The “News” In Brief

-First, Bush got a shoe thrown at him in Iraq. In many Arab societies, the sole of a shoe is one of the worst insults possible. Bush also declared, somewhat contrary to what the now and future “Defense” Secretary Gates said recently, that the War on Iraq is not over.

-Indeed, we are closing on the sixth year of United States’s War on Iraq and it seems like it doesn’t even exist to USAmericans at all (Afghanistan has been getting more notice of late but can the USAmerican people really only pay attention to one war at a time?). In recent news, a subcontractor to military contractor/war profiteer KBR (former subsidiary of Dick Cheney’s Halliburton) was found to have been holding 1,000 non-Iraqi workers in a windowless warehouse dungeon.

-The Federal Reserve is going to cut rates this week, and could bring them to their lowest recorded levels ever. Problem is, Bernanke (who I got to have a bit of conversation with last June- he’s nice enough, but in response to me asking whether he thinks the Fed should be elected he claimed that the Fed should be free of political pressure, AS IF!) can’t affect anything with rate cuts anymore; we need massive government investment in the economy.

-The uprising in Greece over the police murder of Alexandros Grigoropoulos and the corrupt, right-wing state might get more intense soon as over 100,000 people will be laid off after the holidays. The streets were calmer today, but there are many plans for the coming week, especially on Thursday which may see another general strike (solidarity actions anyone?).

-Not only is Detroit in even more immediate crisis due to the Big Three Bailout fiasco, but the city’s main newspaper, the Detroit Free Press, is cutting back delivery. While print newspapers are struggling across the nation (see the Tribune Co. for example; I hope you don’t didn’t read the LA Times or the Chicago Tribune), it is the local papers that are needed to keep on eye on the powerful in every part of the country. With the demise of print papers, local and national, we might see a blossoming of independent, innovative, and investigative local reporters, which would go a ways toward reviving the dismal state of this country’s media.

-In the ongoing conflict in the region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been the worst war since World War II, the united forces of Uganda, DR Congo, and Sudan have attacked the main base of the rebel group Lord’s Resistance Army. The leaders of LRA have been accused of multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (sidenote: all of the handful of people who have been accused by the ICC of war crimes are Africans…).

-Finally, Baby Jesus has a GPS tracker in him.

Filed under: Uncategorized , Bush, DR Congo, Federal Reserve, Greece, Iraq, media, news briefs, Uganda

Panic In Detroit

“WE MUST BAIL OUT THE BIG THREE OR THE WORLD WILL END!”

“WE MUST BAIL OUT THE BIG BANKS OR THE WORLD WILL END!”

Granted, we are in a severe economic depression and there are serious consequences for any large actions or inactions by the government. However, the panic manufactured over the “IMMINENT COLLAPSE!!!” of Bear Stearns, or the banks, or the automakers, or the next big business failure is a fraud. Some thought, analysis, and nuance is needed for the discussions of these bailouts.

The best suggestion I have heard so far in regards to the situation of the Big Three is from Joseph Stiglitz, probably the best mainstream economist around today. Read what he has to say. In summary, he recommends the government allow the Big Three to go into Chapter 11- structured bankruptcy. This is not the same as liquidation, which is what happened to Lehman Brothers (which has been seen, in hindsight, to have been one of the worst decisions made during the economic depression so far). It is also not a bailout. A bailout would just save the stock and bondholders; if a company has failed, like the Big Three (and the big banks, for that matter), it is precisely those who taken the risk and enjoyed the gains and rewards of investing in that company, the stock and bondholders, who should suffer. That is how stock markets, and capitalism in its self-described essence, are supposed to work.

Chapter 11 would allow the Big Three to restructure. They could finally enter the 21st Century (and the post-War era, for goodness’ sake) by building cars that people want, that are environmentally sane.

Even if a bailout is enacted, which seems likely since Bush/Paulson look as if they will reverse course and use TARP (the big bank bailout) to bailout the Big Three, it would make more sense than the big bank bailout. Why is hundreds of billions of dollars for the very people who created the economic depression acceptable when a fraction of that is not acceptable to save an integral part of the USAmerican economy? Many more people’s jobs are at stake with the Big Three; around 3 million people (1% of all USAmericans and 2% of the US workforce!) are employed directly and millions more indirectly in states all across the country (including New York (which I mention since I am living here)). Furthermore, letting the Big Three fail would deal a huge blow to organized workers in this country. The UAW is one of the largest unions in the country; this is exactly why the Republicans are fighting so hard against this bailout, they want to see workers’ rights destroyed (most elected Republicans, especially in the US Senate, are from the South(east) now (after they were basically relegated to that region after swinging so hard to the right on social and economic rights in the last few years and the last two elections specifically) which is the least-unionized area of the country). Most of the “foreign” automakers in the US are located in the South(east) and are non-unionized, so letting the Big Three collapse would move the US auto industry almost exclusively to the South(east) and make it non-unionized.

One other reason that a bailout for the auto industry is not a bad idea is because it is a kind of investment in the economy. In order to get out of this economic depression we need massive government investment in the economy a la Keynesianism. Most of this investment (which should focus on creating the so-called/marketed “green economy” and on fixing the devastated USAmerican infrastructure) will take at least a few months to get going and start to help the economy (by creating jobs, putting money back in the economy, and building the economic strength of the country). “Investing” in the Big Three by way of a bailout will save millions of jobs and lots of manufacturing capacity. Of course, the effect is more an avoidance of loss than anything else, but, in a way, that is what most Keynesian investment is (filling in the loss of potential GDP in the economy).

It looks like Bush/Paulson will go through with bailing out the Big Three. Moreover, Obama and the Democrats are very happy to bail out the Big Three, as well. Of course, the Big Three will need another bail out in a few months (the requested loans will only help them until the beginning of the year, really). While Chapter 11 would probably be better, at least they aren’t doing what the right-wingers would do and letting millions and millions of USAmericans lose their jobs in one of the worst economic depressions that America has ever experienced.

Filed under: Uncategorized , bailouts, Big Three, economic depression, economy, unions, workers' rights

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

David Byrne & Brian Eno.

Love their new album. Two of three favorite songs from it below.

David Byrne & Brian Eno – Life Is Long

David Byrne & Brian Eno – Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

David Byrne & Brian Eno – Home

If someone is actually reading this and if you want more/the rest of this album, let me know in the comments.

Filed under: Uncategorized , Music