#neoliberlaism

[the-funtime-autocrat]

[appalledbc]

APART FROM A TENUOUS MORALISM, THATCHER WAS A COIFFURED NIHILIST WITH NO CULTURE OR IMAGINATION. ALL THIS RETROSPECTIVE FAWNING REVEALS HER SUCCESS IN REDEFINING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE ANGLO-SAXON.

Thatcher's perverse victory and the prospect of an ethical economy – Opinion – ABC Religion & Ethics (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[appalledbc]

Part ii of the interview with Stephanie Seguino. See my comments in the previous post

[appalledbc]

This and the following post constitute a two-part interview with Stephanie Seguino, who, though focusing squarely on income inequality and its racial and gender implications, is not a revolutionary transformer of capitalism but a technical reformer in the Keynesian Krugman tradition. Like  Krugman, she advocates closely monitored public spending as a way to stimulate the economy. An interesting argument - especially on how profoundly youth, blacks, Hispanics, and single mothers are disparagingly affected by income inequality as a result of the 2008 crisis - but one, alas, that simply asks for better management and government policies, not change to the very system itself. It remains clear that change will not come from government and this policy or that -  only from extra-congressional/extra-parliamentary strategies.

[appalledbc]

#Neoliberalism, #Capitalism, and Progressive Failure

More and more I tend to agree with George Monbiot that it is not neoliberalism in and of itself as an ideology or economic theory that is the root cause of our economic/political/social woes, but the ruling oligarchy’s alibiing use of that model to further their own wealth no matter the harm that results from that quest. (Is it any wonder they’re called “the feral rich?” ) The distinction is important because it shifts the strategic focus to the plutocratic investor class itself and in turn their banking, regulatory, and corporate institutions - their agents of destruction -  which are served of course by compliant governments everywhere and nowhere more so than right here in Canada. Our banks are now “too big too fail.” This is, sad to say,  the point to which the financialization of the Canadian economy has descended: 80% of  financial assets are held in these institutions. Be prepared for the socializing of bank debt down the road now that the framework's in place; that is, you'll pay for any bailouts..

More and more too I find myself in agreement with both Greg Albo  and Leo Panitch, who have argued persuasively that progressives groups here (including the Council of Canadians) and elsewhere are very big on tactics and “micro-politics” but woefully lacking in overall strategy and considerations of  long-term consequences. I would add to their basic argument that the self-interest of the progressive groups each with its own agenda determined largely by their executives - as is the case with political parties - will no doubt continue to inhibit any collectivizing co-operative movement towards a larger, focused pragmatic goal of institutionalizing democratic controls.

For a brief moment, there was a ray hope with the establishment of CommonCauses, but apparently all they wish to do is replicate the actions of other progressive groups and to replace the Harper Regime. The issue of course is much larger than that simplistic goal. The issue is not capitalism under new management, but the transformation of capitalism itself. Else all is lost. 

Is it hopeless? Perhaps not. Perhaps all that is required is patience, As Richard Wolff has said, “as has happened often in human history, what provokes change is less any clear vision of where we go next and more the intolerability of where we are. Capitalism is no longer “delivering the goods” for most people. The circle of its beneficiaries grows smaller and richer and more out of touch with the mass of people than ever.”

[appalledbc]

Business for business' sake is not good business. Business should first and foremost be helping to improve society

 http://tinyurl.com/b8cqtyg

Paul Polman might be accused of biting the hand that feeds him. The chief executive officer of consumer products giant Unilever NV is tilting at the tenets of modern capitalism – by ending quarterly earnings reporting, trimming hedge funds from the investor base, and treating thousands of small tea farmers with the same regard as shareholders.  "Focusing only on shareholder value is a very destructive concept."

How wonderfully refreshing - a public refutation of the core error #neoliberalism from a living breathing CEO.  

[appalledbc]

The neoliberals also insisted that unrestrained inequality in incomes and flexible wages would reduce unemployment. But throughout the rich world both inequality and unemployment have soared(8). The recent jump in unemployment in most developed countries – worse than in any previous recession of the past three decades – was preceded by the lowest level of wages as a share of GDP since the second world war(9). Bang goes the theory. It failed for the same obvious reason: low wages suppress demand, which suppresses employment. As wages stagnated, people supplemented their incomes with debt. Rising debt fed the deregulated banks, with consequences of which we are all aware. The greater inequality becomes, the UN report finds, the less stable the economy and the lower its rates of growth. The policies with which neoliberal governments seek to reduce their deficits and stimulate their economies are counter-productive. . . “Relearning some old lessons about fairness and participation,” the UN says, “is the only way to eventually overcome the crisis and pursue a path of sustainable economic development.”(12) As I say, I have no dog in this race, except a belief that no one, in this sea of riches, should have to be poor. But staring dumbfounded at the lessons unlearned in Britain, Europe and the United States, it strikes me that the entire structure of neoliberal thought is a fraud. The demands of the ultra-rich have been dressed up as sophisticated economic theory and applied regardless of the outcome. The complete failure of this world-scale experiment is no impediment to its repetition. This has nothing to do with economics. It has everything to do with power.

George Monbiot – Bang Goes the Theory 

Indeed, #neoliberalism has benefited only the plutocrats, the 1%, at the expense of the real productive economy and the rest of us. They have used a failed economic theory to retroactively justify their greed, as Mombiot has suggested elsewhere.  It remains puzzling that so many - governments and ordinary citizens who suffer its nasty effects - refuse to see the reality of the failure of the neoliberal growth model when it's so obvious.