tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29701844266191954192024-03-08T06:34:03.678-08:00World Economic NewsMichael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-21952780058502770242013-07-26T12:36:00.000-07:002013-07-26T12:36:07.138-07:00 Egypt, Brazil, Turkey: Tremors of World Revolution <br /> The dramatic events in Turkey, Brazil and Egypt are a graphic indication that<br />we have now entered an entirely new situation on a world scale. We need to<br />examine the fundamental processes in order to combat any tendency to<br />routinism.<br /><br />Since the Second World War there have been seven recessions, but this is<br />the most serious recession in history. The rate of recovery is far slower<br />than any slump in the past hundred years. Five years after the beginning of<br />the crisis, the world economy remains mired in recession and stagnation.<br /><br />The recovery in the USA is extremely sluggish and fragile. Europe is in a<br />deep recession. The former powerhouse of its growth, Germany, is on the<br />verge of recession. The weaker economies of southern Europe are in a deep<br />slump. Meanwhile*,* the slowdown of the Chinese economy is causing alarm,<br />and the so-called BRICS economies are also entering into crisis.<br /><br />North America, Europe and Japan account for 90% of household wealth. If<br />these countries are not consuming, China cannot produce. And if China is<br />not producing (at least to the same extent), countries like Brazil,<br />Argentina and Australia cannot sell their raw materials.<br /><br />Thus, globalization manifests itself as a global crisis of capitalism. The<br />huge accumulation of debt acts as a colossal drag on the economy,<br />preventing any meaningful recovery. Everywhere, in cutting living<br />standards, they are cutting demand and deepening the crisis.<br /><br />The attempts of the US Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low and pump<br />liquidity into the economy (“quantitative easing”) have proved useless for<br />increasing production. The capitalists borrow money at low rates and use it<br />to speculate on the stock markets. They either use it to take over other<br />companies, or to buy shares in their own companies in order to drive the<br />price of shares up. This explains the boom on the stock exchange at a time<br />when the US economy is experiencing only sluggish growth.<br /><br />Quantitative easing was a colossal gamble. They calculated that there<br />cannot be inflation while the markets are flat. So they pumped more money<br />into the economy, hoping to get a reactivation. This was like a drug addict<br />pumping drugs into his system in order to get a “high”. But this was a<br />policy subject to the law of diminishing returns. The effectiveness is, and<br />therefore ever bigger quantities are needed to produce the same results.<br /><br />The monetarists pointed out (correctly) that sooner or later, “quantitative<br />easing” must end in an explosion of inflation. This in turn will lead to a<br />sharp increase in interest rates, like a man slamming on the brakes of a<br />car, and a new and even deeper slump. But as soon as the Fed announced its<br />intention to end quantitative easing, there were sharp falls on the stock<br />markets all over the world. That showed both the nervousness of the<br />bourgeois and the extremely fragile nature of the “recovery”.<br /><br />There is no real precedent to the present crisis in its extent and global<br />character. It is true that there is no final crisis of capitalism. But the<br />bare assertion that capitalism can recover from crises tells us nothing<br />about the specific phase through which capitalism is passing.<br /><br />The question that must be answered is: how long will it last? By what means<br />will a solution be found? And at what cost? Some bourgeois economists are<br />predicting that it will take 20 years to solve the crisis of the euro. Two<br />decades of falling living standards and austerity means an explosion of the<br />class struggle everywhere. This is what the ruling class fears.<br /><br />Not only can the ruling class not permit new reforms; it cannot permit the<br />existence of those gains made in the past. That is a finished recipe for<br />class struggle. We therefore face a future of years, probably decades, of<br />falling living standards. This will have a profound effect on consciousness.<br />From Turkey to Brazil<br /><br />The boom in capitalism served to mask the underlying contradictions in<br />society, but not to remove them. The gains of economic prosperity were not<br />evenly distributed. According to the UN*,* the richest 2% own more than<br />half the world’s wealth, while the poorest half of the world’s population<br />own barely 1% of global wealth.<br /><br />An unbridgeable gulf has opened up between rich and poor everywhere. In the<br />words of Marx: “Accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the<br />same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil slavery, ignorance,<br />brutality, mental degradation, at the opposite pole, *i.e.,* on the side of<br />the class that produces its own product in the form of capital.” (Capital,<br />vol.1, 25:4)<br /><br />This is the economic background to the social explosions in Turkey and<br />Brazil, which represent a sudden change in the situation. Both countries<br />were held up as models of economic growth and political and social<br />stability. Now everything has turned into its opposite.<br /><br />The impasse of capitalism finds its expression in sudden leaps of<br />consciousness in the masses. Sudden and sharp changes are implicit in the<br />situation and we must be prepared for them. Everywhere there is a simmering<br />anger beneath the surface, which expresses itself as mass outbursts in<br />Tunisia, Egypt, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Rumania, Brazil*, *and<br />beyond*.* Russia, China and Saudi Arabia are all faced with similar<br />developments.<br /><br />What we see is the beginning of the world revolution. Events in one country<br />have a big effect on consciousness in other countries. Modern methods of<br />communication enable events to be replicated with lightning speed. The<br />Revolution is leapfrogging from one country to another as if the old<br />frontiers had no significance.<br /><br />These explosions occurred on apparently unrelated issues of an accidental<br />character: a plan to build a shopping mall in a park in Istanbul*,* and an<br />increase in bus fares in Sao Paulo. But in reality, they are reflections of<br />the same phenomenon: necessity expresses itself through accident. This is a<br />reflection of contradictions that have been accumulating for decades<br />beneath the surface. Once the process reaches a critical point, any small<br />incident can set the masses in motion.<br /><br />The capitalist commentators were taken completely by surprise by the events<br />in Turkey. But within a matter of days similar mass protests swept across<br />Brazil, the economic giant of Latin America, bringing hundreds of thousands<br />onto the streets. These were the biggest demonstrations for over 20 years.<br />They exposed the contradictions that have been building up in the form of<br />poor healthcare, poor education and rampant corruption.<br /><br />What has so far saved the bourgeoisie is the lack of adequate organization<br />and leadership. This is most clearly shown in the case of Egypt.<br />The Second Egyptian Revolution<br /><br />Periods of sharp class struggle will alternate with periods of tiredness,<br />apathy, lulls, and even reaction. But these will merely be the prelude to<br />new and even more explosive developments. This is shown clearly by the<br />Egyptian Revolution.<br /><br />In Egypt, after months of disappointment and tiredness, 17 million took to<br />the streets in an unprecedented popular uprising. With no party, no<br />organization or leadership, they succeeded in just a few days in<br />overthrowing the hated Morsi government.<br /><br />The western media tried to characterise this as a coup. But a coup is by<br />definition a movement of a small minority that conspires to seize power<br />behind the backs of the people. Here the revolutionary people were on the<br />streets and were the real motor force behind events.<br /><br />In every genuine revolution it is the elemental movement of the masses that<br />provides the motor force. However, unlike the anarchists*, * Marxists do not<br />worship spontaneity, which has its strong points but also its weaknesses.<br />We must understand the limitations of spontaneity.<br /><br />In Egypt the masses could have taken power at the end of June. In fact,<br />they had power in their hands, but they were not aware of it. This<br />situation bears some resemblance to February 1917 in Russia. Lenin pointed<br />out that the only reason the workers did not take power then had nothing to<br />do with objective conditions, but was due to the subjective factor:<br /><br />“Why don't they take power? Steklov says: for this reason and that. This is<br />nonsense. The fact is that *the proletariat is not organised and class<br />conscious enough. *This must be admitted: *material strength is in the<br />hands of the proletariat but the bourgeoisie turned out to be prepared and<br />class conscious.*This is a monstrous fact, and it should be frankly and<br />openly admitted and the people should be told that they did not take power<br />because they were unorganised and not conscious enough.” (Lenin, *Works*,<br />vol. 36, page 437, our emphasis)<br /><br />The Egyptian workers and youth are learning fast in the school of<br />Revolution. That is why the June uprising was far broader, deeper, faster<br />and more conscious than the First Revolution that occurred two and a half<br />years ago. But they still lack the necessary experience and revolutionary<br />theory that would enable the Revolution to achieve a rapid and relatively<br />painless victory.<br /><br />The situation is one of deadlock in which neither side can claim total<br />victory. This is what enables the army to raise itself above society and<br />present itself as the supreme arbiter of the Nation, although in reality<br />the real power was in the streets. The confidence expressed by some people<br />in the role of the army shows extreme naivety. Bonapartism represents a<br />serious danger to the Egyptian Revolution. This naivety will be burned out<br />of the consciousness of the masses by the harsh school of life.<br /><br />The open counterrevolutionar ies of the Muslim Brotherhood have been driven<br />from power but because of the limits of its purely spontaneous (i.e.<br />unorganised) nature, the Revolution has failed to take power. On the one<br />hand the Islamist reactionaries are organising a counterrevolutionar y<br />rebellion that threatens to plunge the country into civil war. On the other<br />hand*,* the bourgeois elements, generals and imperialists are manoeuvring<br />to rob the masses of the victory that was won with their blood.<br /><br />The Revolution was strong enough to achieve the immediate objective: the<br />overthrow of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. But it was not strong enough<br />to prevent the fruits of its victory being stolen by the generals and the<br />bourgeoisie. It will have to pass through another hard school in order to<br />raise itself to the level that is necessary to change the course of history.<br /><br />Revolution enables people to learn fast. If two years ago there had existed<br />in Egypt the equivalent of the Bolshevik Party of Lenin and Trotsky, even<br />with just the 8,000 members that it had in February 1917, the whole<br />situation would be entirely different. But such a party did not exist. It<br />will have to be built in the heat of events.<br /><br />The strategists of Capital were seriously alarmed by these<br />developments. **Leaving<br />aside all non-essential and accidental elements, these movements were<br />inspired and driven by the same things. What we have here is an<br />international phenomenon: a tendency towards a world revolutionary<br />movement. We see similar developments beginning in Europe.<br />The crisis of the euro<br /><br />The crisis in Europe most dramatically expresses the sickness of world<br />capitalism. The idea was to make the working class pay for the crisis by<br />imposing austerity policies. But the willingness of the masses to accept<br />further reductions in living standards has definite limits, and these are<br />being reached. In Portugal the constant pressure on living standards has<br />provoked rising social and political tensions, expressed in a general<br />strike and mass demonstrations that plunged the government into crisis.<br /><br />The *e*uro is not the cause of the crisis, but all the attempts to save the<br />*e*uro have forced them to adopt the line of savage austerity (“internal<br />devaluation”) that is pushing them all deeper and deeper into recession. As<br />a result, unemployment increases, the economy sickens, tax returns fail,<br />and deficits increase inexorably.<br /><br />There is a growing split between Germany and the weaker countries of the<br />south of Europe, and also between Germany and France, which, because of its<br />weakness, is drawn closer to the South. Germany wishes to push all the<br />burden of the crisis onto the shoulders of the weaker members of the<br />*e*urozone,<br />which imposes severe strains on its unity. It is not impossible that these<br />strains will lead eventually to the breakup, not just of the *e*urozone but<br />of the EU itself.<br /><br />This prospect horrifies the bourgeoisie, not just on this side of the<br />Atlantic but also in the USA. If the EU breaks up it would open the door to<br />currency wars, competitive devaluations and trade wars that would set the<br />scene for a deep slump with catastrophic effects on a world scale.<br /><br />Many economists are now talking openly of the prospect of the breakup of<br />the EU. For fear of the alternative, they may succeed, against all the<br />odds, in holding something together, but even if they do, not much will be<br />left of the original project.<br /><br />The class struggle is intensifying. Revolutionary explosions are on the<br />order of the day in Europe. The revolutionary potential in Europe is<br />clearest in countries like Greece, Spain and Italy. But France is not far<br />behind, and the riots in Britain were a warning that such events are<br />possible in Britain in the next period.<br /><br />The bourgeoisie is faced with a serious problem: they must take back all<br />the concessions they made over the past fifty years. But the class balance<br />of forces is very unfavourable for them.<br /><br />In countries like Greece one can say that the revolution has already<br />entered its first phase. The process naturally is uneven, developing with<br />greater speed and intensity in some countries, especially in the South of<br />Europe, and at a slower pace in those countries that have accumulated a<br />layer of fat in the last period. But everywhere the process is moving in<br />the same direction.<br />Greece<br /><br />In Greece there is a movement in the direction of revolution. The workers<br />and youth have shown tremendous determination and will to struggle, but<br />they have not got a worked out programme to change society. That is what<br />they want but they do not know how to express it, that is all. With a<br />strong Marxist current Greece would be on the eve of insurrection. But our<br />small forces are not strong enough to provide the necessary leadership.<br /><br />There has been a temporary lull because the workers have gone on one<br />24-hour general strike after another and achieved nothing. The mood remains<br />revolutionary. The reformist trade union and Stalinist leaders are holding<br />the class back. But the struggle over the state broadcasting company (ERT)<br />shows that the movement can explode again at any time. Nothing has been<br />resolved.<br /><br />The Samaras government is weak and fractious. Samaras is purely empirical.<br />He staggers from one crisis to the next with no clear idea where he is<br />going. The government is too weak to do what has to be done. It is split<br />and cannot last. Sooner or later the bourgeoisie will have to pass the<br />poisoned chalice to Tsipras and SYRIZA.<br /><br />Doubtless a section of the ruling class would like to move towards<br />reaction. But they know that this would mean civil war, which they would<br />not be sure of winning. So they will send the workers to the school of<br />reformism to learn a lesson. It will be a very painful one. A SYRIZA<br />government would be faced with a clear alternative: either break with the<br />bourgeoisie and defend the interests of the working class, or capitulate to<br />the pressures from the bourgeoisie and carry out the policies dictated by<br />the Troika. There is no third way.<br /><br /> Tsipras became very popular because he seemed to stand for radical<br />policies, a break with the Memorandum, etc. But as he gets close to power,<br />he has moderated his language. He is careful not to promise too much in<br />order not to frighten the bourgeoisie and to dampen expectations of the<br />masses.<br /><br />However, the expectations will be very great. If a Left coalition<br />government led by SYRIZA fails to take the necessary action against big<br />business, it will cause a wave of bitter disillusionment, preparing the way<br />for an even more right-wing coalition, possibly between the New Democracy<br />and Golden Dawn (Khrysi Argi).<br /><br />Under these conditions the Golden Dawn would grow on the right, and the KKE<br />would grow on the left. For a whole period, one unstable government will<br />follow another. Left coalitions will give way to right-wing coalitions. But<br />no combination of parliamentary forces can solve the crisis.<br /><br />The Greek ruling class will proceed carefully, testing the ground through<br />the gradual introduction of reactionary laws and measures to restrict<br />democratic rights. It will attempt to move towards parliamentary<br />Bonapartism before imposing an open dictatorship.<br /><br />But long before reaction can succeed, there will be a whole series of<br />social explosions, in which the question of power will be posed. Under such<br />conditions, the revolutionary tendency can build its forces rapidly. The<br />Greek section has an enormous responsibility on its shoulders, and the<br />Greek question must be placed high on the agenda of the whole International.<br />Consciousness<br /><br />There is a contradiction between the level of consciousness of the movement<br />and the tasks posed by history. It can only be resolved by the experience<br />of the masses.<br /><br />Consciousness always tends to lag behind events. But consciousness can<br />catch up with a bang. That is the real meaning of a revolution. The essence<br />of a revolution is lightning changes in the mood of the masses. Explosions<br />can occur suddenly, without warning, when least expected. That was the<br />meaning of the events in Turkey and Brazil.<br /><br />As the crisis deepens, the mood of the masses is changing. Everywhere there<br />is a backlash against the policies of austerity. This is grasped even by a<br />section of the bourgeoisie. There are definite limits to what people can<br />stand. These limits are being reached.<br /><br />In the period of the boom, despite overwork and increased exploitation,<br />many workers could find a way out through individual solutions, like<br />overtime. Now that avenue is blocked. Only through struggle will it be<br />possible to defend the existing conditions, let alone secure better ones.<br />Now the psychology of the workers is changing fundamentally. There is a<br />mood of anger and bitterness.<br /><br />One layer after another is being drawn into struggle. The traditional<br />proletariat has been joined by layers that in the past would have<br />considered themselves as middle class: teachers, civil servants, doctors,<br />nurses, etc.<br /><br />However, after decades of relative class peace, the workers need a<br />preliminary period to stretch their muscles*,* like an athlete whose<br />muscles have become stiff. The school of mass strikes and demonstrations<br />are a preparation for more serious things. In general, the working class<br />can only learn from experience.<br /><br />The onset of the crisis initially produced shock among the workers who did<br />not expect it. They were traumatised and unable to react in many cases. But<br />that is now changing. In one country after another the workers and youth<br />are taking the road of struggle and through the experience of struggle, the<br />class begins to feel itself as a class.<br /><br />Over a period*,* all the old reformist illusions will be burned out of the<br />consciousness of the working class, which will become hardened in struggle.<br />Sooner or later, this must have an effect inside the mass workers’<br />organizations.<br />The mass organizations<br /><br />The mass organizations are lagging far behind events. In the 1930s (and<br />also in the 1970s)*,* mass centrist tendencies emerged fairly rapidly in<br />the workers’ parties. We are not yet in that stage. On the contrary, the<br />mood of fury that exists in the masses scarcely finds any reflection in the<br />mass organizations.<br /><br />It is a paradox that the very organizations that were created by the<br />working class to change society have become monstrous barriers in the path<br />of the working class. Decades of capitalist boom have carried the process<br />of degeneration of all these organizations to an extreme, both in the<br />political parties (Social Democracy and the former “Communist” parties) and<br />the unions.<br /><br />The dialectic of history has taken cruel revenge on the reformists and<br />Stalinists. Precisely at a moment when the capitalist system is collapsing,<br />the reformist leaders embrace the “market” even closer than before. They<br />are destined to sink with it. This is a finished recipe for crises in all<br />these organizations in the future.<br /><br />In France*,* Hollande’s electoral support collapsed in only a few months to<br />the lowest levels since 1958. In Greece*,* the Pasok has been almost wiped<br />out. In Italy*,* the old Communist Party (the PCI) liquidated itself and<br />the PRC is rapidly disintegrating, punished by the workers for its<br />betrayals in the Prodi coalition government. In Spain*,* the PSOE does not<br />gain despite the unpopularity of the PP government.<br /><br />In Britain*,* the Labour leaders are terrified of the prospect of coming to<br />power. They do not fight for a majority. They make no promises of reforms,<br />etc., because they fear that this will encourage the workers and unions to<br />make more demands. When they make speeches, they address their remarks, not<br />to the workers but to the bosses and bankers, seeking their approval. They<br />have passed from reforms to counter-reforms.<br /><br />In most countries there has been a collapse of the Left. The left<br />reformists are hopeless empiricists, just like the right wing. It is just<br />two different kinds of empiricism. They cling to the outmoded recipes of<br />Keynesianism. None of them speak of socialism.<br /><br />The ex-Stalinists have been punished by history for their past crimes. They<br />have moved sharply to the right, especially after the collapse of the USSR<br />and are now not even the shadow of their former selves. They are deeply<br />sceptical about socialism and have no faith whatsoever in the working class.<br /><br />The old Stalinists were at least a caricature of the genuine article. Now<br />they are only a pale imitation of reformism. Consequently, at a time when<br />capitalism is in a deep crisis, when the ideas of Communism ought to get a<br />big audience, they have proved impotent to reach the most radicalised<br />layers of the workers and youth. In some countries they have disappeared<br />altogether.<br /><br />Trotsky said that betrayal is implicit in reformism. We do not speak here<br />necessarily of a conscious betrayal but the fact that if one accepts<br />capitalism, one must also accept the laws of capitalism. Under these<br />conditions a very critical mood will develop rapidly. At a certain point we<br />will see a ferment of discussion in the rank and file and the<br />crystallization of a left wing.<br /><br />The reformists yearn for a return to “normality”, but that is a utopian<br />dream. To manage capitalism in its epoch of decay is to manage a general<br />reduction of living standards. These leaders reflect the past, not the<br />present or the future. There is no longer any unquestioning support among<br />workers for the Socialist and ex-Communist leaders. On the contrary, there<br />is a critical attitude and even open scepticism towards them.<br /><br />That does not mean, as the sects imagine, that these parties will simply<br />disappear. The reformists have deep roots in the class and can recover from<br />even what seem to be impossible situations. When the masses look for an<br />alternative, they do not look at the sects, but will test and re-test the<br />well-known traditional parties and leaders, before they finally discard<br />them and look for a new political point of reference.<br /><br />The workers will test one party and leader after another in a desperate<br />attempt to find a way out of the crisis. They discard one after another.<br />The pendulum swings to the left and the right. In contrast to the 1930s and<br />1970s, the Left in the Social Democracy is weak. But as the crisis<br />intensifies, there will be a differentiation inside the mass organizations.<br /><br />The rapid rise of SYRIZA in Greece and the advances of Mélenchon and the<br />Front de Gauche in France is an indication of processes that will be<br />repeated on an even bigger scale in the next period. In both cases,<br />however, the forces for new left-wing movements did not drop from the clouds<br />*,* but emerged from splits in the existing mass organizations (the KKE in<br />Greece and the Socialist Party in France).<br /><br />There will be a whole series of crises in both the SPs and CPs in the<br />future, which will create very favourable conditions for the growth of mass<br />Marxist tendencies.<br />The trade unions<br /><br />Trotsky said that the trade union leaders are the most conservative force<br />in society. That is truer than ever. Yet the workers have nowhere else to<br />go. The mass movement can develop spontaneously, from below, without<br />leadership from the top. The workers will improvise all kinds of<br />rank-and-file ad hoc committees and campaigns.<br /><br />The anarchists and sects will see these movements as an alternative to the<br />unions. But the working class cannot dispense with the trade unions, which<br />will be drawn in later. Ad hoc organisations have a role to play, but there<br />is no substitute for patient revolutionary work to transform the unions.<br /><br />Most of the union leaders are living in the past and are completely<br />unprepared for the period into which we have entered. At the very time when<br />the capitalist system is crumbling everywhere, they cling desperately to<br />the “market” and are trying to save it at all costs – at the cost of the<br />workers.<br /><br />But the mass organizations do not exist in a vacuum. That is especially<br />true of the unions. There will be a process of selection, in which the<br />hopeless*,*demorali sed elements will be cast aside and replaced with<br />younger, more militant people who are prepared to risk their jobs for the<br />sake of fighting the bosses and standing up for workers’ rights.<br /><br />Under pressure of the rank and file, the union leaders will either put<br />themselves at the head of the struggle or be pushed aside and be replaced<br />by people who are more in contact with the membership. The unions will be<br />transformed over and over again in the course of struggle.<br /><br />It would be wrong to imagine that reformism is completely discredited even<br />now. The masses would like to see reforms. But under present conditions<br />even the smallest reforms will have to be fought for. Our criticism of the<br />reformists is not that they stand for reforms but that they do not fight<br />for reforms and accept counter-reforms– that they surrender to the<br />pressures of big business.<br />Towards the European Revolution<br /><br />Three years ago the *Financial Times* spoke of “difficult and dangerous<br />times”. These words have turned out to be only too true. The ruling class<br />is terrified of the social and political effects of the crisis and the<br />measures it will be forced to take. What has saved the situation so far has<br />been the reformist Labour leaders who have shown themselves to be the most<br />loyal and reliable servants of Capital.<br /><br />The classes are lining up for a decisive showdown. Over the next five or<br />ten years we will see the most serious confrontation since the 1930s There<br />are many parallels between the present situation and the 1930s. But there<br />are also important differences.<br /><br />The main difference is a radical change in the class balance of forces. The<br />working class is now a decisive majority in all the advanced capitalist<br />countries and plays the decisive role in countries like Turkey, Brazil,<br />Egypt and Indonesia. Before the Second World War*,* the European<br />bourgeoisie had big social reserves in the shape of the peasantry. That<br />partly explains why they could move rapidly in the direction of fascism in<br />Italy, Germany and Spain.<br /><br />Now the changed balance of class forces rules out a rapid denouement. The<br />present situation can last for years with ebbs and flows. The movement will<br />take place in a series of waves, as in Spain, where the Revolution, really<br />began in 1930, with a wave of strikes and demonstrations even before the<br />fall of the Monarchy in 1931.<br /><br />In a revolutionary period like this, all such lulls and defeats are merely<br />the prelude to new explosions, which will put all past movements in the<br />shade. The Spanish Revolution passed through a whole series of stages,<br />before it was finally defeated in the May Days of 1937 in Barcelona.<br /><br />In these seven years there were periods of great revolutionary advances,<br />such as in 1931 with the declaration of the Republic, but also periods of<br />despair and disillusionment. There were terrible defeats like the defeat of<br />the Asturian Commune in 1934, and even black reaction, as in the Bienio<br />Negro (Two Black years) of 1933-5.<br /><br />Today in Europe a similar process is taking place everywhere at a slower or<br />faster pace and at a greater or lesser intensity. Greece is the weakest<br />link in the chain of European capitalism, but there are many weak links.<br />The process in Greece has gone further than anywhere else, but it only<br />shows in a particularly sharp form what will happen in other European<br />countries.<br /><br />May 1968 in France was the greatest revolutionary general strike in<br />history. But in some ways it was still a fairly light-headed affair. After<br />decades of prosperity the consciousness of youth was characterised by a<br />certain naivety. Under the far harsher conditions of today, that kind of<br />quasi-anarchist childishness will be burned out of the consciousness of the<br />youth. This generation will be far harder than earlier generations, and the<br />struggles will also be harder and more brutal.<br />Strategy and tactics<br /><br />Strategy and tactics are not the same. It is necessary to have a general<br />understanding of the processes, but the concrete and practical application<br />may be different at any given moment*,* and tactics may even conflict with<br />strategy at certain periods.<br /><br />We understand that at a certain stage the sharp polarization in society<br />will be reflected in a differentiation within the mass organizations,<br />beginning with the trade unions.<br /><br />Explosions are inevitable. But without leadership, that will not be enough.<br />The movement to occupy squares in Spain reached very large proportions, but<br />led nowhere and soon fizzled out. The forces of Marxism are too small to<br />determine the outcome of such mass movements. In most countries they are<br />limited to the level of propaganda. But we must be prepared.<br /><br />We must develop intelligent and appropriate transitional demands at every<br />stage. But this is insufficient in present conditions. While actively<br />intervening in every struggle (strikes, general strikes, mass<br />demonstrations, etc.) we must patiently explain that only a radical break<br />with capitalism can solve the problem.<br /><br />A nationalised planned economy could solve unemployment by introducing<br />immediately a six hour, four day week without loss of pay. In our<br />propaganda we must emphasize the colossal loss of production through<br />millions of unemployed, the effect on the youth, women, etc.<br /><br />At the same time we must explain the tremendous productive potential of the<br />new technologies: information, computers, “just in time” production,<br />robots, etc. If this were put to work in a rational way, it would mean that<br />people would work fewer hours, not more, for the satisfaction of human<br />needs.<br /><br />We must seek out the most revolutionary elements and educate them in the<br />ideas of Marxism. In a revolutionary situation a small group with correct<br />ideas can grow rapidly - Quality can become quantity and quantity can<br />become quality. The task is therefore to build the forces of Marxism with a<br />sense of urgencyat this stage are not to be found in the reformist mass<br />organizations, in the main. At this stage it is, especially the youth are<br />becoming radicalised and who are open to revolutionary ideas.<br /><br />The contradiction between the level of consciousness of the masses and the<br />tasks posed by history can only be solved by the experience of great and<br />explosive events. But these are implicit in the situation. There will be<br />sharp turns and sudden changes, especially in consciousness.<br /><br />In the past*,* revolutionary ideas would be received with scepticism. Now<br />people are looking for these ideas. In Greece, 63 percent of the people say<br />they want a fundamental change in society, while 23 percent want a<br />revolution. These are extraordinary figures: in effect, 86 percent look to<br />revolution for their salvation.<br /><br />We must be imbued with the idea of a fundamental change in the situation,<br />and the need for a sense of urgency in building a revolutionary<br />organization. All routinism must be combatted. Above all, we must pay<br />special attention to theory and political education, without which we are<br />nothing.<br /><br />There are big possibilities. Above all, there are fresh layers of youth<br />coming into activity who are looking for the ideas of Marxism, not tomorrow<br />or the day after, but right now. We must find them, enter into a dialogue<br />with them and win them to the ideas of Marxism.<br /><br />*London, 11 July 2013*Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-62382469035435599302013-01-08T17:26:00.001-08:002013-01-08T17:26:16.736-08:00Secrets and Lies of the Wall Street Bailout by Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone <br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Secrets and Lies of the Wall Street Bailout by Matt Taibbi </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/secret-and-lies-of-the-bailout-20130104">Rolling Stone</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> The federal rescue of Wall Street didn’t fix the economy – it created a permanent bailout state based on a Ponzi-like confidence scheme. And the worst may be yet to come </span><br />
