People Money And Power In The Economic Crisis

The Cold War was fought between “state socialism” and “the free market.” That fluctuating relationship between public power and private money continues today, unfolding in new and unforeseen ways during the economic crisis. Nine case studies -- from Southern Africa, South Asia, Brazil, and Atlantic Africa – examine economic life from the perspective of ordinary people in places that are normally marginal to global discourse, covering a range of class positions from the bottom to the top of society. The authors of these case studies examine people’s concrete economic activities and aspirations. By looking at how people insert themselves into the actual, unequal economy, they seek to reflect human unity and diversity more fully than the narrow vision of conventional economics.

An “engaging and well-researched study [of] ordinary people who joined together to challenge financial institutions” (Choice). Banks and bankers are hardly the most beloved institutions and people in this country. With its corruptive influence on politics and stranglehold on the American economy, Wall Street is held in high regard by few outside the financial sector. But the pitchforks raised against this behemoth are largely rhetorical: We rarely see riots in the streets or public demands for an equitable and democratic banking system that result in serious national changes. Yet the situation was vastly different a century ago, as Christopher W. Shaw shows. This book upends the conventional thinking that financial policy in the early twentieth century was set primarily by the needs and demands of bankers. Shaw shows that banking and politics were directly shaped by the literal and symbolic investments of the grassroots. This engagement remade financial institutions and the national economy, through populist pressure and the establishment of federal regulatory programs and agencies like the Farm Credit System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Shaw reveals the surprising groundswell behind seemingly arcane legislation, as well as the power of the people to demand serious political repercussions for the banks that caused the Great Depression. One result of this sustained interest and pressure was legislation and regulation that brought on a long period of relative financial stability, with a reduced frequency of economic booms and busts. Ironically, this stability led to the decline of the very banking politics that brought it about. Giving voice to a broad swath of American figures, including workers, farmers, politicians, and bankers alike, Money, Power, and the People recasts our understanding of what might be possible in balancing the needs of the people with those of their financial institutions.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, published by the U.S. Government and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in early 2011, is the official government report on the United States financial collapse and the review of major financial institutions that bankrupted and failed, or would have without help from the government. The commission and the report were implemented after Congress passed an act in 2009 to review and prevent fraudulent activity. The report details, among other things, the periods before, during, and after the crisis, what led up to it, and analyses of subprime mortgage lending, credit expansion and banking policies, the collapse of companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the federal bailouts of Lehman and AIG. It also discusses the aftermath of the fallout and our current state. This report should be of interest to anyone concerned about the financial situation in the U.S. and around the world.THE FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION is an independent, bi-partisan, government-appointed panel of 10 people that was created to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States." It was established as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009. The commission consisted of private citizens with expertise in economics and finance, banking, housing, market regulation, and consumer protection. They examined and reported on "the collapse of major financial institutions that failed or would have failed if not for exceptional assistance from the government."News Dissector DANNY SCHECHTER is a journalist, blogger and filmmaker. He has been reporting on economic crises since the 1980's when he was with ABC News. His film In Debt We Trust warned of the economic meltdown in 2006. He has since written three books on the subject including Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity (Cosimo Books, 2008), and The Crime Of Our Time: Why Wall Street Is Not Too Big to Jail (Disinfo Books, 2011), a companion to his latest film Plunder The Crime Of Our Time. He can be reached online at www.newsdissector.com.

What is money, where does it come from, and who controls it? In this accessible, brilliantly argued book, leading political economist Ann Pettifor explains in straightforward terms history’s most misunderstood invention: the money system. Pettifor argues that democracies can, and indeed must, reclaim control over money production and restrain the out-of-control finance sector so that it serves the interests of society, as well as the needs of the ecosystem. The Production of Money examines and assesses popular alternative debates on, and innovations in, money, such as “green QE” and “helicopter money.” She sets out the possibility of linking the money in our pockets (or on our smartphones) to the improvements we want to see in the world around us.

In A Miracle in Waiting Paul Hellyer pulls no punches. First published in 1996 under the title Surviving the Global Financial Crisis: the Economics of Hope for Generation X Hellyer maintained that the monetarist counter-revolution has been one monumental flop and predicted in the first two paragraphs that a meltdown was inevitable. The entire book was prophetic and should be read in that context. Hellyer argued that the federal deficit is nothing but a red herring that detracts from more fundamental issues such as the monetary system which, stripped of all the holy water that has been poured on it over the years, is nothing more than the perpetuation of a scam developed by the English goldsmiths more than three hundred years ago – a scam that has turned out to be the most profitable in history. This book removes the veil from the mystery of money. Nearly all money is simply virtual – computer entries by highly leveraged privately-owned banks that create money out of thin air. Worse, they are allowed to lend their capital up to twenty times or more and collect interest on it each time. Still worse many of the loans are made to hedge funds and the financial industry that make huge profits without creating any new real wealth that is tangible and useful. Hellyer's book explains exactly what has to be done. Bank ratios have to be reduced dramatically. At the same time the proportion of money created by governments (who own the patent on behalf of the people) has to be substantially increased. This will allow the fiscal flexibility necessary to balance their budgets and help finance critically important projects such as the transformation from an oil economy to one based on clean fuels. Many other major problems could be solved by a substantial infusion of debt free money.

