If I remember correctly, in his edited parts of CAPITAL, Engels suggested that there were two types of financial crises. The first are linked to the dynamics of the "real" economy and reflect it and an make "real" crises worse. The second are totally isolated, a big game for the financiers, and have little or no effect on people outside of Wall Street. (Unless, of course, the authorities step in to help the financiers.) An example of the second type might be the speculation over gold.
In any event, I'd like to hear from those who are better at remembering quotes to see if my remembrance of Engels past was accurate. On Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 10:03 AM, Charles Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This if from The Spark, a newsletter handed out in front of the Blue > Cross/Blue Shield building to BC/BS workers , in Detroit. I pass by the > building walking to work. It discusses the inflationary impact of the latest > moves by the Moneybags on average people. > > Charles > > Can't Afford the Basics ? > > The Federal Reserve is pumping money into the US financial system - but not > to save people's homes from foreclosure, only to bail out the gigantic > financial institutions that were behind the subprime mortgage rip-off and the > housing bubble. The collapse with their pants down. So the Fed is jumping > in,handing them lots of cheap money. > > Any guesses about what all those super-wealthy companies are doing with it ? > They're speculating all over again. This time, they're speculating on basic > commodities, driving up the prices of oil, gas, gold, wheat, corn, soy beans > - basically anything they can get their hands on. > > Over the past year, they have shoveled so much money into oil speculation, > they drove up the price of a barrel of oil from $60 to over $102 in just one > year. They pushed up the price of wheat so fast , it actually quadrupled in a > year. > > Over the month of February, this speculation got even wilder and crazier. > The price of natural gas skyrocketed by 26%. Cocoa for chocolate , of all > things , shot up by 38%. What's next, record prices for bull crap and bird > dung ? > > The entire capitalist financial system is in the hands of madmen whose only > aim is to make another million dollars in the next five minutes. > > Their insane greed impacts u. Their bets on commodities quickly work their > way through the supply chain, pushing up prives paid by consumers. Gas prices > are a dollar per gallon higher than they were a year ago. Prices for basic > foods, including bread, meat, vegetables, fruit and milk are increasing at > their fastest rate in decades. > > Families, already reeling from the housing crisis, are getting hit again. > Many retirees on fixed incomes are pushed to stretch their checks past the > third week in the month. > > IN their drive to make profits, big companies and banks jump from one manie > to another, causing one crisis after another. In so doing, they plunge > millions and hundreds of millions of working people into crisis and ruin, > while the big money interests are backed out of their problems by teh Fed and > various government agencies. > > When the Fed hands all that cash over to teh speculators, it's like putting > a gun in the hand of a mass murderer, along with a couple of grenades and a > bazooka. > > This is not an innocent mistake. It is the insanity of capitalism. - a > system so corrupt and worn out it cannot meet the population's needs. > > > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
