Trends This Week – Fed Chair touts “optimism”: Recovery or recession? – 06.08.16

While Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and fellow Fed members bombarded the business media with the refrain that America’s economy was strong, and to expect an interest-rate rise “in the coming months,” this week, global forecaster Gerald Celente reminds his listeners what the facts – what the hard, indisputable data – say about the true state of the economy. So while Yellen states “the economy has registered considerable progress over the past several years toward the Federal Reserve’s goals of maximum employment,” hard data dispute her jobs-progress claim. In fact, since 2009, 95 percent of all income gains have gone to the richest 1 percent while median household income remains below 1999 levels. There is no recovery.

Progressive Commentary Hour – 04.12.16

GUEST 1: Ellen Brown

Ellen Brown is an economist and attorney in Los Angeles who is now the founder of the Public Banking Institute – a non profit economic venture to find viable, sustainable solutions to America’s banking crises by promoting people-owned state and community banks. Last year she ran as the Green Party candidate for California State’s Treasurer. Ellen has written extensively about the private financial cartels and the Federal Reserve. Her recent book, “The Public Bank Solution: From Austerity to Prosperity”, introduces a safe soluble public banking alternative to the credit-based system of the current big banks. Her writings also frequently appear on the website of the Center for Global Research, where she is a research associate.

She is the host of the radio program Its Our Money, heard every Wednesday at 3 pm Eastern here on the Progressive Radio Network, and her website is WebOfDebt.com

GUEST 2: Guy McPherson

Dr. Guy McPherson is a professor emeritus of Natural Resources, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. He has specialized in forest resources, energy decline and climate change and its economic consequences. In the past he has also taught at Texas A&M and University of California at Berkeley. Having become disillusioned with the American university environment and academia, and after attempts by university officials to silence his outspokenness about the human causes of climate change, Guy abandoned his tenured position as a full professor for ethical reasons of conscience. He is the author of several books, the latest entitled “Extinction Dialogs: How to Live with Death in Mind.” He is also the co-host with Mikey Silwa of the radio program Nature Bats Last heard every Tuesday afternoon at 3 pm Eastern time on the Progressive Radio Network. His website is GuyMcpherson.com