Author: Tony Wikrent Page 34 of 51

by Tony Wikrent

Injustice

Natalie Edwards Was Imprisoned this Month by the U.S. for Blowing the Whistle on Wall Street Banks’ Laundering of Dirty Money
Pam Martens and Russ Martens, September 8, 2021 [Wall Street On Parade]

Edwards is the heroic former Treasury official who tried in vain to get her superiors in the federal government to act on her concerns. Left with no other options to get action, she turned over documents to a BuzzFeed News reporter that became the core of the FinCEN Files, a collaborative investigation involving BuzzFeed News, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and 108 other news organizations.

In effect, Edwards spawned an international news bureau focused on exposing the flow of dirty money around the globe by big name banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Bank of New York Mellon. One in-depth report at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) captures the magnitude of Edwards’ service to the public interest with this headline: “Global banks defy U.S. crackdowns by serving oligarchs, criminals and terrorists: The FinCEN Files show trillions in tainted dollars flow freely through major banks, swamping a broken enforcement system.”

….Edwards deserves a pardon from President Biden, not to be sitting in a Federal Prison Camp where she cannot have visitors because COVID-19 is skyrocketing in the state of West Virginia.

Please consider signing the Pardon Petition for Edwards and forwarding it to your email contact list with a note asking your friends and family to do the same.

 

Strategic Political Economy

Justice Dept. sues Texas over state’s new abortion law 

[Fort Worth Star-Telegram, via Naked Capitalism 9-10-2021]

Will the federal government defend Americans’ constitutional rights against local vigilantes?

Heather Cox Richardson, September 9, 2021 [Letters from an American]

Today, the United States of America sued the state of Texas for acting “in open defiance of the Constitution” when it passed S. B. 8 and deprived “individuals of their constitutional rights.” The United States has a “profound sovereign interest” in making sure that individuals’ constitutional rights can be protected by the federal government, the lawsuit declares. “The act is clearly unconstitutional under longstanding Supreme Court precedent,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

What is at stake in this case is the ability of the federal government to defend Americans’ constitutional rights against local vigilantes, a power Americans gave to the federal government in 1868 by ratifying the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution after white former Confederates in southern states refused to accept the idea that their Black neighbors should have rights.

Since the 1950s, the Supreme Court has used federal power to protect the rights of minorities and women when state laws discriminated against them. S. B. 8 would strip the government of that power, leaving individuals at the mercy of their neighbors’ prejudices. The government has asked the U.S. district court for the western district of Texas to declare the law “invalid, null, and void,” and to stop the state from enforcing it.

This issue of federal supremacy is not limited to Texas. Glenn Thrush of the New York Times today called out that in June, Missouri governor Mike Parson signed the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which declares federal laws—including taxes—that govern the use of firearms “invalid in this state.” Like the Texas abortion law, the Second Amendment Preservation Act allows individuals to sue state officials who work with federal officials to deprive Missourians of what they consider to be their Second Amendment rights. “Obviously, it’s about far more than simply gun rights,” one of the chief proponents of the bill, far-right activist Aaron Dorr, said to Thrush about his involvement.

 

Texas’s revolutionary law

[Angry Bear, 9-11-2021]

Read More

Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – September 5, 2021

Strategic Political Economy

The Writing On The Wall 

[Heisenberg Report, via Naked Capitalism 9-1-2021]

Beijing’s regulatory crackdown is no flash in the pan and it’s not “limited” or “targeted” either. It’s an across-the-board effort to rein in the influence of capital, scrub society of perceived Western excess, reestablish discipline (broadly construed) and codify Xi’s “thought.” It is, apparently, a “profound revolution.”

The reality of this has yet to set in for Western investors and, frankly, I doubt it ever will. We live in a world where people don’t confront reality. Rather, they suspend disbelief indefinitely in order to avoid coming to terms with their own follies.

