Economy and Society

Published on Socialist Unity, by SU Editorial Team, June 13, 2013.

The breadth and depth of cuts in public sector jobs, pay and frontline services might lead some to believe that austerity exists and public spending is being reduced. However, public spending is actually 4% higher today that in 2010. We are not experiencing short term disruption to balance the books, we are experiencing the controlled demolition of the welfare state – transferring the UK from a social democracy to a corporate state.    Continue Reading…

Published on VOX, by Paul De Grauwe and Yuemei Ji, June 14, 2013.

… There is a lot of confusion about the fiscal implications of the government bond-buying programme – the OMT, or Outright Monetary Transactions – that the ECB announced last year.

• This confusion arises mainly because the principles that guide the solvency of private companies (including banks) are applied to central banks.
• The level of confusion is so high that the president of the Bundesbank turned to the German Constitutional Court arguing that the OMT programme of the ECB would make German citizens liable for paying taxes to cover potential losses made by the ECB.   Continue Reading…

(about High frequency trading / concernant les Transactions à haute fréquence):

Dirk Müller zum Hochfrequenzhandel, 7.09 min, (im Bundestag am 16.01.2013), von basalIEDU am 17. Januar 20113 hochgeladen: Dirk Müller als Sachverständiger im Finanzausschuss des Deutschen Bundestag hat eine Stellungnahme zum Thema Hochfrequenzhandel gegeben.

Links:

• Hochfrequenzhandel auf de.wikipedia;
• High frequency trading on en.wikipedia and it’s External Links;
• Transactions à haute fréquence dans fr.wikipedia et ses liens externes.

Published on New Left Project.org, by Leo Panitch, Sam Gindin, June 12, 2013.

We very much appreciate these generous, perceptive and comradely comments on our book and we hope our response will contribute to continued discussions and further research.

It is useful to begin with the difficult question of how to define and date ‘global capitalism’.  As we tried to make clear in the opening pages of the book, we see capitalist globalization as a long historical process, the product of an intrinsic tendency within capitalism.   Continue Reading…

How Banks Create Money Out Of Thin Air, 7.06 min, uploaded by Kalinda Stevenson, Jan. 30, 2008; Money Creation seen as a positive act, by No Money Limits.com.

Links

(for videos and texts, showing different views on the still running discussion how money is created out of thin air – shows mainly individual preferences):   Continue Reading…

Fund says it lowered bar for Greece, which could reignite concerns about the lender’s impartiality – Published on AlJazeera, June 6, 2013.

… In a report released on Wednesday that looked back at the bailout, the Fund for the first time said it lowered its bar for Greece, which could reignite concerns about the lender’s impartiality.

Notable failures:    Continue Reading…

• Die Welt auf Pump, 42.54 min, von BlackC4pt4in am 24. Sept. 2012 hochgeladen;
• Der große Euro Schwindel: wie der ganze Irrsinn begann, 43.59 min, ARD Doku, von technics1000 am 3. Juli 2012 hochgeladen;
• Anne Will: Spar-Angie gegen Spendier-François: das letzte Euro-Gefecht? 75.28 min, von AnneWillTV am 25. Juli 2012 hochgeladen;
• Plan B für Einsteiger, 15.17 min, von WissensmanufakturNET am 19. Juni 2012 hochgeladen;
• Krise als Chance: Michael Vogt und Rico Albrecht, 104.39 min, von WissensmanufakturNET am 6. Oktober 2012 hochgeladen.

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Markus Dettmer and Christian Reiermann, June 03, 2013 (Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan).

The EU’s bailout of Cyprus has elicited unusually frank and vehement criticism from the finance experts grouped in the IMF’s Executive Board. Their damning indictment at an IMF meeting in May reflects global skepticism, especially in emerging economies, about the euro zone’s crisis management. Paulo Nogueira Batista, 58, is a fan of classical music, a connoisseur of German literature and an advocate of straight talking. As executive director for his native Brazil and 10 smaller countries, he is a member of the Executve Board, the highest-ranking operational decision-making body of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) … // Continue Reading…

Published on ZNet (first on Worker’s Action), by Mark Vorpahl, June 01, 2013.