<br />
<br />
It has been four long winters since the federal government, in the hulking, shaven-skulled, <em>Alien Nation</em>-esque form of then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, committed $700 billion in taxpayer money to rescue Wall Street from its own chicanery and greed. To listen to the bankers and their allies in Washington tell it, you'd think the bailout was the best thing to hit the American economy since the invention of the assembly line. Not only did it prevent another Great Depression, we've been told, but the money has all been paid back, and the government even made a profit. No harm, no foul – right?<span class="image-right" style="width: 306px;"><span class="caption">(Illustration by Victor Juhasz)</span></span><br />
Wrong.<br />
It was all a lie – one of the biggest and most elaborate falsehoods ever sold to the American people. We were told that the taxpayer was stepping in – only temporarily, mind you – to prop up the economy and save the world from financial catastrophe. What we actually ended up doing was the exact opposite: committing American taxpayers to permanent, blind support of an ungovernable, unregulatable, hyperconcentrated new financial system that exacerbates the greed and inequality that caused the crash, and forces Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup to increase risk rather than reduce it. The result is one of those deals where one wrong decision early on blossoms into a lush nightmare of unintended consequences. We thought we were just letting a friend crash at the house for a few days; we ended up with a family of hillbillies who moved in forever, sleeping nine to a bed and building a meth lab on the front lawn.<br />
<a class="inStoryLink" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-wall-street-killed-financial-reform-20120510">How Wall Street Killed Financial Reform</a><br />
But the most appalling part is the lying. The public has been lied to so shamelessly and so often in the course of the past four years that the failure to tell the truth to the general populace has become a kind of baked-in, official feature of the financial rescue. Money wasn't the only thing the government gave Wall Street – it also conferred the right to hide the truth from the rest of us. And it was all done in the name of helping regular people and creating jobs. "It is," says former bailout Inspector General Neil Barofsky, "the ultimate bait-and-switch."<br />
The bailout deceptions came early, late and in between. There were lies told in the first moments of their inception, and others still being told four years later. The lies, in fact, were the most important mechanisms of the bailout. The only reason investors haven't run screaming from an obviously corrupt financial marketplace is because the government has gone to such extraordinary lengths to sell the narrative that the problems of 2008 have been fixed. Investors may not actually believe the lie, but they are impressed by how totally committed the government has been, from the very beginning, to selling it.<br />
<strong>They Lied to Pass the Bailout</strong><br />
Today what few remember about the bailouts is that we had to approve them. It wasn't like Paulson could just go out and unilaterally commit trillions of public dollars to rescue Goldman Sachs and Citigroup from their own stupidity and bad management (although the government ended up doing just that, later on). Much as with a declaration of war, a similarly extreme and expensive commitment of public resources, Paulson needed at least a film of congressional approval. And much like the Iraq War resolution, which was only secured after George W. Bush ludicrously warned that Saddam was planning to send drones to spray poison over New York City, the bailouts were pushed through Congress with a series of threats and promises that ranged from the merely ridiculous to the outright deceptive. At one meeting to discuss the original bailout bill – at 11 a.m. on September 18th, 2008 – Paulson actually told members of Congress that $5.5 trillion in wealth would disappear by 2 p.m. that day unless the government took immediate action, and that the world economy would collapse "within 24 hours."<br />
To be fair, Paulson started out by trying to tell the truth in his own ham-headed, narcissistic way. His first TARP proposal was a three-page absurdity pulled straight from a <em>Beavis and Butt-Head</em> episode – it was basically Paulson saying, "Can you, like, give me some money?" Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, remembers a call with Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. "We need $700 billion," they told Brown, "and we need it in three days." What's more, the plan stipulated, Paulson could spend the money however he pleased, without review "by any court of law or any administrative agency."<br />
The White House and leaders of both parties actually agreed to this preposterous document, but it died in the House when 95 Democrats lined up against it. For an all-too-rare moment during the Bush administration, something resembling sanity prevailed in Washington.<br />
So Paulson came up with a more convincing lie. On paper, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 was simple: Treasury would buy $700 billion of troubled mortgages from the banks and then modify them to help struggling homeowners. Section 109 of the act, in fact, specifically empowered the Treasury secretary to "facilitate loan modifications to prevent avoidable foreclosures." With that promise on the table, wary Democrats finally approved the bailout on October 3rd, 2008. "That provision," says Barofsky, "is what got the bill passed."<br />
But within days of passage, the Fed and the Treasury unilaterally decided to abandon the planned purchase of toxic assets in favor of direct injections of billions in cash into companies like Goldman and Citigroup. Overnight, Section 109 was unceremoniously ditched, and what was pitched as a bailout of both banks and homeowners instantly became a bank-only operation – marking the first in a long series of moves in which bailout officials either casually ignored or openly defied their own promises with regard to TARP.<br />
Congress was furious. "We've been lied to," fumed Rep. David Scott, a Democrat from Georgia. Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland, raged at transparently douchey TARP administrator (and Goldman banker) Neel Kashkari, calling him a "chump" for the banks. And the anger was bipartisan: Republican senators David Vitter of Louisiana and James Inhofe of Oklahoma were so mad about the unilateral changes and lack of oversight that they sponsored a bill in January 2009 to cancel the remaining $350 billion of TARP.<br />
So what did bailout officials do? They put together a proposal full of even bigger deceptions to get it past Congress a second time. That process began almost exactly four years ago – on January 12th and 15th, 2009 – when Larry Summers, the senior economic adviser to President-elect Barack Obama, sent a pair of letters to Congress. The pudgy, stubbyfingered former World Bank economist, who had been forced out as Harvard president for suggesting that women lack a natural aptitude for math and science, begged legislators to reject Vitter's bill and leave TARP alone.<br />
In the letters, Summers laid out a five-point plan in which the bailout was pitched as a kind of giant populist program to help ordinary Americans. Obama, Summers vowed, would use the money to stimulate bank lending to put people back to work. He even went so far as to say that banks would be denied funding unless they agreed to "increase lending above baseline levels." He promised that "tough and transparent conditions" would be imposed on bailout recipients, who would not be allowed to use bailout funds toward "enriching shareholders or executives." As in the original TARP bill, he pledged that bailout money would be used to aid homeowners in foreclosure. And lastly, he promised that the bailouts would be temporary – with a "plan for exit of government intervention" implemented "as quickly as possible."<br />
The reassurances worked. Once again, TARP survived in Congress – and once again, the bailouts were greenlighted with the aid of Democrats who fell for the old "it'll help ordinary people" sales pitch. "I feel like they've given me a lot of commitment on the housing front," explained Sen. Mark Begich, a Democrat from Alaska.<br />
But in the end, almost nothing Summers promised actually materialized. A small slice of TARP was earmarked for foreclosure relief, but the resultant aid programs for homeowners turned out to be riddled with problems, for the perfectly logical reason that none of the bailout's architects gave a shit about them. They were drawn up practically overnight and rushed out the door for purely political reasons – to trick Congress into handing over tons of instant cash for Wall Street, with no strings attached. "Without those assurances, the level of opposition would have remained the same," says Rep. Raúl Grijalva, a leading progressive who voted against TARP. The promise of housing aid, in particular, turned out to be a "paper tiger."<br />
HAMP, the signature program to aid poor homeowners, was announced by President Obama on February 18th, 2009. The move inspired CNBC commentator Rick Santelli to go berserk the next day – the infamous viral rant that essentially birthed the Tea Party. Reacting to the news that Obama was planning to use bailout funds to help poor and (presumably) minority homeowners facing foreclosure, Santelli fumed that the president wanted to "subsidize the losers' mortgages" when he should "reward people that could carry the water, instead of drink the water." The tirade against "water drinkers" led to the sort of spontaneous nationwide protests one might have expected months before, when we essentially gave a taxpayer-funded blank check to Gamblers Anonymous addicts, the millionaire and billionaire class.<br />
In fact, the amount of money that eventually got spent on homeowner aid now stands as a kind of grotesque joke compared to the Himalayan mountain range of cash that got moved onto the balance sheets of the big banks more or less instantly in the first months of the bailouts. At the start, $50 billion of TARP funds were earmarked for HAMP. In 2010, the size of the program was cut to $30 billion. As of November of last year, a mere $4 billion total has been spent for loan modifications and other homeowner aid.<br />
In short, the bailout program designed to help those lazy, job-averse, "water-drinking" minority homeowners – the one that gave birth to the Tea Party – turns out to have comprised about one percent of total TARP spending. "It's amazing," says Paul Kiel, who monitors bailout spending for ProPublica. "It's probably one of the biggest failures of the Obama administration."<br />
The failure of HAMP underscores another damning truth – that the Bush-Obama bailout was as purely bipartisan a program as we've had. Imagine Obama retaining Don Rumsfeld as defense secretary and still digging for WMDs in the Iraqi desert four years after his election: That's what it was like when he left Tim Geithner, one of the chief architects of Bush's bailout, in command of the no-stringsattached rescue four years after Bush left office.<br />
Yet Obama's HAMP program, as lame as it turned out to be, still stands out as one of the few pre-bailout promises that was even partially fulfilled. Virtually every other promise Summers made in his letters turned out to be total bullshit. And that includes maybe the most important promise of all – the pledge to use the bailout money to put people back to work.<br />
<strong>They Lied About Lending</strong><br />
Once TARP passed, the government quickly began loaning out billions to some 500 banks that it deemed "healthy" and "viable." A few were cash loans, repayable at five percent within the first five years; other deals came due when a bank stock hit a predetermined price. As long as banks held TARP money, they were barred from paying out big cash bonuses to top executives.<br />
But even before Summers promised Congress that banks would be required to increase lending as a condition for receiving bailout funds, officials had already decided not to even ask the banks to use the money to increase lending. In fact, they'd decided not to even ask banks to <em>monitor</em> what they did with the bailout money. Barofsky, the TARP inspector, asked Treasury to include a requirement forcing recipients to explain what they did with the taxpayer money. He was stunned when TARP administrator Kashkari rejected his proposal, telling him lenders would walk away from the program if they had to deal with too many conditions. "The banks won't participate," Kashkari said.<br />
Barofsky, a former high-level drug prosecutor who was one of the only bailout officials who didn't come from Wall Street, didn't buy that cash-desperate banks would somehow turn down billions in aid. "It was like they were trembling with fear that the banks wouldn't take the money," he says. "I never found that terribly convincing."<br />
In the end, there was no lending requirement attached to any aspect of the bailout, and there never would be. Banks used their hundreds of billions for almost every purpose under the sun – everything, that is, but lending to the homeowners and small businesses and cities they had destroyed. And one of the most disgusting uses they found for all their billions in free government money was to help them earn even more free government money.<br />
To guarantee their soundness, all major banks are required to keep a certain amount of reserve cash at the Fed. In years past, that money didn't earn interest, for the logical reason that banks shouldn't get paid to stay solvent. But in 2006 – arguing that banks were losing profits on cash parked at the Fed – regulators agreed to make small interest payments on the money. The move wasn't set to go into effect until 2011, but when the crash hit, a section was written into TARP that launched the interest payments in October 2008.<br />
In theory, there should never be much money in such reserve accounts, because any halfway-competent bank could make far more money lending the cash out than parking it at the Fed, where it earns a measly quarter of a percent. In August 2008, before the bailout began, there were just $2 billion in excess reserves at the Fed. But by that October, the number had ballooned to $267 billion – and by January 2009, it had grown to $843 billion. That means there was suddenly more money sitting uselessly in Fed accounts than Congress had approved for either the TARP bailout or the much-loathed Obama stimulus. Instead of lending their new cash to struggling homeowners and small businesses, as Summers had promised, the banks were literally sitting on it.<br />
Today, excess reserves at the Fed total an astonishing $1.4 trillion."The money is just doing nothing," says Nomi Prins, a former Goldman executive who has spent years monitoring the distribution of bailout money.<br />
Nothing, that is, except earning a few crumbs of risk-free interest for the banks. Prins estimates that the annual haul in interest on Fed reserves is about $3.6 billion – a relatively tiny subsidy in the scheme of things, but one that, ironically, just about matches the total amount of bailout money spent on aid to homeowners. Put another way, banks are getting paid about as much every year for not lending money as 1 million Americans received for mortgage modifications and other housing aid in the whole of the past four years.<br />
Moreover, instead of using the bailout money as promised – to jump-start the economy – Wall Street used the funds to make the economy more dangerous. From the start, taxpayer money was used to subsidize a string of finance mergers, from the Chase-Bear Stearns deal to the Wells FargoWachovia merger to Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Aided by bailout funds, being Too Big to Fail was suddenly Too Good to Pass Up.<br />
Other banks found more creative uses for bailout money. In October 2010, Obama signed a new bailout bill creating a program called the Small Business Lending Fund, in which firms with fewer than $10 billion in assets could apply to share in a pool of $4 billion in public money. As it turned out, however, about a third of the 332 companies that took part in the program used at least some of the money to <em>repay their original TARP loans</em>. Small banks that still owed TARP money essentially took out cheaper loans from the government to repay their more expensive TARP loans – a move that conveniently exempted them from the limits on executive bonuses mandated by the bailout. All told, studies show, $2.2 billion of the $4 billion ended up being spent not on small-business loans, but on TARP repayment. "It's a bit of a shell game," admitted John Schmidt, chief operating officer of Iowa-based Heartland Financial, which took $81.7 million from the SBLF and used every penny of it to repay TARP.<br />
Using small-business funds to pay down their own debts, parking huge amounts of cash at the Fed in the midst of a stalled economy – it's all just evidence of what most Americans know instinctively: that the bailouts didn't result in much new business lending. If anything, the bailouts actually hindered lending, as banks became more like house pets that grow fat and lazy on two guaranteed meals a day than wild animals that have to go out into the jungle and hunt for opportunities in order to eat. The Fed's own analysis bears this out: In the first three months of the bailout, as taxpayer billions poured in, TARP recipients slowed down lending at a rate more than double that of banks that didn't receive TARP funds. The biggest drop in lending – 3.1 percent – came from the biggest bailout recipient, Citigroup. A year later, the inspector general for the bailout found that lending among the nine biggest TARP recipients "did not, in fact, increase." The bailout didn't flood the banking system with billions in loans for small businesses, as promised. It just flooded the banking system with billions for the banks.<br />
<strong>They Lied About the Health of the Banks</strong><br />
The main reason banks didn't lend out bailout funds is actually pretty simple: Many of them needed the money just to survive. Which leads to another of the bailout's broken promises – that taxpayer money would only be handed out to "viable" banks.<br />
Soon after TARP passed, Paulson and other officials announced the guidelines for their unilaterally changed bailout plan. Congress had approved $700 billion to buy up toxic mortgages, but $250 billion of the money was now shifted to direct capital injections for banks. (Although Paulson claimed at the time that handing money directly to the banks was a faster way to restore market confidence than lending it to homeowners, he later confessed that he had been contemplating the direct-cash-injection plan even before the vote.) This new let's-just-fork-over-cash portion of the bailout was called the Capital Purchase Program. Under the CPP, nine of America's largest banks – including Citi, Wells Fargo, Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, State Street and Bank of New York Mellon – received $125 billion, or half of the funds being doled out. Since those nine firms accounted for 75 percent of all assets held in America's banks – $11 trillion – it made sense they would get the lion's share of the money. But in announcing the CPP, Paulson and Co. promised that they would only be stuffing cash into "healthy and viable" banks. This, at the core, was the entire justification for the bailout: That the huge infusion of taxpayer cash would not be used to rescue individual banks, but to kick-start the economy as a whole by helping <em>healthy</em> banks start lending again.<br />
This announcement marked the beginning of the legend that certain Wall Street banks only took the bailout money because they were forced to – they didn't <em>need</em> all those billions, you understand, they just did it for the good of the country. "We did not, at that point, need TARP," Chase chief Jamie Dimon later claimed, insisting that he only took the money "because we were asked to by the secretary of Treasury." Goldman chief Lloyd Blankfein similarly claimed that his bank never needed the money, and that he wouldn't have taken it if he'd known it was "this pregnant with potential for backlash." A joint statement by Paulson, Bernanke and FDIC chief Sheila Bair praised the nine leading banks as "healthy institutions" that were taking the cash only to "enhance the overall performance of the U.S. economy."<br />
But right after the bailouts began, soon-to-be Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner admitted to Barofsky, the inspector general, that he and his cohorts had picked the first nine bailout recipients because of their size, without bothering to assess their health and viability. Paulson, meanwhile, later admitted that he had serious concerns about at least one of the nine firms he had publicly pronounced healthy. And in November 2009, Bernanke gave a closed-door interview to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, the body charged with investigating the causes of the economic meltdown, in which he admitted that 12 of the 13 most prominent financial companies in America were on the brink of failure during the time of the initial bailouts.<br />
On the inside, at least, almost everyone connected with the bailout knew that the top banks were in deep trouble. "It became obvious pretty much as soon as I took the job that these companies weren't really healthy and viable," says Barofsky, who stepped down as TARP inspector in 2011.<br />
This early episode would prove to be a crucial moment in the history of the bailout. It set the precedent of the government allowing unhealthy banks to not only call themselves healthy, but to get the government to endorse their claims. Projecting an image of soundness was, to the government, more important than disclosing the truth. Officials like Geithner and Paulson seemed to genuinely believe that the market's fears about corruption in the banking system was a bigger problem than the corruption itself. Time and again, they justified TARP as a move needed to "bolster confidence" in the system – and a key to that effort was keeping the banks' insolvency a secret. In doing so, they created a bizarre new two-tiered financial market, divided between those who knew the truth about how bad things were and those who did not.<br />
A month or so after the bailout team called the top nine banks "healthy," it became clear that the biggest recipient, Citigroup, had actually flat-lined on the ER table. Only weeks after Paulson and Co. gave the firm $25 billion in TARP funds, Citi – which was in the midst of posting a quarterly loss of more than $17 billion – came back begging for more. In November 2008, Citi received another $20 billion in cash and more than $300 billion in guarantees.<br />
What's most amazing about this isn't that Citi got so much money, but that government-endorsed, fraudulent health ratings magically became part of its bailout. The chief financial regulators – the Fed, the FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency – use a ratings system called CAMELS to measure the fitness of institutions. CAMELS stands for Capital, Assets, Management, Earnings, Liquidity and Sensitivity to risk, and it rates firms from one to five, with one being the best and five the crappiest. In the heat of the crisis, just as Citi was receiving the second of what would turn out to be three massive federal bailouts, the bank inexplicably enjoyed a three rating – the financial equivalent of a passing grade. In her book, <em>Bull by the Horns</em>, then-FDIC chief Sheila Bair recounts expressing astonishment to OCC head John Dugan as to why "Citi rated as a CAMELS 3 when it was on the brink of failure." Dugan essentially answered that "since the government planned on bailing Citi out, the OCC did not plan to change its supervisory rating." Similarly, the FDIC ended up granting a "systemic risk exception" to Citi, allowing it access to FDIC-bailout help even though the agency knew the bank was on the verge of collapse.<br />
The sweeping impact of these crucial decisions has never been fully appreciated. In the years preceding the bailouts, banks like Citi had been perpetuating a kind of fraud upon the public by pretending to be far healthier than they really were. In some cases, the fraud was outright, as in the case of Lehman Brothers, which was using an arcane accounting trick to book tens of billions of loans as revenues each quarter, making it look like it had more cash than it really did. In other cases, the fraud was more indirect, as in the case of Citi, which in 2007 paid out the third-highest dividend in America – $10.7 billion – despite the fact that it had lost $9.8 billion in the fourth quarter of that year alone. The whole financial sector, in fact, had taken on Ponzi-like characteristics, as many banks were hugely dependent on a continual influx of new money from things like sales of subprime mortgages to cover up massive future liabilities from toxic investments that, sooner or later, were going to come to the surface.<br />
Now, instead of using the bailouts as a clear-the-air moment, the government decided to double down on such fraud, awarding healthy ratings to these failing banks and even twisting its numerical audits and assessments to fit the cooked-up narrative. A major component of the original TARP bailout was a promise to ensure "full and accurate accounting" by conducting regular "stress tests" of the bailout recipients. When Geithner announced his stress-test plan in February 2009, a reporter instantly blasted him with an obvious and damning question: Doesn't the fact that you have to conduct these tests prove that bank regulators, who should already know plenty about banks' solvency, actually have no idea who is solvent and who isn't?<br />
The government did wind up conducting regular stress tests of all the major bailout recipients, but the methodology proved to be such an obvious joke that it was even lampooned on <em>Saturday Night Live</em>. (In the skit, Geithner abandons a planned numerical score system because it would unfairly penalize bankers who were "not good at banking.") In 2009, just after the first round of tests was released, it came out that the Fed had allowed banks to literally rejigger the numbers to make their bottom lines look better. When the Fed found Bank of America had a $50 billion capital hole, for instance, the bank persuaded examiners to cut that number by more than $15 billion because of what it said were "errors made by examiners in the analysis." Citigroup got its number slashed from $35 billion to $5.5 billion when the bank pleaded with the Fed to give it credit for "pending transactions."<br />
Such meaningless parodies of oversight continue to this day. Earlier this year, Regions Financial Corp. – a company that had failed to pay back $3.5 billion in TARP loans – passed its stress test. A subsequent analysis by <em>Bloomberg View</em> found that Regions was effectively $525 million in the red. Nonetheless, the bank's CEO proclaimed that the stress test "demonstrates the strength of our company." Shortly after the test was concluded, the bank issued $900 million in stock and said it planned on using the cash to pay back some of the money it had borrowed under TARP.<br />
This episode underscores a key feature of the bailout: the government's decision to use lies as a form of monetary aid. State hands over taxpayer money to functionally insolvent bank; state gives regulatory thumbs up to said bank; bank uses that thumbs up to sell stock; bank pays cash back to state. What's critical here is not that investors actually buy the Fed's bullshit accounting – all they have to do is believe the government will backstop Regions either way, healthy or not. "Clearly, the Fed wanted it to attract new investors," observed <em>Bloomberg</em>, "and those who put fresh capital into Regions this week believe the government won't let it die."<br />
Through behavior like this, the government has turned the entire financial system into a kind of vast confidence game – a Ponzi-like scam in which the value of just about everything in the system is inflated because of the widespread belief that the government will step in to prevent losses. Clearly, a government that's already in debt over its eyes for the next million years does not have enough capital on hand to rescue every Citigroup or Regions Bank in the land should they all go bust tomorrow. But the market is behaving as if Daddy will step in to once again pay the rent the next time any or all of these kids sets the couch on fire and skips out on his security deposit. Just like an actual Ponzi scheme, it works only as long as they don't have to make good on all the promises they've made. They're building an economy based not on real accounting and real numbers, but on <em>belief</em>. And while the signs of growth and recovery in this new faith-based economy may be fake, one aspect of the bailout has been consistently concrete: the broken promises over executive pay.<br />
They Lied About Bonuses<br />
hat executive bonuses on Wall Street were a political hot potato for the bailout's architects was obvious from the start. That's why Summers, in saving the bailout from the ire of Congress, vowed to "limit executive compensation" and devote public money to prevent another financial crisis. And it's true, TARP did bar recipients from a whole range of exorbitant pay practices, which is one reason the biggest banks, like Goldman Sachs, worked so quickly to repay their TARP loans.<br />
But there were all sorts of ways around the restrictions. Banks could apply to the Fed and other regulators for waivers, which were often approved (one senior FDIC official tells me he recommended denying "golden parachute" payments to Citigroup officials, only to see them approved by superiors). They could get bailouts through programs other than TARP that did not place limits on bonuses. Or they could simply pay bonuses not prohibited under TARP. In one of the worst episodes, the notorious lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paid out more than $200 million in bonuses between 2008 and 2010, even though the firms (a) lost more than $100 billion in 2008 alone, and (b) required nearly $400 billion in federal assistance during the bailout period.<br />
Even worse was the incredible episode in which bailout recipient AIG paid more than $1 million each to 73 employees of AIG Financial Products, the tiny unit widely blamed for having destroyed the insurance giant (and perhaps even triggered the whole crisis) with its reckless issuance of nearly half a trillion dollars in toxic credit-default swaps. The "retention bonuses," paid after the bailout, went to 11 employees who no longer worked for AIG.<br />
But all of these "exceptions" to the bonus restrictions are far less infuriating, it turns out, than the rule itself. TARP did indeed bar big cash-bonus payouts by firms that still owed money to the government. But those firms were allowed to issue extra compensation to executives in the form of long-term restricted stock. An independent research firm asked to analyze the stock options for <em>The New York Times</em> found that the top five executives at each of the 18 biggest bailout recipients received a total of $142 million in stocks and options. That's plenty of money all by itself – but thanks in large part to the government's overt display of support for those firms, the value of those options has soared to $457 million, an average of $4 million per executive.<br />
In other words, we didn't just allow banks theoretically barred from paying bonuses to pay bonuses. We actually allowed them to pay <em>bigger</em> bonuses than they otherwise could have. Instead of forcing the firms to reward top executives in cash, we allowed them to pay in depressed stock, the value of which we then inflated due to the government's implicit endorsement of those firms.<br />
All of which leads us to the last and most important deception of the bailouts:<br />
<strong>They Lied About the Bailout Being Temporary</strong><br />
The bailout ended up being much bigger than anyone expected, expanded far beyond TARP to include more obscure (and in some cases far larger) programs with names like TALF, TAF, PPIP and TLGP. What's more, some parts of the bailout were designed to extend far into the future. Companies like AIG, GM and Citigroup, for instance, were given tens of billions of deferred tax assets – allowing them to carry losses from 2008 forward to offset future profits and keep future tax bills down. Official estimates of the bailout's costs do not include such ongoing giveaways. "This is stuff that's never going to appear on any report," says Barofsky.<br />