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[Twitter, via Naked Capitalism 8-29-21]

Lambert Strether: “Fascinating to watch a government that wants, and is able, to govern. Thread:”

My goodness. China's cyberspace watchdog, the CAC, just published a long (and unprecedented) set of draft regulations for recommendation algorithms. The short version: they will be tightly controlled. Key points below. 1/ https://t.co/YDtodrtsSY

— Kendra Schaefer 凯娜 (@kendraschaefer) August 27, 2021

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[Twitter, via Naked Capitalism Water Cooler 8-30-21]

What do you think @glennkirschner2? Admissible in court as part of a future negligent homicide case? https://t.co/bitfP4Ocv4

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) August 29, 2021

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The Great American Science Heist

[The Intercept, via Naked Capitalism 8-31-21]

How the Bayh-Dole Act Wrested Public Science From the People’s Hands….

 

Federally Supported Innovations: 22 Examples of Major Technology Advances That Stem From Federal. Research Support (pdf)

The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, February 2014

50 inventions you might not know were funded by the US government

[Stacker, December 9, 2020]

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by Tony Wikrent

Strategic Political Economy
Chamathe Palihapitiya – Everyone is WRONG About China

[Youtube, via Mike Norman Economics, August 23, 2021]

This is extremely informative on two levels. First, former Facebook executive provides his assessment of the short term and long term in China. Short term, the CCP has unambiguously demonstrated that it is firmly in control and that “we will decide how money is made, and who makes it.” Long term, China’s current population of 1.4 billion people is expected to fall by half to 700 million people by 2200. Palihapitiya says that the CC’P’s response to this demographic “time bomb” is to reinforce socialism — which is similar to the argument I make that increasing automation, robotics, and AI in USA and other countries will require more and more “social spending” to support people who simply do not, and cannot, have the means to earn a decent income. Secondly, is to contrast the composure and temperament of Palihapitiya, who clearly sees that the CCP is exerting control over “markets” in a way not thinkable in USA and the West, with that of Palihapitiya’s interlocutor, who is so enmeshed in “free market” theology that he is flipping out over what the CCP is doing. 

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Who Has the Cure for America’s Declining Birthrate? Canada.

[New York Times, via The Big Picture 8-24-2021]

Over the last century, two moments that transformed America and positioned it as the global economic leader were the post-World War II economic boom and the I.T. revolution of the 1990s. In both cases, America tore down many forms of discrimination and other barriers to harness the talents of marginalized groups in the country and to welcome new ones, injecting demographic vitality into the economy. To continue America’s upward trajectory in the 21st century, the country must reverse its current demographic decline.

That last sentence especially shows that the writer is locked into the mainstream economic idea that declining population necessarily means a loss of national wealth. This thinking is based on the ideas of feudal mercantilism, which Alexander Hamilton overthrew by his design of the USA economy: “To cherish and stimulate the activity of the human mind, by multiplying the objects of enterprise, is not among the least considerable of the expedients by which the wealth of a nation may be promoted;” and, “the intrinsic wealth of a nation is to be measured, not by the abundance of the precious metals, contained in it, but by the quantity of the productions of its labor and industry….” Mercantalism is zero-sum. What one nation gained in trade, another lost. But Hamilton’s emphasis on machinery and the inventive genius of the human mind meant that the real wealth of a society is based on its technology, and the application of that technology to the processes of production, transportation, and communication.

The U.S. could be on the verge of a productivity boom, a game-changer for the economy 

[Washington Post, via The Big Picture 8-23-2021]

Rapid adoption of robots and artificial intelligence during the pandemic combined with a rebound in government investment is making some economists optimistic about a return of a 1990s economy with widespread benefits.

Neither WaPo writer or Ritholtz asks what should be an obvious question: If we can produce so much more with so many less workers, why do people need to work? In a republic, the ability of society to provide for human needs must be distributed in such a way that all citizens are guaranteed to decent life, with the material conditions needed for each to make their own, unique contributions. 

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By Tony Wikrent

Afghanistan

Who Lost Afghanistan? — Nick Turse

[The Intercept, via Mike Norman Economics 8-17-2021]

Journalist Craig Whitlock’s new book, “The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War,” will help ensure that no one forgets the harm America’s civilian and military leaders did, the lies they told, and the war they lost.