When I heard that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress last week that it was too soon for the Fed to end its extraordinary stimulus programs, I did a double take.
“What stimulus programs?” I thought. Where are the jobs programs? Where are the “extraordinary” social services that will enable those still suffering from the effects of the Great Recession to buy more and stimulate the economy?   Continue Reading…

The neoliberal policy of Egypt’s new president Mohamed Morsi looks very much like a continuation of that of Mubarak. It is increasing social tensions – Published on english.Le Monde Diplomatique, by Gilbert Achcar, June 2013.

The Muslim Brothers’ economic credo of free enterprise unhampered by state interference is more closely consonant with neoliberal doctrine than was the form of capitalism dominant under Mubarak. This holds in particular for the version of that credo articulated by Khairat al-Shatir, the Brotherhood’s very capitalist number two after the murshid (guide), and a representative of its most conservative wing, or by Hassan Malek, an extremely wealthy, eminent member of the Brotherhood, who, after making his debut in the business world in a partnership with Al-Shatir, today manages, with his son, a constellation of enterprises in textiles, furniture and trade, employing more than 400 people … // Continue Reading…

eon paar videos auf YouTube:

• Hagen Rether : Die Wahrheit über unsere Gesellschaft, 44.56 min, von Demo Kratie am 1. März 2013 hochgeladen: viel Spass mit der Realität;
• Zeit ist Geld: Eine Chronik der Euro Krise, 43.43 min, von Demo Kratie am 31. März 2013 hochgeladen;
• Wird die Finanzkrise künstlich hinausgezogen …? 10.40 min, von Nature23Infokrieger am 27. Juni 2011 hochgeladen;
• Änderung der Machtverhältnisse, Demokratie, Umverteilung …, 16.17 min, von DerAnstreicher am 20. Januar 2013 hochgeladen;
• Andreas Popp: Exportweltmeister, 10.43 min, von BUMMI59 am 27. Januar 2013 hochgeladen: … zum deutschen Märchen des Exportweltmeisters;   Continue Reading…

Published on Dissident Voice, by Binoy Kampmark, May 31, 2013.

… We live in an age of austerity, if we are to believe the scorched earth cult that has taken over most Western governments. Budgets are being slashed by economic irrationalists. Outlays are being trimmed. The nippers and snippers are doing their worst, and here, we have an astonishing statistic. The British government, through its police arm Scotland Yard, has spent somewhere in order of $5 million “guarding” Assange. The term is itself odd – guarding suggests that he might come to harm, that protection is required. The harm, of course, is purely down to the fact that the British government might just bag him and ensure his swift departure to a country that has not, as yet, laid formal charges.   Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, May 31, 20113 (Photo Gallery).

Thousands of “Blockupy” protesters gathered in Frankfurt on Friday, surrounding the European Central Bank to air their concerns about euro-crisis policies. Both the banks and police were reportedly well-prepared for the anti-capitalist demonstration.

An estimated 2,500 supporters of the anti-capitalist group “Blockupy” demonstrated in the German financial capital of Frankfurt on Friday, blocking access to the European Central Bank (ECB) in protest of euro-crisis austerity policies …// Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Alexander Demling, May 28, 2013.

The oft-cited statistic that half of young Spaniards are unemployed is wrong. In reality, about one-fifth of those under 25 are looking for work. Nevertheless, outreach programs created by Germany focus on young people alone, though critics say other groups desperately need help too.

In recent days, it seemed as though the entire German cabinet had discovered youth unemployment as its new pet issue.   Continue Reading…

British socialist Mark Bergfeld draws out the connections between struggles over food production and distribution in an article written for Climate and Capitalism – Published on Socialist Worker (first on Climate and Capitalism), by Mark Bergfeld, May 28, 2013.