Citigroup, all by itself, boasts more than $50 billion in deferred tax credits – which is how the firm managed to pay less in taxes in 2011 (it actually received a $144 million credit) than it paid in compensation that year to its since-ousted dingbat CEO, Vikram Pandit (who pocketed $14.9 million). The bailout, in short, enabled the very banks and financial institutions that cratered the global economy to write off the losses from their toxic deals for years to come – further depriving the government of much-needed tax revenues it could have used to help homeowners and small businesses who were screwed over by the banks in the first place.<br />
Even worse, the $700 billion in TARP loans ended up being dwarfed by more than $7.7 trillion in secret emergency lending that the Fed awarded to Wall Street – loans that were only disclosed to the public after Congress forced an extraordinary one-time audit of the Federal Reserve. The extent of this "secret bailout" didn't come out until November 2011, when <em>Bloomberg Markets</em>, which went to court to win the right to publish the data, detailed how the country's biggest firms secretly received trillions in near-free money throughout the crisis.<br />
Goldman Sachs, which had made such a big show of being reluctant about accepting $10 billion in TARP money, was quick to cash in on the secret loans being offered by the Fed. By the end of 2008, Goldman had snarfed up $34 billion in federal loans – and it was paying an interest rate of as low as just 0.01 percent for the huge cash infusion. Yet that funding was never disclosed to shareholders or taxpayers, a fact Goldman confirms. "We did not disclose the amount of our participation in the two programs you identify," says Goldman spokesman Michael Duvally.<br />
Goldman CEO Blankfein later dismissed the importance of the loans, telling the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that the bank wasn't "relying on those mechanisms." But in his book, <em>Bailout</em>, Barofsky says that Paulson told him that he believed Morgan Stanley was "just days" from collapse before government intervention, while Bernanke later admitted that Goldman would have been the next to fall.<br />
Meanwhile, at the same moment that leading banks were taking trillions in secret loans from the Fed, top officials at those firms were buying up stock in their companies, privy to insider info that was not available to the public at large. Stephen Friedman, a Goldman director who was also chairman of the New York Fed, bought more than $4 million of Goldman stock over a five-week period in December 2008 and January 2009 – years before the extent of the firm's lifeline from the Fed was made public. Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit bought nearly $7 million in Citi stock in November 2008, just as his firm was secretly taking out $99.5 billion in Fed loans. Jamie Dimon bought more than $11 million in Chase stock in early 2009, at a time when his firm was receiving as much as $60 billion in secret Fed loans. When asked by Rolling Stone, Chase could not point to any disclosure of the bank's borrowing from the Fed until more than a year later, when Dimon wrote about it in a letter to shareholders in March 2010.<br />
The stock purchases by America's top bankers raise serious questions of insider trading. Two former high-ranking financial regulators tell Rolling Stone that the secret loans were likely subject to a 1989 guideline, issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the heat of the savings and loan crisis, which said that financial institutions should disclose the "nature, amounts and effects" of any government aid. At the end of 2011, in fact, the SEC sent letters to Citigroup, Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Wells Fargo asking them why they hadn't fully disclosed their secret borrowing. All five megabanks essentially replied, to varying degrees of absurdity, that their massive borrowing from the Fed was not "material," or that the piecemeal disclosure they had engaged in was adequate. Never mind that the law says investors have to be informed right away if CEOs like Dimon and Pandit decide to give themselves a $10,000 raise. According to the banks, it's none of your business if those same CEOs are making use of a secret $50 billion charge card from the Fed.<br />
The implications here go far beyond the question of whether Dimon and Co. committed insider trading by buying and selling stock while they had access to material nonpublic information about the bailouts. The broader and more pressing concern is the clear implication that by failing to act, federal regulators have tacitly approved the nondisclosure. Instead of trusting the markets to do the right thing when provided with accurate information, the government has instead channeled Jack Nicholson – and decided that the public just can't handle the truth.<br />
All of this – the willingness to call dying banks healthy, the sham stress tests, the failure to enforce bonus rules, the seeming indifference to public disclosure, not to mention the shocking lack of criminal investigations into fraud committed by bailout recipients before the crash – comprised the largest and most valuable bailout of all. Brick by brick, statement by reassuring statement, bailout officials have spent years building the government's great Implicit Guarantee to the biggest companies on Wall Street: We will be there for you, always, no matter how much you screw up. We will lie for you and let you get away with just about anything. We will make this ongoing bailout a pervasive and permanent part of the financial system. And most important of all, we will publicly commit to this policy, being so obvious about it that the markets will be able to put an exact price tag on the value of our preferential treatment.<br />
The first independent study that attempted to put a numerical value on the Implicit Guarantee popped up about a year after the crash, in September 2009, when Dean Baker and Travis McArthur of the Center for Economic and Policy Research published a paper called "The Value of the 'Too Big to Fail' Big Bank Subsidy." Baker and McArthur found that prior to the last quarter of 2007, just before the start of the crisis, financial firms with $100 billion or more in assets were paying on average about 0.29 percent less to borrow money than smaller firms.<br />
By the second quarter of 2009, however, once the bailouts were in full swing, that spread had widened to 0.78 percent. The conclusion was simple: Lenders were about a half a point more willing to lend to a bank with implied government backing – even a proven-stupid bank – than they were to lend to companies who "must borrow based on their own credit worthiness." The economists estimated that the lending gap amounted to an annual subsidy of $34 billion a year to the nation's 18 biggest banks.<br />
Today the borrowing advantage of a big bank remains almost exactly what it was three years ago – about 50 basis points, or half a percent. "These megabanks still receive subsidies in the sense that they can borrow on the capital markets at a discount rate of 50 or 70 points because of the implicit view that these banks are Too Big to Fail," says Sen. Brown.<br />
Why does the market believe that? Because the officials who administered the bailouts made that point explicitly, over and over again. When Geithner announced the implementation of the stress tests in 2009, for instance, he declared that banks who didn't have enough money to pass the test could get it from the government. "We're going to help this process by providing a new program of capital support for those institutions that need it," Geithner said. The message, says Barofsky, was clear: "If the banks cannot raise capital, we will do it for them." It was an Implicit Guarantee that the banks would not be allowed to fail – a point that Geithner and other officials repeatedly stressed over the years. "The markets took all those little comments by Geithner as a clue that the government is looking out for them," says Baker. That psychological signaling, he concludes, is responsible for the crucial half-point borrowing spread.<br />
The inherent advantage of bigger banks – the permanent, ongoing bailout they are still receiving from the government – has led to a host of gruesome consequences. All the big banks have paid back their TARP loans, while more than 300 smaller firms are still struggling to repay their bailout debts. Even worse, the big banks, instead of breaking down into manageable parts and becoming more efficient, have grown even bigger and more unmanageable, making the economy far more concentrated and dangerous than it was before. America's six largest banks – Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley – now have a combined 14,420 subsidiaries, making them so big as to be effectively beyond regulation. A recent study by the Kansas City Fed found that it would take 70,000 examiners to inspect such trillion-dollar banks with the same level of attention normally given to a community bank. "The complexity is so overwhelming that no regulator can follow it well enough to regulate the way we need to," says Sen. Brown, who is drafting a bill to break up the megabanks.<br />
Worst of all, the Implicit Guarantee has led to a dangerous shift in banking behavior. With an apparently endless stream of free or almost-free money available to banks – coupled with a well-founded feeling among bankers that the government will back them up if anything goes wrong – banks have made a dramatic move into riskier and more speculative investments, including everything from high-risk corporate bonds to mortgagebacked securities to payday loans, the sleaziest and most disreputable end of the financial system. In 2011, banks increased their investments in junk-rated companies by 74 percent, and began systematically easing their lending standards in search of more high-yield customers to lend to.<br />
This is a virtual repeat of the financial crisis, in which a wave of greed caused bankers to recklessly chase yield everywhere, to the point where lowering lending standards became the norm. Now the government, with its Implicit Guarantee, is causing exactly the same behavior – meaning the bailouts have brought us right back to where we started. "Government intervention," says Klaus Schaeck, an expert on bailouts who has served as a World Bank consultant, "has definitely resulted in increased risk."<br />
And while the economy still mostly sucks overall, there's never been a better time to be a Too Big to Fail bank. Wells Fargo reported a third-quarter profit of nearly $5 billion last year, while JP Morgan Chase pocketed $5.3 billion – roughly double what both banks earned in the third quarter of 2006, at the height of the mortgage bubble. As the driver of their success, both banks cite strong performance in – you guessed it – the mortgage market.<br />
So what exactly did the bailout accomplish? It built a banking system that discriminates against community banks, makes Too Big to Fail banks even Too Bigger to Failier, increases risk, discourages sound business lending and punishes savings by making it even easier and more profitable to chase high-yield investments than to compete for small depositors. The bailout has also made lying on behalf of our biggest and most corrupt banks the official policy of the United States government. And if any one of those banks fails, it will cause another financial crisis, meaning we're essentially wedded to that policy for the rest of eternity – or at least until the markets call our bluff, which could happen any minute now.<br />
Other than that, the bailout was a smashing success.<br />
<div class="copyright-info">
© 2012 Rolling Stone</div>
<div class="clearfix user-profile" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(231, 231, 231); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<div class="author-wrapper">
<div class="clearfix author-bio" style="border-top-color: rgb(231, 231, 231); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; padding: 15px 0px 20px;">
<div class="author-image" style="float: left; padding: 1px 15px 15px 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/matt-taibbi"><img alt="Matt Taibbi" class="imagecache imagecache-author_photo" height="75" src="https://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imagecache/author_photo/matt-taibbi.jpg" title="Matt Taibbi" width="90" /></a></div>
<div class="author-brief-article">
As <i>Rolling Stone’s</i> chief political reporter, Matt Taibbi's predecessors include the likes of journalistic giants Hunter S. Thompson and P.J. O'Rourke. Taibbi's 2004 campaign journal <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307345718?tag=commondreams-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0307345718&adid=1JCCA9VDZWHPKQGHKA6X&" target="_blank"><i>Spanking the Donkey</i></a> cemented his status as an incisive, irreverent, zero-bullshit reporter. His books include <span class="title"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385529961?ie=UTF8&tag=commondreams-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0385529961" target="_blank">Griftopia: A Story of Bankers, Politicians, and the Most Audacious Power Grab in American History</a>, </span><span class="title"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/038552062X?ie=UTF8&tag=commondreams-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=038552062X" target="_blank">The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion</a></span><span class="title">, </span> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0802170412?tag=commondreams-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0802170412&adid=0AX3AXAX8DXJ5HTHMPXZ&" target="_blank"><i>Smells Like Dead Elephants: Dispatches from a Rotting Empire.</i></a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-61404438935517804582013-01-06T21:01:00.000-08:002013-01-06T21:03:10.195-08:00IMF economists apologize for austerity forecasts Salon<h1>
<a class="gaTrackLinkEvent" data-ga-track-json="["navigation", "click", "IMF economists apologize for austerity forecasts"]" href="http://www.salon.com/2013/01/04/imf_economists_apologize_for_austerity_forecasts/">IMF economists apologize for austerity forecasts <span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></a></h1>
<h3>
Economists admit that they failed to see how
huge cuts would undermine growth in countries like Greece<span class="byline">By <a class="gaTrackLinkEvent" data-ga-track-json="["author", "click", "Natasha Lennard"]" href="http://www.salon.com/writer/natasha_lennard/" rel="author">Natasha Lennard </a> </span></h3>
<h3>
<span class="byline"> </span><a class="gaTrackLinkEvent" data-ga-track-json="["topic", "click", "fiscal_cliff"]" href="http://www.salon.com/topic/fiscal_cliff">iscal cliff</a>,
<a class="gaTrackLinkEvent" data-ga-track-json="["topic", "click", "greece"]" href="http://www.salon.com/topic/greece">Greece</a>,
<a class="gaTrackLinkEvent" data-ga-track-json="["topic", "click", "economics"]" href="http://www.salon.com/topic/economics">Economics</a>,
<a class="gaTrackLinkEvent" data-ga-track-json="["topic", "click", "european_financial_crisis"]" href="http://www.salon.com/topic/european_financial_crisis">European Financial Crisis</a>, <a href="http://www.salon.com/category/news/" rel="tag">News</a>
</h3>
<div class="featuredMedia">
<a class="lightBox" href="http://media.salon.com/2013/01/shutterstock_121946641.jpg" title="IMF economists apologize for austerity forecasts"><img alt="IMF economists apologize for austerity forecasts" src="http://media.salon.com/2013/01/shutterstock_121946641.jpg" title="IMF economists apologize for austerity forecasts" /></a><span class="caption"> A child protest austerity measures in Britain <span class="photoCredit">(Credit: <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/01/04/imf_economists_apologize_for_austerity_forecasts/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-401914p1.html?cr=00&pl=edit-00%22%3E1000%20Words%3C/a%3E%20/%20%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.shutterstock.com/?cr=00&pl=edit-00%22%3EShutterstock.com%3C/a%3E">1000 Words / Shutterstock</a>)</span></span></div>
<div class="articleContent">
While
Congress debates the details of an austerity consensus, Europe is
staring at the wreckage of harsh austerity packages that have brought
countries like Greece to their knees. This week, as<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/03/an-amazing-mea-culpa-from-the-imfs-chief-economist-on-austerity/?wprss=rss_ezra-klein"> the Washington Post reported,</a>
IMF top economist Olivier Blanchard issued an “amazing mea culpa” for
failing to foresee how austerity measures would undermine economic
growth.<br />
“Forecasters significantly underestimated the increase in
unemployment and the decline in domestic demand associated with fiscal
consolidation,” Blanchard and co-author Daniel Leigh, a fund economist,
wrote in a paper on growth forecast errors. The authors essentially
admit that they failed to consider important factors about how regions
might react to austerity in times of financial crisis when they advised
IMF austerity policy.<br />
<div class="toggle-group target hideOnInit" data-toggle-group="story-13162209" style="opacity: 1;">
In
Greece, WaPo notes, forecasts in 2010 “predicted that the nation could
cut deeply into government spending and pretty quickly bounce back to
economic growth and rising employment. Two years later, the Greek
economy is still shrinking and unemployment is at 25 percent.”<br />
The
paper, which is not the official line of the IMF but rather the opinion
of its top economists, stresses that fiscal consolidation (austerity)
is not necessarily undesirable, but that “the short-term effects of
fiscal policy on economic activity are only one of the many factors that
need to be considered in determining the appropriate pace of fiscal
consolidation for any single country.” The paper, although highly
technical, should probably be slipped under every office door on Capitol
Hill.</div>
<a class="toggle-group toggleOnScroll trigger remember refreshAds gaTrackPageEvent on" data-toggle-group="story-13162209" href="http://www.salon.com/2013/01/04/imf_economists_apologize_for_austerity_forecasts/" id="yui_3_8_0_12_1357516462387_1397">
<span class="onText" style="opacity: 1;">Close</span>
</a> </div>
<div class="writerMeta">
Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon,
covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow
her on Twitter @natashalennard, email nlennard@salon.com. <a class="byline" href="http://www.salon.com/writer/natasha_lennard/" title="More Natasha Lennard.">
More Natasha Lennard.<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.salon.com/2013/01/04/imf_economists_apologize_for_austerity_forecasts/ <span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span>
</div>
Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-21307804504129861412012-08-30T02:22:00.001-07:002012-08-30T02:22:34.823-07:00Hedge funds are betting on disaster By Maureen FarrellAugust 23, 2012: 8:01 AM ETHedge funds are betting on disaster By Maureen FarrellAugust 23, 2012 CNN Money<h1>
Hedge funds are betting on disaster</h1>
<span class="byline">By <a href="http://www.blogger.com/author/maureenmfarrell/" rel="author">Maureen Farrell</a></span><span class="cnnDateStamp">August 23, 2012 CNN Money</span><br />
<span class="cnnDateStamp"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="socialMediaToolbarContainer">
<ul class="socialMediaToolbar" id="smtMain">
<li class="email"><span class="emailContainer"><a class="printLink" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2970184426619195419">Print</a></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div id="storytext">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<img alt="" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/120822053703-map-hedge-funds-blog.jpg" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Hedge funds are betting on a disaster hitting the financial markets within the next several quarters, with managers holding onto historic levels of cash.</div>
That so-called dry powder gives them the cash they need to quickly jump in if markets sell off, according to numerous hedge fund managers and industry consultants.<br />
"Most hedge funds I see are carrying lower market exposure than I've seen in some time," said Brad Balter, founder of investment advisory firm Balter Capital Management. "This is not to say they are net short. They simply want to conserve their buying power and be ready for major opportunity sets that may arise."<br />
Many are anticipating that <a href="http://money.cnn.com/news/international/europe_debt_crisis/?iid=EL" rel="external">Europe's debt crisis</a>, the <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/06/news/economy/fiscal-cliff/index.htm" rel="external">U.S. fiscal cliff</a>, or the <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/10/news/economy/china-trade/index.htm" rel="external">slowdown in China</a> will cause a 2008-like reaction around the globe, when stocks swiftly sold off in the wake of the financial crisis.<strong><br /></strong><br />
<a href="http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/08/15/hedge-funds-obamacare/"><strong>Hedge Funds Bet on Obamacare</strong></a><br />
But betting on a downturn in this environment is a risky play.<br />
The latest <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/22/news/economy/fed-minutes/index.html" rel="external">Fed minutes</a> showed central bankers leaning toward more stimulus. Should Fed chairman Ben Bernanke suggest another round of bond buying next week in <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/22/news/economy/bernanke-jackson-hole/index.html" rel="external">Jackson Hole, Wyo.</a>, stocks could swiftly move higher. On top of that, Greece is still in limbo and talk of the European Central Bank intervening in the bond market makes predictions about an end-game for Europe nearly impossible.<br />
"I have not seen the level of uncertainty this high for a long long time," said Komal Sri-Kumar, chief global strategist at TCW . "If you were a hedge fund and you didn't know when the correction would come but were concerned, it would makes sense to keep cash available."<br />
Because of this defensive posture, hedge funds have missed out on the 2012 stock rally. The S&P 500 (<a href="http://money.cnn.com/data/markets/sandp/" rel="external">SPX</a>) has gained 11% through July 31, while Morningstar's hedge fund index of nearly 1,000 funds gained just 3.7%.<br />
<a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/05/investing/euro-hedge-funds/index.htm" rel="external"><strong>Hedge funds place record bets against the Euro</strong></a><br />
"They could've picked stocks poorly, but with these returns, it looks more like they're not even close to being fully invested in the market," said Nadia Papagiannis, Morningstar's director of alternate fund research.<br />
The SEC only requires hedge funds to disclose stocks they own, and not how much cash they're holding or what stocks they're betting against.<br />
Holding onto cash is actually one of the boldest moves a hedge fund can make. Hedge fund managers get a 2% fee for all the money they manage, so investors quickly grow irritated with managers who sit and wait. "It's a natural reaction to say why am I paying you to hold cash," said Daniel Celeghin, partner at hedge fund consulting firm Casey, Quirk & Associates.<br />
Some funds have outperformed the S&P. Among them: Tiger Global Management, which focused on technology stocks and counts Apple (<a href="http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=AAPL" rel="external">AAPL</a>) as its top holding, is up more than 20% as of July 31, according to a source with knowledge of the fund's returns. And the flagship hedge fund at Citadel run by billionaire Ken Griffin is up 11.5% through July 31, according to sources familiar with its returns.<br />
Hedge funds betting on the mortgage market and those focused on financials have also scored big in 2012. Bay Pond Partners, owned by asset manager Wellington Partners, is up 11%, largely through its investments in bank stocks, said two sources. Two key funds at SPM, a $3.4 billion fund focused on residential mortgages, are up 13.4% and 11.3% respectively. Another mortgage focused hedge fund, Metacapital, is up 25% through July.<br />
Despite the industry's overall recent poor performance, investors haven't shied away. In the first quarter of 2012, the hedge fund industry held a record $2.13 trillion of assets, according to Hedge Fund Research. During the second quarter, investors pulled back slightly, leaving them with $2.10 trillion.<br />
Since the financial crisis, investors have been drawn to hedge funds because they have the ability to bet on all types of markets and don't simply expect stocks to move up. "The thought now is that I need to have at least some of my capital with managers who have the flexibility and skill set to take advantage of unpredictable sideways markets," said Casey, Quirk & Associates' Celeghin.<br />
<br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider">http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider</a></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://watercorps.net/">http://watercorps.net/</a>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://righttosharefood.org/">http://righttosharefood.org/</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/Circlewider">https://twitter.com/#!/Circlewider</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My Twitter Account<br />
</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
<a href="http://www.casci.us/" target="_blank">http://www.CASCI.us/</a>
(Coalition for the Abolition of Safer Cities Initiative) <br />
<a href="http://www.meanestcity.us/" target="_blank">http://www.MEANESTCITY.us/</a>
(This is a link to the 191 Pg. human rights report.) <br />
<a href="http://www.plej.us/" target="_blank">http://www.PLEJ.us/</a> (Peoples
Lobby for Economic Justice)<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blogs</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/">http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://foodwatersovereignty.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://foodwatersovereignty.blogspot.com/</a>
</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/">http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/">http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/</a></span><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></div>
<br />
</div>
Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-89276191733168170602012-08-30T02:01:00.001-07:002013-01-06T20:50:13.328-08:00Greece may sell off islands amid privatization scheme: report By Stephen C. Webster <h1 class="entry_title">
Greece may sell off islands amid privatization scheme: report</h1>
<div id="author_container">
By Stephen C. Webster<br />
Thursday, August 23, 2012 12:32 EDT</div>
<div id="top-social-share-buttons-container">
<div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style addthis_32x32_style">
<span style="float: left; margin-right: 3px;"><a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/23/greece-may-sell-off-islands-amid-privatization-scheme-report//print/"><img alt="Print" border="0" height="32" src="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/themes/blognewsv131/styles/white/print_bottom.gif" width="32" /></a></span><span style="position: relative; top: 5px;"></span><a class="addthis_button_facebook at300b" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2970184426619195419#" title="Facebook"><span class=" at300bs at15nc at15t_facebook"><span class="at_a11y">Share on facebook</span></span></a><a class="addthis_button_reddit at300b" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&winname=addthis&pub=roxannecooper&source=tbx32-250&lng=en-us&s=reddit&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2Frs%2F2012%2F08%2F23%2Fgreece-may-sell-off-islands-amid-privatization-scheme-report%2F&title=Greece%20may%20sell%20off%20islands%20amid%20privatization%20scheme%3A%20report%20%7C%20The%20Raw%20Story&ate=AT-roxannecooper/-/-/503f2ad814708e6d/1&frommenu=1&uid=503f2ad8f1e2af35&ct=1&pre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stumbleupon.com%2Fsu%2F2nxwNK%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2Frs%2F2012%2F08%2F23%2Fgreece-may-sell-off-islands-amid-privatization-scheme-report%2F&tt=0&captcha_provider=recaptcha" target="_blank" title="Reddit"><span class=" at300bs at15nc at15t_reddit"><span class="at_a11y">Share on reddit</span></span></a><a class="addthis_button_digg at300b" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&winname=addthis&pub=roxannecooper&source=tbx32-250&lng=en-us&s=digg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2Frs%2F2012%2F08%2F23%2Fgreece-may-sell-off-islands-amid-privatization-scheme-report%2F&title=Greece%20may%20sell%20off%20islands%20amid%20privatization%20scheme%3A%20report%20%7C%20The%20Raw%20Story&ate=AT-roxannecooper/-/-/503f2ad814708e6d/2&frommenu=1&uid=503f2ad806c82146&ct=1&pre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stumbleupon.com%2Fsu%2F2nxwNK%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2Frs%2F2012%2F08%2F23%2Fgreece-may-sell-off-islands-amid-privatization-scheme-report%2F&tt=0&captcha_provider=recaptcha" target="_blank" title="Digg This"><span class=" at300bs at15nc at15t_digg"><span class="at_a11y">Share on digg</span></span></a><a class="addthis_button_twitter at300b" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2970184426619195419#" title="Tweet This"><span class=" at300bs at15nc at15t_twitter"><span class="at_a11y">Share on twitter</span></span></a><a class="addthis_button_fark at300b" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&winname=addthis&pub=roxannecooper&source=tbx32-250&lng=en-us&s=fark&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2Frs%2F2012%2F08%2F23%2Fgreece-may-sell-off-islands-amid-privatization-scheme-report%2F&title=Greece%20may%20sell%20off%20islands%20amid%20privatization%20scheme%3A%20report%20%7C%20The%20Raw%20Story&ate=AT-roxannecooper/-/-/503f2ad814708e6d/3&frommenu=1&uid=503f2ad8e5528c93&ct=1&pre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stumbleupon.com%2Fsu%2F2nxwNK%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2Frs%2F2012%2F08%2F23%2Fgreece-may-sell-off-islands-amid-privatization-scheme-report%2F&tt=0&captcha_provider=recaptcha" target="_blank" title="Fark"><span class=" at300bs at15nc at15t_fark"><span class="at_a11y">Share on fark</span></span></a><a class="addthis_button_stumbleupon at300b" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&winname=addthis&pub=roxannecooper&source=tbx32-250&lng=en-us&s=stumbleupon&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2Frs%2F2012%2F08%2F23%2Fgreece-may-sell-off-islands-amid-privatization-scheme-report%2F&title=Greece%20may%20sell%20off%20islands%20amid%20privatization%20scheme%3A%20report%20%7C%20The%20Raw%20Story&ate=AT-roxannecooper/-/-/503f2ad814708e6d/4&frommenu=1&uid=503f2ad87baeae55&ct=1&pre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stumbleupon.com%2Fsu%2F2nxwNK%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2Frs%2F2012%2F08%2F23%2Fgreece-may-sell-off-islands-amid-privatization-scheme-report%2F&tt=0&captcha_provider=recaptcha" target="_blank" title="StumbleUpon"><span class=" at300bs at15nc at15t_stumbleupon"><span class="at_a11y">Share on stumbleupon</span></span></a><a class="addthis_button_expanded" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2970184426619195419#" title="View more services">52</a><a class="atc_s addthis_button_compact" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2970184426619195419"></a></div>
<div class="clear">
</div>
</div>
<div id="image_attachment_container">
<img alt="A view from a Greek island. Photo: Shutterstock.com, all rights reserved." class="attachment-in_article wp-post-image" height="345" src="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/greekislands-shutterstock-615x345.jpg" title="A view from a Greek island. Photo: Shutterstock.com, all rights reserved." width="615" /></div>
<div id="tags_container">
Topics: <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/tag/greek-prime-minister-antonis-samaras/" rel="tag">Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras</a> ♦ <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/tag/privatization-scheme/" rel="tag">privatization scheme</a> ♦ <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/tag/uninhabited-islands/" rel="tag">uninhabited islands</a></div>
<div class="clear" style="height: 10px;">
</div>
The Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said this week that the country is willing to sell off its uninhabited islands as part of a plan to accelerate privatization across the country, <a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2012/08/23/si-nous-faisons-notre-travail-la-grece-peut-etre-sauvee_1748749_3234.html" target="_blank">telling French newspaper <i>Le Monde</i></a> that it is the only way to save Greece.<br />
The prime minister was quoted that Greece would still retain national sovereignty over any islands sold to private investors, “on condition that it doesn’t pose a national security problem.”<br />
“It would not be a case of getting rid of the isles, but of transforming unused terrain into capital that can generate revenue, for a fair price,” Samaras reportedly said.<br />
<br />
The country possesses about 6,000 tiny islands in the Mediterranean Sea, but only about 227 are actually inhabited. Samaras reportedly said that the Greece is finally willing to let some of the uninhabited islands be used for commercial purposes, which Greek lawmakers <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/29/greece-not-for-sale" target="_blank">have long resisted</a>. <br />
The German government first suggested in 2010 that Greece sell off some islands, drawing outrage. In Thursday’s edition of <i>Le Monde</i>, Samaras painted a dark picture of a potential Greek exit from Europe’s common currency and insisted the government continue selling off<br />
<br />
The German government first suggested in 2010 that Greece sell off some islands, drawing outrage. In Thursday’s edition of <i>Le Monde</i>, Samaras painted a dark picture of a potential Greek exit from Europe’s common currency and insisted the government continue selling off<br />
<br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider">http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider</a></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://watercorps.net/">http://watercorps.net/</a>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://righttosharefood.org/">http://righttosharefood.org/</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/Circlewider">https://twitter.com/#!/Circlewider</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My Twitter Account<br />
