Reading

Created
Sun, 12/03/2023 - 04:57
The different way in which the concept of ‘territorial integrity’ is applied by the West in Ukraine and Taiwan sheds light on the instrumentalist hypocrisy at the heart of American foreign policy, and the role of the media in obscuring that hypocrisy. ‘Territorial integrity’ is very much the mantra in much of the discussion about Continue reading »
Created
Sun, 12/03/2023 - 04:56
Nobel Peace Prize recipient Ales Bialiatski has been sentenced to 10 years in a Belarus prison for allegedly smuggling and financing actions which violated public order. At almost the same time Nicaraguan opposition leader Felix Maradiaga was released from prison, stripped of his citizenship and flown to the US. Government in Belarus and Nicaragua is Continue reading »
Created
Sun, 12/03/2023 - 04:54
COVID-19 disproportionately impacts disadvantaged and vulnerable Australians. What does that mean for their engagement in post-secondary vocational education and training (VET)? There is – and will be for some time to come – a “long tail” of impact by COVID-19 on disadvantaged Australians and communities, which will impact their ability to participate in training. This Continue reading »
Created
Sun, 12/03/2023 - 04:53
Just what’s needed to get me standing up straight, proud and strong! A session with a kindly chiropractor. Not much actual force is needed. He’ll just firmly manipulate my spine and make things right. Posture corrected. Out with that clumsy walking-stick! But what’s this? Is something wrong? Why is John Menadue urging our government to Continue reading »
Created
Sun, 12/03/2023 - 04:51
Nelson has been described as a bullshit artist, a narcissist, a charlatan, oleaginous, and having a glass jaw. Each descriptor is incomplete, some even unfair. Yet, throughout his career he has been popular across the political spectrum. Why? David Stephens reviews Of Life and Of Leadership, by Brendan Nelson Brendan Nelson has always been an Continue reading »
Created
Sun, 12/03/2023 - 04:50
Ignorance and fear can be effective weapons in a manipulative politician’s arsenal. They’re guaranteed to pierce the armour of those least protected by doubt and most susceptible to flannel. ‘High tension’ and ‘social unrest’ are likely during the upcoming Indonesian presidential election campaign according to Moody’s investors’ service. That was the case in the 2019 Continue reading »
Created
Sun, 12/03/2023 - 04:43
Not MMT but MMT-related in that it considers "money" institutionally. The article views the need for a new set of institutional arrangements as compelling for the Global South and suggests parameters for a solution as well as an outline of a possible solution 

While the article does not mention it, this appears to be akin to the bancor system devised by J. M. Keynes and E. F. Schumacher and proposed by the UK at Bretton Woods. It was rejected in favor of the US proposal of a dollar-based system with the USD anchored to gold at a fixed rate for international settlement. This became the untethered dollar system in 1971 when President Richard Nixon ended convertibility on the advice of US Treasury Secretary John Connolly as a unilateral response to a run on gold as a result of rising US deficits. This post-WWII experience provides a historical reference for the issues involved in institutional arrangements regarding "money." This article is informed by that experience.

The article is also based on the work of Zoltan Pozsar's analysis and draws on Michael Hudson's critique.
Created
Sun, 12/03/2023 - 02:30
More rugged individualism for thee but not me Watching the fallout from the Silicion Valley Bank failure. (I’m not a financial expert.) “And this isn’t a bailout,” Cuban insists. David Dayen replies: Funny story about #2, Mark. The regulators were watching until 2018, when SVB and other banks lobbied to send the regulators home, and convinced Republicans (and 50 Democrats) to do it. Your favorite people warned that it would go badly. It did. The Lever notes that SVB President Greg Becker lobbied against further oversight of his bank: In 2015, SVB President Greg Becker appeared before a Senate panel to push legislators to exempt more banks — including his own — from new regulations passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Despite warnings from some senators, Becker’s lobbying effort was ultimately successful.
Created
Sun, 12/03/2023 - 01:25
The American Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) made the unusual step of shutting down the flailing Silicon Valley Bank (hereafter, SVB) during business hours yesterday (Friday). (FDIC Friday usually involves teams swooping in after the close on Friday.) Since I have to write this article quickly in the morning, I am not sure of what the latest developments are for SVB, rather I want to discuss the possibility of contagion....
Bond Economics
Oh No, Panic In Silicon VAlley
Brian Romanchuk
Created
Sun, 12/03/2023 - 01:00
High-flying risk-takers demand their bailout Christopher Walken’s first movie role was in The Anderson Tapes, a 1971 Sidney Lumet caper film starring Sean Connery. Walken played “The Kid,” a junior safecracker. Connery’s team of thieves robs a high-end New York apartment building. It’s Oscars weekend. But that’s not the reason for mentioning the film. When Walken can’t break into a safe in one rich couple’s apartment. ‘Duke’ Anderson (Connery) demands the combination. The man refuses. Duke yanks up the man’s wife by the hair. (I can’t get the clip to load.) “Darling, it’s all right,” the man tells her calmly. “Just hold on. It just hurts right now, but you’ll be all right.” “You bastard!” she shouts. “Tell him!” He doesn’t, so Duke calls in his hitter, “Socks,” points to the rich jerk, and says, “Him!” Threatened with pain himself, the guy folds up like tissue paper. Fiction? Watch how rich libertarians behaved when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed on Friday.
Created
Sun, 12/03/2023 - 00:30
Broadcaster’s sports coverage reduced to regurgitating old podcasts after cowardly decision to buckle to Tories’ manufactured outrage The BBC has pulled its entire Saturday afternoon Radio 5 Live sports schedule – and a big chunk of its morning programmes – as more and more presenters refuse to appear, in solidarity with Gary Lineker, who was […]