Bushonomics: Fooled Again

In 1912 Eugene Debs stood in New York's Madison Square Garden before 15,000 cheering supporters, waving red aprons, red handkerchiefs and red flags, as the Socialist Party candidate for the presidency of the United States. The most beloved man in America then reminded the clapping, stomping throng that, "two years ago workingmen and women were pelting us with eggs but now those eggs are a lot more expensive..."

Today in Barrons magazine, NY economist, Nouriel Roubini predicts that thanks to the Bush Administration's support of corporate welfare, hundreds of U.S. banks are on the verge of failure.

Ironically, the triumphant rise of neo-liberalism from the ashes of Soviet Communism may be hastening the death of capitalism. An analogy for what has taken place over these last thirty years is a casino that lets its richest clients bet against the house with borrowed chips.

"when asset wealth and the leverage that this provides becomes as concentrated as it was in the 19th century (which is a scenario we are approaching), then markets encourage nothing other than gambling masking itself as sound investment."--Philip Bond, UK Independent

It is popular to claim that Marx has been discredited, but Victor Considerant, Marx's philosophical mentor, warned in 1847 that the "large entrepreneurs" were "sucking up" capital and "crushing" the middle-class. He cautioned that "concentrations of wealth in the hands of the few resulted in the infeudation of the government to the aristocracy".

1848 saw the start of the French Revolution that would end the monarchy and create a Second Republic.

Deregulation and "voodoo economics"

The green light for Wall St to bet on margin has created a giant wealth-devouring bubble.

M1, is restricted to the most liquid forms of money; it consists of currency in the hands of the public; travelers checks; demand deposits, and other deposits against which checks can be written.

M2 includes M1, plus savings accounts, time deposits of under $100,000, and balances in retail money market mutual funds.

M3 includes M2 plus large-denomination ($100,000 or more) time deposits, balances in institutional money funds, repurchase liabilities issued by depository institutions, and Eurodollars held by U.S. residents at foreign branches of U.S. banks and at all banks in the United Kingdom and Canada. (The blue line is shadow- stats estimate that includes the Fed's secret add-on to our money supply.)

Trickle Down Right Into the Pisser

It should be plain as the nose on one's face to see that as globalization cheapens the cost of labor there is bound to be an oversupply of goods. So this notion that cutting taxes on the rich will spur investment should be laughed off the minute its dribbles from McCain's dumb, indentured mouth.

There is no evidence that the tax cuts caused any increase in economic growth, let alone growth sufficient to offset their cost. In fact, the 2001-2007 economic expansion was among the weakest since World War II with regard to overall economic growth. [2] Moreover, revenue growth was very poor during 2001-2007. Real per-capita revenues fell deeply in 2001, 2002, and 2003
--Center on Budget and Policy

(Why investing to maintain our infrastructure and educate workers is anathema to Wall Street pundits points to the stupidity of our current mindset)

Either we Americans will learn that the rich need to be reined in (if just to save them from themselves and save the planet) or we'd best learn to grow our food and stock up on kindling.