</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
<a href="http://www.casci.us/" target="_blank">http://www.CASCI.us/</a>
(Coalition for the Abolition of Safer Cities Initiative) <br />
<a href="http://www.meanestcity.us/" target="_blank">http://www.MEANESTCITY.us/</a>
(This is a link to the 191 Pg. human rights report.) <br />
<a href="http://www.plej.us/" target="_blank">http://www.PLEJ.us/</a> (Peoples
Lobby for Economic Justice)<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blogs</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/">http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://foodwatersovereignty.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://foodwatersovereignty.blogspot.com/</a>
</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/">http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/">http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/</a></span><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></div>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-36515677583169479022012-08-29T22:07:00.003-07:002012-08-29T22:07:57.615-07:00"Nonsense Economics" and the Deepening Greek Crisis <h2 class="node-title">
"Nonsense Economics" and the Deepening Greek Crisis </h2>
<h3 class="title">
Costas Lapavitsas: Greece is being destroyed as all the players prepare for next </h3>
<h3 class="title">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch">VIDEO </a></h3>
<h3 class="title">
Published on Tuesday, August 28, 2012 by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch">The Real News</a> </h3>
<h3 class="title">
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/video/2012/08/28" id="yui_3_2_0_1_13462827148181281" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1346289208_11">http://www.commondreams.org/video/2012/08/28</span></a></h3>
<div class="title">
<br /></div>
<div class="title">
<span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1346289208_11"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
</span></div>
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider">http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<div class="title">
<span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1346289208_11"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://watercorps.net/">http://watercorps.net/</a>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://righttosharefood.org/">http://righttosharefood.org/</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/Circlewider">https://twitter.com/#!/Circlewider</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My Twitter Account<br />
</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
<a href="http://www.casci.us/" target="_blank">http://www.CASCI.us/</a>
(Coalition for the Abolition of Safer Cities Initiative) <br />
<a href="http://www.meanestcity.us/" target="_blank">http://www.MEANESTCITY.us/</a>
(This is a link to the 191 Pg. human rights report.) <br />
<a href="http://www.plej.us/" target="_blank">http://www.PLEJ.us/</a> (Peoples
Lobby for Economic Justice)<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blogs</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/">http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://foodwatersovereignty.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://foodwatersovereignty.blogspot.com/</a>
</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/">http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/">http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/</a></span><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></div>
<br />
<h3 class="title">
<br /></h3>
Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-390117067597083692012-03-29T13:18:00.000-07:002012-03-29T13:18:00.727-07:00EU Gas Now Over $10: Charting The Global Gas Pump Price Shock Tyler Durden's picture Submitted by Tyler Durden / Forcasting World EventsFor the first time since June 2011, the <strong>average price for Gas across the 27 European nations just broke above USD10/gallon</strong>. With the US on average above USD4/gallon (at its highest since May), it is perhaps worth looking under the covers at just what nations have been hurt the most in the last year by the <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">money-printing-insanity-experiment</span> rising price of crude. <strong>Italy has been hit the hardest with Fiat Uno drivers paying 18% more this year than last</strong> for a litre of petrol. As <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/03/daily-chart-18?fsrc=scn/tw/te/dc/pumpaction">The Economist</a> points out, only the Dutch and Norwegians pay more than the Vespa riders but perhaps it is worthwhile noting just how low (on average) the US price is compared to its global peers (for now) and the fact that only the French are paying less this year than last.<br />
<a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2012/03/20120326_EU%20Gas.png"><img height="273" src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2012/03/20120326_EU%20Gas_0.png" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
And from <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/03/daily-chart-18?fsrc=scn/tw/te/dc/pumpaction">The Economist</a>, Gas Price rises over the past 12 months have been considerable...<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2012/03/20120326_EU%20Gas1.png"><img height="642" src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2012/03/20120326_EU%20Gas1_0.png" width="500" /></a>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-72246602647892787992012-03-29T13:15:00.000-07:002012-03-29T13:15:05.451-07:00Business Homepage Brics’ move to unseat US dollar as trade currency by Thandeka Gqubule and Andile Ntingi / City Press<div class="clr_left"><span style="font-family: verdana;">South Africa will this week take some initial steps to unseat the US dollar as the preferred worldwide currency for trade and investment in emerging economies. <br />
<br />
Thus, the nation is expected to become party to endorsing the Chinese currency, the renminbi, as the currency of trade in emerging markets.<br />
<br />
This means getting a renminbi-denominated bank account, in addition to a dollar account, could be an advantage for African businesses that seek to do business in the emerging markets.<br />
<br />
The move is set to challenge the supremacy of the US dollar. This, experts say, is the latest salvo in the greatest worldwide currency war since the 1930s.<br />
<br />
In the 30s, several nations competitively devalued their currencies to give their domestic economies an advantage over others. <br />
<br />
And this led to a worldwide decline in overall trade volumes at the time.<br />
<br />
The north will be pitted against the entire south in a historic competitive currency battle – whose terrain has moved to the Indian capital New Dehli – where the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India China and South Africa) nations will assemble next week. <br />
<br />
China seeks to find new markets for its currency and to lobby to internationalise it throughout the Brics states.<br />
<br />
For China this is not a new game. In 2009, senior Chinese banking officials issued a statement that the international monetary system was flawed owing to an unhealthy dependence on the US dollar and called for a “super-sovereign” international reserve currency.<br />
<br />
Experts say Beijing’s first step is to internationalise its currency (by expanding its reach beyond China), liberalise it (to allow its value to be determined by the market instead of actively managing it as they currently do) and then make it a reserve currency for many nations in the developing world.<br />
<br />
Africa’s largest bank, Standard Bank, says in a research document: “We expect at least $100 billion (about R768 billion) in Sino-African trade – more than the total bilateral trade between China and Africa in 2010 – to be settled in the renminbi by 2015.”<br />
<br />
The bank anticipates that the use of the renminbi will lower transaction costs in Africa, thus lowering the barriers to doing business. <br />
<br />
It also says that the Chinese will be more successful in transacting in renminbi in Africa than anywhere else because most currencies are weak and somewhat localised.<br />
<br />
Not only will the US dollar be challenged, but also the entire international financial regime – led by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund – which has been dominant since the end of World War II.<br />
<br />
South Africa’s place in the emerging international financial regime is set to be enhanced.<br />
<br />
Zou Lixing, vice-president of the Institute of Research of the China Development Bank, told the Brics preparatory meeting recently that “although the economic aggregate of South Africa is small relative to the Brics, South Africa provides a gate for the Brics to get access to the huge African market”.<br />
<br />
The five-member nations have collectively called for an end to the tacit agreement between the US and Europe that ensures that the head of the World Bank is an American citizen, and the International Monetary Fund head is European.<br />
<br />
They have proposed that an emerging market candidate be fielded when the term of the current World Bank head, Robert Zoellick, expires in three months.<br />
<br />
Fundacao Vargas, a member of the Brazilian delegation, said Brics could confront “existing governance structures”, and seek to strengthen the blocs’ influence in established institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, while creating alternatives.<br />
<br />
The demand for greater political say in international affairs dovetails with China’s expected rise as a financial superpower in the next eight years.<br />
<br />
Vargas showed the preparatory meeting projections indicating that China’s economy will have eclipsed that of the US by 2020, hence the promotion of the renminbi as the preferred currency of the south.<br />
<br />
The renminbi has traditionally traded at a deliberately lower exchange rate, which gave a huge boost to China’s domestic economic sectors and enabled its booming industrialisation and growth.<br />
<br />
The US and other trading partners have long accused China of being a “currency manipulator”.<br />
<br />
Last week, Brazil declared its commitment to keep its own currency – the real – low. Its finance minister, Guido Mantega, reiterated his November 2010 declaration that a global currency war has broken out.<br />
<br />
He said: “We do not want to lose our manufacturing sector.<br />
<br />
We will not sit back and watch while other countries devalue their currencies.”<br />
<br />
Brazil and China cried foul last year when, through a slew of initiatives dubbed QE2 – Quantitative Easing Two – the US indirectly devalued its currency by pumping about $600 billion into its economy to protect the economy from sliding back into recession.<br />
<br />
South African economists were in two minds about the moves to extend the influence of the renminbi.<br />
<br />
Economist and academic Peter Draper told City Press recently that the decision to establish a Brics development bank and to enlarge the renminbi's sphere “is political and related to the current political dynamics within the World Bank” and the established international financial system.<br />
<br />
Tom Wheeler of the South African Institute of International Affairs said developments in New Delhi (India) were “giving substance to the previously (and) loosely arranged economic block”.</span></div><div id="ctl00_ctl00_MainBodyPlaceholder_Column1Placeholder_articlePaged__htmlAccreditationName">- City Press</div><div id="ctl00_ctl00_MainBodyPlaceholder_Column1Placeholder_articlePaged__htmlAccreditationName"><br />
</div><div id="ctl00_ctl00_MainBodyPlaceholder_Column1Placeholder_articlePaged__htmlAccreditationName"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style> <![endif]--> </div><span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider">http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/"><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/</span></span></a> </span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/">http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/</a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/">http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://foodwatersovereignty.blogspot.com/">http://foodwatersovereignty.blogspot.com</a></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">h<a href="http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ttp://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/</span></a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.righttosharefood.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3b5998;">http://www.righttosharefood.org/</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
<span class="commentbody"><a href="http://www.watercorps.net/">http://www.watercorps.net/</a></span></span><br />
<h6><span class="messagebody"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Circlewider">https://twitter.com/Circlewider</a></span></span></h6><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Viva Economic Justice!!!!</span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Michael “Waterman” Hubman</span></span><br />
<span class="messagebody">Aggregating and posting for Economic Justice</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-70164618041401721652012-03-27T12:40:00.000-07:002012-03-27T12:40:51.649-07:00Tory Peter Cruddas sold access to PM, Sunday Times alleges by BBC News<span class="story-date"> <span class="date">24 March 2012</span> </span><br />
<span class="story-date"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="videoInStoryB"> <div class="emp" id="emp-17502928-258" style="cursor: pointer; height: 252px; position: relative;"><img height="252" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59287000/jpg/_59287887_jex_1360484_de15-1.jpg" width="448" /></div><div class="caption">Secretly filmed footage of Peter Cruddas offering access to the prime minister and chancellor. Courtesy the Sunday Times</div></div><div class="introduction">Conservative Party co-treasurer Peter Cruddas offered access to the prime minister and chancellor for £250,000, the Sunday Times has alleged.</div>It has footage of him apparently making the offer to undercover reporters.<br />
London-based Mr Cruddas was appointed Tory co-treasurer in June 2011 and is the founder of online trading company Currency Management Consultants Ltd.<br />
The Conservative Party said it would investigate but pointed out no donation had actually been accepted.<br />
Labour has challenged the Prime Minister to "come clean" about what he knew about the matter, and when he knew of it.<br />
<div class="story-feature narrow"> <a class="hidden" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17501618#story_continues_1">Continue reading the main story</a> <h2 class="quote">“<span>Start Quote</span></h2><blockquote><div class="first-child"> Will the PM say exactly what he knew and when about an apparent effort to sell access and influence in Downing Street?"”</div></blockquote><span class="quote-credit">Michael Dugher</span> <span class="quote-credit-title">Labour MP</span> </div><div id="story_continues_1">In the footage, Mr Cruddas is heard discussing what access different size donations would get.</div>"Two hundred grand to 250 is Premier League… what you would get is, when we talk about your donations the first thing we want to do is get you at the Cameron/Osborne dinners," he says.<br />
"You do really pick up a lot of information and when you see the Prime Minister, you're seeing David Cameron, not the Prime Minister.<br />
"But within that room everything is confidential - you can ask him practically any question you want.<br />
"If you're unhappy about something, we will listen to you and put it into the policy committee at number 10 - we feed all feedback to the policy committee." <br />
<span class="cross-head">Labour questions</span> A statement from the Tories said: "No donation was ever accepted or even formally considered by the Conservative Party.<br />
"All donations to the Conservative Party have to comply with requirements of electoral law, and these are strictly enforced by our compliance department."<br />
The BBC was unable to contact Mr Cruddas via the Conservative Party.<br />
Labour MP Michael Dugher said: "Time and again the Tory party has been the obstacle to capping donations from wealthy individuals. Now it appears obvious why.<br />
"David Cameron should come clean. Will the PM say exactly what he knew and when about an apparent effort to sell access and influence in Downing Street?"<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider">http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/"><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/</span></span></a> </span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/">http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/</a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/">http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://foodwatersovereignty.blogspot.com/">http://foodwatersovereignty.blogspot.com</a></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">h<a href="http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ttp://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/</span></a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.righttosharefood.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3b5998;">http://www.righttosharefood.org/</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
<span class="commentbody"><a href="http://www.watercorps.net/">http://www.watercorps.net/</a></span></span><br />
<h6><span class="messagebody"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Circlewider">https://twitter.com/Circlewider</a></span></span></h6><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Viva Economic Justice!!!!</span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Michael “Waterman” Hubman</span></span><br />
<span class="messagebody">Aggregating and posting for Economic Justice</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span><br />
<br />
<span class="story-date"><span class="time-text"></span><span class="time"></span> </span>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-91588908258410810912012-03-27T12:37:00.000-07:002012-03-27T12:37:33.653-07:00Graft-tainted former Irish PM quits party by Alajeera<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr><td><div id="ctl00_cphBody_dvArticleInfoBlock"> <div class="articleSumm" id="ctl00_cphBody_dvSummary"><span style="font-size: large;">Bertie Ahern resigns from Fianna Fail amid moves to expel him and vows to clear his name over accusations of corruption</span>.</div><div class="Tmp_hSpace5"> </div><div id="dvToolsList"> <span id="dvArticleDate"> <span id="ctl00_cphBody_lblDate">25 Mar 2012 07:07</span></span><a class="indexSummaryText" href="http://www.aljazeera.com/Services/ArticleTools/SendFeedback.aspx?GUID=201232555528274928" id="ctl00_cphBody_ToolsList2_hpFeedback" target="_blank"></a><div id="toolsFeedback" style="float: right; width: 95px;"> </div></div></div><div class="Tmp_hSpace5" style="clear: both;"> </div></td> </tr>
<tr id="articleMedia"> <td> <div id="mediaContainer"> <div id="ctl00_cphBody_ArticleMedia1_mediaView"> <div class="articleMediaCaption"> </div></div></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td class="DetailedSummary" id="tdTextContent"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 33px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td><img border="0" src="http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2012/3/25//20123256144281734_20.jpg" /></td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="center"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10px;"><strong>Ahern, left, with then-British counterpart Tony Blair, said his finances were chaotic but denies wrongdoing [Reuters]</strong></span></td> </tr>
</tbody> </table>Former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern says he will resign from the Fianna Fail party over a furore surrounding his finances during his time in office.<br />
In an article in Ireland's <em>Sunday Independent</em> newspaper, Ahern said news of a motion to expel him from the party had "deeply saddened" him.<br />
<table border="10" class="Skyscrapper_Body" style="background-color: #fb9d04; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: white; border-style: solid; float: right; height: 50px; width: 250px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td> <span style="color: white; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>"My resignation is not an admission of wrong-doing in regard to the report of the Mahon Tribunal and nobody should try to interpret it in that way.</strong></span><span style="color: white; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>"</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-size: 10pt;"><strong><span style="color: white; font-size: 10px;">- Bertie Ahern</span></strong></span><br />
</td> </tr>
</tbody> </table>His decision to resign comes days after a long-awaited report concluded Ahern had failed to give a truthful account about the source of substantial sums of money he received.<br />
The tribunal found that Ahern failed to truthfully account for a total of 165,214.25 Irish punts ($262,000) passing through accounts connected with him.<br />
Ahern's move came days before party officials were due to meet to consider expelling Ahern, who was one of the architects of Ireland's ill-fated economic boom.<br />
Set up in 1997, the Mahon Tribunal probed the relationships between politicians and property developers after builders made vast profits on land re-zoned as commercial.<br />
In its report, which ran to over 3,000 pages, it said corruption was "endemic and systemic" at every level of government in Ireland in the late 1990s.<br />
Ahern was Taoiseach, or prime minister, from 1997 to 2008.<br />
The Irish government has asked the Irish police to look at the findings of a report into corruption in Ireland's planning process.<br />
<strong>'Not an admission'</strong><br />
Ahern categorically denied any wrongdoing and said he would clear his name.<br />
"My resignation is not an admission of wrongdoing in regard to the report of the Mahon Tribunal and nobody should try to interpret it in that way," he said in the statement.<br />
"I reject the findings of this inaccurate and unsubstantiated report in the strongest possible manner," he added.<br />
The verdict came four years after the economy collapsed under the strain of a decade-long housing and banking boom, cultivated by Ahern and his Fianna Fail party, and a year after the party was ejected from power by angry voters.<br />
Ahern, who described his finances as "chaotic" during his time as leader, was one of Europe's longest serving premiers and was widely praised for his work in resolving the conflict in Northern Ireland.<br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider">http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/"><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/</span></span></a> </span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/">http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/</a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/">http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://foodwatersovereignty.blogspot.com/">http://foodwatersovereignty.blogspot.com</a></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">h<a href="http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ttp://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/</span></a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.righttosharefood.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3b5998;">http://www.righttosharefood.org/</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
<span class="commentbody"><a href="http://www.watercorps.net/">http://www.watercorps.net/</a></span></span><br />
<h6><span class="messagebody"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Circlewider">https://twitter.com/Circlewider</a></span></span></h6><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Viva Economic Justice!!!!</span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Michael “Waterman” Hubman</span></span><br />
<span class="messagebody">Aggregating and posting for Economic Justice</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-39714645498835243792012-03-23T23:20:00.000-07:002012-03-23T23:20:11.227-07:00Capitalism: A Ghost Story by Arundhati Roy / Information Clearing House<span style="font-size: medium;">Rockefeller to Mandela, Vedanta to Anna Hazare.... How long can the cardinals of corporate gospel buy up our protests?<br />
<br />
<b>By Arundhati Roy </b></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b> <span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
March 21, 2012 "</span></span><a href="http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?280234"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Outlook India</span></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">" - - </span> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Is it a house or a home? A temple to the new India, or a warehouse for its ghosts? Ever since Antilla arrived on Altamont Road in Mumbai, exuding mystery and quiet menace, things have not been the same. “Here we are,” the friend who took me there said, “Pay your respects to our new Ruler.”</span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Antilla belongs to India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani. I had read about this most expensive dwelling ever built, the twenty-seven floors, three helipads, nine lifts, hanging gardens, ballrooms, weather rooms, gymnasiums, six floors of parking, and the six hundred servants. Nothing had prepared me for the vertical lawn—a soaring, 27-storey-high wall of grass attached to a vast metal grid. The grass was dry in patches; bits had fallen off in neat rectangles. Clearly, Trickledown hadn’t worked.<img align="right" border="0" height="596" src="http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/antalia_20120326.jpg" width="550" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">But Gush-Up certainly has. That’s why in a nation of 1.2 billion, India’s 100 richest people own assets equivalent to one-fourth of the GDP.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The word on the street (and in the <em>New York Times</em>) is, or at least was, that after all that effort and gardening, the Ambanis don’t live in Antilla. No one knows for sure. People still whisper about ghosts and bad luck, Vaastu and Feng Shui. Maybe it’s all Karl Marx’s fault. (All that cussing.) Capitalism, he said, “has conjured up such gigantic means of production and of exchange, that it is like the sorcerer who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world whom he has called up by his spells”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">In India, the 300 million of us who belong to the new, post-IMF “reforms” middle class—the market—live side by side with spirits of the nether world, the poltergeists of dead rivers, dry wells, bald mountains and denuded forests; the ghosts of 2,50,000 debt-ridden farmers who have killed themselves, and of the 800 million who have been impoverished and dispossessed to make way for us. And who survive on less than twenty rupees a day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Mukesh Ambani is personally worth $20 billion. He holds a majority controlling share in Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), a company with a market capitalisation of $47 billion and global business interests that include petrochemicals, oil, natural gas, polyester fibre, Special Economic Zones, fresh food retail, high schools, life sciences research and stem cell storage services. RIL recently bought 95 per cent shares in Infotel, a TV consortium that controls 27 TV news and entertainment channels, including CNN-IBN, IBN Live, CNBC, IBN Lokmat, and ETV in almost every regional language. Infotel owns the only nationwide licence for 4G Broadband, a high-speed “information pipeline” which, if the technology works, could be the future of information exchange. Mr Ambani also owns a cricket team.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">RIL is one of a handful of corporations that run India. Some of the others are the Tatas, Jindals, Vedanta, Mittals, Infosys, Essar and the other Reliance (ADAG), owned by Mukesh’s brother Anil. Their race for growth has spilled across Europe, Central Asia, Africa and Latin America. Their nets are cast wide; they are visible and invisible, over-ground as well as underground. The Tatas, for example, run more than 100 companies in 80 countries. They are one of India’s oldest and largest private sector power companies. They own mines, gas fields, steel plants, telephone, cable TV and broadband networks, and run whole townships. They manufacture cars and trucks, own the Taj Hotel chain, Jaguar, Land Rover, Daewoo, Tetley Tea, a publishing company, a chain of bookstores, a major brand of iodised salt and the cosmetics giant Lakme. Their advertising tagline could easily be: You Can’t Live Without Us.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">According to the rules of the Gush-Up Gospel, the more you have, the more you can have.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The era of the Privatisation of Everything has made the Indian economy one of the fastest growing in the world. However, like any good old-fashioned colony, one of its main exports is its minerals. India’s new mega-corporations—Tatas, Jindals, Essar, Reliance, Sterlite—are those who have managed to muscle their way to the head of the spigot that is spewing money extracted from deep inside the earth. It’s a dream come true for businessmen—to be able to sell what they don’t have to buy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The other major source of corporate wealth comes from their land-banks. All over the world, weak, corrupt local governments have helped Wall Street brokers, agro-business corporations and Chinese billionaires to amass huge tracts of land. (Of course, this entails commandeering water too.) In India, the land of millions of people is being acquired and made over to private corporations for “public interest”—for Special Economic Zones, infrastructure projects, dams, highways, car manufacture, chemical hubs and Formula One racing. (The sanctity of private property never applies to the poor.) As always, local people are promised that their displacement from their land and the expropriation of everything they ever had is actually part of employment generation. But by now we know that the connection between GDP growth and jobs is a myth. After 20 years of “growth”, 60 per cent of India’s workforce is self-employed, 90 per cent of India’s labour force works in the unorganised sector.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Post-Independence, right up to the ’80s, people’s movements, ranging from the Naxalites to Jayaprakash Narayan’s Sampoorna Kranti, were fighting for land reforms, for the redistribution of land from feudal landlords to landless peasants. Today any talk of redistribution of land or wealth would be considered not just undemocratic, but lunatic. Even the most militant movements have been reduced to a fight to hold on to what little land people still have. The millions of landless people, the majority of them Dalits and adivasis, driven from their villages, living in slums and shanty colonies in small towns and mega cities, do not figure even in the radical discourse.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">As Gush-Up concentrates wealth on to the tip of a shining pin on which our billionaires pirouette, tidal waves of money crash through the institutions of democracy—the courts, Parliament as well as the media, seriously compromising their ability to function in the ways they are meant to. The noisier the carnival around elections, the less sure we are that democracy really exists.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Each new corruption scandal that surfaces in India makes the last one look tame. In the summer of 2011, the 2G spectrum scandal broke. We learnt that corporations had siphoned away $40 billion of public money by installing a friendly soul as the Union minister of telecommunication who grossly underpriced the licences for 2G telecom spectrum and illegally parcelled it out to his buddies. The taped telephone conversations leaked to the press showed how a network of industrialists and their front companies, ministers, senior journalists and a TV anchor were involved in facilitating this daylight robbery. The tapes were just an MRI that confirmed a diagnosis that people had made long ago.</span> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The privatisation and illegal sale of telecom spectrum does not involve war, displacement and ecological devastation. The privatisation of India’s mountains, rivers and forests does. Perhaps because it does not have the uncomplicated clarity of a straightforward, out-and-out accounting scandal, or perhaps because it is all being done in the name of India’s “progress”, it does not have the same resonance with the middle classes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">In 2005, the state governments of Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Jharkhand signed hundreds of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with a number of private corporations turning over trillions of dollars of bauxite, iron ore and other minerals for a pittance, defying even the warped logic of the free market. (Royalties to the government ranged between 0.5 per cent and 7 per cent.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Only days after the Chhattisgarh government signed an MoU for the construction of an integrated steel plant in Bastar with Tata Steel, the Salwa Judum, a vigilante militia, was inaugurated. The government said it was a spontaneous uprising of local people who were fed up of the “repression” by Maoist guerrillas in the forest. It turned out to be a ground-clearing operation, funded and armed by the government and subsidised by mining corporations. In the other states, similar militias were created, with other names. The prime minister announced the Maoists were the “single-largest security challenge in India”. It was a declaration of war.