Global Debt Worries
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-07-20/global-debt-worries
Investors and consumers have reason to worry: In Washington, despite prolonged debate and a looming deadline, Congress has yet to reach an agreement on raising the debt ceiling. In Europe there's an emergency summit tomorrow to discuss, once again, how to deal with the debt crisis which began in Greece and now threatens Italy and Spain. The problems here and abroad are tied to a global economy still struggling to regain its footing, but the political process adds to the risk, and it's consumers and investors who ultimately pick up the tab. Join us for conversation on the economic challenges we face and the price we pay for politics.
Guests
Damian Paletta
reporter, The Wall Street Journal.
William Cohan
contributing editor at Vanity Fair, opinion columnist for Bloomberg View; author of "Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World"; and former investment banker
Scheherazade Rehman
professor of International Business/Finance and International Affairs at George Washington University
Comments
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TUES. EVE. SOUTH FLORIDA RE: WED'S AIRING ON GLOBAL DEBT
WITHOUT EVEN HEARING THE SHOW YET I CAN SEE FROM THE PANEL IT WILL BE EXCELLENT. IN SPITE OF THE WS JOURNAL'S EDITORIAL LEANINGS TOWARD THE RIGHT, ITS REPORTERS ARE ALWAYS FAIR AND ERUDITE. IT IS ONLY WHEN SOME PANELISTS, E.G. FROM THE ULTRA RIGHT HERITAGE FOUNDATION, DOES THE DISCUSSION SUFFER. NO OTHER SHOW IN ANY MEDIA FORMAT IS AS BALANCED AS THAT OF DIANE.
I READ THE JOURNAL, THE WASH. POST AND (OF COURSE) THE NY TIMES
BEFORE THE SHOW AIRS, SO BY 10 AM I AM IN TOTAL ANTICIPATION OF ITS BROADCAST. IF I WERE A RELIGIOUS INDIVIDUAL, I WOULD PUT DIANE FORWARD TO BE A SAINT- HOW WE ALL LOVE HER.
DAVID FT. LAUDERDALE, FL AND MANHATTAN, NY
In response to DAVE-FL. Don't look now but your liberal bias is showing. The Heritage is one of the most intellectually sound / conservative think tanks in the country.
It is also interesting to note that despite Ms. Rehm's claims to being straight down the middle, she appears unable or unwilling to allow her conservative guests equal time - e.g. the most recent show with E.J. Dionne - check it out. Thank God for Fox which provides some level of balance to the liberal media.
And Dave - you might want to try becoming a more "RELIGIOUS INDIVIDUAL" - it certainly couldn't hurt!!!!!!
Blah blah blah.
Diane Rehm show- can you, please, just ban any comment with the word 'liberal' or 'conservative' in it? It is something called trolling and it doesn't add to the conversation.
I am looking forward to listening to an informative show- regardless of the political leanings of your guests.
What? No Rupert Murdoch bashing today?
I'm disappointed, I wanted some more manufactured outrage!
History has shown that when wealthiest are taxed the least (like before Depression) and income disparity between wealthy and middle class is greatest (i.e. consumers can’t consume), is when economy tends to implode. And that when taxes on those at the top is greater, and income disparity between wealthy and middle class is not as great, economy has flourished and unemployment low.
Also it appears that when adequate regulations are in place that somewhat protect the consumer, America as a whole seems to do better.
Maybe there’s no connection.
But if as polls suggest it’s true that over 70% of Americans (including majority of Reps), believe wealthy should shoulder a greater tax burden, you might think that NPR & media outlets in general might make an effort to see that this view is adequately represented (maybe say ½ the time?).
I’m hoping William Cohan brings this perspective to conversation today.
Investors have lost faith in sovereign credits because governments continue to spend too much. This will not change unless austerity measures prove to meet their goals. We should watch carefully as this could be our fate.
$4 trillion in cuts seems like a good start. More than a $1T in eliminated deductions likely to include mortgage interest seems hard to do, impossible before the end of the month.
