We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, December 20, 2010

Financial Interests Dictate Sovereign Policy

by Michael Hudson from his blog. 
Real experts would follow the advice that John Maynard Keynes gave in the 1920s regarding German reparations and Inter-Ally debts. It is better to wipe out bad debts than to try to pay creditors at the cost of reducing capital formation, living standards and public spending on education, health care and other basic infrastructure. A wise government would subordinate the financial sector to promote economic growth, capital formation and rising living standards.
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