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">On January 2, 2006, in Kalinganagar, in the neighbouring state of Orissa, perhaps to signal the seriousness of the government’s intention, ten platoons of police arrived at the site of another Tata Steel plant and opened fire on villagers who had gathered there to protest what they felt was inadequate compensation for their land. Thirteen people, including one policeman, were killed, and 37 injured. Six years have gone by and though the villages remain under siege by armed policemen, the protest has not died.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Meanwhile in Chhattisgarh, the Salwa Judum burned, raped and murdered its way through hundreds of forest villages, evacuating 600 villages, forcing 50,000 people to come out into police camps and 3,50,000 people to flee. The chief minister announced that those who did not come out of the forests would be considered to be ‘Maoist terrorists’. In this way, in parts of modern India, ploughing fields and sowing seed came to be defined as terrorist activity. Eventually, the Salwa Judum’s atrocities only succeeded in strengthening the resistance and swelling the ranks of the Maoist guerrilla army. In 2009, the government announced what it called Operation Green Hunt. Two lakh paramilitary troops were deployed across Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and West Bengal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">After three years of “low-intensity conflict” that has not managed to “flush” the rebels out of the forest, the central government has declared that it will deploy the Indian army and air force. In India, we don’t call this war. We call it “creating a good investment climate”. Thousands of soldiers have already moved in. A brigade headquarters and air bases are being readied. One of the biggest armies in the world is now preparing its Terms of Engagement to “defend” itself against the poorest, hungriest, most malnourished people in the world. We only await the declaration of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which will give the army legal immunity and the right to kill “on suspicion”. Going by the tens of thousands of unmarked graves and anonymous cremation pyres in Kashmir, Manipur and Nagaland, it has shown itself to be a very suspicious army indeed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">While the preparations for deployment are being made, the jungles of Central India continue to remain under siege, with villagers frightened to come out, or go to the market for food or medicine. Hundreds of people have been jailed, charged for being Maoists under draconian, undemocratic laws. Prisons are crowded with adivasi people, many of whom have no idea what their crime is. Recently, Soni Sori, an adivasi school-teacher from Bastar, was arrested and tortured in police custody. Stones were pushed up her vagina to get her to “confess” that she was a Maoist courier. The stones were removed from her body at a hospital in Calcutta, where, after a public outcry, she was sent for a medical check-up. At a recent Supreme Court hearing, activists presented the judges with the stones in a plastic bag. The only outcome of their efforts has been that Soni Sori remains in jail while Ankit Garg, the Superintendent of Police who conducted the interrogation, was conferred with the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry on Republic Day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">We hear about the ecological and social re-engineering of Central India only because of the mass insurrection and the war. The government gives out no information. The Memorandums of Understanding are all secret. Some sections of the media have done what they could to bring public attention to what is happening in Central India. However, most of the Indian mass media is made vulnerable by the fact that the major share of its revenues come from corporate advertisements. If that is not bad enough, now the line between the media and big business has begun to blur dangerously. As we have seen, RIL virtually owns 27 TV channels. But the reverse is also true. Some media houses now have direct business and corporate interests. For example, one of the major daily newspapers in the region—<em>Dainik Bhaskar</em> (and it is only one example)—has 17.5 million readers in four languages, including English and Hindi, across 13 states. It also owns 69 companies with interests in mining, power generation, real estate and textiles. A recent writ petition filed in the Chhattisgarh High Court accuses DB Power Ltd (one of the group’s companies) of using “deliberate, illegal and manipulative measures” through company-owned newspapers to influence the outcome of a public hearing over an open cast coal mine. Whether or not it has attempted to influence the outcome is not germane. The point is that media houses are in a position to do so. They have the power to do so. The laws of the land allow them to be in a position that lends itself to a serious conflict of interest.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">There are other parts of the country from which no news comes. In the sparsely populated but militarised northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, 168 big dams are being constructed, most of them privately owned. High dams that will submerge whole districts are being constructed in Manipur and Kashmir, both highly militarised states where people can be killed merely for protesting power cuts. (That happened a few weeks ago in Kashmir.) How can they stop a dam?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The most delusional dam of all is Kalpasar in Gujarat. It is being planned as a 34-km-long dam across the Gulf of Khambhat with a 10-lane highway and a railway line running on top of it. By keeping the sea water out, the idea is to create a sweet water reservoir of Gujarat’s rivers. (Never mind that these rivers have already been dammed to a trickle and poisoned with chemical effluent.) The Kalpasar dam, which would raise the sea level and alter the ecology of hundreds of kilometres of coastline, had been dismissed as a bad idea 10 years ago. It has made a sudden comeback in order to supply water to the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) in one of the most water-stressed zones not just in India, but in the world. SIR is another name for an SEZ, a self-governed corporate dystopia of “industrial parks, townships and mega-cities”. The Dholera SIR is going to be connected to Gujarat’s other cities by a network of 10-lane highways. Where will the money for all this come from?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">In January 2011, in the Mahatma (Gandhi) Mandir, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi presided over a meeting of 10,000 international businessmen from 100 countries. According to media reports, they pledged to invest $450 billion in Gujarat. The meeting was scheduled to take place at the onset of the 10th anniversary year of the massacre of 2,000 Muslims in February-March 2002. Modi stands accused of not just condoning, but actively abetting, the killing. People who watched their loved ones being raped, eviscerated and burned alive, the tens of thousands who were driven from their homes, still wait for a gesture towards justice. But Modi has traded in his saffron scarf and vermilion forehead for a sharp business suit, and hopes that a 450-billion-dollar investment will work as blood money, and square the books. Perhaps it will. Big Business is backing him enthusiastically. The algebra of infinite justice works in mysterious ways.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The Dholera SIR is only one of the smaller Matryoshka dolls, one of the inner ones in the dystopia that is being planned. It will be connected to the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), a 1,500-km-long and 300-km-wide industrial corridor, with nine mega-industrial zones, a high-speed freight line, three seaports and six airports, a six-lane intersection-free expressway and a 4,000 MW power plant. The DMIC is a collaborative venture between the governments of India and Japan, and their respective corporate partners, and has been proposed by the McKinsey Global Institute.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The DMIC website says that approximately 180 million people will be “affected” by the project. Exactly how, it doesn’t say. It envisages the building of several new cities and estimates that the population in the region will grow from the current 231 million to 314 million by 2019. That’s in seven years’ time. When was the last time a state, despot or dictator carried out a population transfer of millions of people? Can it possibly be a peaceful process?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The Indian army might need to go on a recruitment drive so that it’s not taken unawares when it’s ordered to deploy all over India. In preparation for its role in Central India, it publicly released its updated doctrine on Military Psychological Operations, which outlines “a planned process of conveying a message to a select target audience, to promote particular themes that result in desired attitudes and behaviour, which affect the achievement of political and military objectives of the country”. This process of “perception management”, it said, would be conducted by “using media available to the services”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The army is experienced enough to know that coercive force alone cannot carry out or manage social engineering on the scale that is envisaged by India’s planners. War against the poor is one thing. But for the rest of us—the middle class, white-collar workers, intellectuals, “opinion-makers”—it has to be “perception management”. And for this we must turn our attention to the exquisite art of Corporate Philanthropy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Of late, the main mining conglomerates have embraced the Arts—film, art installations and the rush of literary festivals that have replaced the ’90s obsession with beauty contests. Vedanta, currently mining the heart out of the homelands of the ancient Dongria Kondh tribe for bauxite, is sponsoring a ‘Creating Happiness’ film competition for young film students whom they have commissioned to make films on sustainable development. Vedanta’s tagline is ‘Mining Happiness’. The Jindal Group brings out a contemporary art magazine and supports some of India’s major artists (who naturally work with stainless steel). Essar was the principal sponsor of the Tehelka Newsweek <em>Think</em> Fest that promised “high-octane debates” by the foremost thinkers from around the world, which included major writers, activists and even the architect Frank Gehry. (All this in Goa, where activists and journalists were uncovering massive illegal mining scandals, and Essar’s part in the war unfolding in Bastar was emerging.) Tata Steel and Rio Tinto (which has a sordid track record of its own) were among the chief sponsors of the Jaipur Literary Festival (Latin name: Darshan Singh Construction Jaipur Literary Festival) that is advertised by the cognoscenti as ‘The Greatest Literary Show on Earth’. Counselage, the Tatas’ “strategic brand manager”, sponsored the festival’s press tent. Many of the world’s best and brightest writers gathered in Jaipur to discuss love, literature, politics and Sufi poetry. Some tried to defend Salman Rushdie’s right to free speech by reading from his proscribed book, <em>The Satanic Verses</em>. In every TV frame and newspaper photograph, the logo of Tata Steel (and its tagline—Values Stronger than Steel) loomed behind them, a benign, benevolent host. The enemies of Free Speech were the supposedly murderous Muslim mobs, who, the festival organisers told us, could have even harmed the school-children gathered there. (We are witness to how helpless the Indian government and the police can be when it comes to Muslims.) Yes, the hardline Darul-Uloom Deobandi Islamic seminary did protest Rushdie being invited to the festival. Yes, some Islamists did gather at the festival venue to protest and yes, outrageously, the state government did nothing to protect the venue. That’s because the whole episode had as much to do with democracy, votebanks and the Uttar Pradesh elections as it did with Islamist fundamentalism. But the battle for Free Speech against Islamist Fundamentalism made it to the world’s newspapers. It is important that it did. But there were hardly any reports about the festival sponsors’ role in the war in the forests, the bodies piling up, the prisons filling up. Or about the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, which make even <em>thinking</em> an anti-government thought a cognisable offence. Or about the mandatory public hearing for the Tata Steel plant in Lohandiguda which local people complained actually took place hundreds of miles away in Jagdalpur, in the collector’s office compound, with a hired audience of fifty people, under armed guard. Where was Free Speech then? No one mentioned Kalinganagar. No one mentioned that journalists, academics and filmmakers working on subjects unpopular with the Indian government—like the surreptitious part it played in the genocide of Tamils in the war in Sri Lanka or the recently discovered unmarked graves in Kashmir—were being denied visas or deported straight from the airport.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">But which of us sinners was going to cast the first stone? Not me, who lives off royalties from corporate publishing houses. We all watch Tata Sky, we surf the net with Tata Photon, we ride in Tata taxis, we stay in Tata Hotels, we sip our Tata tea in Tata bone china and stir it with teaspoons made of Tata Steel. We buy Tata books in Tata bookshops. <em>Hum Tata ka namak khate hain</em>. We’re under siege.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">If the sledgehammer of moral purity is to be the criterion for stone-throwing, then the only people who qualify are those who have been silenced already. Those who live outside the system; the outlaws in the forests or those whose protests are never covered by the press, or the well-behaved dispossessed, who go from tribunal to tribunal, bearing witness, giving testimony.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">But the Litfest gave us our Aha! Moment. Oprah came. She said she <em>loved</em> India, that she would come <em>again</em> and <em>again</em>. It made us proud.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">This is only the burlesque end of the Exquisite Art.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Though the Tatas have been involved with corporate philanthropy for almost a hundred years now, endowing scholarships and running some excellent educational institutes and hospitals, Indian corporations have only recently been invited into the Star Chamber, the <em>Camera stellata</em>, the brightly lit world of global corporate government, deadly for its adversaries, but otherwise so artful that you barely know it’s there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">What follows in this essay might appear to some to be a somewhat harsh critique. On the other hand, in the tradition of honouring one’s adversaries, it could be read as an acknowledgement of the vision, flexibility, the sophistication and unwavering determination of those who have dedicated their lives to keep the world safe for capitalism.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Their enthralling history, which has faded from contemporary memory, began in the US in the early 20th century when, kitted out legally in the form of endowed foundations, corporate philanthropy began to replace missionary activity as Capitalism’s (and Imperialism’s) road opening and systems maintenance patrol. Among the first foundations to be set up in the United States were the Carnegie Corporation, endowed in 1911 by profits from the Carnegie Steel Company; and the Rockefeller Foundation, endowed in 1914 by J.D. Rockefeller, founder of <em> Standard Oil Company</em>. The Tatas and Ambanis of their time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Some of the institutions financed, given seed money or supported by the Rockefeller Foundation are the UN, the CIA, the Council on Foreign Relations, New York’s most fabulous Museum of Modern Art, and, of course, the Rockefeller Center in New York (where Diego Riviera’s mural had to be blasted off the wall because it mischievously depicted reprobate capitalists and a valiant Lenin. Free Speech had taken the day off.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">J.D. Rockefeller was America’s first billionaire and the world’s richest man. He was an abolitionist, a supporter of Abraham Lincoln and a teetotaller. He believed his money was given to him by God, which must have been nice for him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Here’s an excerpt from one of Pablo Neruda’s early poems called Standard Oil Company:</span><br />
<blockquote> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Their obese emperors from New York<br />
are suave smiling assassins<br />
who buy silk, nylon, cigars<br />
petty tyrants and dictators.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">They buy countries, people, seas, police, county councils,<br />
distant regions where the poor hoard their corn<br />
like misers their gold:<br />
Standard Oil awakens them,<br />
clothes them in uniforms, designates<br />
which brother is the enemy.<br />
the Paraguayan fights its war,<br />
and the Bolivian wastes away<br />
in the jungle with its machine gun.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">A President assassinated for a drop of petroleum,<br />
a million-acre mortgage,<br />
a swift execution on a morning mortal with light, petrified,<br />
a new prison camp for subversives,<br />
in Patagonia, a betrayal, scattered shots<br />
beneath a petroliferous moon,<br />
a subtle change of ministers<br />
in the capital, a whisper<br />
like an oil tide,<br />
and zap, you’ll see<br />
how Standard Oil’s letters shine above the clouds,<br />
above the seas, in your home,<br />
illuminating their dominions.</span><br />
</blockquote><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">When corporate-endowed foundations first made their appearance in the US, there was a fierce debate about their provenance, legality and lack of accountability. People suggested that if companies had so much surplus money, they should raise the wages of their workers. (People made these outrageous suggestions in those days, even in America.) The idea of these foundations, so ordinary now, was in fact a leap of the business imagination. Non-tax-paying legal entities with massive resources and an almost unlimited brief—wholly unaccountable, wholly non-transparent—what better way to parlay economic wealth into political, social and cultural capital, to turn money into power? What better way for usurers to use a minuscule percentage of their profits to run the world? How else would Bill Gates, who admittedly knows a thing or two about computers, find himself designing education, health and agriculture policies, not just for the US government, but for governments all over the world?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Over the years, as people witnessed some of the genuinely good the foundations did (running public libraries, eradicating diseases)—the direct connection between corporations and the foundations they endowed began to blur. Eventually, it faded altogether. Now even those who consider themselves left-wing are not shy to accept their largesse.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">By the 1920s, US capitalism had begun to look outwards, for raw materials and overseas markets. Foundations began to formulate the idea of global corporate governance. In 1924, the Rockefeller and Carnegie foundations jointly created what is today the most powerful foreign policy pressure group in the world—the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), which later came to be funded by the Ford Foundation as well. By 1947, the newly created CIA was supported by and working closely with the CFR. Over the years, the CFR’s membership has included 22 US secretaries of state. There were five CFR members in the 1943 steering committee that planned the UN, and an $8.5 million grant from J.D. Rockefeller bought the land on which the UN’s New York headquarters stands.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"> All eleven of the World Bank’s presidents since 1946—men who have presented themselves as missionaries of the poor—have been members of the CFR. (The exception was George Woods. And he was a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation and vice-president of Chase-Manhattan Bank.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">At Bretton Woods, the World Bank and IMF decided that the US dollar should be the reserve currency of the world, and that in order to enhance the penetration of global capital, it would be necessary to universalise and standardise business practices in an open marketplace. It is towards that end that they spend a large amount of money promoting Good Governance (as long as they control the strings), the concept of the Rule of Law (provided they have a say in making the laws) and hundreds of anti-corruption programmes (to streamline the system they have put in place.) Two of the most opaque, unaccountable organisations in the world go about demanding transparency and accountability from the governments of poorer countries.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Given that the World Bank has more or less directed the economic policies of the Third World, coercing and cracking open the markets of country after country for global finance, you could say that corporate philanthropy has turned out to be the most visionary business of all time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Corporate-endowed foundations administer, trade and channelise their power and place their chessmen on the chessboard, through a system of elite clubs and think-tanks, whose members overlap and move in and out through the revolving doors. Contrary to the various conspiracy theories in circulation, particularly among left-wing groups, there is nothing secret, satanic, or Freemason-like about this arrangement. It is not very different from the way corporations use shell companies and offshore accounts to transfer and administer their money—except that the currency is power, not money.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The transnational equivalent of the CFR is the Trilateral Commission, set up in 1973 by David Rockefeller, the former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski (founder-member of the Afghan Mujahideen, forefathers of the Taliban), the Chase-Manhattan Bank and some other private eminences. Its purpose was to create an enduring bond of friendship and cooperation between the elites of North America, Europe and Japan. It has now become a penta-lateral commission, because it includes members from China and India. (Tarun Das of the CII; N.R. Narayanamurthy, ex-CEO, Infosys; Jamsheyd N. Godrej, managing director, Godrej; Jamshed J. Irani, director, Tata Sons; and Gautam Thapar, CEO, Avantha Group).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The Aspen Institute is an international club of local elites, businessmen, bureaucrats, politicians, with franchises in several countries. Tarun Das is the president of the Aspen Institute, India. Gautam Thapar is chairman. Several senior officers of the McKinsey Global Institute (proposer of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor) are members of the CFR, the Trilateral Commission and the Aspen Institute.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The Ford Foundation (liberal foil to the more conservative Rockefeller Foundation, though the two work together constantly) was set up in 1936. Though it is often underplayed, the Ford Foundation has a very clear, well-defined ideology and works extremely closely with the US state department. Its project of deepening democracy and “good governance” are very much part of the Bretton Woods scheme of standardising business practice and promoting efficiency in the free market. After the Second World War, when Communists replaced Fascists as the US government’s enemy number one, new kinds of institutions were needed to deal with the Cold War. Ford funded RAND (Research and Development Corporation), a military think-tank that began with weapons research for the US defense services. In 1952, to thwart “the persistent Communist effort to penetrate and disrupt free nations”, it established the Fund for the Republic, which then morphed into the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions whose brief was to wage the cold war intelligently without McCarthyite excesses. It is through this lens that we need to view the work Ford Foundation is doing, with the millions of dollars it has invested in India—its funding of artists, filmmakers and activists, its generous endowment of university courses and scholarships.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The Ford Foundation’s declared “goals for the future of mankind” include interventions in grassroots political movements locally and internationally. In the US, it provided millions in grants and loans to support the Credit Union Movement that was pioneered by the department store owner, Edward Filene, in 1919. Filene believed in creating a mass consumption society of consumer goods by giving workers affordable access to credit—a radical idea at the time. Actually, only half of a radical idea, because the other half of what Filene believed in was the more equitable distribution of national income. Capitalists seized on the first half of Filene’s suggestion, and by disbursing “affordable” loans of tens of millions of dollars to working people, turned the US working class into people who are permanently in debt, running to catch up with their lifestyles.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"> <img border="0" height="466" src="http://photo.outlookindia.com/images/gallery/20120314/farmer_suicide_20120326.jpg" width="700" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Many years later, this idea has trickled down to the impoverished countryside of Bangladesh when Mohammed Yunus and the Grameen Bank brought microcredit to starving peasants with disastrous consequences. Microfinance companies in India are responsible for hundreds of suicides—200 people in Andhra Pradesh in 2010 alone. A national daily recently published a suicide note by an 18-year-old girl who was forced to hand over her last Rs 150, her school fees, to bullying employees of the microfinance company. The note said, “Work hard and earn money. Do not take loans.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">There’s a lot of money in poverty, and a few Nobel Prizes too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">By the 1950s, the Rockefeller and Ford foundations, funding several NGOs and international educational institutions, began to work as quasi-extensions of the US government that was at the time toppling democratically elected governments in Latin America, Iran and Indonesia. (That was also around the time they made their entry into India, then non-aligned, but clearly tilting towards the Soviet Union.) The Ford Foundation established a US-style economics course at the Indonesian University. Elite Indonesian students, trained in counter-insurgency by US army officers, played a crucial part in the 1965 CIA-backed coup in Indonesia that brought General Suharto to power. Gen Suharto repaid his mentors by slaughtering hundreds of thousands of Communist rebels.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"> Eight years later, young Chilean students, who came to be known as the Chicago Boys, were taken to the US to be trained in neo-liberal economics by Milton Friedman at the University of Chicago (endowed by J.D. Rockefeller), in preparation for the 1973 CIA-backed coup that killed Salvador Allende, and brought in General Pinochet and a reign of death squads, disappearances and terror that lasted for seventeen years. (Allende’s crime was being a democratically elected socialist and nationalising Chile’s mines.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">In 1957, the Rockefeller Foundation established the Ramon Magsaysay Prize for community leaders in Asia. It was named after Ramon Magsaysay, president of the Philippines, a crucial ally in the US campaign against Communism in Southeast Asia. In 2000, the Ford Foundation established the Ramon Magsaysay Emergent Leadership Award. The Magsaysay Award is considered a prestigious award among artists, activists and community workers in India. M.S. Subbulakshmi and Satyajit Ray won it, so did Jayaprakash Narayan and one of India’s finest journalists, P. Sainath. But they did more for the Magsaysay award than it did for them. In general, it has become a gentle arbiter of what kind of activism is “acceptable” and what is not.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Interestingly, Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement last summer was spearheaded by three Magsaysay Award winners—Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi. One of Arvind Kejriwal’s many NGOs is generously funded by Ford Foundation. Kiran Bedi’s NGO is funded by Coca Cola and Lehman Brothers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Though Anna Hazare calls himself a Gandhian, the law he called for—the Jan Lokpal Bill—was un-Gandhian, elitist and dangerous. A round-the-clock corporate media campaign proclaimed him to be the voice of “the people”. Unlike the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US, the Hazare movement did not breathe a word against privatisation, corporate power or economic “reforms”. On the contrary, its principal media backers successfully turned the spotlight away from massive corporate corruption scandals (which had exposed high-profile journalists too) and used the public mauling of politicians to call for the further withdrawal of discretionary powers from government, for more reforms, more privatisation. (In 2008, Anna Hazare received a World Bank award for outstanding public service). The World Bank issued a statement from Washington saying the movement “dovetailed” into its policy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Like all good Imperialists, the Philanthropoids set themselves the task of creating and training an international cadre that believed that Capitalism, and by extension the hegemony of the United States, was in their own self-interest. And who would therefore help to administer the Global Corporate Government in the ways native elites had always served colonialism. So began the foundations’ foray into education and the arts, which would become their third sphere of influence, after foreign and domestic economic policy. They spent (and continue to spend) millions of dollars on academic institutions and pedagogy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Joan Roelofs in her wonderful book <em>Foundations and Public Policy: The Mask of Pluralism </em>describes how foundations remodelled the old ideas of how to teach political science, and fashioned the disciplines of “international” and “area” studies. This provided the US intelligence and security services a pool of expertise in foreign languages and culture to recruit from. The CIA and US state department continue to work with students and professors in US universities, raising serious questions about the ethics of scholarship.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The gathering of information to control people they rule is fundamental to any ruling power. As resistance to land acquisition and the new economic policies spreads across India, in the shadow of outright war in Central India, as a containment technique, the government has embarked on a massive biometrics programme, perhaps one of the most ambitious and expensive information-gathering projects in the world— the Unique Identification Number (UID). People don’t have clean drinking water, or toilets, or food, or money, but they will have election cards and UID numbers. Is it a coincidence that the UID project run by Nandan Nilekani, former CEO of Infosys, ostensibly meant to “deliver services to the poor”, will inject massive amounts of money into a slightly beleaguered IT industry? (A conservative estimate of the UID budget exceeds the Indian government’s annual public spending on education.) To “digitise” a country with such a large population of the largely illegitimate and “illegible”—people who are for the most part slum-dwellers, hawkers, adivasis without land records—will criminalise them, turning them from illegitimate to illegal. The idea is to pull off a digital version of the Enclosure of the Commons and put huge powers into the hands of an increasingly hardening police state. Nilekani’s technocratic obsession with gathering data is consistent with Bill Gates’s obsession with digital databases, “numerical targets”, “scorecards of progress”. As though it is a lack of information that is the cause of world hunger, and not colonialism, debt and skewed profit-oriented, corporate policy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Corporate-endowed foundations are the biggest funders of the social sciences and the arts, endowing courses and student scholarships in “development studies”, “community studies”, “cultural studies”, “behavioural sciences” and “human rights”. As US universities opened their doors to international students, hundreds of thousands of students, children of the Third World elite, poured in. Those who could not afford the fees were given scholarships. Today in countries like India and Pakistan there is scarcely a family among the upper middle classes that does not have a child that has studied in the US. From their ranks have come good scholars and academics, but also the prime ministers, finance ministers, economists, corporate lawyers, bankers and bureaucrats who helped to open up the economies of their countries to global corporations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Scholars of the Foundation-friendly version of economics and political science were rewarded with fellowships, research funds, grants, endowments and jobs. Those with Foundation-unfriendly views found themselves unfunded, marginalised and ghettoised, their courses discontinued. Gradually, one particular imagination—a brittle, superficial pretence of tolerance and multiculturalism (that morphs into racism, rabid nationalism, ethnic chauvinism or war-mongering Islamophobia at a moment’s notice) under the roof of a single, overarching, very unplural economic ideology—began to dominate the discourse. It did so to such an extent that it ceased to be perceived as an ideology at all. It became the default position, the natural way to be. It infiltrated normality, colonised ordinariness, and challenging it began to seem as absurd or as esoteric as challenging reality itself. From here it was a quick easy step to ‘There is No Alternative’.