Renowned political analyst Kevin Phillips argues successive administrations have imperiled the US economy by a combination of shortsighted policies and a trend against regulation. These include unparalleled credit card debts, the expansion of financial industries such as hedge funds, ballooning national debts, and deliberately altering statistics like inflation and unemployment to mask the accurate picture
I have an approach I use to say that normally when a country is—United States is—heading into a recession, there are one or two, sometimes three, factors that you worry about. But at this point in time, the American economy, you can think of it as being kind of in a shark tank, and there are like six or seven sharks, and you don’t usually see anything like that number.
And just to skim the list quickly, we have a financialized economy in which we don’t make much anymore, and finance is up to 20 to 21 percent of the US GDP, and manufacturing down to 12. Finance dominates the US economy.
The second problem is that we have massive debt, both public and private. It’s gone up about 700 percent since the early 1980s, staggering numbers where there—we basically have $50 trillion worth of credit market debt, which is tradable debt. And people just have no idea of this. It’s not government debts that’s the problem, it’s private sector debt, both financial and corporate and then in the consumer sector with credit cards and then mortgage debt. We just have this extraordinary level of it. 340 percent of the gross domestic product, that’s how big debt is. And the last time something was close to this—and it was less—was in the late 1920s and early 1930s. So it’s enormously a vulnerable, dangerous thing.
Third shark in the tank is the collapse of home prices. They continue to follow the scary trajectory that has people predicting that there’s going to be a 15 to 20 percent decline in home prices, which would be the sharpest since the Great Depression.
Then you can go to shark number four, that’s global commodity inflation. Oil and food, people are as worried now about the price of milk as they are about the price of a gallon of gasoline. That’s a global problem, but it makes a mockery of the administration’s pretense that there’s no inflation.
The fifth shark is, frankly, lousy economic statistics. I don’t think the average American should believe either the inflation numbers, the GDP numbers or the unemployment numbers. And there’s a lot of complexity and technical terminology involved here, but the long and the short is that over thirty to forty years, we’ve seen a kind of Pollyanna Creep, and administrations of both parties have done this. They want the figures to be friendlier, not to get them in trouble. And we’re at a point now where the figures lie enough that foreign investors are starting not to believe them and, I think, with considerable justice.
Now, the next shark in the tank is obviously the price of oil. And it’s not just global commodity inflation, it’s the problem that we see of oil production peaking in the world sometime in the next ten to twenty years. And the advance signs of this are scarcity in peaking in certain countries. And the prediction just came out of Goldman Sachs a couple of days ago that within a fairly short period of time, probably this year, you’re going to see $150 or $200 oil.
And that’s because, partly at least, of the scarcity, but the US dollar has been tied historically since the 1970s to oil, because of a deal worked out when OPEC wanted a price increase. Henry Kissinger and others were involved in getting OPEC to commit that they would sell and buy oil only in dollars and that they would invest their petrodollars in the US, in Treasury debt. So we have a currency that’s profited from the connection to oil, which sustained it in many ways. But now oil has boomeranged on the United States.
We have to spend $400 billion a year to import the oil we need. We don’t have the basis for controlling oil anymore, after the idiocy in Iraq, which was partly put in motion to solve the oil problem, and instead you’ve got oil prices going up 500 percent in five years. So the dollar is on the ropes, and that’s the other shark in the tank.
There has never been a period in anybody’s memory, except very old people who remember the late ’20s and ’30s, where you had so many things converging. And that’s what makes it frightening. And every time the administration says it looks like it’s under control or it’s half-over, you start to get evidence that, no, it’s not under control, and maybe it’s not even a third over.
Full Transcript http://www.democracynow.org/2008/5/6/bad_money_reckless_finance_failed_politics
Duration : 0:9:58
[youtube xIoEU1yK1_c]
Tags: 2008, Book, Conspiracy, corruption, Democracynow, Finance, Kevin, money, Phillips
Thank You
Thank You
Hello …
Hello freedomlost2007
I have to admit I am very impressed with the quality of your videos here on youtube.
