JACK RASMUS – Greek Debt and the New Financial Imperialism

This week marks the first anniversary of the 2015 Greek debt crisis, the third in that country’s recent history since 2010. Last Aug. 20-21, 2015, the ‘Troika’—i.e., the pan-European institutions of the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB), plus the IMF-imposed a third debt deal on Greece. Greece was given US$98 billion in loans from the Troika. A …

Benjamin Dangl – After Empowering the 1% and Impoverishing Millions, IMF Admits Neoliberalism a Failure

Last week a research wing of the International Monetary Fund came out with a report admitting that neoliberalism has been a failure. The report, entitled, “Neoliberalism: Oversold?” is hopefully a sign of the ideology’s death. They were only about 40 years late. As Naomi Klein tweeted about the report, “So all the billionaires it created are going to give back their money, …

War Refugees Trapped, Under Fire Trying to Enter Macedonia

Several thousand rain-soaked war refugees and asylum-seekers ran across Macedonia’s border from Greece Saturday as riot police chased them lobbing stun grenades, tear gas and beating them with batons. The violence came as Macedonia is cracking down on the flow of thousands of Syrian war refugees attempting to reach safety in western Europe by traveling through the Balkan region. In …

Tara Lohan – Fossil fuels have become an economic liability—for both consumers and energy companies.

Deborah Lawrence had been watching a once-empty parking lot near Midland-Odessa, Texas, fill up with idled drilling rigs usually at work plumbing for oil in the nearby Permian Basin. In January she noticed 10 rigs, then 17 a few weeks later. As winter turned to spring, the number climbed to 35. That trend has continued across the country. By the …

Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya – ANALYSIS: The Greek Bailout Paves The Way For The United States Of Europe

SAINT-JEROME, Quebec –— Modern Greek tragedy is at play, and so are illusions. The big myth is that Greece overspent and the Greek government was reckless with its budgets, ultimately indebting Athens. It is true that Greek officials tried to gain influence and political support through spending. It’s also true that they signed lucrative contracts with local businesses. Athens, however, …

It’s Our Money with Ellen Brown – Revolting – 08.05.15

Is the financial deprivation of entire nations engendering a new level of frustration and political unrest? Are the unlikely top-ranked US presidential candidates a sign that the Europeans aren’t the only ones who want to “throw the bums out?” Ellen engages these emerging political themes in her conversation with renown author, advisor and Economics professor Michael Hudson, just back from his consultations with Greece’s Syriza party. But also revolting is the blatant theft of national assets and impoverishment of the citizens of nations whose governments got caught up in the shady dealings of global bankers and their political cronies. To relieve the pressure, Swami Beyondananda offers a simple soliloquy on the money world and we borrow a bit of consumer financial planning advice from author Nomi Prins.

Pam Martens and Russ Martens – Chinese Stocks Crash Overnight; Will We See Another “Glitch” in New York

Despite unprecedented efforts by the Chinese government to stem the rout in the Chinese stock market that had shaved as much as $4 trillion from share prices before the government’s interventions this month and last, the Shanghai Composite closed down 8.48 percent today at 3,725.558. The overnight rout has raised speculation in some quarters as to whether we are going …

How Goldman Sachs Profited from the Greek Debt Crisis – ROBERT REICH

The Greek debt crisis offers another illustration of Wall Street’s powers of persuasion and predation, although the Street is missing from most accounts. The crisis was exacerbated years ago by a deal with Goldman Sachs, engineered by Goldman’s current CEO, Lloyd Blankfein. Blankfein and his Goldman team helped Greece hide the true extent of its debt, and in the process …

Pope Blasts ‘Unbridled Capitalism’; Begs Forgiveness from Native Americans – Jon Queally

In a far-reaching speech in Bolivia on Thursday, Pope Francis offered his apologies to, and begged forgiveness from, the native people of the Americas as he acknowledged the brutal treatment they received throughout the so-called “conquest of America.” In a speech that also touched on the need to rapidly move away from the destructive model of unbridled capitalism—which he described as the …

Is Gold Really Manipulated? Or, Are You Being Manipulated? – Avi Gilburt

The most common complaint I now hear as to why many are fearful of investing in precious metals is that they feel they have been “manipulated to go down.” While many investors have been scared into believing this perspective by many market pundits as the metals have dropped, I am hoping that investors would maintain an open mind about the …