The Hoodoo about Varieties of Voodoo

Varieties of Voodoo by Paul Krugman February 19 2016, he writes;

"America’s two big political parties are very different from each other, and one difference involves the willingness to indulge economic fantasies." [Krugman Voodoo]

No We Democrats indulge in self flagellation and let the Cons use their not so "innocent frauds" to bully us around. We also have a habit of eating our own -- and letting the Cons, Con us. So we do their work for them.

As James K. Galbraith notes in his own rebuke:

"For the record, in case you're curious, I'm not tied to Professor Friedman in any way. But the powerful – such as Paul and yourselves – should be careful where you step." [Galbraith]

And it looks like a lot of folks have stepped in it.

Murray Rothbard March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995

A Founder of the Modern Right Wing

In April of 2014 I wrote a blog entry on the Mt. Pelarin Society, but the figure who intrigued me at the moment was Murray Rothbard, who was tied to both Milton Friedman and Ludwig Von Mises, and who was a disciple of Ludwig Von Mises. Reading his various hagiographies I encountered narratives all over the place, but mostly they provided an image of a man who was incredibly influential with the right wing of this country.

Murray Rothbard from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Rothbard

 

The Trouble with the Revolving Door

Elizabeth Warren released her report:

Rigged Justice: How Weak Enforcement Lets Corporate Offenders Off Easy."

In it she notes:

"The report, the first in an annual series on enforcement, highlights 20 of the most egregious civil and criminal cases during the past year in which federal settlements failed to require meaningful accountability to deter future wrongdoing and to protect taxpayers and families."

The Trouble with Capitalism

http://web.stanford.edu/~chadj/piketty.pdf

The trouble with capitalism is that it tends to lump together "capital" with rental opportunities and create an aristocracy of wealth and power that has the ability to take the first cut on production and starve labor. This can't be good for anyone. Not all capital is the same, and when capitalists are disinvesting from actual production that increases inequality and eventually collapses the economy.

1. All Capital is not equal
2. Much of what is labeled capital is not "actual capital" but rental wealth.
3. Much capital results from converting public goods to club goods.
4. Or from converting common goods to private goods.
5. Who owns and controls capital matters.

Transformation or half loaves -- A Debate

I still wish for an in person debate between Paul Krugman and Robert Reich. In a way we have one between their newspaper columns. Krugman in the times: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/opinion/how-change-happens.html and Reich in his blog: http://robertreich.org/post/137882162570 I think they both are making valid points. But I disagree fundamentally with Krugman's attack on the value of “transformative rhetoric”

The Search For Justice -- Susan Matzkin

A Life in Search of Justice

Susan Matzkin

My friend Raquel Partnoy announced the death of the activist Susan Matzkin today. I noticed there wasn't much out there in English on her. So I realized I needed to pass this information along. Raquel's announcement, in my poor translation goes:

"With deep regret we hear the sad news that Susan Matzkin has passed away. She was a tireless worker for human rights in lawsuits against those guilty of crimes against humanity and in the struggle for justice in the murder of her Sister Raquel Matzkin Zulma and companions during the military dictatorship. Her example of human dignity will always be remembered and will help to continue fighting for Truth and Memory." [https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208608784285501&set=a.1539358572349.71963.1486466851&type=3&theater]

Injustice

Her sister, Raquel Matzkin Zulma, was one of many young people killed by the Argentine Fascists during what amounted to a holocaust for educated Jews, progressive and radical Argentines, in what is euphemistically called "el processo" or "the dirty war" in Argentina. She dedicated her life to bringing to justice the people who committed those crimes against her own people. Roberto Baschetti has a brief bio of her sister:

Raquel Matzkin Zulma

Murdered 10/5/1976

"Matzkin, Zulma Raquel.
Born June 9, 1952 in Francisco Madero, Buenos Aires. She studied economics at the Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS). Militant Peronist University Youth (JUP), abducted on 18 July 1976 and taken to the concentration camp "school" of Bahia Blanca. She was murdered in a faked encounter with three others, actually by the repressive forces in that city, the 10/05/76."

If we keep listening to Faux news, Right Wing Radio, and folks like Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, this sort of thing could happen here. Althoug with police extrajudicial murders and "accidental poisonings" like happened in Flint. I would suggest it's already happening here for some people.

Further Reading

Raquel Partnoy's "Packages"

http://www.embassyofargentina.us/en/the-packages-paintings-by-raquel-partnoy.html

Spanish (Español) Versions:

http://www.robertobaschetti.com/biografia/m/131.html

Details:

http://basededatos.parquedelamemoria.org.ar/registros/571/

The Rise of the Predator/Parasite State

How con artists turned the New Deal into a Predator State Part II

In a previous post "The sabotage of the New Deal" I shared some observations, mostly gleaned from James Galbraith's book "The Predator State" talking about the resilience of New Deal Institutions and how that resilience derived from their mixed private and public character. I then segued into discussing how the cons realized they couldn't repeal the New Deal because they had no alternative that worked. The cons decided instead to corrupt them. In this post I want to share some broader concepts. But it starts with a simple fact. James Galbraith was talking about Roosevelt, but could just as easily be talking about our incipient Oligarchs when he said:

"private economic activities supported, leveraged, guaranteed, and regulated by public power," coupled with "public institutions aided, abetted and buttressed by private money."

When folks call what is going on socialism for oligarchs, they aren't kidding. To acquire fortunes in the Billionaires one has to have to factors going. One is "de-regulation" -- and the other is private control (ownership) of public resources. Socialism is supposedly public ownership of private resources. But what is private ownership of public resources? It is not just oligarchy, it is aristocracy. And when carried to it's logical extreme it is Monarchy.