Both parties are business friendly (and pro-war), and therefore hostile to humanity. Republicans are more obvious in serving the Oligarchy. Some people believe there is a gap between the religious authoritarians and the financial authoritarians, but I believe they both hold money debt sacred. (Is God the ultimate repo-Man or is He made of money?)The United States is hobbled as a functioning, caring enterprise by a Constitution written as a property deed for the rich around 1789. Interpretations by the corrupt and collusive members of the Supreme Court have made the financial fraud even more oppressive. I say all this because I know national debts are all owed to the same small class of people, if not entirely to the same few people. They already own most everything from here to Borneo and China, but they want tax breaks and incentives. They call their financial autonomy and their private tyrannies a healthy economy, even when it causes millions of productive human beings to be murdered, poisoned or starved. The exchange of money cannot function when a few hold all the chips, and when it is constricted by debt and usury. We can forget advantageous trading for human need and also democracy as long as there are no caps on wealth and income. This crony corporate system is insane but is accepted because we are taught nothing else. (I didn't mention the mislabels, liberal and conservative once.)
I believe the GOP is quite irresponsible playing political games with this debt ceiling debate. To many of us outside the U.S. see that the elected representatives cannot get their act together. And the republicans really look ridiculous spending like drunken sailors when they are in power and then wanting to cut programs for the working and poor people while protecting the richest in your society. Yet in all this time they have put forward no jobs bill whatsoever.
Honestly I could care less if we default. I have been doing my part for the last five years to starve this beast we call capitalism. Carl Marx is correct in his theory of the evolution of governments after capitalism make way for anarchy, small communities of voluntary associations. In regard to economic instability it all boils down to these massive corporations who use tax loop holes to avoid paying their share. Democracy cannot work without a little socialism. In my opinion we should default and pull the band aid off fast and hit the reset button.
The new reality. Seems to me what western civilization is facing is the pain of having to adjust to a new reality. How much can a government do or should do to assist it's citizens. People on these boards look at my posts here and think this is just a mean bastard that does not care about anyone else except himself and does not know what he is talking about. I should tell you I have been an apartment manager for twenty years for lower income renters. When I say manager I mean the guy who cleaned the toilets to paying the property tax and everything in between. I know all to well the problems that effect lower income people, particularly black people. There are so many welfare programs available to assist low income people your head would spin, frequently I would be surprised by another unknown source (to me) for public funding. A tremendous amount of your money is just being thrown in the garbage for unnecessary "help". It is not an exaggeration to say we have an entire underclass of people who game the system to support an irresponsible lifestyle. We should help those that really need help not those that do not. It is not compassionate to allow the whole system to go bankrupt because of mismanagement, it is morally wrong to take money from the people and squander it on destructive social programs.
Where I live we pay 12.5k per student for public schools, private schools in my area do a comparable job for on average 4k per student. Again a perfect example to illustrate why government is the problem. We need to allow choice to parents and end this madness of teacher union controlled public schools.
It is a fact that most social welfare programs go to the middle class and most of the recipients are in denial that they are indeed on welfare. We need to come to the sobering reality we expect way too much from government.
Taxes are not the problem, spending is.
it seems to me that this whole mess is not about the debt ceiling or the deficit. I see a part of American society that will go to any lengths to get that half black man out of the white house even if it means destroying the economy.
Is there any hard evidence on the relationship between the tax rate and economy, esp. the tax rate for the rich and economy? If not, what's the reason why Republicans refuse to compromise on the debt ceiling negotiation? Thanks. --Wade
Thank you for your shows.
Diane, please have your guests comment on Congress's financial actions during the 1930s.
In 1935, '36 and '37 the republicans along with others threw our country back into the Depression by doing exactly what they are doing now.
If the "experts" are not knowledgeable of that period's bills, admonish them for not being well versed. Apologies, I think we rightly should be admonishing Members of Congress.
What would be the effect of printing money to cover expenses if the debt limit were not raised?
Also, if Europe were not on a common currency, would Greece, Italy, and the other struggling countries be in a better position to deal with their debts by devaluing their currencies?