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">It is only now, thanks to the Occupy Movement, that another language has appeared on US streets and campuses. To see students with banners that say ‘Class War’ or ‘We don’t mind you being rich, but we mind you buying our government’ is, given the odds, almost a revolution in itself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">One century after it began, corporate philanthropy is as much part of our lives as Coca Cola. There are now millions of non-profit organisations, many of them connected through a byzantine financial maze to the larger foundations. Between them, this “independent” sector has assets worth nearly 450 billion dollars. The largest of them is the Bill Gates Foundation with ($21 billion), followed by the Lilly Endowment ($16 billion) and the Ford Foundation ($15 billion).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">As the IMF enforced Structural Adjustment, and arm-twisted governments into cutting back on public spending on health, education, childcare, development, the NGOs moved in. The Privatisation of Everything has also meant the NGO-isation of Everything. As jobs and livelihoods disappeared, NGOs have become an important source of employment, even for those who see them for what they are. And they are certainly not all bad. Of the millions of NGOs, some do remarkable, radical work and it would be a travesty to tar all NGOs with the same brush. However, the corporate or Foundation-endowed NGOs are global finance’s way of buying into resistance movements, literally like shareholders buy shares in companies, and then try to control them from within. They sit like nodes on the central nervous system, the pathways along which global finance flows. They work like transmitters, receivers, shock absorbers, alert to every impulse, careful never to annoy the governments of their host countries. (The Ford Foundation requires the organisations it funds to sign a pledge to this effect.) Inadvertently (and sometimes advertently), they serve as listening posts, their reports and workshops and other missionary activity feeding data into an increasingly aggressive system of surveillance of increasingly hardening States. The more troubled an area, the greater the numbers of NGOs in it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Mischievously, when the government or sections of the Corporate Press want to run a smear campaign against a genuine people’s movement, like the Narmada Bachao Andolan, or the protest against the Koodankulam nuclear reactor, they accuse these movements of being NGOs receiving “foreign funding”. They know very well that the mandate of most NGOs, in particular the well-funded ones, is to further the project of corporate globalisation, not thwart it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Armed with their billions, these NGOs have waded into the world, turning potential revolutionaries into salaried activists, funding artists, intellectuals and filmmakers, gently luring them away from radical confrontation, ushering them in the direction of multi-culturalism, gender, community development—the discourse couched in the language of identity politics and human rights.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The transformation of the idea of justice into the industry of human rights has been a conceptual coup in which NGOs and foundations have played a crucial part. The narrow focus of human rights enables an atrocity-based analysis in which the larger picture can be blocked out and both parties in a conflict—say, for example, the Maoists and the Indian government, or the Israeli Army and Hamas—can both be admonished as Human Rights Violators. The land-grab by mining corporations or the history of the annexation of Palestinian land by the State of Israel then become footnotes with very little bearing on the discourse. This is not to suggest that human rights don’t matter. They do, but they are not a good enough prism through which to view or remotely understand the great injustices in the world we live in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Another conceptual coup has to do with foundations’ involvement with the feminist movement. Why do most “official” feminists and women’s organisations in India keep a safe distance between themselves and organisations like say the 90,000-member Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangathan (Revolutionary Adivasi Women’s Association) fighting patriarchy in their own communities and displacement by mining corporations in the Dandakaranya forest? Why is it that the dispossession and eviction of millions of women from land which they owned and worked is not seen as a feminist problem?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The hiving off of the liberal feminist movement from grassroots anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist people’s movements did not begin with the evil designs of foundations. It began with those movements’ inability to adapt and accommodate the rapid radicalisation of women that took place in the ’60s and ’70s. The foundations showed genius in recognising and moving in to support and fund women’s growing impatience with the violence and patriarchy in their traditional societies as well as among even the supposedly progressive leaders of Left movements. In a country like India, the schism also ran along the rural-urban divide. Most radical, anti-capitalist movements were located in the countryside where, for the most part, patriarchy continued to rule the lives of most women. Urban women activists who joined these movements (like the Naxalite movement) had been influenced and inspired by the western feminist movement and their own journeys towards liberation were often at odds with what their male leaders considered to be their duty: to fit in with ‘the masses’. Many women activists were not willing to wait any longer for the “revolution” in order to end the daily oppression and discrimination in their lives, including from their own comrades. They wanted gender equality to be an absolute, urgent and non-negotiable part of the revolutionary process and not just a post-revolution promise. Intelligent, angry and disillusioned women began to move away and look for other means of support and sustenance. As a result, by the late ’80s, around the time Indian markets were opened up, the liberal feminist movement in a country like India has become inordinately NGO-ised. Many of these NGOs have done seminal work on queer rights, domestic violence, AIDS and the rights of sex workers. But significantly, the liberal feminist movements have not been at the forefront of challenging the new economic policies, even though women have been the greatest sufferers. By manipulating the disbursement of the funds, the foundations have largely succeeded in circumscribing the range of what “political” activity should be. The funding briefs of NGOs now prescribe what counts as women’s “issues” and what doesn’t.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The NGO-isation of the women’s movement has also made western liberal feminism (by virtue of its being the most funded brand) the standard-bearer of what constitutes feminism. The battles, as usual, have been played out on women’s bodies, extruding Botox at one end and burqas at the other. (And then there are those who suffer the double whammy, Botox and the Burqa.) When, as happened recently in France, an attempt is made to coerce women out of the burqa rather than creating a situation in which a woman can choose what she wishes to do, it’s not about liberating her, but about unclothing her. It becomes an act of humiliation and cultural imperialism. It’s not about the burqa. It’s about the coercion. Coercing a woman out of a burqa is as bad as coercing her into one. Viewing gender in this way, shorn of social, political and economic context, makes it an issue of identity, a battle of props and costumes. It is what allowed the US government to use western feminist groups as moral cover when it invaded Afghanistan in 2001. Afghan women were (and are) in terrible trouble under the Taliban. But dropping daisy-cutters on them was not going to solve their problems.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">In the NGO universe, which has evolved a strange anodyne language of its own, everything has become a “subject”, a separate, professionalised, special-interest issue. Community development, leadership development, human rights, health, education, reproductive rights, AIDS, orphans with AIDS—have all been hermetically sealed into their own silos with their own elaborate and precise funding brief. Funding has fragmented solidarity in ways that repression never could. Poverty too, like feminism, is often framed as an identity problem. As though the poor have not been created by injustice but are a lost tribe who just happen to exist, and can be rescued in the short term by a system of grievance redressal (administered by NGOs on an individual, person to person basis), and whose long-term resurrection will come from Good Governance. Under the regime of Global Corporate Capitalism, it goes without saying.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Indian poverty, after a brief period in the wilderness while India “shone”, has made a comeback as an exotic identity in the Arts, led from the front by films like <em>Slumdog Millionaire</em>. These stories about the poor, their amazing spirit and resilience, have no villains—except the small ones who provide narrative tension and local colour. The authors of these works are the contemporary world’s equivalent of the early anthropologists, lauded and honoured for working on “the ground”, for their brave journeys into the unknown. You rarely see the rich being examined in these ways.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Having worked out how to manage governments, political parties, elections, courts, the media and liberal opinion, there was one more challenge for the neo-liberal establishment: how to deal with growing unrest, the threat of “people’s power”. How do you domesticate it? How do you turn protesters into pets? How do you vacuum up people’s fury and redirect it into blind alleys?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Here too, foundations and their allied organisations have a long and illustrious history. A revealing example is their role in defusing and deradicalising the Black Civil Rights movement in the US in the 1960s and the successful transformation of Black Power into Black Capitalism.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The Rockefeller Foundation, in keeping with J.D. Rockefeller’s ideals, had worked closely with Martin Luther King Sr (father of Martin Luther King Jr). But his influence waned with the rise of the more militant organisations—the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Black Panthers. The Ford and Rockefeller Foundations moved in. In 1970, they donated $15 million to “moderate” black organisations, giving people grants, fellowships, scholarships, job training programmes for dropouts and seed money for black-owned businesses. Repression, infighting and the honey trap of funding led to the gradual atrophying of the radical black organisations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Martin Luther King Jr made the forbidden connections between Capitalism, Imperialism, Racism and the Vietnam War. As a result, after he was assassinated, even his memory became a toxic threat to public order. Foundations and Corporations worked hard to remodel his legacy to fit a market-friendly format. The Martin Luther King Junior Centre for Non-Violent Social Change, with an operational grant of $2 million, was set up by, among others, the Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Mobil, Western Electric, Procter & Gamble, US Steel and Monsanto. The Center maintains the King Library and Archives of the Civil Rights Movement. Among the many programmes the King Center runs have been projects that “work closely with the United States Department of Defense, the Armed Forces Chaplains Board and others”. It co-sponsored the Martin Luther King Jr Lecture Series called ‘The Free Enterprise System: An Agent for Non-violent Social Change’. Amen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">A similar coup was carried out in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. In 1978, the Rockefeller Foundation organised a Study Commission on US Policy toward Southern Africa. The report warned of the growing influence of the Soviet Union on the African National Congress (ANC) and said that US strategic and corporate interests (i.e., access to South Africa’s minerals) would be best served if there were genuine sharing of political power by all races.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The foundations began to support the ANC. The ANC soon turned on the more radical organisations like Steve Biko’s Black Consciousness movement and more or less eliminated them. When Nelson Mandela took over as South Africa’s first Black President, he was canonised as a living saint, not just because he was a freedom fighter who spent 27 years in prison, but also because he deferred completely to the Washington Consensus. Socialism disappeared from the ANC’s agenda. South Africa’s great “peaceful transition”, so praised and lauded, meant no land reforms, no demands for reparation, no nationalisation of South Africa’s mines. Instead, there was Privatisation and Structural Adjustment. Mandela gave South Africa’s highest civilian award—the Order of Good Hope—to his old supporter and friend General Suharto, the killer of Communists in Indonesia. Today, in South Africa, a clutch of Mercedes-driving former radicals and trade unionists rule the country. But that is more than enough to perpetuate the illusion of Black Liberation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The rise of Black Power in the US was an inspirational moment for the rise of a radical, progressive Dalit movement in India, with organisations like the Dalit Panthers mirroring the militant politics of the Black Panthers. But Dalit Power too, in not exactly the same but similar ways, has been fractured and defused and, with plenty of help from right-wing Hindu organisations and the Ford Foundation, is well on its way to transforming into Dalit Capitalism.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">‘<em>Dalit Inc ready to show business can beat caste</em>’, the <em>Indian Express</em> reported in December last year. It went on to quote a mentor of the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DICCI). “Getting the prime minister for a Dalit gathering is not difficult in our society. But for Dalit entrepreneurs, taking a photograph with Tata and Godrej over lunch and tea is an aspiration—and proof that they have arrived,” he said. Given the situation in modern India, it would be casteist and reactionary to say that Dalit entrepreneurs oughtn’t to have a place at the high table. But if this is to be the aspiration, the ideological framework of Dalit politics, it would be a great pity. And unlikely to help the one million Dalits who still earn a living off manual scavenging—carrying human shit on their heads.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Young Dalit scholars who accept grants from the Ford Foundation cannot be too harshly judged. Who else is offering them an opportunity to climb out of the cesspit of the Indian caste system? The shame as well as a large part of the blame for this turn of events also goes to India’s Communist movement whose leaders continue to be predominantly upper caste. For years it has tried to force-fit the idea of caste into Marxist class analysis. It has failed miserably, in theory as well as practice. The rift between the Dalit community and the Left began with a falling out between the visionary Dalit leader Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and S.A. Dange, trade unionist and founding member of the Communist Party of India. Dr Ambedkar’s disillusionment with the Communist Party began with the textile workers’ strike in Mumbai in 1928 when he realised that despite all the rhetoric about working class solidarity, the party did not find it objectionable that the “untouchables” were kept out of the weaving department (and only qualified for the lower paid spinning department) because the work involved the use of saliva on the threads, which other castes considered “polluting”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Ambedkar realised that in a society where the Hindu scriptures institutionalise untouchability and inequality, the battle for “untouchables”, for social and civic rights, was too urgent to wait for the promised Communist revolution. The rift between the Ambedkarites and the Left has come at a great cost to both. It has meant that a great majority of the Dalit population, the backbone of the Indian working class, has pinned its hopes for deliverance and dignity to constitutionalism, to capitalism and to political parties like the BSP, which practise an important, but in the long run, stagnant brand of identity politics.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">In the United States, as we have seen, corporate-endowed foundations spawned the culture of NGOs. In India, targeted corporate philanthropy began in earnest in the 1990s, the era of the New Economic Policies. Membership to the Star Chamber doesn’t come cheap. The Tata Group donated $50 million to that needy institution, the Harvard Business School, and another $50 million to Cornell University. Nandan Nilekani of Infosys and his wife Rohini donated $5 million as a start-up endowment for the India Initiative at Yale. The Harvard Humanities Centre is now the Mahindra Humanities Centre after it received its largest-ever donation of $10 million from Anand Mahindra of the Mahindra Group.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">At home, the Jindal Group, with a major stake in mining, metals and power, runs the Jindal Global Law School and will soon open the Jindal School of Government and Public Policy. (The Ford Foundation runs a law school in the Congo.) The New India Foundation funded by Nandan Nilekani, financed by profits from Infosys, gives prizes and fellowships to social scientists. The Sitaram Jindal Foundation endowed by Jindal Aluminium has announced five cash prizes of Rs 1 crore each to be given to those working in rural development, poverty alleviation, environment education and moral upliftment. The Reliance Group’s Observer Research Foundation (ORF), currently endowed by Mukesh Ambani, is cast in the mould of the Rockefeller Foundation. It has retired intelligence agents, strategic analysts, politicians (who pretend to rail against each other in Parliament), journalists and policymakers as its research “fellows” and advisors.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">ORF’s objectives seem straightforward enough: “To help develop a consensus in favour of economic reforms.” And to shape and influence public opinion, creating “viable, alternative policy options in areas as divergent as employment generation in backward districts and real-time strategies to counter nuclear, biological and chemical threats”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">I was initially puzzled by the preoccupation with “nuclear, biological and chemical war” in ORF’s stated objectives. But less so when, in the long list of its ‘institutional partners’, I found the names of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, two of the world’s leading weapons manufacturers. In 2007, Raytheon announced it was turning its attention to India. Could it be that at least part of India’s $32 billion defence budget will be spent on weapons, guided missiles, aircraft, warships and surveillance equipment made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Do we need weapons to fight wars? Or do we need wars to create a market for weapons? After all, the economies of Europe, US and Israel depend hugely on their weapons industry. It’s the one thing they haven’t outsourced to China.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">In the new Cold War between US and China, India is being groomed to play the role Pakistan played as a US ally in the cold war with Russia. (And look what happened to Pakistan.) Many of those columnists and “strategic analysts” who are playing up the hostilities between India and China, you’ll see, can be traced back directly or indirectly to the Indo-American think-tanks and foundations. Being a “strategic partner” of the US does not mean that the Heads of State make friendly phone calls to each other every now and then. It means collaboration (interference) at every level. It means hosting US Special Forces on Indian soil (a Pentagon Commander recently confirmed this to the BBC). It means sharing intelligence, altering agriculture and energy policies, opening up the health and education sectors to global investment. It means opening up retail. It means an unequal partnership in which India is being held close in a bear hug and waltzed around the floor by a partner who will incinerate her the moment she refuses to dance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">In the list of ORF’s ‘institutional partners’, you will also find the RAND Corporation, Ford Foundation, the World Bank, the Brookings Institution (whose stated mission is to “provide innovative and practical recommendations that advance three broad goals: to strengthen American democracy; to foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans; and to secure a more open, safe, prosperous and cooperative international system”.) You will also find the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation of Germany. (Poor Rosa, who died for the cause of Communism, to find her name on a list such as this one!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Though capitalism is meant to be based on competition, those at the top of the food chain have also shown themselves to be capable of inclusiveness and solidarity. The great Western Capitalists have done business with fascists, socialists, despots and military dictators. They can adapt and constantly innovate. They are capable of quick thinking and immense tactical cunning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">But despite having successfully powered through economic reforms, despite having waged wars and militarily occupied countries in order to put in place free market “democracies”, Capitalism is going through a crisis whose gravity has not revealed itself completely yet. Marx said, “What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The proletariat, as Marx saw it, has been under continuous assault. Factories have shut down, jobs have disappeared, trade unions have been disbanded. The proletariat has, over the years, been pitted against each other in every possible way. In India, it has been Hindu against Muslim, Hindu against Christian, Dalit against Adivasi, caste against caste, region against region. And yet, all over the world, it is fighting back. In China, there are countless strikes and uprisings. In India, the poorest people in the world have fought back to stop some of the richest corporations in their tracks.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Capitalism is in crisis. Trickledown failed. Now Gush-Up is in trouble too. The international financial meltdown is closing in. India’s growth rate has plummeted to 6.9 per cent. Foreign investment is pulling out. Major international corporations are sitting on huge piles of money, not sure where to invest it, not sure how the financial crisis will play out. This is a major, structural crack in the juggernaut of global capital.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Capitalism’s real “grave-diggers” may end up being its own delusional Cardinals, who have turned ideology into faith. Despite their strategic brilliance, they seem to have trouble grasping a simple fact: Capitalism is destroying the planet. The two old tricks that dug it out of past crises—War and Shopping—simply will not work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">I stood outside Antilla for a long time watching the sun go down. I imagined that the tower was as deep as it was high. That it had a twenty-seven-storey-long tap root, snaking around below the ground, hungrily sucking sustenance out of the earth, turning it into smoke and gold.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Why did the Ambanis’ choose to call their building Antilla? Antilla is the name of a set of mythical islands whose story dates back to an 8th-century Iberian legend. When the Muslims conquered Hispania, six Christian Visigothic bishops and their parishioners boarded ships and fled. After days, or maybe weeks at sea, they arrived at the isles of Antilla where they decided to settle and raise a new civilisation. They burnt their boats to permanently sever their links to their barbarian-dominated homeland.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">By calling their tower Antilla, do the Ambanis hope to sever their links to the poverty and squalor of their homeland and raise a new civilisation? Is this the final act of the most successful secessionist movement in India? The secession of the middle and upper classes into outer space?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">As night fell over Mumbai, guards in crisp linen shirts with crackling walkie-talkies appeared outside the forbidding gates of Antilla. The lights blazed on, to scare away the ghosts perhaps. The neighbours complain that Antilla’s bright lights have stolen the night.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Perhaps it’s time for us to take back the night.</span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">1. Edited March 18, 2012: the year of CIA backed coup in Indonesia was earlier incorrectly mentioned as 1952. Corrected to 1965</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">2. Edited March 20, 2012: The sentence that now reads “All this in Goa, where activists and journalists were uncovering massive illegal mining scandals, and Essar’s part in the war unfolding in Bastar was emerging” was earlier published as: “All this in Goa, while activists and journalists were uncovering massive illegal mining scandals that involved Essar”</span></em><br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider">http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/"><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/</span></span></a> </span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/">http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/</a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/">http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://foodwatersovereignty.blogspot.com/">http://foodwatersovereignty.blogspot.com</a></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">h<a href="http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ttp://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/</span></a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.righttosharefood.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3b5998;">http://www.righttosharefood.org/</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
<span class="commentbody"><a href="http://www.watercorps.net/">http://www.watercorps.net/</a></span></span><br />
<h6><span class="messagebody"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Circlewider">https://twitter.com/Circlewider</a></span></span></h6><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Viva Economic Justice!!!!</span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Michael “Waterman” Hubman</span></span><br />
<span class="messagebody">Aggregating and posting for Economic Justice</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-67617053187976968962012-03-23T08:25:00.000-07:002012-03-23T08:25:07.055-07:00Anti-Austerity Mass General Strike Takes Portugal by Common Dreams<div class="node-header"> <span class="submitted"> Published on Thursday, March 22, 2012 by <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/">Common Dreams</a> </span> <div class="node-title"> <h2 class="title">Anti-Austerity Mass General Strike Takes Portugal</h2></div><h3 class="subtitle">Spain, Italy are next</h3><div class="author"> - Common Dreams staff </div></div>Today in Portugal public services and transportation came to a halt, as unions enacted a 24-hour general strike for the second time in two months. The metros in Portugal's largest cities have closed as well as major ports. The strike was called in reaction to austerity measures agreed upon by the government in return for a European bailout.<br />
<span class="image-right" style="width: 275px;"> <img alt="" class="imagecache imagecache-headline_image imagecache-default imagecache-headline_image_default" height="165" src="https://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imagecache/headline_image/article_images/-a-strike-picket-during-t-006.jpg" title="" width="275" /> <span class="caption"> A picket at Sao Bento station in Porto. The bib reads "General Strike." (Jose Coelho/EPA) </span></span>Demonstrations and rallies are planned for the afternoon in 38 cities and towns across the country.<br />
Today's events preclude similar strikes in both Italy and Spain among countries facing European austerity.<br />
Spain's two main unions, the General Workers Union and the Workers Commissions,<strong> <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/09-4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">have called for a general strike</a></strong> on March 29 to protest the government's austerity push.<br />
Italy's largest trade union called for a general strike over labor reforms on Wednesday, in protest of Prime Minister Mario Monti and Italy's austerity.<br />
<div align="center">* * *</div><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/portugal-hit-general-strike-against-austerity-075242169.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Portugal Hit by General Strike Against Austerity </strong></a>(Agence France-Presse):<span class="image-right" style="width: 325px;"><img border="0" height="170" src="http://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imce-images/protestors-carry-a-banner-001.jpg" style="height: 170px; width: 325px;" title=" Jose Manuel Ribeiro/Reuters)" width="325" /><span class="caption">Lisbon, protestors linking actions to other demonstrations around the globe (Photo: Jose Manuel Ribeiro/Reuters)</span></span><br />
<blockquote> Garbage went uncollected, ports closed, trains stood still, public transportation was disrupted and other public services were affected by the country's second general strike in four months.<br />
The metros in Lisbon and Oporto, Portugal's second-largest city, were closed because of the strike, forcing tens of thousands of commuters to find an alternative way to get to work or school.<br />
The majority of ports, including the port of Lisbon and Viana do Castelo in the north, were closed, according to the country's biggest union -- the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP) -- which called the strike.<br />
About two dozen ships were forced to change their routes to go to other ports because of the action, it added. [...]<br />
The CGTP, which is close to the Communist Party, called the strike in February to protest against a reform of the labor code that makes it easier to hire and fire workers.<br />
It is also angry over government austerity measures such as the elimination of public employees' Christmas and vacation bonuses -- each roughly equivalent to a month's pay -- among measures to rein in the public deficit. [...]<br />
Portugal is locked into a three-year program of debt-reduction measures and economic reforms in return for a 78 billion euro ($103 billion) financial rescue package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.<br />
</blockquote><div align="center">* * *</div><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/21/us-italy-labour-idUSBRE82K0S920120321" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Italian Union Calls Strike Over Monti's Job Reforms </strong></a>(Reuters):<br />
<blockquote> Italy's largest trade union called for a general strike over labor reforms on Wednesday, escalating a confrontation with Prime Minister Mario Monti that will test his resolve to push ahead with plans to transform the economy.<br />
After weeks of negotiation, Monti announced late on Tuesday that the time for talking was over and he would press on with plans to overhaul employment protection laws dating back to the 1970s, despite stiff opposition from the left-wing CGIL union.<br />
The CGIL proposed an eight-hour general strike to protest the measures, which would allow companies to lay off individual employees for disciplinary or business reasons, saying the changes risked causing massive job losses.<br />
"This will not be a flare-up which burns out in a day as the government expects and we have a duty to get results before we see years of mass dismissals from companies," the union's secretariat said in a statement.<br />
The strike would mark the biggest demonstration against technocrat premier Monti, a former European Commissioner who has already imposed painful cuts and tax hikes and an overhaul of the pension system since taking office in November.<br />
</blockquote>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-87078629940048991632012-03-19T23:56:00.000-07:002012-03-19T23:56:31.456-07:00Tens of Thousands Rally in France Behind Call for 'Civic Insurrection' by Common Dreams staff<span class="submitted">March 19, 2012 </span><br />
<br />
