John Boehner took charge of the House of Representatives with a bang--a really big bang, from a really big gavel. Also a few tears, of course, and a dramatic reading of the Constitution--though Nancy Giles notes that the Republicans might be surprised as to what they find in there, as they tend to treat it more like a game of Mad Libs.
Meanwhile, the contest for who's going to lead the Republican National Committee seems to come down to who has bigger guns, and people are discussing excising the N-word--yes, that one--from Mark Twain's classic, Huckleberry Finn. Nancy, a contributor to CBS's Sunday Morning, joins us to discuss all this and more.
A multibillion-dollar bailout and Wall Street’s swift, subsequent reinstatement of gargantuan bonuses have inspired a narrative of parasitic bankers and other elites rigging the game for their own benefit. And this, in turn, has led to wider—and not unreasonable—fears that we are living in not merely a plutonomy, but a plutocracy, in which the rich display outsize political influence, narrowly self-interested motives, and a casual indifference to anyone outside their own rarefied economic bubble.
So wrote Chrystia Freeland in a cover story in the new issue of The Atlantic. She joins us in the studio to discuss her piece, the new elite, and a few insights into the mindset of the ultra-ultra-rich.
“Occasionally you see pictures and they're standing in some long line or applying for jobs, but they're not thought of,” said GRITtv guest Edrie Irvine recently, speaking of unemployed people like her. She's right, and she's not the only one, Laura notes, missing from the discussion.
We had progressive taxes from the Depression to 1975. Those super elites will work hard and make money only as long as their skills are needed by Wall Street. Only a few like Zuckerberg will get welcomed into that cadre. Most of them, as soon as they age out of the system, can be replaced by someone younger, they are out of the Super Elite.
Plato already has the answers about “do we want to see public policy privatized”…That happened before…recently in NAZI Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, but the history of Ancient Athens and Rome are very clear about what happens when Plutocrats get absolute power over everything…including everybody else’s assets and livelihoods! And of course the USA…where its been this way for a quite a long time.
Greenspan acknowledges it all but its out of his purview to suggest Progressive Taxation? Anti-Trust prosecutions to bust-up these corporations and mega-banks? Mega-banks that can destroy governments with boom bubble bust, austerity, and privatization programs? Of course it is happening, capitalist economies always end up in Plutocracies and Serfdom unless they’re mitigated with steep Progressive taxes and redistribution downward. Bring Rob Angell the scholars behind the game. Play it once. Play it a thousand times, you will always end up with a Plutocracy and Serfdom for the Majority. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SugarScape
By planckbrandt on January 7th, 2011 at 12:05 am
The reason for the redistribution of wealth is both a monetary and tax phenomenon. In the mid seventies the Bank of Canada stop funding the national debt, forcing the government to turn to commercial banks. Canada’s debt was not caused by social spending, quite the opposite. Of 1.6 Trillion dollars current debt plus interest already paid, only (a maximum of) 100 Billion, over a few years, was ever spent on actual programs of the Canadian government – all of the rest – around 1.5 Trillion – is interest and compounded interest on both the original borrowings and further money borrowed to pay interest etc. All of this interest was completely unnesessary, if only the Bank of Canada had continued its mandate to fund the nations budget deficits. This should and could be reversed immediately, and furthur reforms should be taken along those in the American Monetary Act.
Second is the removal of taxes from land (causing a housing bubble) and other economic rent. This also should and could be easily recified along the lines of Michael Hudson’s proposals. (such as http://michael-hudson.com/2009/02/a-tax-program-for-u-s-economic-recovery/)
Vilhelmo
By Vilhelmo on January 7th, 2011 at 8:26 pm