Patrick Sewell
Birmingham, Alabama
Robin S. (ain't you a Canadienne?) The US Chamber of Commerce recently bragged that a growth rate in GDP of 2.5 percent could be maintained even without any increase in the American workforce. (They ain't crating any jabs, my dear.)The "growth" would come from greater productivity (more work from the current workforce without wage or benefit increases), falling wages, automation and greater capital velocity (alacrity). Work continues to be exported to low-waged areas with totalitarian government. My view is that the US populous is being starved like a beast. The balancing trick is to boil the frog slowly so that extraction through credit can continue. The same game is being played by giving defrauded governments (in hock to big banks) more payday loans that will never be repaid. Debt peonage results in political repression in the nations that owe. What a dirty game! Let's flip the board.
Patrick Sewell: Your assumption that if Greece were on the Drachma they could print money and pay the bankers is correct. Economist Michael Hudson has discussed this many times in relation to Eastern European debtor nations. Some inflation might result but the negation of interest payments to fascist oligarchs would be a bonus.
When the USA prints excessive amounts of money it is added to the debt with interest. The FED (a consortium of Too Big To Fail Banks) collects that interest. Alexander Hamilton created the idea of a revolving charge card for government to ally the wealthy class with nationalist aims. It is a dirty trick to have us borrow from the same small class of wealthy interests that we bail out when they lose at gambling (financial speculation). It's like a built in CDO or derivative. They can't lose and taxpayers can't win.
The motive in attacking social programs, including those based upon payroll premiums, is to humble the workforce. Republicans and Democrats all understand this. Repealing the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest and stopping wars of occupation would more than balance the budget. The two business/war parties will not allow that.
Our dilemma is how to get outside this ignorant box of false choices. I am joining the American Spring, the occupation of Washington, DC on Oct. 6.
My resources are limited so that is all I can do. It is useless to vote for Obama again, and the alternative would be an admitted fascist. In the old days before Ronnie Raygun I was a progressive Republican but betrayals and circumstances have radicalized me.
Hallelujah!
FINALLY a somewhat large American media outlet has provided a discussion which seems to be somewhat in line with what polls show to be majority of American opinion.
AND they even managed to do it before the current debt limit debate had ended!
Praise the Lord, it's a Miracle!!
Monte: See my to response to your criticisms of my yesterdays Murdoch post, if’n you have any interest.
monte: Thanks for confessing that your "mean (racist) bastard" persona has been molded by your experience as a building super in HUD housing. Randy Newman wrote a song about rednecks you should listen to. The phrase "they put the cage..." is repeated to describe how the Black underclass is ghetto-ized and used as a profit center. I think your tunnelvision has been shaped by your occupation. Rugged individualists talk about the rational individual making the best selfish choices. Either you made a bad occupational choice or those in charge made things so that your rational choices were limited. In any case it is sadistic to take a job managing the oppressed lives of underclass people. It's akin to signing on as a prison guard at a death camp.
But having said that, I'm sure you perform your function diligently. How could it be otherwise when you trust your masters so implicitly. You can still recover and find peace. Quit that stupid job and try something else. Demand fulfillment for yourself and forget the jackpot chase after great wealth. You can't get there from here. (Take this from a 56 year old who has only a short time to live. I have no reason to lie.)
Drew Kelly: Do you feel the urge to high-five Diane? I do.
If the upper 1% or even 10% really wanted to pay more taxes because they're feeling like it's fair or right for them to pay back because of the success they've had, all they would need to do is not use the loopholes afforded them so that they actually PAY 35% instead of the 15-18% they've been paying historically. We need to close more of these loopholes more than we need to raise the % on the highest tax bracket.
The expenditure side of the budget could easily be cut by putting uppard limits on the people who get social security and Medicare. For example, for all individuals with $200,000 per year in income and/or $5 million in assets, why should they be entitled to Social Security and Medicare? They can well afford to live on what they have. Were not both systems set up to help the poor? If they get under the threshold, then they can go on the rolls. That will take care the of the top 5% of the enrollees, and thus a 5% savings at least!
Also, the idea that we can spend our way out of this situation has been disproven. Studies show that of every $100 of GNP, only $.60 get to the poor. So why should the budget be subsidizing industries? It doesn't really help those at the bottom and unemployed.
The US government has lots of assets with which to fund the budget. Why should the government sell valuable assets at low prices? All the leases for mining, oil exploration, timber and use of federal lands and airways should be re-appraised every 5 years, and the government should charge each company that rate.
