Rob Urie, author of Zen Economics, artist, musician and published author “Militant Preaching Journal” on Substack
Bernie Madoff has the loot?
Image: Bernie Madoff fits into the American story of bad guys sinking “the system”. But the fact is that less blatant thieves caused much of the global financial crisis. It was a crisis of capitalism, and specifically financial capitalism. Naked Capitalism named the names and gave us the details. So please give generously to Naked Capitalism today. Through the tip jar, To expose these underlying forces. Photo courtesy of the Chicago Sun-Times.
In 2008, financial markets were paralyzed, millions of workers were laid off, and a federal bailout of unprecedented size and scope was allocated to Wall Street. Western economists, who built their models without banking and finance, could not explain the crisis in convincing terms.
Naked Capitalism, a relatively new and courageous website on finance and politics, has come to the rescue. It features expert analysis by unorthodox economists with deep knowledge of the financial and economic crisis. To make this important resource more than worth it, Donation pageDonating $5, $50, $500 or any amount will help us reach our fundraising goal.
Without dogmas or political agendas, without biasing the news to the interests of those in power, Naked Capitalism gave us the facts. Then, when the American press was focused on Wall Street, Naked Capitalism went where it was needed. The second wave of the GFC (Global Financial Crisis) hit Europe, and it quickly became clear that the EU Monetary Union was a plaything for the major European countries. The German Finance Minister, content with Germany’s status, preached that the Greek people needed to make do with less in order for the Greek oligarchs to pay back the money they borrowed.
sauce: ForbesUrie.
A replay reminiscent of the situation in the early 20sNumber In the 21st century, global crises continued to occur. Despite the clear failure of finance capitalism revealed by the global financial crisis, Western governments seemed determined to rebuild it. No doubt part of the rationale for this is that the productive economy was abandoned by trade agreements and pirate finance 20 years ago, leaving nowhere else to turn. Eve Smith, Lambert Strether and the rest of the Naked Capitalism team walked us through the available policy options with expertise and care.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, I was traveling between New York and South Carolina to be with my dying father. The uncertainty early in the pandemic was understandable because the situation was new. As the pandemic progressed, disinformation became an official tool of government. As the quality of information from public officials deteriorated, so did the quality of information from Naked Capitalism. IncreasedLambert worked to gather and disseminate truthful information about the pandemic that could have saved many lives. To show your appreciation, please join me in donating generously to Naked Capitalism today. By going to the tip jar.
Image: Covid-19 virus in vivid color. The federal government response to the pandemic, or lack thereof, was overshadowed by the extraordinary measures taken by public servants to protect themselves and their families. To propose proper ventilation as a solution, one must conclude that the virus is airborne, yet US public health agencies arranged for proper ventilation for public servants and the wealthy, while insisting that for the rest of us, the virus is not airborne. As a result, millions of people did not need to die while public servants politicized the facts. Source: Medicine plus.
What connects the COVID-19 pandemic to the Global Financial Crisis and Great Recession is the official dismantling and devolution of governments in the Western world. As the New Deal began to dismantle in the early 1970s, the return of capitalism (sometimes called neoliberalism) was touted as a non-ideological alternative, with a theory that claimed economic “science” was the path to widespread prosperity. Fifty years later, a small cabal of the rich owns everything, and the productive economy has been eviscerated for financial manipulation.
With regular economist contributors such as Eve Smith, Michael Hudson, and Richard Wolff, Naked Capitalism is unique in its ability to explain social conditions in terms of their economic drivers. With the Global Financial Crisis and the Great Recession receding from memory or from their effects, unemployment remains high, public health deteriorates, and political turmoil rocks the Western world. Eve is there with the details, Michael with the history, and Richard with the analysis. And while Americans prize youth, only maturity based on experience can save us from catastrophe. Please support Naked Capitalism today.
Gonzalo Lira gives a peace sign a few months before his execution in a Ukrainian prison. Under international law, states are responsible for the well-being of their prisoners, on the basis that they cannot fend for themselves while incarcerated. Ukraine, which the US has given hundreds of billions of dollars in military aid, has abdicated this obligation when Zelenskyy allows the deaths of 500,000 young Ukrainians. Source: Al-Mayadeen.net.
As the ongoing geopolitical crises in Ukraine and Gaza came to the fore, Naked Capitalism was able to leverage its international reach to find local content experts around the world. John Helmer covered the Ukrainian war from a Russian perspective from his home in Moscow. To report from Ukraine during the early stages of the war, Naked Capitalism partnered with the late Gonzalo Lira, who was murdered by Ukraine’s Zelensky regime. Naked Capitalism’s commitment to reporting facts, not propaganda, attracted readers seeking real information about real events.
Analysts such as Nick Corbishley, Conor Gallagher, George Geroghiu and Kevin Kirk have expanded the geographic scope of naked capitalism from Latin America to the EU, the Caucasus, Turkey and now Southeast Asia.
For those unfamiliar with the US left-wing media, it may be hard to understand why 99% of the US media, including the left-wing media, are so wrong about the US proxy war in Ukraine. To be clear, this does not mean they have the “wrong” opinion about the war, but rather that they serve as a megaphone for misleading state propaganda by disseminating fake history and facts. Naked Capitalism did “left” damage control by reporting the facts without the burden of any ideological commitment beyond reporting the truth as much as possible. Go to the tip jar Please join me today in donating generously to Naked Capitalism.
The specifics here are less important than the fact that Naked Capitalism is 1) a unique resource, 2) one with few peers in the field of economic and political reporting, 3) the expertise of its staff, and 4) a well-informed and demanding readership. If you want real information about what’s going on in the world today, accept no alternatives. Naked Capitalism is the go-to source. Join me in donating a generous amount to Naked Capitalism. Tip jar invites.