IN AUGUST 2012, 200 members of the Andalusian fieldworker union SAT in the Spanish state organized a “food expropriation.” They walked into the local Carrefour and Mercandor supermarkets, loaded their trolleys with rice, beans, potatoes, bread–and left without paying a single cent.    Continue Reading…

… another note on Reinhart and Rogoff (and Reinhart) – Published on Real-World Economics Review Blog, by merijnknibbe, May 27, 2013.

The discussion about the Reinhart (and Reinhart) and Rogoff (RRR) articles is flaring up again: they have finally written a coherent, systematic defence. Look here. It is important to discuss this because of the importance of their main finding:

monetary economies have been inherently unstable during (at least) the last 200 years, because of endogenous forces related to, among other things, money and debt.   Continue Reading…

Published on naked capitalism, by Yves Smith, May 24, 2013.

Bernanke managed to shoot global markets in the head the day before yesterday, and then, as has become typical when investors throw brickbats at what the Fed has said, various mouthpieces go about talking the markets back up … // Continue Reading…

The (Internal Revenue Service) IRS has behaved badly, but the real villain is Congress – Published on The Economist, May 25, 2013.

WHEN Barack Obama fired the acting head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) earlier this month, he doubtless hoped to quell the hullabaloo about its seemingly partial treatment of applications for tax-exempt status from conservative groups. He failed. This week protests were held outside several IRS offices, and Congress continued to investigate. The bureaucrat at the heart of the row refused to answer questions to avoid self-incrimination. Republicans began to invoke the word “impeachment”, if only to say, with a show of moderation, that it was not quite justified on the evidence revealed so far … // Continue Reading…

Interview with social theorist David Harvey, published on Spiegel Online International, by Christoph Twickel, May 21, 2013;
(13 Photos in the Gallery).

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Why should a Marxist be concerned about major cities instead of the working class these days?

• Harvey : Traditional Marxists admittedly see the avant-garde of the revolution in the industrial working class. However, since this is disappearing in the wake of Western deindustrialization, people are starting to grasp that urban conflicts will probably be decisive.   Continue Reading…

One billion. That’s the number of hungry people worldwide. The effects are heartbreaking. The causes myriad. Solutions are needed now to feed future generations. In this series, the UN ’s three food agencies – FAO, WFP and IFAD – take us around the globe in search of answers to some of the most pressing questions we face today.

Episodes 1 to 14: published on YouTube and uploaded by IFADTV, between December 2010 to March 2012, Episode 15: uploaded by FAOvideo, May 2012:

• Episode 01, 13.44 min;
• Episode 02, 09.59 min;
• Episode 03, 10.53 min;    Continue Reading…

… und nicht das, was Ihr nicht wissen solltet. Ganz einfach, 124.48 min, von MainstreamSmasherTV am 15. Januar 2012 hochgeladen: Wissen, welches normalerweise nicht an Schulen gelehrt wird und oft nicht gehört werden will.

… with record stock exchange highs, the planet’s imminent plunge into recession – Published on leapGEAB.eu no 75, May 16, 2013.

Despite a feeling of relative calm given by both the media and the American and Japanese financial markets going from record to record, the world economy is slowing down badly and a widespread recession is looming. The various players are fully aware of it and, in the face of the challenges of an imminent collapse, countries or regions are putting various strategies in place to try and limit the consequences. Whilst some seem dictated by desperation or last chance solutions, others on the contrary bear witness to a real adaptation to the world’s current changes. And it’s no surprise that, in the first category, we find the “powers of the world before” which no longer have any real options.   Continue Reading…

watch this video on YouTube, 46.26 min, uploaded by David Brown, Oct 29, 2009:

• … Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 7 January 1943) was an inventor and a mechanical and electrical engineer. He is frequently cited as one of the most important contributors to the birth of commercial electricity and is best known for his many revolutionary developments in the field of electromagnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tesla’s patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current (AC) electric power systems, including the polyphase system of electrical distribution and the AC motor, with which he helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution.   Continue Reading…