They are certainly a pleasure to watch as I do enjoy them.
I am sure there is many others who also feel the same about your videos.
Mark McCulloch
*Hip¤Crazy*
*Hip¤Crazy*
Global inflation …
Global inflation arises mainly by a man due to his excessive greed leading to misplanning, deficit financing ceasing his ability to follow the basic principles of controlling it. Its based on dogmatism & confiscation of the basic rights. When a man becomes inhumane acquiring the worst characters devil is after him to follow. When he tries to deprive the other members of the society from the rights they all deserve. Chaos & anarchy with suicide bombing & global destruction are visible end results
Genius! I wonder …
Genius! I wonder if anyone will listen to him now? Probably not. Too many shortsighted politicians.
You tell the truth. …
You tell the truth. Looking forward to watch more video
Fake inflation of …
Fake inflation of basic items of everyday life is being created, but the human life for which all this is being done seems to be of no price or having no value. Daily hundred thousands of human beings are losing life by different ways. Isnt it possible by United Nations, G-8 or some International Human Rights Commission to work out a formula of basic human rights & needs of life & implement it to end this situation of chaos ending in extremism or terrorism by unaccountable no of ways nowadays?
Great interview. …
Great interview.
Thanks for posting this
About Democracy Now …
About Democracy Now:
These united states of America are a Democratic-Republic (not a Democracy) and this union of states was designed to protect individual freedom, private property and prevent government from running our lives.
Simple democracy is a brutal form of tyranny that always ends badly for those dumb enough to be trapped by it.
Chant ‘restore the Republic’, chant ‘restore the Constitution’… but know that a chant for ‘democracy’ is the exact opposite of what America is about.
PhotonDrive- My …
PhotonDrive- My channel here isn’t as full of picky people looking for spelling errors to belittle you. Thanks for the comment.
corrections: “turn …
corrections: “turn you over to” (neoliberalism). “too”, rather than “to” (way too little gold).
What BACKS the …
What BACKS the money? Not “oil”; but FUEL-BURNING machines! Mainly MILITARY: “power backing” – give us your resources or we kill you!(Neoconservatism). TAKE OUR BRIBES, or we turn you over to the MILITARY – who kills you!
Gold can’t back money, way to little & NON-FUNCTIONAL! FUEL-LESS Transport, with ENERGY MONEY is the clear answer for stability and real growth. SOLAR money/MAGNETIC money – both can (& do) source FUEL-LESS TRANSPORT. Plus for Democracy – this is VERY DE-CENTRALIZING!
Wow!
It is so …
Wow!
It is so unusual to see anyone define the problem or even acknowledge its existence!
The solution is not clear but Peter Schiff, Jim Rogers, Ron Paul and Gary North make sense to me on this one. Please protect your family. Things are not going to be pretty. And could in fact get quite NASTY for you and your kids.
1/2 through this …
1/2 through this book…good stuff.
When foreign …
When foreign nations cash in on their American dollars due to their lack of confidence in the dollar and the “good” word of our government, the US will collapse over night.
All three …
All three candidates are Council on Foreign Relations members, eventhough Obama says he doesnt “carry” a card. This is a big deal that does tell alot about your future president. Your screwed.
Nothing can be done …
Nothing can be done to change this situation. Our government is corrupt. The federal reserve runs your money. Most people do not understand the problem. You can not fix a problem if you do not understand the root of the problem, or deny it even exists. Your rights our being taken away, and yet we ask for more. We have built our society on cheap oil, and no cheap oil exists or will be sold to us anymore. You will not live the same comfortable life you once lived. Be more self reliant.
Let others know and …
Let others know and vote for anyone who points this out. Last time I check only Ron Paul did that.
What can we do, to …
What can we do, to change this?