Economic Update – Public Service vs Private Profit – 12.24.17

Updates on Economic Threats: Corbyn vs Morgan Stanley, cars for super-rich, information vs profit, Fed chair Powell’s over-reach, why regulations are never enough, and corporate criminality. Interview with David Jette about public vs private banking. Download this episode (right click and save)

Alternative Visions – How Bankers Run the Fed and Donald ‘The Trumpet’ on Jobs – 06.23.17

Dr. Rasmus continues the review of the Federal Reserve Bank, showing how the private banks today control the Fed more than ever in recent decades. How the Fed’s structure permits private banking interests to dominate strategic decisions of the central bank, and how there control of the Fed is about to deepen further under Trump. Jack explains how the expansion …

Trends This Week – Markets on the rise? – 02.15.17

Markets and small business optimism continue to climb under President Trump, aided by deregulation, tax deals, and stimulus programs. While markets and employment have grown, real wages have hardly made gains, spelling out a spike in mortgage and subprime auto loan delinquencies. Added to the number of populist parties wanting out of the Eurozone, turmoil is looming over the commodity and equity markets, further pushing the prices of safe-haven assets such as gold.

Ruth Milka – Treasury nominee’s bank was accused of “widespread misconduct” for their role in foreclosure crisis

According to newly released documents published by The Intercept, OneWest Bank, which was ran by Trump’s treasury secretary nominee, Steven Mnuchin, from 2009 to 2015, repeatedly broke laws in California during the foreclosure crisis.  Although a suit was never brought against the company, the memo states that California’s attorney general “uncovered evidence suggestive of widespread misconduct.” OneWest is a delightful …

Guns and Chipotle: Millennials are the most employed generation in two occupational areas: food services and military.

Young Americans have many financial obstacles placed in their way.  Many older Americans like to chime in and blast younger Americans as being weak and complaining too much but the facts tell a different story.  Millennials do have it economically tougher.  Quality of life is up (for all) but the standard of living is getting harder to keep up with.  …

JOHN WIGHT – Venezuela on the Brink

The crisis engulfing Venezuela appears to have reached the point of no return. Inflation is heading for 1000% while shortages of food and other essentials are now widespread. It has prompted many to speculate that it is just a matter of time before President Maduro is forced from office and Chavism is consigned to the dustbin of history. The legacy …

Paul Buchheit – How a disappearing and deluded middle class awaits the new president

Disturbing truths about the wealth gap in America have surfaced in recent months. Our nation is breaking in two. Yet downtrodden Americans are hoping for a fairy-tale ending to their misery, instead of demanding the progressive measures that would empower them. Collapse of the Middle Class For every $100 owned by a middle-class household in 2001, that household had just …

Edward Baptist – America’s Economy Was Built on Slavery, Not White Ingenuity—Historians Should Tell It Like It Is

The following is an adapted excerpt from the new paperback edition of The Half Has Never Been Told by Edward Baptist (Basic Books, 2016):  A beautiful late April day in 1937, seventy-two years after slavery ended in the United States. Claude Anderson parks his car on the side of Holbrook Street in Danville. On the porch of number 513, he rearranges …

Richard Eskow – Behind the Job Numbers, Millions Are Being Left Behind

A team of political scientists, writing in the Washington Post, concluded that “Trump supporters who are struggling economically perceive U.S. economic performance overall to be much worse than it actually is.” Those voters believed that the unemployment rate is three times higher than the official number, and these new figures aren’t likely to change that. “It is noteworthy,” the researchers …

The number of people on food stamps is plummeting at the fastest rate ever after the government made a key change

Fewer and fewer Americans are on food stamps, and the decline is only getting faster. According to Paul Trussell, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, the number of people utilizing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in June 2016 was down 4.7% from the same month a year before, and the number of households using SNAP was down 5.2% year-over-year. …