Das Ende des Geldes: Franz Hörmann am Top Info Forum, 31.03.2012, 54.14 min, von TifPosi am 25. Juni 2012 hochgeladen: Geld zur individuellen Entfaltung. [warum es nicht mehr funktioniert? ... Emotionen steuern unsere Wahrnehmung:
- Angst (Tunnelblick)
- Liebe (Fehlleistung)
- Gier (Ueberschätzung)
Emotion stellt einen Wahrnehmungsfilter dar = es werden nur jene Informationen wahrgenommen, die jeweils zum Gefühl passen, das passiert automatisch und ist bewusst kaum steuerbar (Webseite)];

weiter …    Continue Reading…

Our problems are not due to a lack of innovative ideas; they are due to an excess of financial power concentrated in the hands of an elite of bankers – Published on ROARMAG.org, by Jerome Roos, May 14, 2013;

For years already, the youth of Europe’s heavily indebted periphery has been facing mass unemployment. In Greece and Spain, a respective 59 and 56 percent of young people are now out of work, while youth unemployment in the EU as a whole currently stands at a troubling 24 percent, up from 22.5 percent last year. The “lucky” ones are those waiting tables with PhD degrees in their back pockets. Those who were forced to leave their families and friends behind to join the generational exodus to Germany or Angola don’t even show up in the statistics.    Continue Reading…

Doug Yurchey, 52.54 min, uploaded by themooreshowofficial, June 10, 2012: … Doug Yurchey was born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1951. While operating an art gallery he ‘encountered’ Katrina Satler, a super psychic who inspired him to dedicate his life to solving great mysteries. His research led him to scientific genius Nikola Tesla. Because of his study and understanding of Tesla, Yurchey has literally rewritten history. The idea that our ancestors were technologically superior is a vital theme that he currently promotes. In 1990 Doug was hired as a background artist on the Simpsons TV Show and has become a successful Internet writer and has 10,000 Google listings.

Published on Counterpunch, by Mike Whitney, May 14, 2013.

It looks like the Fed will be tapping on the brakes sometime in the near future, although the date has yet to be determined.
Stocks headed lower on Monday following an unofficial announcement from the Fed that the Central Bank had settled on a process for winding down its bond buying program called QE. While the article–which appeared in the Wall Street Journal– did not set a specific date for QE to end, it did say that the Fed had a plan for scaling back stimulus depending on economic conditions. According to Fed-mouthpiece Jon Hilsenrath:   Continue Reading…

Der große Euro Schwindel: wie der ganze Irrsinn begann, 43.59 min, von technics1000 am 3. Juli 2012 hochgeladen: Von Tattergreisen mit gesicherten üppigen Diäten und Pensionen wurde ein blühendes Land, dessen Währung D-MARK hieß und sehr stabil war, wo Made in Germany ein weltweiter Begriff von Qualität war mit diesem Teuro völlig ruiniert und dessen Einwohner und Steuerzahler wurden nicht mal dazu befragt, dazu will man uns jetzt sogar für alle Schulden völlig fremder Eu Länder mit haften lassen, sogar mit dem Versprechen von angeblicher Rendite …;

Schlange stehen für altes Brot: Armut in Deutschland, ARD Doku, 28.34 min, von TelefonKing am 7. Dezember 2011 hochgeladen: über Armut in Deutschland.

Watch this workshop-Video, 100.55 min, published on Socialist Project.ca/LeftStreamed, in Ottawa, April 27, 2013 (also on YouTube, uploaded by Ottawaactivistnews, May 6, 2013).

