Dick Cheney, the warmonger, has now written his version of events, IN MY TIME, in which he proudly recounts his role in some of the more egregious activities of the Bush administration. For conservatives, who are quick to call for law and order when people begin to get a little restless over injustices, it is […]
Month: August 2011
HOW CAPITALISM IS LIKE A PONZI SCHEME
In the Ponzi and Madoff schemes, participants were promised a generous monetary return on their monetary investments. In the capitalist version, the investment is not money, but labor. As individuals invest their labor in the production and distribution of goods and services, they are paid wages that enable them to purchase and consume the goods […]
WHAT IS MONEY?
The concept of money is as pervasive as the air we breathe. It governs every aspect of our lives: where we work, where we live, how we live, how long we live. It consumes our thoughts, focuses our ambitions, colors our dreams, sparks our disputes, and stokes our anxieties. It’s here, there and everywhere. No […]
IT’S CAPITALISM, STUPID
The cause of the debt crisis is to be found in the essence of capitalism itself: competition, which – surprise! – produces losers as well as winners. The primary mechanism through which this contest is engaged is the corporation, which the US Supreme Court recently declared to be the legal equivalent of a person. Here […]
DANCING IN THE DARK
From yesterday’s New York Times: “The mood in the markets has taken a sharp turn for the worse. Headwinds are becoming stronger by the day.” — Mervyn A. King, governor of the Bank of England. “What we have been dealing with in recent weeks is a crisis of confidence among investors globally in the economic […]
THE CURTAIN RISES ON ACT TWO
The houselights dim. The audience scurries to their seats, now with heightened anticipation. A new political force has gained ascendancy, with an anti-government, anti-regulation, anti-tax, anti-entitlement, pro-corporate, free market agenda. What will the future hold? The curtain rises and . . . . On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged over 500 points, dropping […]
THE CURTAIN RISES ON ACT ONE
Phew! That was exciting. It had me on the edge of my seat. But what a setup for Act Two. Given the plot so far, this is going to be a bumpy ride. This is a situation in which everyone is behaving badly. Consider John Boehner, chief Republican negotiator. During the entire drama, he regularly […]