Tag Archives: Michael Hudson

Why Obama Won, and What We Can Expect Next

Michael Hudson is one of the few academic economists who is not completely deluded. He is worthy of your attention. This is is recent article that appeared in COUNTERPUNCH.–t.h.g.

By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them

by MICHAEL HUDSON

The Democrats could not have won so handily without the Citizens United ruling. That is what enabled the Koch Brothers to spend their billions to support right-wing candidates that barked and growled like sheep dogs to give voters little civilized option but to vote for “the lesser evil.” This will be President Obama’s epitaph for future historians. Orchestrating the election like a World Wrestling Federation melodrama, the Tea Party’s sponsors threw billions of dollars into the campaign to cast the President’s party in the role of “good cop” against stereotyped opponents attacking women’s rights, Hispanics and nearly every other hyphenated-American interest group.

In Connecticut, Senate candidate Linda McMahon spent a reported $97 million (including her earlier ego trip) to make her Democratic challenger look good. It was that way throughout the country. Republicans are pretending to wring their hands at their defeat, leaving the Democrats to beat up their constituency and take the blame four years from now. …More…

 

What’s the “Occupy” movement all about?

Occupy Wall Street and the many related offshoot occupations are raising a lot of questions. These will not be quickly answered, but one thing is clear–increasing numbers of people are fed up with the political and economic status quo. They are not only expressing their dissatisfaction and disgust, but they are looking  for ways to make positive changes that will benefit everyone, not just the few who are presently in control.

Michael Hudson is one of the few university economists who understands the systemic nature of our global economic malaise, and is willing to speak frankly about it. The following is a recent interview that is worth watching.–t.h.g.

Iceland, a case that deserves careful study

Iceland was one of the first countries to experience the financial crisis that plagues the world. It seems to be the canary in the coal mine, and as such, it may be showing us not only what is in store for the rest of us, but also a way out of our dilemma.

In this series of 5 videos, Prof. Michael Hudson explains very clearly what happened to Iceland and shows it to be an example of the pattern that is being played out in the rest of the world.

In the time since that interview was recorded, the people of Iceland have taken action that may get to the root of the problem. Instead of bailing out the banks and rewarding those who caused the problem in the first place, Iceland has, according to one of my correspondents:
- Totally recalled its government.
- Nationalized its main banks.
- Decided not to honor the claims from the UK and Holland due to their speculative policies.
- Created a popular assembly to rewrite its constitution.

Strangely, there has been very little about that in the media.

I would very much like to see reports that detail these actions, so I invite any of my readers who find them to pass them on by making comments to this post–t.h.g.

Prof. Michael Hudson explains today’s financial parasitism

This presentation by Prof. Michael Hudson at this year’s conference of the American Monetary Institute is highly informative. Please pay close attention.