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Indlæser... The Debt Generationaf David Malone
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Bliv medlem af LibraryThing for at finde ud af, om du vil kunne lide denne bog. Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog. A powerful, shocking, stunning and crystal clear analysis and account of the crisis. „Then, when the bust came, after an orgy of risk and idiocy to end all orgies, finally the bankers discovered the answer: too big to fail. Now there is no threat of loss at all. Now they can take any risk they want and if it goes wrong just shriek and scream that the world is going to end until they are given another bailout. Losing money is now something only taxpayers do. The problem facing everyone, however, is that even the debts national government can incur to bail out these losses is not limitless. At some point, there won't be enough money even to give to the bankers. And this, I believe, is where we are now. Our economy is being driven by drunken boy racers at 100 mph who have just had a massive blow-out. They are so drunk they refuse all advice to pull over or even to just slow down. They tell us they don't even need to replace the tyre. All we need to do is frantically pump in new air while we are still careering along, swinging wildly all over the road. To me, in such a situation, there only seem to be two options: either they wreck the car and we all get hurt - a bond market dislocation – or we, the passengers, overcome our fear and fight to seize control of the car. At the moment, I think we are on course to wreck the car and then have a huge fight afterwards. The worst of both worlds.” (pages 86-87) “The banks will tell whoever is elected that speculation is freedom, leverage is salvation and regulation is the road to perdition. In public, they will attempt to dress themselves in the garb of national saviours. In private, they will piss themselves laughing at us and our pathetic political leaders. That's why we need to wake up to what is happening” (pages 220-221) “The pain they have stored up for us will not go away. This means, in my opinion, there are only two futures remaining for us. One is where the pain comes quickly in which we do everything to make sure it is the financial class, and not us, who suffer the most. But there is another future, the one they have planned for us, where it happens slowly, the pain getting greater and greater with time, but where it is made to fall on us rather than the immensely rich people and institutions that caused the crisis.” (page 239) In this RSA Animate, renowned academic David Harvey asks if it is time to look beyond capitalism towards a new social order that would allow us to live within a system that really could be responsible, just, and humane? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOP2V_np2c0 A Watson Institute video on the global trend toward Austerity budgets featuring Mark Blyth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmsjGys-VqA Inequality, Leverage and Crises: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2010/wp10268.pdf The Egyptian Tinderbox: How Banks and Investors Are Starving the Third World: http://www.truth-out.org/the-egyptian-tinderbox-how-banks-and-investors-are-star... This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA's Benjamin Franklin award. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U ingen anmeldelser | tilføj en anmeldelse
Was there really no alternative to bailing out the banks? Is it right that we should now all have to suffer such deep cuts in jobs and services to pay for it? From the very beginning of the crisis, acclaimed science documentary-maker and BBC presenter, David Malone, believed dissenting opinions and debate had been closed down. Not believing what he was being told he began to question the official story. Passionate, angry, funny and full of insight, The Debt Generation is both a compelling account of the crisis as it happened and a devastating critique of the financial system and of our political leaders who bowed down to it. Pulling no punches, and written with an engaging, direct clarity, the book should be essential reading for all those wanting a different understanding of the times in which we are living. From the Debt Generation: 'It was said that in the Great Depression that the market was sacrificed to save the country. Today we risk sacrificing the country to save the market.' 'It's their version of the Titanic rescue. Bankers first, women and children left to drown.' 'So go ahead, cut interest rates.It's a bit like the pilot in a crashing plane turning up the air conditioning. Feeling comfy? Oh good.' 'The bubble and the reputation of the 'smartest men in the room' were, in reality, a function of leverage not brains. Given enough leverage a chimp can make money, and many did.' No library descriptions found. |
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The author offers a lone voice in questioning the motives and results of the bank bailouts, and is often outraged at the complicity of the politicians, bankers and insurers, and 'financial experts' in the media who are all part of the same plutocracy and who all insist that bailouts are the only option. What that amounted to was the largest transfer of wealth from the public to private spheres ever, totalling trillions of dollars worldwide, with no public debate as to other possible ways forward. Through sheer greed the bankers traded and gambled and speculated, pocketing billions during the bubble, but when it burst and the debts are called in the taxpayer picks up the tab. Which now means our governments are saddled with crippling debts and are slashing funding for public services.
The key argument put forward in this book is that the financial crisis is not a question of liquidity, to be addressed by giving the banks more money, but one of solvency, where the assets owned by our banks are worth only a fraction of what they paid for and they cant afford to pay what they owe. By rights they should all go bankrupt like any other business but that would mean the super rich losing their wealth and they will do anything to prevent that at all costs. ( )