COUNTERPUNCH

The great dollar collapse debate

Mike Whitney argues that the dollars doomsday is not as much dependent on the deficits as most people believe, but the economy. Rather, when deficit is made a big deal of, it creates pressure on the governments to hold back from doling out stimuli, which is what the economy needs desperately. “Blame it on the media for convincing people that we are in a recovery and that ‘green shoots’ are sprouting up everywhere. It’s pure fiction. The country could still wind up in a Depression when the stimulus wears off. And it’s wearing off very quickly,” the author writes. If the US federal bank cuts off the money supply, it will lead to job losses, defaulting banks and financial institutions, prices falling across the board, leaving the economy in a ditch.

IN THESE TIMES

It’s about time for a showdown with the banks

In the backdrop of the financial bailout of banks, saving them from a near collapse, the author, David Moberg, takes a look at recent measures undertaken by the US government to rein in the bankers’ obnoxious salaries. He argues they still fall short of what is required and thus a showdown with the banks is in the offing. “So the showdown in Chicago will be important if it’s the first of many mobilisations to put the finance system in its place, serving the growth of the real economy and the incomes of most American workers. It’s either that or submit to the wisdom of Goldman Sachs International vice-chairman Lord Griffiths that people should ‘tolerate the inequality as a way to achieve greater prosperity for all’.”

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