The lingering after effects of the 2008 crisis lives on to this day, with much of Europe back in recession. What are we to make of this? Why is this recession so difficult to shake compared to previous ones? Where did it come from in the first place? And most importantly, what does it portend for the future of the world economy? This book is not aimed at sophisticated people with an understanding of the world economic system. It is for ordinary folks puzzled by what's going on around them, and wishing to gain an understanding beyond the headlines and sound bites. To explain what's going on, we first need to do two things: clarify basic economic concepts, and provide historical context to the world economy.In Part I, we consider six economic concepts that explain things such as supply and demand, economic choices and incentives, trade, economic systems and the importance of timeframes in decision making. This is not a book on economics, so the content is kept light, with the principles elucidated through relevant and interesting historical accounts. Part II succinctly explains how the world moved from an undeveloped agrarian society to the complex, sophisticated world we inhabit today. To understand how wealth is destroyed, it is important to understand how it was created in the first place. The key points include the origin of money, the industrial revolution, and what the 'killer apps' that separated the west from the rest. We then look at trade protection in order to illustrate how governments have in the past committed atrocities in the name of self interest, and how a nation's views on trade is primarily determined by where the nation finds itself in its development cycle. Finally, we look at economic bubbles. This serves to illustrate that it's an age old phenomenon and not a recent one, that it demonstrates the greed inherent in human nature, but also that it's the price we pay for a free market and by extension wealth creation.Part III dives into the current economic crisis. We consider the two World Wars and other major world events, making the point that there were dark forces at work behind the scenes that sought to orchestrate and profit from these tragedies. We consider the development of the banking sector, picking it up in Renaissance Italy and taking it through to today's system of central banks. We ask the crucial question of who owns and controls this system. The book then arrives at the current crisis, focussing on Europe and the United States. We consider the U.S. debt problem and Euro crisis, and explain how the response to the crisis was premised on the supposed lessons of the Great Depression. We also consider the danger of the current response.We look at the world of financial instruments such as Credit Default Swops in order to show how risk sensitive the world economy really is. We show how similar collapses have happened in the recent past. We then use the Libor scandal to illustrate how self interest feeds corrupt practices in an environment of concentrated power lacking transparency, and how the CDS market is a ticking time bomb.We look at the current move towards globalised power structures, picking up from the end of World War II. These include the U.N., IMF and World Bank. We show how the previously mentioned dark forces were behind the establishment of these, and how Communism and centralised power consolidation through entities such as the U.N. has been a two-pronged attempt to consolidate global economic, political and military power. In the final chapter we consider what the appropriate response should be to the revelations of this book. How can we resist these evil plans? How should we invest our money? How should we protect our persons and families in the event of the worst coming to the worst? The book makes it clear that the rise of a one world government can be frustrated, and that we should do all we can to do so.

The issue of globalization-its promises, and more often, its shortcomings-commands worldwide attention. Recent events illuminate the dark side of globalization and underscore the urgent need to redesign its basic principles. The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 are one in a series of crisis that have shaken the foundations of the global order. The rise of strong anti-globalization movements around the world, the deteriorating global economy, including America's own economic turbulence, and an ever-growing distrust of powerful multinational corporations in the face of catastrophic mismanagement, symbolized by Enron and WorldCom, dramatize the failure of globalization. For a safe and economically secure future, Charles Derber argues in People Before Profit we must de-bunk the myths about our current form of corporate-led globalization and re-orient ourselves on a more democratic path. Popular misconceptions, what Derber terms the "globalization mystique," present globalization as new, inevitable, self-propelling, and win-win for rich and poor countries alike. By challenging each of these beliefs, Derber reveals a dynamic system that is constantly being invented and re-invented-and can be again. Globalization does not have to be a "race to the bottom" where the poverty gap grows ever wider and half the world lives on less than two dollars a day. In fact, Derber's hopeful and detailed vision of reform, including practical suggestions for every concerned citizen, shows that globalization has the potential to be an authentic agent of democracy, social justice, and economic stability. The challenges are great; the new globalization will require deep and difficult changes, as well as a new politics that shifts power away from the elite. But the seeds have already been planted and the new globalization is beginning to emerge. In a moment rich with opportunity, People Before Profit is an essential contribution to the most important debate of our times, written in clear, straight-forward prose for everyone seeking a better world.

Jonathan Kirshner explains how the crisis altered the international balance of power, affecting the patterns and pulse of world politics.