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BlogTime to Demand Transparency and Accountability at the Fed
In its continuing series on the Fed’s bail-out of Wall Street, Bloomberg estimates that the banks got a $13 billion hand-out from the Fed’s easy lending terms. Using the excuse of the crisis, the Fed lent funds at near-zero interest to the banks. This was supposed to encourage them to begin lending to firms and [...] -
Blog
The Austerians’ Secret Plan to Devastate Corporate Profits
Speaking of balances, late last week Martin Wolf delivered a helpful column (“Why cutting fiscal deficits is an assault on profits,” FT Nov. 24). Wolf writes that if households are cutting back, a government that attempts to reduce deficits while anticipating no substantial changes in net exports must expect corporate surpluses to shrink. But increased [...] -
Blog
Peeling Back the Veil at the Federal Reserve
At Citizen Vox Micah Hauptman uses the recent Bloomberg revelations (regarding the details of the Federal Reserve’s extraordinary efforts to stabilize the financial system) to frame a discussion of Fed transparency and accountability: The Fed has vigorously defended its secrecy, claiming that working behind closed doors is necessary to prevent panic in financial markets. According [...] -
Europe Leads the World’s Economy to the Cliff
Copyright © 2011 KPFK. All Rights Reserved. Masters and Papadimitriou discuss the looming financial crisis in the eurozone, the possibility of contagion, and the OECD’s warning of an impending recession in Europe and the UK unless the European Central Bank takes action. Full audio of the interview is available here. -
A Moment among the Minskians
The Straddler, Fall 2011. All content © The Straddler I The events leading up to and following the financial crisis in 2008 led to widespread deployment of the term “Minsky Moment,” used to describe the painful termination of what Hyman Minsky called “runaway expansion.” In boom times, according to Minsky, stable profit growth resulting from […] -
Research Project Report
Direct Job Creation for Turbulent Times in Greece
Countries in crisis round the world face the daunting task of dealing with abrupt increases in unemployment and associated deepening poverty. Greece, in the face of her sovereign debt crisis, has been hit the hardest. Remediating employment policies, including workweek reductions and employment subsidies, abound but have failed to answer the call satisfactorily. Direct public-service […] -
Research Project Report
Άμεση δημιουργία θέσεων εργασίας για μια ταραγμένη εποχή στην Ελλάδα
Σε όλο τον κόσμο, οι χώρες που βρίσκονται σε κρίση έχουν μπροστά τους το δύσκολο έργο της αντιμετώπισης των αυξανόμενων ποσοστών ανεργίας και της εμβάθυνσης της φτώχειας. Η Ελλάδα, η οποία αντιμετωπίζει μια βαθιά κρίση κυρίαρχου χρέους, έχει πληγεί σε πολύ μεγαλύτερο βαθμό από τις υπόλοιπες χώρες. Υπάρχει αφθονία πολιτικών απασχόλησης, από προγράμματα επιδότησης της […] -
Blog
Austerity for the Austere
In a new one-pager C. J. Polychroniou illustrates how dire the situation in Euroland is becoming, running briefly through the outlooks for Greece, Portugal and Ireland, Italy and Spain, Belgium, France, and Germany. From his entry on Italy and Spain (emphasis mine): Both nations are currently engulfed in debt flames (in spite of the fact [...] -
One-Pager No. 21Biopolitics and Neoliberalism
With the crisis in the eurozone threatening the integrity of the European Union itself. German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues to brush aside calls to permit the European Central Bank to act as lender of last resort, and she remains steadfast against suggestions for the issuing of a eurobond. Yet Germany does have a plan for […] -
One-Pager No. 21
Βιοπολιτική και νεοφιλελευθερισμός
Με την κρίση στην ευρωζώνη να απειλεί την ακεραιότητα της ίδιας της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, η Γερμανίδα καγκελάριος Αγκελα Μέρκελ συνεχίζει να απορρίπτει το κάλεσμα για την μετατροπή της ΕΚΤ σε δανειστή έσχατης ανάγκης και παραμένει σταθερά εναντίον των εισηγήσεων για την έκδοση ενός ευρωομολόγου. Ομως η Γερμανία έχει σχέδιο για την ευρωζώνη ακόμα και αν […] -
Blog
Slow Motion Disaster Speeding Up
In a recent interview Dimitri Papadimitriou talked about the EU leadership’s failure to prevent the euro crisis from entering its terminal phase and ran through the likely repercussions for the US financial system. Papadimitriou cites $3 trillion in exposure for US finance, half of which is mutual fund investments in European banks and sovereign debt—and [...] -
Blog
Confusion in Euroland
In a new one-pager, Dimitri Papadimitriou and Randall Wray team up to offer their take on the confusion that seems to afflict many approaches to the eurozone crisis. Government spending did not cause this crisis, they argue, and austerity will not solve it. Wray and Papadimitriou include this chart showing both government and private debt [...]