freedom Conference” I debated Dan Mitchell, an economist at Cato on Friday August 25, 2012. Dan suggested me as his debate opponent, a role we have played several times in Europe. Our primary topic was Paul Ryan’s budget policies. In the course of our debate Dan stressed an August 24 column he wrote entitled “For Once, I Hope Paul Krugman is Right.” Continue reading
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