Once they were as gods, but the deities of the American banking system are now in ruins, plunged from their pedestals into the maw of taxpayer largesse. Congress voted to give the banks $700 billion, lifting them temporarily out of their sepulcher of debt, while revealing a deep truth about the condition of America’s financial powers:
They never had the money they said they had as they constructed their debt-based monetary system which now lies in ruins. Their decisions on behalf of depositors, shareholders and investors were lacking in basic integrity and common sense. Green gods bailing out with their golden parachutes.
There was a time when their power was real. Come with me to Cleveland 30 years ago today.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Rep. Dennis Kucinich on His Battle With the Banks
Rep. Dennis Kucinich on His Battle With the Banks by Rep. Dennis Kucinich on Truthdig.com
1 comment:
Two things strike me as I start to read this. One is a book I read called "Confessions of an economic hitman."
Rep. Kucinich speaks of paying off loans from previous mayors for projects of dubious economic value. This is exactly what Mr. Perkins describes in his book. He was the economist expert who's role in the scam was to create reports showing an economic value far beyond its real and dubious nature.
That's how a lot of the third world debt came about. Consultants would say if you build this project, your economy would soar by 20% more a year. A bank, or the World Bank, would loan the country lots of money. Then a big chunk of that money just gets stolen or diverted. The project either has cost overruns, or is never built completely to its original spec. And even if it had been built perfectly honestly and completely, it would never have done what the economist said it would do.
In the end, the ruler of the third world country is rich from the payoffs, but the people of the country are saddled with a huge debt they are supposed to pay off.
Everybody wins .... except the people in the country. Sounds like the same scam has been run in US cities like Cleveland too.
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