It Can Happen Here: The Confiscation Scheme Planned for US and UK Depositors by Ellen Brown

by Ellen Brown
Writer, Dandelion Salad
webofdebt.com
March 28, 2013

Image by scrappy! via Flickr

Confiscating the customer deposits in Cyprus banks, it seems, was not a one-off, desperate idea of a few Eurozone “troika” officials scrambling to salvage their balance sheets. A joint paper by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Bank of England dated December 10, 2012, shows that these plans have been long in the making; that they originated with the G20 Financial Stability Board in Basel, Switzerland (discussed earlier here); and that the result will be to deliver clear title to the banks of depositor funds.  

Government Debt and Deficits Are Not the Problem. Private Debt Is. by Michael Hudson

Image by Saint Huck via Flickr

by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
michael-hudson.com
March 14, 2013

There are two quite different perspectives in the set of speeches at this conference. Many on our morning panels – Steve Keen, William Greider, and earlier Yves Smith and Robert Kuttner – have warned about the economy being strapped by debt. The debt we are talking about is private-sector debt. But most officials this afternoon focus on government debt and budget deficits as the problem – especially social spending such as Social Security, not bailouts to the banks and Federal Reserve credit to re-inflate prices for real estate, stocks and bonds.

How the Fed Could Fix the Economy—and Why It Hasn’t by Ellen Brown

by Ellen Brown
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
webofdebt.com
February 24, 2013

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Quantitative easing (QE) is supposed to stimulate the economy by adding money to the money supply, increasing demand. But so far, it hasn’t been working. Why not? Because as practiced for the last two decades, QE does not actually increase the circulating money supply. It merely cleans up the toxic balance sheets of banks. A real “helicopter drop” that puts money into the pockets of consumers and businesses has not yet been tried. Why not?  Another good question . . . .

How Congress Could Fix Its Budget Woes, Permanently by Ellen Brown

by Ellen Brown
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
webofdebt.com
February 13, 2013

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As Congress struggles through one budget crisis after another, it is becoming increasingly evident that austerity doesn’t work. We cannot possibly pay off a $16 trillion debt by tightening our belts, slashing public services, and raising taxes. Historically, when the deficit has been reduced, the money supply has been reduced along with it, throwing the economy into recession. After a thorough analysis of statistics from dozens of countries forced to apply austerity plans by the World Bank and IMF, former World Bank chief economist Joseph Stiglitz called austerity plans a “suicide pact.”

The Incredible Debt Spider by Rand Clifford

by Rand Clifford
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
January 17, 2013

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The “Federal Reserve Bank” (Fed) is not part of the United States Government. The Fed is a private, for-profit corporation ultimately owned by eight elite banking families:

1. Rothschild’s of London and Berlin
2. Lazard Brothers of Paris

The Trillion Dollar Coin: Joke or Game-changer? by Ellen Brown

Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr

by Ellen Brown
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
webofdebt.com
January 18, 2013

The trillion dollar coin actually represents one of the most important principles of popular prosperity ever conceived: the creation of money by sovereign governments, debt-free.

Last week on “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart characterized the proposal that the White House circumvent the debt ceiling by minting a trillion dollar coin as an attempt to “just make shit up.”

The Delicious Irony of Morris Greenberg’s AIG Suit Against the US Treasury by Michael Hudson

by Michael Hudson
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
michael-hudson.com
January 12, 2013

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When the financial bubble burst in September 2008, U.S. and European governments responded by shifting bank losses onto their own balance sheets. The pretense is that real growth cannot resume until the banks and speculators are “made whole.” To cover the cost of bailing out the banks, governments now are trying to run budget surpluses. This adds fiscal deflation to the debt deflation left in the bubble’s wake, shrinking the economy at large. Governments are to raise taxes (or simply print new debt to swap for the financial sector’s bad loans and gambles) to reimburse financial institutions whose lending and outright gambling (not to mention the excursion into financial fraud) caused the crisis.