The panelists discuss the history and scope of the austerity agenda, its effects on the environment, indigenous peoples and working people the world over. Who and what is driving this agenda and how do we conceive of a fight back strategy that might begin to challenge the current hegemony of corporate power:

• Janet Fraser, Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario and Organizer, Solidarity Against Austerity (Moderator), Donald Swartz, Professor (retired), Carleton University, School of Public Policy and Administration, at 1:28 min;
• Jennifer Moore, Latin America Program Coordinator, Mining Watch Canada, at 16:35 min;   Continue Reading…

• Prof. Guy Standing: Why the precariat requires a basic income, 37.06 min, uploaded by BKTVkanal, Nov 3, 2012;
• Basic Income, a new human right, 3.07 min, uploaded by RevenudeBaseFR March 1, 2013;
• Is it time for a more radical solution: a minimum income, 8.23 min, uploaded by TheBigPictureRT, April 2, 2013;
• Le revenu de base: un nouveau droit humain, 3.07 min, mise en ligne le 22 mars 2013 par RevenudeBaseFR;
• Professoren sprechen über das Grundeinkommen, 5.44 min, von daniel häni am 28. November 2012 hochfwelDEN: Prof. Ueli Mäder, Ordinarius für Soziologie an der Universität Basel im Gespräch mit Prof. Theo Wehner Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologe an der ETH Zürich … (ganzer Text);
• Grundeinkommen – ein Kulturimpuls, 98.46 min, von daniel häni am 3. Februar 2011 hochgeladen; *
• Diskussion über bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen auf dem Bundesparteitag der Piratenpartei 2010, 96.39 min, von Ueberwachungsdruck am 4. Januar 2011 hochgeladen,
• Tagesschau vom 11-05-2013 (zum Grundeinkommen), 1.58 min, von Michael Molli am 11.Mai 2013 hochgeladen;
• (schon am 10. Mai auf HBB-blog): Gedeihen: was auf der Welt wird es brauchen? 132.03 min,
  auch auf YouTube, 132,03 min, uploaded by ThriveMovement, April 5, 2012: Mehr Informationen erhalten Sie auf THRIVE MOVEMENT.com;
• Prof. Dr. Michael Vogt: Bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen ist finanzierbar, 53.26 min, von WissensmanufakturNET am 28. April 2012: Mehr zum Thema auf Wissensmanufaktur.com: Michael Vogt, Mitglied im Beirat der Wissensmanufaktur, beschreibt im Schweizer Fernsehen, wie das Bedingungslose Grundeinkommen (BGE) im Rahmen einer nachhaltigen Gesamtordnung tatsächlich realisierbar ist.   Continue Reading…

Published on World Socialist Web Site WSWS, by Robert Stevens, 10 May 2013.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a “Concluding Statement” May 3 demanding there be no relaxation of the austerity programme it has imposed on an already severely impoverished Greek population. The statement follows the IMF’s recent inspection mission to Greece, alongside the European Union (EU) and European Central Bank (ECB).

The reaction of the bourgeois media in Greece and internationally to the report was to stress its call for the coalition government to do more to prevent tax evasion. Typical was the BBC’s headline, “IMF hails economic ‘progress’ but warns on tax evasion.”   Continue Reading…

some links:

U.S. Vulnerabilities to Money Laundering, Drugs, and Terrorist Financing: HSBC Case History (or http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-112shrg76061/html/CHRG-112shrg76061.htm );
same on Homeland Security and Government Affairs: permanent subcommittee on Investigations;

Broadening and Connecting the Global Financial Crime Community: /Homepage, /About, (Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists ACFCS.org), /Contact;

SAS Institute Inc: A United Front, making the case for integrating fraud and anti-money laundering;
(Homepage, Sitemap, About, Contact);     Continue Reading…

• Vidange du barrage de Verbois, version courte, 5.55 min, mise en ligne par ChaineSIG le 12 avril 2013;
• Vidange du barrage de Verbois et fin du nettoyage, 34.30 min, mise en ligne par Patrick Inchauspe le 11 juillet 2012;
• Le Jet d’eau: une histoire, un symbole, 5.02 min, mise en ligne par ChaineSIG le 18 janvier 2013;
• le Jet D’Eau, Geneve, 11.00 min, mise en ligne par SerGio le 4 septembre 2011.

Published on Center for a Stateless Society, by Sebastian A.B., April 30, 2013.