<h3 class="subtitle">Leftist Front presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon spoke in front of thousands of supporters on Sunday</h3><div class="author"> - Common Dreams staff </div>Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a leftist presidential candidate in France, is shaking up the country's presidential election with a sudden increase in popular support. Mélenchon, who is a member of the European Parliament (MEP) and is known for his sharp rhetoric against austerity measures and the excesses of capitalism, now polls at 11 percent for the first round of elections. This marks a significant jump for the candidate, but he is still well behind the two front-runners for the Presidency -- Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande and incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy, are both getting about 27 percent of popular support for the first round of elections.<br />
<span class="image-right" style="width: 275px;"> <img alt="" class="imagecache imagecache-headline_image imagecache-default imagecache-headline_image_default" height="179" src="http://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imagecache/headline_image/article_images/frenchelection_0.jpeg" title="" width="245" /> <span class="caption"> Thousands rallied in France on Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of the Paris Commune uprising of 1871. Leftist Front candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, told the crowd to engage in a "civic insurrection." (Photo: France 24). </span></span>Mélenchon's sudden surge in popularity culminated at a rally on Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of the Paris Commune uprising of 1871, where tens of thousands of the candidate's supporters were in attendance. At the rally, Mélenchon said that France should rise up in a "civic insurrection." The former teacher spent 30 years in the Socialist party, where he served as a minister and senator, before leaving to form his own Front de Gauche or "Leftist Front" in 2008. The front represents a variety of leftist groups in France. The UK Guardian <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/18/jean-luc-melenchon-french-presidential-poll?newsfeed=true" rel="nofollow">called the event</a> "an important show of force for France's 'Left of the Left,' buoyed by the financial crisis and disillusionment with the main political parties."<br />
Hollande, <a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20120318-tens-thousands-march-leftist-french-candidate" rel="nofollow">sensing pressure from her left</a>, has suggested that voting for Mélenchon will help elect the conserative Sarkozy. Mélenchon denies these charges.<br />
<div align="center">* * *</div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/18/jean-luc-melenchon-french-presidential-poll?newsfeed=true" rel="nofollow"><strong>Far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon calls for a 'civic insurrection' in France</strong></a>, The UK Guardian:<br />
<blockquote> Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the charismatic far-left firebrand whose anti-capitalist stance has seen him rise sharply in the French presidential polls, on Sunday told a vast Paris street rally that France should rise up in a "civic insurrection".<br />
Mélenchon's symbolic open-air rally at the Place de la Bastille, emblem of the French revolution, attracted tens of thousands in an important show of force for France's "Left of the Left", buoyed by the financial crisis and disillusionment with the main political parties.<br />
The MEP – who is famous for his scathing, banker-bashing rhetoric – is running for president representing a coalition of leftists which includes the once-powerful Communist party.<br />
A one-time Trotskyist and former teacher, he spent 30 years in the Socialist party, where he served as a minister and senator, before leaving to form his own Front de Gauche or Leftist Front.<br />
He recently surged above the 10% mark in the polls, a sharp rise which has eaten into the score of the Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande and delighted the rightwing president Nicolas Sarkozy, who is seeking to exploit differences on the left in his difficult battle for re-election.<br />
</blockquote><div align="center">* * *</div><strong><a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20120318-tens-thousands-march-leftist-french-candidate" rel="nofollow">Tens of thousands march for leftist, French candidate,</a></strong> France 24<br />
<blockquote> Tens of thousands marched in Paris on Sunday to support firebrand leftist presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has shaken up France's election campaign with a surprise jump in the polls.<br />
Melenchon of the Left Front, who represents a coalition of leftist parties including the Communists, has emerged as a significant factor in the campaign just as Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande faces a resurgent threat from incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy.<br />
His virulent attacks on the rich, France's elite and austerity measures have struck a chord with many voters and polls this week showed him surpassing the symbolic 10 percent mark, up four points from the start of the year, with only five weeks to go before the April 22 first round of voting.<br />
Waving a sea of red Left Front and Communist Party flags, tens of thousands of supporters marched through central Paris under cloudy skies in a symbolic rally to "retake the Bastille" -- the square where the medieval fortress and prison was stormed during the iconic moment of the French Revolution.<br />
Organisers said more than 100,000 people took part in the rally, held on the anniversary of the Paris Commune uprising of 1871 and which was to end with a speech by Melenchon at Place de la Bastille.<br />
"Melenchon represents the only political force that truly represents the French people," supporter Sylvianne Tardieu, a 50-year-old Communist from the central city of Clermont-Ferrand, said at the rally.<br />
"He is fighting against the world of finance for the French people," she said.</blockquote> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/">http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider">http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/"><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/">http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/</a></span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">h<a href="http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ttp://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/</span></a></span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.righttosharefood.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3b5998;">http://www.righttosharefood.org/</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
<span class="commentbody"><a href="http://www.watercorps.net/">http://www.watercorps.net/</a></span></span><br />
<h6><span class="messagebody"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Circlewider">https://twitter.com/Circlewider</a></span></span></h6><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Viva Economic Justice!!!!</span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Michael “Waterman” Hubman</span></span><br />
<span class="messagebody">Aggregating and posting for Economic Justice</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-86589652057187272842012-03-18T13:09:00.000-07:002012-03-18T13:09:20.137-07:00Now even the eurozone admits it has condemned Greece to never-ending austerity by Jeremy Warner / The Telegraph<span class="lastUpdated">March 13th, 2012</span><span class="lastUpdated"><a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jeremywarner/100015515/now-even-the-eurozone-admits-it-has-condemned-greece-to-never-ending-austerity/#dPostComment"></a></span> <br />
<div class="entry"> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_100015522" style="width: 444px;"><a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jeremywarner/100015515/now-even-the-eurozone-admits-it-has-condemned-greece-to-never-ending-austerity/euro_ellada1/" rel="attachment wp-att-100015522"><img alt="Greece's euro woes are far from over" class="size-medium wp-image-100015522" height="288" src="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/files/2012/03/euro_ellada1-434x288.jpg" title="euro_ellada1" width="434" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">Greece's euro woes are far from over</div></div>There's a general view out there that with private creditors having agreed their 50pc haircut, the "Greek problem" has been solved, at least for now. Unfortunately, it has not.<br />
According to Reuters, an unpublished "Compliance Report" by EU executives has concluded that Greece will have to impose a further fiscal squeeze in 2013/14 amounting to some 5.5pc of GDP in order to meet the targets that underpin the second international bailout. The chances of Greece being able to do this are about zero, though that is my conclusion, not that of the report.<br />
According to the report, the austerity measures already adopted by Athens should be enough to bring the primary deficit down to the agreed 1.5pc this year. However, "current projections reveal large fiscal gaps in 2013-14". The projected shortfall is reckoned to be about 5.5pc of GDP. All this, of course, assumes that Greece achieves the output levels forecast by the Troika, the chances of which are again about zero. So infact, the required squeeze will be even larger, further undermining growth and digging an even deeper hole.<br />
Unabashed, the report states that "substantial additional expenditure cuts will have to be announced and adopted by Greece in the coming months, in particular when Greece updates its medium-term budget in May 2012".<br />
Where is Greece expected to find these cuts? Further savings in welfare payments, pharmaceutical spending, defense and restructuring of central and local administration are said to be under discussion. Has anyone told the Greek electorate, which is due to go the polls next month, about this? Apparently not.<br />
Menacingly, the report adds that continuation of international financial assistance can only be expected if policy implementation improves.<br />
A second bailout from the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund worth €130bn was finally agreed on Monday, which in theory should keep Athens financed through to the end of 2014. However, the money is to he drip fed, with later tranches dependent on meeting the troika programme. Spain has had its deficit target for this year reduced, so the eurozone has shown itself to be flexible. But Spain isn't in the programme. The treatment meted out to those in receipt of financial assistance may be somewhat harsher.<br />
This is what Citigroup had to say about developments in a note published on Tuesday morning:<br />
<blockquote>With the last night’s decision, the 2nd Greek bailout package is finally on its way. However, in order to get the full disbursement of this package Greece has to implement the requested austerity measures and structural reforms, which will be monitored on a quarterly basis by the Troika. Given Greece’s poor track record on implementing such measures and particularly in view of the uncertainty over whether a new Greek government (after the election, which probably will take place at the end of April/early May) will go ahead with these measures, it is very uncertain if Greece will meet the Troika requests and will get the full programme funding. Taking into account large extra liabilities in 2012, as recently reported by the IMF, and because our expectations for economic growth for Greece are much weaker than the Troika’s, the expected debt-to-GDP ratio of 117% for 2020 looks far too optimistic to us. As a consequence, we continue to expect further debt restructuring in Greece at a later stage and see the probability of Greece leaving the euro area at around 50%.</blockquote>Actually, I'd put the chances at way above 50pc. The only question is when. Regrettably, it looks as if the whole miserable mess is going to keep us in column inches for quite a few more months yet.<br />
</div><b>Tags:</b> <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/tag/citi/" rel="tag">Citi</a>, <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/tag/compliance-report/" rel="tag">Compliance Report</a>, <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/tag/eurozone-debt-crisis/" rel="tag">eurozone debt crisis</a>, <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/tag/greece/" rel="tag">greece</a>, <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/tag/international-monetary-fund/" rel="tag">International Monetary Fund</a>, <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/tag/reuters/" rel="tag">Reuters</a>, <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/tag/troika/" rel="tag">troika</a><br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/">http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider">http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/"><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/">http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/</a></span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">h<a href="http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ttp://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/</span></a></span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.righttosharefood.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3b5998;">http://www.righttosharefood.org/</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
<span class="commentbody"><a href="http://www.watercorps.net/">http://www.watercorps.net/</a></span></span><br />
<h6><span class="messagebody"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Circlewider">https://twitter.com/Circlewider</a></span></span></h6><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Viva Economic Justice!!!!</span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Michael “Waterman” Hubman</span></span><br />
<span class="messagebody"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Aggregating and posting for Economic Justice</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-67439054566565600892012-03-16T10:47:00.000-07:002012-03-16T10:47:42.550-07:00Greece on the breadline: HIV and malaria make a comeback / News Blog / Information Clearing House<div class="stand-first-alone" id="stand-first"><span style="font-size: large;">Jon Henley finds a medical aid organisation trying to plug the gaps as the health service nears breakdown</span></div><div id="content"> <div id="article-wrapper"> <div id="main-content-picture"> <img alt="Medical staff protest against cuts" height="276" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2012/3/15/1331814106778/Medical-staff-protest-aga-007.jpg" width="460" /> <div class="caption">Doctors, nurses and paramedics clash with riot police outside the health ministry last May during a protest against cuts. Photograph: Alexandros Vlachos/EPA</div></div><div id="article-body-blocks"> The savage cuts to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/greece" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Greece">Greece</a>'s health service budget have led to a sharp rise in HIV/Aids and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/malaria" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Malaria">malaria</a> in the beleaguered nation, said a leading aid organisation on Thursday.<br />
The incidence of HIV/Aids among intravenous drug users in central Athens soared by 1,250% in the first 10 months of 2011 compared with the same period the previous year, according to the head of Médecins sans Frontières Greece, while malaria is becoming endemic in the south for the first time since the rule of the colonels, which ended in the 1970s.<br />
Reveka Papadopoulos said that following health service cuts, including heavy job losses and a 40% reduction in funding for hospitals, Greek social services were "<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/10/greece-economic-crisis-health" title="">under very severe strain, if not in a state of breakdown</a>. What we are seeing are very clear indicators of a system that cannot cope". The heavy, horizontal and "blind" budget cuts coincided last year with a 24% increase in demand for hospital services, she said, "largely because people could simply no longer afford private healthcare. The entire system is deteriorating".<br />
The warning came as the IMF approved its €28bn (£23bn) share of Greece's latest €130bn bailout which it needs to meet its debts and maintain social services.<br />
The head of the EU's taskforce to Greece, the German eurocrat Horst Reichenbach, gave a press conference in which he said the country's public administration would be overhauled by a team of experts. However, he said the bailout and last week's agreement on debt restructuring gave Greece the chance for a "new start".<br />
MSF Greece said the extraordinary increase in HIV/Aids among drug users was largely due to the suspension or cancellation of free needle exchange programmes. "We are also seeing transmission between mother and child for the first time in Greece," Papadopoulos said. "This is something we are used to seeing in sub-Saharan Africa, not <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/europe-news" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Europe">Europe</a>.<br />
"There has also been a sharp increase in cases of tuberculosis in the immigrant population, cases of Nile fever – leading to 35 deaths in 2010 – and the reappearance of endemic malaria in several parts of Greece."<br />
According to Papadopoulos, such sharp increases in communicable diseases are indicative of a system nearing breakdown. "The simple fact of the reappearance of malaria, with 100-odd cases in southern Greece last year and 20 to 30 more elsewhere, shows barriers to healthcare access have risen," she said.<br />
"Malaria is treatable, it shouldn't spread if the system is working."<br />
MSF has been active in Greece for more than 20 years, but until now has largely confined its activities to emergency interventions after natural disasters such as earthquakes, and providing care to the most vulnerable groups in the community, including immigrants.<br />
It is now focusing on supporting the public health sector, providing emergency care in shelters for the homeless and improving the overall response to communicable diseases. Papadopoulos, who spent 17 years abroad with MSF and returned to her native Greece three years ago, sees hope among the rubble. "What keeps me going is an increasingly strong sense of solidarity among the Greek people," she said. "Donations to MSF, for example, have of course gone down with the crisis, but donors keep giving, they remain active."<br />
She sees a refreshing new phenomenon of self-organisation and social action. "In the past year of this crisis I have seen really encouraging, really exciting things happening – people are seeing the power of organising themselves. We have to support them."<br />
</div></div></div>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-27736583492611012502012-03-16T10:43:00.001-07:002012-03-16T10:43:57.751-07:00Greek jobless rate passes 20% in quarter four 2011 / Press TV / Information Clearing House<span id="ctl00_body_spnDetail"><img height="365px" id="imgMain" src="http://previous.presstv.ir/photo/20120315/geraphian20120315155240993.jpg" width="650px" /></span><br />
<div id="divImageDesc">Jobless Greeks wait in line outside an unemployment bureau in Athens. (file photo)</div><div id="divNewsDetail"><div id="divNewsDatetime">Thu Mar 15, 2012 4:53PM GMT</div></div><div id="divDetailBody"><div id="divLead">Greek jobless rate has jumped to 20.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 from 17.7 percent in the previous three month period, with more than a million people looking for work. </div><br />
<br />
Greece’s official statistics agency Ase, announced on Thursday that 1.02 million Greek workers were without jobs in the fourth quarter, up from 878,266 three months earlier. The number of employed in the fourth quarter was 3.93 million. <br />
<br />
Greece unemployment rate has expanded since 2010 when a debt crisis followed by several rounds of austerity measures sent the country even deeper into recession. The jobless figure was 14.2% in the fourth quarter of 2010. <br />
<br />
More than 54 percent of the jobless in Greece are the "long-term" unemployed, those who have been looking for employment for more than a year, the agency said. <br />
<br />
Meanwhile, Nearly 40 percent of Greeks aged between 15 to 29 years old were looking for a job in the fourth quarter. <br />
<br />
Greece has the highest debt burden in proportion to the size of its economy in the 17-nation eurozone. <br />
<br />
Despite numerous austerity cuts implemented by the government and bailout funds provided by international lenders, which are aimed at stimulating growth, Greek economy has continued to contract and is not expected to show expansion until 2013. <br />
<br />
PG/JR<br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/">http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider">http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/"><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/">http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/</a></span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">h<a href="http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ttp://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/</span></a></span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.righttosharefood.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3b5998;">http://www.righttosharefood.org/</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
<span class="commentbody"><a href="http://www.watercorps.net/">http://www.watercorps.net/</a></span></span><br />
<h6><span class="messagebody"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Circlewider">https://twitter.com/Circlewider</a></span></span></h6><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Viva Economic Justice!!!!</span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Michael “Waterman” Hubman</span></span><br />
<span class="messagebody">Aggregating and posting for Economic Justice</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span><br />
</div>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-78542794526282982482012-03-14T00:26:00.000-07:002012-03-14T00:26:22.261-07:00EU Finance Ministers Eye Next Target: Spain by Common Dreams staff<h3 class="subtitle"> <span class="submitted">March 13, 2012</span></h3><h3 class="subtitle"><span style="font-size: large;">Mass protests, general strike: gearing up for austerity fight <span class="submitted">March 13, 2012 </span></span></h3><h3 class="subtitle"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="submitted"> </span></span>Following the tumultuous EU bailout of Greece and the mass outrage and protests over subsequent austerity measures, finance ministers have turned their gaze towards Spain. Spain, with the highest unemployment in Europe, is expected to miss its budget deficit for the year, peaking attention from the Eurozone.<span class="image-right" style="width: 325px;"><img border="0" height="235" src="http://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imce-images/photo_1331488717805-2-0_original.jpg" style="height: 235px; width: 325px;" title="Protest march against the government's new labour reform in Barcelona. (AFP)" width="325" /><span class="caption">Protest march against the government's new labour reform in Barcelona. (AFP)</span></span></h3>European leaders are suggesting "tougher cutbacks than prime minister Mariano Rajoy recently announced, but also abandoned their old deficit targets," the Guardian reports.<br />
"French minister François Baroin said there was no alternative to the austerity course," <strong>Irish Times <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0313/breaking2.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">reports</a></strong>. "There is no other path. Any other line doesn’t take into account the reality of the world economy today," Baroin stated.<br />
<strong>The Guardian <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/mar/13/greece-bailout-package-signed-off" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">reports</a></strong>:<br />
<blockquote> Eurozone finance ministers have signed off on a second Greek bailout package, worth €130bn (£109bn), and turned their attention to Spain.<br />
Greece slashed its debts by more than €100bn in the last few days by swapping its privately held bonds for new, longer maturity paper with less than half the nominal value. The debt exchange paved the way for eurozone ministers to give the final nod to the latest rescue package for Athens, pending discussions about the International Monetary Fund's €28bn contribution on Thursday, as well as national votes. [...]<br />
As the ministers gathered in Brussels they swiftly turned their attention to Spain, which admitted that it would miss its budget deficit target for this year. As the country heads back into recession, Spain – Europe's fourth-largest economy – will only cut its deficit to 5.8% of GDP, rather than the 4.4% goal imposed by Brussels. In 2011, the shortfall came in at 8.5%, far above the 6% target.<br />
The eurogroup asked Spain to aim for a 5.3% deficit target this year. "The Spanish government expressed its readiness to consider this in the further budgetary process," it said.<br />
Juncker added: "It will be the responsibility of the Spanish authorities to choose the initiatives that will have to be taken in order to bring down the budgetary deficit in 2012, what is most important is what is the target for 2013. What is less important, but nevertheless important, are the avenues chosen in 2012."<br />
</blockquote><div align="center">***</div>Record unemployment among youth and increasing tensions over harsh labor reforms have lead to mass protests and demonstrations there -- including more than <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hkAmzU_ZVDyhw_q7bmkzeDY-Eo5Q?docId=CNG.084ad1a5035dbc689c847bd432bb002a.af1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a hundred thousand</a> demonstrators across Spain on Sunday.<br />
Spain's two main unions, the General Workers Union and the Workers Commissions, have called for a general strike on <a href="http://march%2029http//www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/09-4" rel="nofollow">March 29</a> to protest the government's austerity push.<br />
<strong>Agence France-Presse <a href="http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/demonstrations-sweep-spain-protest-labour-055349666.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">reports</a></strong>:<br />
<blockquote> Unions said rallies took place in 60 cities and towns across Spain, including Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville. [...]<br />
"I came because I'm convinced neo-liberalism is driving us to disaster," said Madrid protester Antonio Martinez, a retired professor. He carried a placard reading: "Don't let our grand-children be slaves."<br />
The government hopes the reforms will boost job creation and revive the economy. Spain's unemployment rate is the highest in the developed world at nearly 23 percent, with the rate at almost 49 percent for people aged under 25.<br />
Under reforms approved by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government on February 11, maximum severance pay is slashed from 45 days to 33 days salary for each year worked, for a maximum worktime of 24 years.</blockquote> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/">http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider">http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/"><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/">http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/</a></span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">h<a href="http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ttp://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/</span></a></span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.righttosharefood.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3b5998;">http://www.righttosharefood.org/</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
<span class="commentbody"><a href="http://www.watercorps.net/">http://www.watercorps.net/</a></span></span><br />
<h6><span class="messagebody"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Circlewider">https://twitter.com/Circlewider</a></span></span></h6><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Viva Economic Justice!!!!</span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Michael “Waterman” Hubman</span></span><br />
<span class="messagebody">Aggregating and posting for Economic Justice</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-32689534385676894012012-03-12T11:31:00.000-07:002012-03-12T11:31:47.424-07:00Fighting Austerity: Spanish Unions Call for General Strike / Common DreamsSpain's two main unions, the General Workers Union and the Workers Commissions, have called for a general strike on March 29 to protest the government's austerity push.<br />
The unions' leaders, Ignacio Fernández Toxo y Cándido Méndez, <a href="http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2012/03/08/actualidad/1331242620_561548.html" rel="nofollow">declared</a> their strike "fair and necessary " and told press this morning that Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's labor reforms were "the most regressive in the history of the democracy."<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/arribalasqueluchan/6775588418/" rel="nofollow"><span class="image-right" style="width: 300px;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imce-images/screen_shot_2012-03-09_at_1.48.54_pm_0.png" style="height: 195px; width: 300px;" title=" arribalasqueluchan!)" width="300" /><span class="caption">Protesting labor reforms in Spain (photo: arribalasqueluchan!)</span></span></a><br />
<em><strong>El País</strong></em> <a href="http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2012/03/08/actualidad/1331242620_561548.html" rel="nofollow">reports</a>:<br />
<blockquote> From the outset, the unions have opposed the labor reform, which they consider unfair with workers, inefficient to alleviate the economic situation and useless in the face of job creation.<br />
</blockquote><div align="center">* * *</div>Spaniards have been hitting the streets by the thousands to <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/19-1" rel="nofollow">protest</a> the Spanish government's austerity reforms, which are making it easier for companies to fire workers.<br />
<blockquote> “Workers who’ve got jobs now are worried these reforms will make it easy to lose them, and in current conditions, those who don’t have work are going to find it impossible to get a job,” office worker Manuela Silvela said at a protest against cuts in Spain earlier this month.<br />
</blockquote>The latest unemployment figures from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, show the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/02-1" rel="nofollow">unemployment rate in Spain</a> the highest in the EU at 23.3%, with the unemployment rate for those under 25 in Spain at a grim 49.9%.Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-78563216669762180612012-03-09T17:00:00.000-08:002012-03-09T17:00:19.873-08:00Are Irish Taxpayers About To Bail Out Goldman? Peter Sutherland: Vampire Squid? / Zero Hedge / indimedia ireland / ICH<blockquote class="article-intro">Is Peter Sutherland Stealing From His Own People To Give To The Vampire Squid?</blockquote><div class="article">From <strong>Zero Hedge</strong>:<br />
<a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/are-irish-taxpayers-about-bail-out-goldman-peter-sutherland-stealing-his-own-people-give-vam" title="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/are-irish-taxpayers-about-bail-out-goldman-peter-sutherland-stealing-his-own-people-give-vam">http://www.zerohedge.com/article/are-irish-taxpayers-ab...e-vam</a><br />
<br />
</div><blockquote> With the recent nationalization of half of the country's six big banks, and the blanket guarantee over the rest of them, the Irish government has effectively made sure that bondholders in all banks, even those which such as long insolvent Anglo Irish bank will be made whole by the long-suffering Irish taxpayers...<br />
Yet what is amusing is that in between the cracks of exclusively European-bank based senior and subordinated bondholders in such bankrupt banks as Anglo-Irish, a familiar name emerges: Goldman Sachs...<br />
Guido Fawkes, who managed to obtain the Anglo Irish bondholder list, shares the following commentary:<br />
<br />
<em>Anglo-Irish Bank did not represent a systemic risk to the Irish economy, it wasn’t a high street bank like AIB or the Bank of Ireland. If it had been allowed to go the way of Lehmans the only losers would have been shareholders and bondholders. The Irish state stepped in and nationalised a bank that was basically run by crooks lending to property speculators. The Irish people are taking losses that should rightly have been shouldered by bondholders.<br />
<br />
Every child in Ireland is being bequeathed a huge debt at birth to protect the interests of foreign, mainly German, bondholders – why? Guido was once a bond trader, it was always understood that sometimes the bond issuer defaults. That is the risk investors take.<br />
<br />
So why is Dublin’s political establishment so keen to protect foreign investors at the expense of future generations? Guido has obtained the list of foreign Anglo-Irish bondholders as at the close of business tonight. These are the people whom Dublin’s politicians really seem to care about.<br />
<br />
Between them they hold Anglo-Irish bonds with a face-value of €4,034,756,880. Shouldn’t they take the hit rather than future generations of Irish taxpayers? Capitalism is a system of profit and loss, they took the risk of investing in Anglo-Irish Bank. Is the Irish government under pressure from the European Central Bank in Frankfurt to protect German investors?</em><br />
<br />
...we would like to add Goldman Sachs to the list of bailoutees. Surely, few firms in the world deserve to be redeemed as much as god's little helpers...<br />
<br />
Little else that can be added here... except for this amusing anecdote of another Goldman Sachs International Chairman, one Peter Sutherland, former Ireland attorney general and EU commissioner who just so happens was a chairman of British Petroleum (remember those guys?) previously. To wit from the Irish Times:<br />
<br />