Ellen Brown: Restoring Prosperity With Public Banking

with Ellen Brown
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
webofdebt.com
Nov. 15, 2012

Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

Guns and Butter – | KPFA 94.1 FM
October 24, 2012

The Public Banking Institute; public versus private banking; two banking models – sustainable and extractive; the Federal Reserve; the shadow banking system; the repo market; the benefits of a public banking system; debt; the money supply, compound interest; and all things money.

What Is QE Infinity? by Ellen Brown

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by Ellen Brown
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
webofdebt.com
Oct. 3, 2012

QE3, the Federal Reserve’s third round of quantitative easing, is so open-ended that it is being called QE Infinity.  Doubts about its effectiveness are surfacing even on Wall Street.  The Financial Times reports:

Among the trading rooms and floors of Connecticut and Mayfair [in London], supposedly sophisticated money managers are raising big questions about QE3 — and whether, this time around, the Fed is not risking more than it can deliver.

Why QE3 Won’t Jumpstart the Economy by Ellen Brown

by Ellen Brown
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
webofdebt.com
Sept. 21, 2012

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The economy could use a good dose of “aggregate demand”—new spending money in the pockets of consumers—but QE3 won’t do it.  Neither will it trigger the dreaded hyperinflation.  In fact, it won’t do much at all.  There are better alternatives.

The Fed’s announcement on September 13, 2012, that it was embarking on a third round of quantitative easing has brought the “sound money” crew out in force, pumping out articles with frighting titles such as “QE3 Will Unleash’ Economic Horror’ On The Human Race.” 

Set Up To Fail, Interview with Professor Michael Hudson by Karl Fitzgerald

by Michael Hudson and Karl Fitzgerald
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
http://michael-hudson.com
September 17, 2012

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Renegade Economists interview Sept. 5, 2012
Interview with Professor Michael Hudson by Karl Fitzgerald
Listen

KF: We welcome to the show Professor Michael Hudson, Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the leading Post-Keynesian university in America. It’s been fantastic to see, Michael, that the public profile of UMKC has really taken off with Randall Wray, yourself and Stephanie Kelton being quoted quite widely these days. Can you explain what Post-Keynesianism is?

Overview: The Bubble and Beyond by Michael Hudson

by Michael Hudson
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
http://michael-hudson.com
August 10, 2012

Image by Tobias Higbie via Flickr

The Road from Industrial Capitalism to Finance Capitalism and Debt Peonage

Essays on Fictitious Capital, Debt Deflation and the Global Crisis

Michael Hudson’s new book The Bubble and Beyond can be purchased here.

Preface

Summary and Analytic Table of Contents

Noam Chomsky: Austerity in Europe and United States

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Dandelion Salad

with Noam Chomsky

Jul 18, 2012 by outis888

Noam Chomsky at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), on July 12.

Dennis Kucinich: The House Overwhelmingly Passed a Bill to Audit the Federal Reserve

Image by r0b0r0b via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

Jul 27, 2012 by TheAlyonaShow

There’s only about a week left until Congress goes on a summer recess, and there are a few notable things that have, and haven’t been done. As we mentioned yesterday, the House overwhelmingly passed a bill to Audit the Fed, but the Democratic leadership, isn’t exactly on board. It’s seven days before recess and yet still no jobs bill. And was the symbolic tax vote this week, a lot more important than people wants to let on? And a few US foreign policy decisions that haven’t exactly played out as planned. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, just to name a few. Alyona discusses with U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich.

The Weaponization of Economic Theory by Michael Hudson

by Michael Hudson
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
http://michael-hudson.com
July 13, 2012

Image by freestylee via Flickr

Europe’s three needs: a debt write-down, a real central bank, and a more efficient tax system

Brussels Talk, Madariaga College, Governing Globalisation in a World Economy in Transition, June 27, 2012

What can Europe learn from the United States?

First, the United States – like Canada, England and China – have central banks that do what central banks outside of Europe were created to do: finance the budget deficit directly.