Under the cooperative model, workers own the business, reducing injustice because they have a stake in the community and because an individual will find it hard to exploit oneself. Workers often buy into their jobs (upfront or amortized), vote on major decisions in general assemblies or committees, and even voluntarily donate to the co-op for re-investment. Known as workplace democracy, this model of authentic self-determination renders state action superfluous. Continue Reading…

Published on People’s World, by Susan Webb, May 6, 2013.

More than 100 leading cancer specialists from around the world have denounced the “astronomical” costs of cancer drugs, suggesting that drug companies are engaged in unethical profiteering.

The doctors, experts in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a potentially deadly blood cancer, are from more than 15 countries on every continent, including about 30 from the U.S., led by Hagop Kantarjian, a prominent leukemia specialist at the prestigious MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. They presented their views April 25 in a stinging article in “Blood,” the journal of the American Society of Hematology. It was publicized in a front-page New York Times article the same day, but seems to have dropped off the media radar since then.  Continue Reading…

The economics curriculum: towards a radical reformation, 3d May – 31st May 2013 – Conference Guidelines – Published on Real-World Economics Review Blog, by Edward Fullbrook, May 4, 2013.

• - a World Economics Association Conference;
• – with Open Discussion Forum.

Welcome to all participants to the conference Discussion Forum: All interested in participating in the dialogue about the economics curriculum. Only when papers depart too much from normal standards of conference papers have we rejected them. Since we believe that values are necessarily involved in all papers, no paper has been rejected for ideological or political reasons. In the present situation characterized by multifaceted and complex threats to humankind, we need an open, pluralistic debate in line with normal ideas of democracy. Participation in the discussion is not limited to the authors of posted papers and we hope that all interested WEA members will contribute to the dialogue. We look forward to a constructive dialogue and hope to learn something about curriculum development, and also to learn what works logistically for purposes of future online conferences.    Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Nils Klawitter, May 02, 2013 (Photo Gallery).

For years, economists have posited that prosperity requires growth, with environmental damage as the regrettable but unavoidable consequence. A growing number of critics are now challenging this equation, though, calling for a radical revamping of the economic system.

Harald Welzer’s career as a critic of growth began with a few simple reflections. Just how progressive is it, he asked himself, when millions of hectares of land are used elsewhere in the world so that we keep down the cost of meat? How modern is it when producing a kilogram of salmon in a supposedly sustainable way requires feeding the fish five to six kilograms (11 to 13 pounds) of other types of fish? … // Continue Reading…

Published on Intrepid Report, by Ellen Brown, J.D., May 3, 2013.

… The crossing of the Rubicon into the confiscation of depositor funds was not a one-off emergency measure limited to Cyprus. Similar “bail-in” policies are now appearing in multiple countries. (See my earlier articles here.) What triggered the new rules may have been a series of game-changing events including the refusal of Iceland to bail out its banks and their depositors; Bank of America’s commingling of its ominously risky derivatives arm with its depository arm over the objections of the FDIC; and the fact that most EU banks are now insolvent.    Continue Reading…

The US-EU free trade pact and the Trans-Pacific Partnership are about securing regulatory gains for major corporate interests – Published on AlterNet, by Dean Baker, (first on AlJazeeraEnglish), April 29, 2013.

In polite circles in the United States, support for free trade is a bit like proper bathing habits: It is taken for granted. Only the hopelessly crude and unwashed would not support free trade.

There is some ground for this attitude. Certainly, the US has benefited enormously by being able to buy a wide range of items at lower cost from other countries. However, this does not mean that most people in the country have always benefited from every opening to greater trade … // Continue Reading…

The enactment of FATCA has ramped up negotiations at the EU and OECD level on how to improve the implementation of taxing cross-border investment income – Published on CFO Insight, by William Amofah, April 29, 2013.

The attention paid to the elimination of tax havens by policymakers and the media has increased in recent times. One of the main reasons for this, according to Deutsche Bank Research, is the implementation of FATCA by the United States.   Continue Reading…