http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/02-08-2012/121826-capitalism_failed-0/ Capitalism failed 02.08.2012 By Stephen Lendman
Economic/financial systems dependent on wars and predation eventually self-destruct. Western capitalism is no exception. Money power runs things. War profiteering is policy. Ordinary people have no say. Exploiting them for profit is prioritized. Divisions between rich and poor grow. By some measures they're unprecedented. Money power in private hands and democracy can't co-exist. Banking giants transformed Western societies into vehicles for wealth extraction. Corrupt politicians facilitate their criminality. In return, they're rewarded handsomely. Paul Craig Roberts wrote about "The Collapsing US Economy and the End of the World." Can societies survive Washington's hubris, he asked? Federal policy destroys people politically, militarily and economically. Few benefit at the expense of most others. Washington grows more "isolated and despised." Europe "is on the ropes" and sinking. Wars rage endlessly. Victories are elusive. Options perhaps are down to "the elimination of life on earth. Is this Washington's program," asked Roberts. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright once said what good are nuclear weapons if you don't use them. Roberts quoted neocon warmonger Bill Kristol saying the same thing. Formerly he served as vice president Dan Quale's chief of staff. He's now a Fox News regular. He and others like him want to blow up the world to exploit it. These types run America and Western societies. They also conspire with bankers to steal us blind. John Kozy is a Progressive Radio News Hour regular. His latest article headlined "How the Economy Works; the Necessity of Crime." Forget about love. Money and fraud make the world go round. Roberts explained in discussing libor and other grand schemes. Kozy said "(w)hether people benefit or are injured is never an economic concern." They're "irrelevant." Commercial enterprises commit crimes. Growth depends on it. So does GDP. Economies are disconnected from people and their welfare. Money made by stealing it or destroying things works better than by operating honestly. Western economies are "totally immoral." Kozy quoted a financial advisor saying: "As investors, we absolutely must not let our political beliefs, the news media, or anything else stand in the way of our quest to grow our hard-earned money into (more of it for) lasting wealth." Who cares what harm befalls others in the process. They're externality burdens for them to bear. At the same time, chickens are coming home to roost. Years of economic/financial excess head closer to day of reckoning payback. Troubled EU economies look worse off now than in decades. Money power in private hands bears full responsibility. They're heading societies off a cliff. Proposed fixes work short-term. Greater problems result. Unvarnished reality looks dire. Economic numbers heading south show it. Markit Economics provides independent data. Its composite economic index showed contracting activity for six consecutive months. In July, its manufacturing component hit a three-year low. Markets rise on hopes and prayers. Central bank rhetoric and bravado substitute for sound policies. Economic reality looks bleak. Powerhouse Germany got a credit warning. Europe's Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) looks increasingly like a failed experiment. >From inception, the euro was a disaster waiting to happen. Dissolution appears >just a matter of time. Existential reality shows breakup draws closer. Trouble >also looms in America. One analyst said it wins first prize in the ugly >contest. Europe ranks last. Nomura's chief European economist Jacques Cailloux >asked: "What can they do and what would bring about a sustained turnaround in >market confidence? There I struggle to find something that would really be >convincing." Regardless of up and down market swings, a secular bear market in equities persists. Two ECB LTROs (Long-Term Recovery Organization) bought little time and nothing else. ECB president Mario Draghi claims he has more tricks up his sleeve. One analyst said he's throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. Monetary policy is a blunt tool. Structural insolvency issues persist. Central bank intervention is short-lived. Core problems remain unaddressed. European credit crunch issues cause more problems. Germany's done heavy lifting for the continent. Cross-border lending by its banks fell nearly 20% in the past seven months. It's back to 2005 levels. Deposits keep leaving Greece, Portugal and Spain for safer locations. At the same time, European banking faces a trillion euros worth of bad loans. Today's numbers are 9% greater year-over-year. Overall, 2.5 trillion euros are non-performing. Solutions call for more debt. Fires aren't extinguished by throwing fuel on them. Central bankers and politicians avoid responsible actions. Existential moments await all poorly run economies. Progressive Radio News Hour (PRNH) regular Jack Rasmus predicts economies will head south ahead. America's stagnating economy remains weak. Recovery is an illusion. The economy needs growth above 2.5% to create jobs. Dismal numbers reported are overstated. Jobs are lost, says Rasmus. Tax cuts don't create them. Neither do corporate handouts. Ahead things look worse. These type policies have "zero impact on the economy and job [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! 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