Synthesizing more than 1,000 interviews and 10,000 pages of documents, Whitlock provides a stunning study of failure and mendacity, an irrefutable account of the U.S.’s ignoble defeat in the words of those who — from the battlefield to NATO headquarters in Kabul and from the Pentagon to the White House — got it so wrong for so long, papered their failures over with falsehoods, and sought to avoid even an ounce of accountability.

GOP Scrubs Webpage Touting Trump’s ‘Historic’ Taliban Deal

Gizmodo, via Naked Capitalism 8-17-2021]

We Failed Afghanistan, Not the Other Way Around 

Matt Taibbi, via Naked Capitalism 8-19-2021]

Per corruption on the US side, Taibbi is correct and then some. This has been endemic in US operations in the Middle East since at least the Gulf War. For instance, see this 2007 story in Vanity Fair about how Alan Grayson, before he ran for Congress, in his capacity as a lawyer and US contracting expert, filed a qui tam suit on the horrific grifting by US contractors in Iraq. What was most remarkable is the DoJ, in stark contrast with just about any other big ticket, well documented suit alleging theft in government contracting, refused to join the action. We also regularly mention the US inability to account for Pentagon spending, see this Cynthia McKinney clip to illustrate how long this has been going on. McKinney being ousted for showing too much ‘tude (such as towards the Capitol Police and AIPAC) always looked like trumped up charges, that it was her poking at the Pentagon was the real proximate cause. And generally, looks like the looting was a feature, not a bug.

Inside US Afghanistan pullout, CIA opium ratline, pipeline conflict, new cold war

[YouTube, via Jon Larson]

Moderate Rebels live: Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss the US military pullout from Afghanistan with journalist Pepe Escobar, who has extensive experience reporting in the country and was even arrested by the Taliban.

Read More

Strategic Political Economy

What China Wants and Why

[Bill Totten’s Weblog, via Mike Norman Economics, August 14, 2021]

One of the most concise summaries of the  geographic, economic, and demographic determinants of a country’s history and strategic interests I have ever read. 

Of China’s 1.4 billion people, 94% are Han, and their distribution follows nearly perfectly the Hu/15-in isohyet/NSGL line. This is surprising, especially if you compare it to India {4}, and its diverse ethnicities {5}. Why is China’s population so uniform?

To understand that, we need to look at history.

Brace For “Nasty” Debt Ceiling Fight As GOP Goes Full “Scorched Earth Mode” On Democrats

[ZeroHedge, August 11, 2021]

House Members’ Letter to Pelosi Mostly Barking Up the Wrong Tree

Stephanie Kelton [The Lens, via Naked Capitalism 8-8-2021]

Are they worried about running out of money? It sounds an awful lot like what former Treasury Secretaries Jack Lew and Larry Summers said in the run-up to passage of the Trump tax cuts back in 2017. Back then, both men warned that if the Republicans were successful in passing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), then Congress would be left without the capacity to boost spending in the event of an emergency.

Here’s Lew:

If we had a crisis right now whether a financial crisis or a business cycle recession, we don’t have the fiscal policy to respond or the monetary policy. It’s quite scary. … We now don’t have a fiscal arsenal because we spent it on the tax cut and on the spending agreement. We’ve kind of spent the fiscal resources.

And here’s Summers:

Our country will be living on a shoestring for decades because of the increases in the deficits that will result. This is a serious threat to our national security because of what it will mean over time for our ability to fund national defense.

Obviously, both men were wrong…. Congress has the Power of the Purse. It can’t run out of financial resources. If the votes are there, the money will go out.

The Coming Redistricting Disaster

[The Daily Poster, August 13, 2021]

Democrats missed a critical deadline to stop GOP gerrymandering — and now the political bloodletting will begin…. on Thursday, the U.S. Census Bureau released its 2020 census data, enabling states to begin the once-a-decade process of redrawing their statehouse and congressional districts. Advocates have long been warning of the need to pass electoral reforms before map drawing begins. Since that has now failed to happen, experts say there will be dire consequences, including an effective end to majority rule in the U.S. and a failure to address climate change in a meaningful way.

