Michael Hudson and Dennis Kucinich: The Anatomy of Bank Failures, the Financialized Economy and Collapse

Capitalism

Image by Ross via Flickr

by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
March 23, 2023

Overview: This was an impromptu conversation precipitated by former Congressman Dennis Kucinich to have a deep dive discussion with a former economic advisor, Michael Hudson, on the shockingly large recent bank collapses. As the former chair of the powerful Government Oversight Subcommittee, Kucinich had a ringside seat in unraveling the bank collapses after the housing bubble burst. He confronted the players in the field with withering questions in Congressional hearings. Now Kucinich wanted important feedback from a banking insider on how this crisis was different than the one in 2008.

Continue reading

Michael Hudson: Why 3 US Banks Collapsed in 1 Week + Why the Banking System is Breaking Up + The Mechanics of a Bond Market and its Impact on the Banking Crisis

Capitalism Is Crisis

Image by Steffi Reichert via Flickr

by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
March 16, 2023

Geopolitical Economy Report on Mar 14, 2023

Economist Michael Hudson analyzes the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate, and Signature Bank, explaining the similarities to the 2008 financial crash.

Continue reading

Michael Hudson and Ralph Nader: The Federal Reserve, Quantitative Easing, and Who Runs the US Treasury

US Treasury

Image by Kurtis Garbutt via Flickr

by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
October 17, 2022

Some follow up comments to my appearance on the Ralph Nader show.

Continue reading

Michael Hudson and Ralph Nader: The Real Purpose of The Federal Reserve

Capitalism Kills

Image by Infinite Ache via Flickr

by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
September 29, 2022

Ralph Nader Radio Hour on Sep 17, 2022

Ralph does a deep dive into the real purpose of the Federal Reserve and other aspects of the American economy with progressive economist, Michael Hudson.

Continue reading

We’re Not Talking Billions Here —We Are Talking Trillions, by Pete Dolack

Greed!

Image by Anirvan via Flickr

by Pete Dolack
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Systemic Disorder, Feb. 15, 2022
February 16, 2022

Noting that there is always money to be thrown at the finance industry but little for social needs is by now about as startling as noting the Sun rose in the east this morning. But what is eye-opening is the truly gargantuan amounts of money handed out to benefit the wealthy.

Continue reading

Max Lawson: World’s Richest Doubled Their Wealth While Millions Fell Into Poverty

Tax The Rich

Image by Romain via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

goingundergroundRT on Jan 19, 2022

We speak to Max Lawson of Oxfam about the ‘Inequality Kills’ report, which details how while 99% of humanity’s income fell, 160 million were pushed into poverty and 1 person died every 4 seconds over the course of the Coronavirus pandemic…the top 10 richest men saw their wealth more than double from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion dollars, a rate of $1.2 billion a day.

Continue reading

Michael Hudson: Inflation and Illegal Repo Loans

Rich Uncle Pennybags

Image by Sean Davis via Flickr

with Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
January 13, 2022

Moderate Rebels on Jan 8, 2022

Economist Michael Hudson explains the inflation crisis and the Fed’s secretive $4.5 trillion bank bailout.

Continue reading

How A Universal Basic Income Will Work, by Ellen Brown

Where's My Bailout? 700 Billion For Wall Street, $hr for me?

Image by Anna Hanks via Flickr

by Ellen Brown
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Web of Debt Blog, Apr. 19, 2020
April 20, 2020

A central bank-financed UBI can fill the debt gap, providing a vital safety net while preventing cyclical recessions.

Continue reading

Did Congress Just Nationalize The Federal Reserve? No. But… by Ellen Brown

Capitalism Is Crisis

Image by Steffi Reichert via Flickr

by Ellen Brown
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Web of Debt Blog, Apr. 3, 2020
April 4, 2020

Did Congress just nationalize the Fed? No. But the door to that result has been cracked open.

Continue reading

Repo Madness by Ellen Brown

Rich Uncle Pennybags

Image by Sean Davis via Flickr

by Ellen Brown
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Web of Debt Blog
January 12, 2020

Although the repo market is little known to most people, it is a $1-trillion-a-day credit machine, in which not just banks but hedge funds and other “shadow banks” borrow to finance their trades. Under the Federal Reserve Act, the central bank’s lending window is open only to licensed depository banks; but the Fed is now pouring billions of dollars into the repo (repurchase agreements) market, in effect making risk-free loans to speculators at less than 2%.

Continue reading

Is the Run on the Dollar Due to Panic or Greed? by Ellen Brown

Rich Uncle Pennybags

Image by Sean Davis via Flickr

by Ellen Brown
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Web of Debt Blog
November 8, 2019

What’s going on in the repo market? Rates on repurchase agreements (“repo”) should be around 2%, in line with the fed funds rate. But they shot up to over 5% on September 16 and got as high as 10% on September 17. Yet banks were refusing to lend to each other, evidently passing up big profits to hold onto their cash – just as they did in the housing market crash and Great Recession of 2008-09.

Continue reading

The Coming Savings Meltdown by Michael Hudson

cancel the debt

Image by Friends of the Earth International via Flickr

by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
July 30, 2019

Debts that can’t be paid, won’t be. That point inevitably arrives on the liabilities side of the economy’s balance sheet.

Continue reading

Trump’s Trade Threats Are Really Cold War 2.0 by Michael Hudson + The American Dream Is Alive and Well—in China by Ellen Brown

China Indusry

Image by AK Rockefeller via Flickr

by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
June 16, 2019

President Trump has threatened China’s President Xi that if they don’t meet and talk at the upcoming G20 meetings in Japan, June 29-30, the United States will not soften its tariff war and economic sanctions against Chinese exports and technology.

Continue reading

Funding A US Green New Deal Without Raising Taxes by Ellen Brown

Green New Deal

Image by Bart Everson via Flickr

by Ellen Brown
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Web of Debt Blog
March 21, 2019

As alarm bells sound over the advancing destruction of the environment, a variety of Green New Deal proposals have appeared in the US and Europe, along with some interesting academic debates about how to fund them. Monetary policy, normally relegated to obscure academic tomes and bureaucratic meetings behind closed doors, has suddenly taken center stage.

Continue reading

The Problem of Debt Deflation by Ellen Brown

Indentured Student - Cartoon

Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr

by Ellen Brown
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Web of Debt Blog, Feb. 21, 2019
February 24, 2019

“Quantitative easing” was supposed to be an emergency measure. The Federal Reserve “eased” shrinkage in the money supply due to the 2008-09 credit crisis by pumping out trillions of dollars in new bank reserves. After the crisis, the presumption was that the Fed would “normalize” conditions by sopping up the excess reserves through “quantitative tightening” (QT) – raising interest rates and selling the securities it had bought with new reserves back into the market.

Continue reading