Companies should also be charged for their destruction of the environment. If the nuclear plants, utility companies, chemical plants and farmers want to dump chemicals, or hot water into waterways and pollute the air and other environments owned by us collectively, then they should be charges an annual dumping fee, just like individuals do when they dispose of trash. Make it expensive enough and they willl find out how to recycle it or do without, or reduce the waste. The taxpayer should not foot the bill.
Thank you.
Grady Lee Howard, I like your posts when you write about me. Always remember I am everything you love to hate. I put it all out there, hope you looked fast, you won't see that again. Good luck with that cauldron of hate.
Drew Kelly wrote:
"Monte: See my to response to your criticisms of my yesterdays Murdoch post, if’n you have any interest".
yes, I read it. I did go back and change that post in question. I copied and pasted that last sentence and realized later in my mind that my comment was missing the point I was trying to make, too late you already commented. Your obviously a nice guy don't take this B.S. too serious, no one of any importance reads it anyway. I do think E.S. is angling for some position in the democratic party, E.S. will be disappointed.
Unless fundamentalist- word has mental in it as they are the ones killing to save lives- whether Christian, Muslim, or Jewish.
Respect their beliefs but not their means of communicating. Desperate times make desperate men unfortunately.
So agree there. Disagree on FOX balancing 'Liberal' media. FOX owned by conservative rich right(socialize risk- privatize profit is illegal many lands but legal here AND can vote their money secretly thanks Bush Jr Supreme court but I digress). Might makes right, and money owns might.
Some liberal talking heads distort the story intentionally. Both sides probably fail geography and math. But FOX intentionally lies on 'front page' CONSTANTLY(great on message Jim) and rescends(maybe) last second fine print.
Next thing you know they will probably invade privacy. Remember privacy? Dignity? Unfortunately traded for security... funny I feel the least secure EVER.
Pray for a blessing for all. We all could use it.
Not just "an 'interesting' point" Dianne. For shame. First time I violently disagree after ALL our years together!
Dianne, upon reflection, you MUST understand that it is the ONLY point! All and any other interesting point or not must be considered ONLY after the first and only point.
The Bible, Koran(QURAN), and Torah ALL seem to agree.
Do you?
And no not biblical draconian laws but the simple act of caring for our brother who is unable. This sounds like the voice I hear from God. But I am crazy(when rich was only eccentric).
Short term ROI profit driven decisions are NOT best for 95 percent of Americans and ultimately for the other 4( 1% outlaws and OCONUS).
Pass the lawyer/pro politico/ banker/ lobbyist- tastes just like chicken.
Where do I report for the Soylent Green project?
Better yet, those rich awaiting for their new taxes would you ask of them $10000 for me so I can remain in my home for another year and be able to eat meat other than the stray animals... amazing how more effective an economy is than a leash law. Even better fund or hire me to do 'green' work.
Seriously loosed pets are a problem as people NO longer able to feed them(and unable to eat them- though their parents (or theirs) could).
On the other hand forget the above as this is one of the best diets ever AND fasting is good for the soul. Both necessary parts of Congress's plan?
Anyone know an unemployed lawyer? If I can not sell home, or legally rent home(unable to insure without another primary residence) MAY I rent rooms to other vets so we all can have someplace safe to sleep?
When convicted of stealing bread or beer the state will have to pay $24000(2008) for incarceration of each homeless veteran. $10000 to me, instead, what a ROI(3x24000= 72000(2oo8)- 10000= $62000(2008) in SAVINGS ! Savings!!! PER year !
Thank you for your service. You are welcome.
Miss the beer(must aim more carefully for mouth). Seriously who can afford licensed(taxes) alcohol?
Stress, no longer, so funny, darkness clouds the future, sayeth the yodaah.
Excellent show!
One point: One of the guests said that we need to start living within our means as individuals. That would be great, but since the mid-70s, wages (except the highest) have stagnated, hours have gone up and benefits have declined. How did that happen? I think for that we need to look at some other things that started in the 70s, such as the financialization of the economy, deregulation of financial markets and reduction of welfare benefits.