<em>[Sutherland] and [recently heckled] Lenihan have remained in contact through the financial crisis. On one occasion, Sutherland visited Lenihan to tell him what a great job he thought he was doing and to say that Lenihan had the potential to be one of the great taoisigh of the 21st century. Lenihan was taken aback, he says.</em><br />
<br />
Surely, this great son of Ireland, who obviously has Lenihan in his back pocket, is in active negotiation on behalf of his current employer, Goldman Sachs. Yet something tells us Mr. Sutherland will be the last person to share light on Goldman's twilight relationship vis-a-vis the Irish government...<br />
<br />
Lack of revisionism is not too surprising coming from a person whose personal, and future, fortune, is based on the past generosity of American, and now Irish taxpayers. Because his wealth is certainly not due to his skill at anything related to his actual career:<br />
<br />
<em>Sutherland was also a board member at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) during the financial meltdown when the UK bank collapsed into state arms after a frenetic, debt-fuelled growth. Of the bank’s 2007 role in the €71 billion acquisition of Dutch bank ABN Amro, the biggest ever banking takeover, Sutherland says it made “the mistake of buying at precisely the wrong time when the world was falling off the back of a bus”.</em><br />
<br />
Perhaps instead of driving trucks full of cement into Parliament, Irish taxpayers can be a little more proactive, and ask one of their most respected "leaders" just on whose behalf he is working on in this latest bailout, which could easily be Ireland's last. </blockquote><br />
<br />
More Goldman Sachs shennanigans (the original "vampire squid" description) at: <div class="article-related-link-relatedlink">Related Link: <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/12697/64796" title="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/12697/64796">http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/12697/64796</a></div>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-27747654975120574932012-03-09T12:26:00.001-08:002012-03-09T12:47:35.100-08:00Next Leg Of The Ponzi Revealed - Foreign Central Banks To Begin Buying US Stocks Outright Starting Today / 0Hedge / ICHWe were speechless when we read this <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-01/israel-to-begin-investing-reserves-in-u-s-equities-today-1-.html">from Bloomberg</a>.<br />
<blockquote><div class="quote_start"></div><div class="quote_end"></div><b>The Bank of Israel </b>will begin today a pilot program to invest a portion of its foreign currency reserves <b>in U.S. equities</b>.<br />
<br />
The investment, which in the initial phase will amount to 2 percent of the $77 billion reserves, or about $1.5 billion, will be made through UBS AG and BlackRock Inc. (BLK), Bank of Israel spokesman Yossi Saadon said in a telephone interview today. <b>At a later stage, the investment is expected to increase to 10 percent of the reserves.</b><br />
<br />
A small number of central banks have started investing part of their reserves in equities.<b> About 9 percent of the foreign- exchange reserves of Switzerland’s central bank were invested in shares at the end of the third quarter, the Swiss bank said on its website.</b><br />
<br />
The investment will be made in equity index trackers and will include between 1,500 to 2,000 shares<b>, among them stocks like Apple Inc. (AAPL), Saadon said. </b></blockquote>More from <a href="http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000729611&fid=1725">Globes</a>:<br />
<blockquote><div class="quote_start"></div><div class="quote_end"></div>The Bank of Israel today began investing a small part of its $77 billion in foreign currency reserves in US stocks. The central bank's latest Markets Division report states that the new Bank of Israel Law (5770-2010) allows the Bank of Israel to make equity investments, and that it began to do so today.<br />
<br />
The Bank of Israel will invest $1-1.5 billion in US stocks, 2% of its portfolio. The report adds that the Bank of Israel has been investing in public bodies in developed countries since 2010.<br />
<br />
The Bank of Israel said that the investments in US stocks would be made through UBS AG (NYSE; SWX: UBS) and BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) The Bank of Israel's Markets Division, which specializes in bond investments, will not be handling the equity investments. It added that the traders will have very limited discretion, and that they may only quote leading indices, in order to reduce the risk.<br />
<br />
<b>"We have almost no exposure to countries with big problems. We constantly examine where we invest the foreign currency reserves, and I can promise you that you can relax," </b>Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer said at a closed conference in mid-January.<br />
<br />
"The Bank of Israel does not disclose the currency composition of its portfolio, especially not the composition of its equity portfolio," says the Bank of Israel. At the January conference, Fischer said, "Imagine if we were to begin publishing where you invest, so when you stop buying the bonds of a particular country, and this is published, we'll get complaints. That is why we do not publish." He added, "We have an external committee that conducts the examinations. You can assume that we're aware to the fact that there are problems in certain countries." </blockquote>In other words, while the Fed's charter forbids it from buying US equities outright, it certainly <b>can </b>promise that it will bail out such bosom friends as the Bank of Israel, the Swiss National Bank, and soon everyone else, if and when their investment in Apple should sour. <br />
Luckily, this means that the exponential phase in risk is approaching as everyone will now scramble to frontrun central bank purchases no longer in bonds, but in stocks outright, leading to epic surges in everything risk related, then collapse and force the Fed to print tens of trillions to bail everyone out all over again, rinse repeat, until this chart becomes asymptotic. We say luckily, because it means that the long overdue systemic reset is finally approaching. <br />
<a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2012/02/Central%20Banks%20and%20M1.jpg"><img height="422" src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2012/02/Central%20Banks%20and%20M1_0.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<i>Chart: Diapason</i><br />
<br />
<i> </i><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/">http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider">http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/"><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/">http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/</a></span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">h<a href="http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ttp://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/</span></a></span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.righttosharefood.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3b5998;">http://www.righttosharefood.org/</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
<span class="commentbody"><a href="http://www.watercorps.net/">http://www.watercorps.net/</a></span></span><br />
<h6><span class="messagebody"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Circlewider">https://twitter.com/Circlewider</a></span></span></h6><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Viva Economic Justice!!!!</span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Michael “Waterman” Hubman</span></span><br />
<span class="messagebody">Aggregating and posting for Economic Justice</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-20313383211139218622012-03-09T12:23:00.000-08:002012-03-09T12:23:23.195-08:00Greek austerity measures could violate human rights, UN expert says / UN News Centre / ICH<div id="PhotoHolder" style="width: 180px;"><img border="1" src="http://www.un.org/News/dh/photos/2011/05-19-lumina.jpg" title="Cephas Lumina, UN expert on foreign debt and human rights" /><div class="phtocaption">Cephas Lumina, UN expert </div></div><span class="fullstory">30 June 2011 – </span><div id="fullstory">The United Nations independent expert on foreign debt and human rights warned today that the austerity measures and structural reforms proposed to solve Greece’s debt crisis may result in violations of the basic human rights of the country’s people, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (<a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/WelcomePage.aspx">OHCHR</a>) reported. “The implementation of the second package of austerity measures and structural reforms, which includes a wholesale privatization of state-owned enterprises and assets, is likely to have a serious impact on basic social services and therefore the enjoyment of human rights by the Greek people, particularly the most vulnerable sectors of the population such as the poor, elderly, unemployed and persons with disabilities,” said Cephas Lumina, who reports to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. <br />
“The rights to food, water, adequate housing and work under fair and equitable conditions should not be compromised by the implementation of austerity measures,” he said, urging the Government to “strike a careful balance between austerity and the realization of human rights, taking into account the primacy of States’ human rights obligations.” <br />
Mr. Lumina also called upon the authorities to maintain some fiscal leeway to meet its people’s basic human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights.<br />
“Tax rises, public expenditure cuts and privatization measures have to be implemented in such a way that they do not result in unbearable suffering of the people,” he said. <br />
“Debts can only be paid out of income,” Mr. Lumina said. “A shrinking economy cannot generate any revenue and contributes to a reduced capacity to repay the debt. More time should have been allowed for the restructuring measures already in place to work.” <br />
The independent expert also called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union (EU) and the European Central Bank (ECB) to remain aware of the human rights impact of the policies they design in attempting to resolve the sovereign debt crises in Greece and other countries. <br />
“There will be no lasting solution to the sovereign debt problem if the human rights of the people are not taken into account,” said Mr. Lumina, who serves in an unpaid capacity.</div><br />
<div class="relBrown">News Tracker: past stories on this issue</div><div class="relatnews"><a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38437&Cr=debt&Cr1=">UN expert lauds UK limits on vulture funds that prey on poor nations’ debt</a></div>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-85404009802676366452012-03-09T12:16:00.000-08:002012-03-09T12:16:32.265-08:00Iceland’s ex-PM Geir Haarde tell court he is innocent as historic financial crisis trial opens / Associated Press<div class="module article-toolbar relative border-bottom padding-top-8 padding-bottom-8 margin-bottom-20 margin-top border-top"> <div class="article-toolbar-ad"> </div></div><div class="module byline"> <h3> By Associated Press, <span class="timestamp updated processed">Published: March 4 | </span> <span class="timestamp updated processed">Updated: Monday, March 5, <span class="time special">6:28 AM</span></span> </h3></div><div class="article_body"> <article> REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Iceland’s former prime minister has rejected charges he failed to adequately protect his country’s economy from financial shocks in the first criminal trial of a world leader over the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
“I reject all accusations, and believe there is no basis for them,” Geir Haarde said as he took the stand on Monday. He said it was the first chance he had to answer questions in the case.</article> </div><div class="module article-side-rail left clearfix padding-right margin-top-7 margin-right-15" id="article-side-rail"> <div class="module quick-comments border-top border-bottom padding-top padding-bottom margin-bottom-13 bkgd-grey-gradient flipboard-remove"> </div><div class="flipper-wrap relative mini border-top border-bottom padding-top padding-bottom photo-wrapper" id="yui_3_3_0_2_133132392501081"> <div class="flipper-main relative" id="yui_3_3_0_2_1331323925010105" style="display: block;"> <div class="flipper-inner relative"> </div><img style="opacity: 0; position: absolute;" /><img style="opacity: 0; position: absolute;" /><img style="opacity: 0; position: absolute;" /></div><div class="flipper-caption" id="yui_3_3_0_2_1331323925010102"> ( Kristinn Ingvarsson / Associated Press ) - Former Prime Minister of Iceland Geir Haarde, centre. sits in a court in Reykjavik Monday March 5, 2012 . Iceland’s former prime minister went on trial Monay as the first world leader to face criminal charges over the 2008 financial crisis that affected much of the world economy. Geir Haarde became a symbol of the bubble economy for Icelanders who lost their jobs and homes after the country’s main commercial bank collapsed in 2008, sending its currency into a nosedive and inflation soaring.</div></div><div class="left margin-right margin-bottom padding-top slug" id="slug_inline_bb" style="display: block;"> </div></div><div class="article_body"> <article> Haarde became a symbol of the bubble economy for Icelanders who lost their jobs and homes after the country’s main commercial banks collapsed in 2008, sending its currency into a nosedive and inflation soaring.<br />
Prosecutors opened the case at the Landsdomur, a special court being convened for the first time in Iceland’s history.<br />
Part of their case hinges on a charge that Haarde failed to implement recommendations a government committee had drawn up in 2006 to strengthen Iceland’s economy.<br />
Haarde told the court that the committee’s work could not have prevented Iceland’s economic crash.<br />
“Nobody predicted that there would be a financial collapse in Iceland” in 2008, he said, adding that the government did not fully understand how much debt the country’s banks had on their books.<br />
Haarde is accused of negligence for failing to prevent the financial implosion from which the small island country is still struggling to recover.<br />
In the crisis’ immediate aftermath — as unemployment and inflation skyrocketed — many sought to affix blame for the havoc across the 330,000-strong nation. A wave of public protests forced Haarde out of government in 2009.<br />
Haarde has pleaded not guilty and sought to have all charges dismissed, calling the proceedings “preposterous.”<br />
He has insisted Icelanders’ interests were his “guiding light,” and blamed the banks for the crisis, saying government officials and regulatory authorities tried their best to prevent the crisis and that his “conscience is clear.”<br />
The trial is expected to last until mid-March, with the court taking another four to six weeks to deliver its verdict.<br />
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/">http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider">http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/"><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/">http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/</a></span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">h<a href="http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ttp://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/</span></a></span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.righttosharefood.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3b5998;">http://www.righttosharefood.org/</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
<span class="commentbody"><a href="http://www.watercorps.net/">http://www.watercorps.net/</a></span></span><br />
<h6><span class="messagebody"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Circlewider">https://twitter.com/Circlewider</a></span></span></h6><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Viva Economic Justice!!!!</span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Michael “Waterman” Hubman</span></span><br />
<span class="messagebody">Aggregating and posting for Economic Justice</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span><br />
</article> </div>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-60735671784445142582012-03-07T09:54:00.001-08:002012-03-07T09:55:45.916-08:00Greek default looms as voluntary debt deal looks set to fail / Louise Armitstead / The Telegraph / Information Clearing House<h2>European leaders are braced for the eurozone’s first ever sovereign default this week as Greece’s efforts to secure a €206bn (£172bn) “voluntary” bond swap looks increasingly unlikely. </h2><div id="storyEmbSlide"><div class="slideshow ssMain"><div class="nextPrevLayer"><div class="ssImg" style="display: block;"><img alt="Greek default fears as doubts grow over 'voluntary' bond deal" height="288" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01930/greek_1930814c.jpg" width="460" /> <br />
<div class="artImageExtras"><div class="ingCaptionCredit"><span class="caption">Credit rating agencies have warned they will declare Athens to be in default if they force bond swap on investors.</span> <span class="credit">Photo: Getty</span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="cl"></div><div class="bylineComments"><div><div class="bylineImg"><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/"><img alt="Louise Armitstead" border="0" height="60" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01771/Armitstead_60_1771057j.jpg" width="60" /></a> </div><div class="bylineBody">By <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/louise-armitstead/" rel="author" title="Louise Armitstead"> Louise Armitstead</a></div></div><div class="publishedDate">9:30PM GMT 03 Mar 2012</div><div class="bylineSocialButtons"></div><div class="comments"><img alt="Comments" src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/share/comments.gif" /><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9121151/Greek-default-looms-as-voluntary-debt-deal-looks-set-to-fail.html#disqus_thread">857 Comments</a> </div><div class="cl"></div></div><div class="firstPar">Authorities in Athens are ready to enforce the controversial collective action clauses, or CACs, to impose the restructuring deal on all bondholders as the number of voluntary agreements look set to fall short of the required amount. </div><div class="secondPar">Credit rating agencies have warned they will declare Athens to be in default if the CACs are triggered which would be a dramatic culmination to a three-year rollercoaster ride for Athens, the eurozone and global markets. </div><div class="thirdPar">While the markets have been ready for a Greek default for months, the move could leave Greece and its banks barred from funding from the European Central Bank (ECB). On Monday, Standard & Poor’s declared Greece to be in a state of “selective default” which led to the ECB announcing it would no longer accept Greek government bonds as security for new loans. </div><div class="fourthPar">The rating agency said its decision had been prompted by the threat of the CACs and the actual use of them is likely to tip Greece into actual default. The agency said it regarded the process as a “distressed debt restructuring”. </div><div class="fifthPar">Raoul Ruparel of Open Europe, the London-based think-tank, said: “Greece is likely to struggle to reach the targets for a voluntary agreement so the credit rating agencies are almost certainly going to see this as a default. </div><div class="related_links_inline" id="tmg-related-links"><div class="headerOne styleThree"><h2>Related Articles</h2></div><ul><li class="bullet"> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9119376/Spain-planning-to-breach-EU-budget-targets-warns-prime-minister-Mariano-Rajoy.html">Spain planning to breach EU budget targets, warns prime minister</a> <br />
<span class="relContDate">02 Mar 2012</span> </li>
<li class="bullet"> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9117156/EU-finance-chiefs-give-Greece-58bn-but-stoke-fears-of-default-after-delaying-bail-out-decision.html">EU stokes fears of Greek default after delaying bail-out decision</a> <br />
<span class="relContDate">01 Mar 2012</span> </li>
<li class="bullet"> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9115598/No-payout-on-Greek-CDS-insurance-rules-ISDA.html">No payout on Greek CDS insurance, rules ISDA</a> <br />
<span class="relContDate">01 Mar 2012</span> </li>
<li class="bullet"> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9115590/Euroland-will-pay-for-this-monetary-madness.html">Euroland will pay for this monetary madness</a> <br />
<span class="relContDate">01 Mar 2012</span> </li>
<li class="bullet"> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9115468/Eurozone-unemployment-hits-record-high-of-10.7pc.html">Eurozone unemployment hits record high of 10.7pc</a> <br />
<span class="relContDate">01 Mar 2012</span> </li>
</ul></div><div class="body">"What happens next is unknown territory. <br />
"Greek banks will probably be barred from normal ECB funding and have to turn to the Emergency Liquidity Assistance [provided by the ECB] instead but for how long, we don’t know.” <br />
Greece needs around 95pc of its private creditors to accept the deal by the deadline on Thursday in order to secure its €130bn international bail-out package and avert imminent bankruptcy. <br />
Greek politicians back the use of CACs – which allow the deal to be imposed on all bondholders if 66pc agree to it – being inserted retrospectively if the voluntary agreement falls short. <br />
The uncertainty over the deal on Greek debt put further pressure on the euro last week. The single currency fell sharply against the dollar and other major currencies. <br />
Uncertainty over Spanish willingness to stick to its austerity programme also put pressure on the currency. <br />
Last week, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) declared that there had not yet been a credit event in Greece so there was no need for the credit default insurance instruments to be triggered. <br />
If the CACs are triggered this week, the committee will almost certainly reconsider its decision.<br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/">http://worldeconomicnewsblog.blogspot.com/</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider">http://www.facebook.com/michaelcirclewider</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/"><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://economicjusticeblog.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/">http://environmentaljusticebloger.blogspot.com/</a></span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">h<a href="http://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ttp://occupyusaworldnews.blogspot.com/</span></a></span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.righttosharefood.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3b5998;">http://www.righttosharefood.org/</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
<span class="commentbody"><a href="http://www.watercorps.net/">http://www.watercorps.net/</a></span></span><br />
<h6><span class="messagebody"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Circlewider">https://twitter.com/Circlewider</a></span></span></h6><span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Viva Economic Justice!!!!</span></span><br />
<span class="commentbody"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;">Michael “Waterman” Hubman</span></span><br />
<span class="messagebody">Aggregating and posting for Economic Justice</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span><span class="commentbody"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"></span></span><br />
<br />
</div>Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-27165872460729661672012-03-07T08:30:00.000-08:002012-03-07T08:30:52.207-08:00The EU austerity disaster by Siobhan Dowling / GlobalPost / Salon<h2 class="deck">Draconian spending measures are plunging the euro zone deeper into a double-dip recession</h2><h2 class="deck"> BERLIN, Germany — Europe is on the hunt for growth, but has little idea where to find it.</h2><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Global Post" src="http://images.salon.com/img/partners/ID_globalPostInline.gif" style="margin: 0 10px 0 0;" /></a><br />
Many EU countries are being forced to follow a strict austerity path to slash their debts, but these measures seem to be sapping their ability to grow their economies and create jobs.<br />
Some analysts warn that in the absence of measures to boost growth, more bailouts and debt write-downs could be in the cards.<br />
The latest figures are certainly worrying.<br />
The euro-zone economy contracted by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, the EU’s statistics office Eurostat confirmed on Tuesday, and unemployment reached an average of 10.7 percent in January, the highest since the euro was introduced in 1999.<br />
That figure masks the huge discrepancies within the bloc. For example, while Spain’s unemployment is now at 22.9 percent, Austria’s is only 4 percent.<br />
Most attention recently has focused on the drama in Greece, which has required a second bailout in two years to keep from defaulting on its debts.<br />
The embattled country has been prescribed severe austerity in recent years to tackle its alarming public debt mountain, yet the medicine seems to be killing the patient. The Greek economy shrank by 6.8 percent in 2011. The bulk of the new 130 billion euro ($172 billion) bailout will go to lenders rather than being used for any measures to boost growth.<br />
The Greeks are not alone. Ireland and Portugal, the other two recipients of bailouts from the troika of the European Central Bank, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, have also had to sign up to reforms and punishing public-spending cuts as a condition for the funding.<br />
Portugal in particular is struggling to find growth prospects. Last week, Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar announced that the economy is now expected to contract by 3.3 percent this year, instead of the previous forecast of 3 percent. Unemployment has soared to over 14 percent and the government is even encouraging people to emigrate. Last week President Anibal Cavaco Silva called on the government not to impose yet more austerity on the country’s “new poor.”<br />
And even the austerity drive may not be achieving the government’s aims. Borrowing costs are still prohibitive at 13.07 percent, and Standard & Poor’s recently reduced the country’s rating to junk. “Portugal is doing the best it can to spread the message that we are not Greece, that we are implementing reforms,” said Luis Faria, director of the Lisbon-based Contraditorio think-tank. “But the market is still waiting for credible signals.”<br />
Although Lisbon has managed to cut the deficit from 9.1 percent in 2010 to 5.6 percent last year, that is largely on the back of one-off measures such as transferring banks’ pension funds to the state, says Faria.<br />
He argues that Lisbon will not be able to return to the bond markets any time soon. “It seems obvious now that either another bailout will be negotiated or orderly default will be the solution.”<br />
Meanwhile, Ireland may be the poster boy for European austerity, even managing to see a slight growth of 0.9 percent last year after three years of contraction.<br />
Yet it too is suffering from the negative consequences of austerity. Businesses are struggling and the unemployment figure has soared to over 14 percent, and would probably be higher if it were not for emigration. And while exports have driven the recovery, the rest of the economy is extremely sluggish.<br />
“The prospects are quite poor for Ireland,” said Tom O’Donnell of the TASC think-tank, based in Dublin. “I don’t think it’s accurate to say that we are a successful example of austerity. Austerity has been very damaging, in terms of growth and demand.”<br />
Particularly galling for the Irish is that the punishing cuts and tax hikes are required in large part to pay off the colossal debts of reckless banks who bet on the country’s massive property bubble. The Irish government is currently committed to paying 3 billion euros a year for the next 15 years to the unsecured bondholders of the worst offender, Anglo Irish Bank — a massive burden on such a small country.<br />
With the economy only expected to grow by 0.5 percent this year, the prospects of returning to the bond markets in 2013 are fragile, something acknowledged by the IMF only last week.<br />
O’Donnell says that many economists believe that Ireland will probably require a second bailout, which would be under the auspices of the European Safety Mechanism, the new rescue fund. That may well be a consideration for Irish voters who face a referendum on the fiscal pact, as its ratification is a precondition for the rescue fund’s support.Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970184426619195419.post-62905184484988029552012-03-06T19:04:00.001-08:002012-03-06T19:06:20.214-08:00Education Cuts Spur Huge Student Protests Across Spain by Agence France-Presse / Common Dreams staff <span class="submitted">February 29, 2012 </span><br />
Tens of thousands of students marched out of their schools across Spain today, protesting broad education cuts that have caused teacher layoffs, overcrowded campuses and unheated classrooms. Tensions were highest in Barcelona, where police and protesters clashed as more than 30,000 people took to the streets.<br />
<span class="image-right" style="width: 275px;"> <img alt="" class="imagecache imagecache-headline_image imagecache-default imagecache-headline_image_default" height="166" src="http://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imagecache/headline_image/article_images/spain_students_barca.jpg" title="" width="275" /> <span class="caption"> Students shout slogans during a protest against cuts in education in central Madrid. (Photo: Reuters) </span></span><b>Agence France-Presse <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j8_-E6ONor7t49Nx_pe_qPEgx7AQ?docId=CNG.911f5f89461dea4c72c0496e193c7b58.21" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">reports</a>:</b><br />
<blockquote>Protestors marched through the streets in various towns after some camped the night in universities in a movement dubbed Primaveraestudiantil ("Student Spring") and Tomalafacultad ("Seize the faculty") on Twitter.<br />
The national students' union said marches were called in about 40 cities and towns across the country to protest the austerity measures they say are disrupting classes and cutting teaching jobs.<br />
"We did not create this crisis but we are paying for it in every sense," said the union's leader Tohil Delgado ahead of Wednesday's marches, saying classes and thousands of teaching jobs have been cut.<br />
"They are making cuts in public education, they are giving us no option to work, and on top of this, when we protest democratically, they beat us with complete impunity."<br />
He estimated turnout at the Valencia demonstration alone was in the tens of thousands.<br />
In Madrid students whistled and chanted slogans such as "Fewer cuts, more education!"<br />
They rallied noisily outside the national education ministry and stopped on their march to whistle angrily outside offices of Santander, a major bank.<br />
They were the latest in a string of demonstrations in various sectors in anger at cuts and reforms that the conservative government says will strengthen the economy and eventually curb unemployment, which is near 23 percent.<br />
"All the cutbacks and the labour reforms make it hard for youths to enter the labour market," Diego Parejo, 21, a third-year politics student, at the Madrid demonstration, told AFP.<br />
"When I finish university, I see a very dark future."</blockquote>And <i><b>The Guardian </b></i><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/29/fighting-barcelona-students-protest-education-cuts?newsfeed=true" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b>reported</b></a> on events in Barcelona:<span class="image-right" style="width: 325px;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imce-images/university-students-prote-007_0.jpg" style="height: 195px; width: 325px;" title=" David Ramos/Getty Images)" width="325" /><span class="caption">Students and riot police clash during education protest in Barcelona. (Photograph: David Ramos/Getty Images)</span></span><br />
<blockquote>Fires were lit in the streets, cars burned and bank windows were smashed with missiles as the protests turned violent. At least one bank was broken into and police fired rubber bullets as roads in the city were blocked.<br />
Baton-wielding riot police made several charges, pushing hundreds of demonstrators back into the main buildings of the University of Barcelona, not far from the central Plaça de Catalunya.<br />
A small group of peaceful demonstrators marched on the Mobile World Congress – a major international telecoms trade fair – being held at the city's exhibition centre, blocking a nearby main road.<br />
Masked protesters also attacked a television cameraman as authorities suggested the student protests had been infiltrated by troublemakers. "This gives an image of students and the university world that is simply not real," said Antoni Castellà, the director of universities for the Catalan regional government.<br />
Early reports were of a handful of arrests and nine injuries.<br />
"We did not expect this degree of repression," said Pau Brosons, a student, after police hit protesters with truncheons. "Nobody broke anything until they charged."<br />
Students were due to assemble again on Wednesday night to decide whether to continue their protests.</blockquote>A report in the <b><i>Los Angeles Times</i> <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/02/students-protest-and-in-some-cases-riot-across-spain.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">warned</a></b> that today's protest might only be an "omen of what's to come," and continued, "Spaniards are only beginning to feel the effects of a $20-billion package of spending cuts and tax hikes passed this year by the newly installed conservative government. Further spending cuts may follow because Madrid is still flouting rules limiting budget deficits for members of the 17-nation Eurozone."Michael "Waterman" Hubmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11434860457151553361noreply@blogger.com0