Read More

Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – August 8, 2021

by Tony Wikrent

This is the best time all year to see the ringed magnificence of Saturn

[Syfy Wire, via The Big Picture 8-5-2021]

Saturn takes 29 years to orbit the Sun once. Earth is closer to the Sun and moves much more rapidly, completing an orbit in one year. If Saturn didn’t move then opposition would occur once every Earth year. But Saturn does orbit around the Sun, in the same direction as Earth does, so we have to spend a little bit of extra time catching up to it.

The pandemic

Vaccine Mandates Are as American as Apple Pie

[Portside, via Naked Capitalism 8-1-2021]

Opinion: Require the vaccine. It’s time to stop coddling the reckless.

Ruth Marcus, WaPo, via Naked Capitalism 8-2-2021]

“The C.D.C. Needs to Stop Confusing the Public”

Zeynep Tufecki [New York Times, via Naked Capitalism Water Cooler 8-4-2021]

Read More

Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – August 1, 2021

by Tony Wikrent

Strategic Political Economy

U.S. Population Growth, an Economic Driver, Grinds to a Halt

[Wall Street Journal, via Naked Capitalism 7-26-2021]

America’s weak population growth, already held back by a decadelong fertility slump, is dropping closer to zero because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In half of all states last year, more people died than were born, up from five states in 2019. Early estimates show the total U.S. population grew 0.35% for the year ended July 1, 2020, the lowest ever documented, and growth is expected to remain near flat this year.

Some demographers cite an outside chance the population could shrink for the first time on record. Population growth is an important influence on the size of the labor market and a country’s fiscal and economic strength.

I placed this under “Strategic Political Economy” because it exemplifies everything that is wrong with how almost everyone thinks of political economy. “How many people you have” is a holdover from feudalistic mercantile zero-sum economics. The real important measure of the health of a country is the productive power of human labor to sustainably transform nature into needed goods and services. This is Hamiltonian political economy in its essence. Science and technology. 

Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – July 25, 2021

by Tony Wikrent

The Pandemic

US sees COVID-19 cases surge by 224% in last three weeks as CDC director says the Indian ‘Delta’ variant now makes up 83% of all new infections

[Daily Mail, via Naked Capitalism 7-21-2021]

‘I’m sorry, but it’s too late’: Alabama doctor on treating unvaccinated, dying COVID patients

[AL.com, via Naked Capitalism 7-22-2021]

In the United States, COVID is now a pandemic of the unvaccinated, according to the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Alabama, state officials report 94% of COVID hospital patients and 96% of Alabamians who have died of COVID since April were not fully vaccinated….

“I try to be very non-judgmental when I’m getting a new COVID patient that’s unvaccinated, but I really just started asking them, ‘Why haven’t you gotten the vaccine?’ And I’ll just ask it point blank, in the least judgmental way possible,” she said. “And most of them, they’re very honest, they give me answers. ‘I talked to this person, I saw this thing on Facebook, I got this email, I saw this on the news,’ you know, these are all the reasons that I didn’t get vaccinated.

“And the one question that I always ask them is, did you make an appointment with your primary care doctor and ask them for their opinion on whether or not you should receive the vaccine? And so far, nobody has answered yes to that question.”

Republicans freak out because the delta variant they fostered is killing … Republicans

Dartagnan, July 21, 2021 [DailyKos]

Let’s be clear on something: Variants to the COVID-19 virus are caused by allowing the virus to continue spreading among the unvaccinated, giving it more time and opportunity to mutate. The more unvaccinated people there are, the better the chance of a variant developing and spreading. That’s what led to this delta variant that’s now ravaging the vaccine-refusing Republican population in this country. In simpler terms, Republican intransigence and political pandering created and abetted the conditions that led to the spread of the delta variant and encouraged an environment that allowed it to flourish. And now that it’s disproportionately killing “their” people, in red-leaning states, Republican elected officials are desperately seeking—once again—to avoid the blame.

[Twitter, via Naked Capitalism Water Cooler 7-23-21]

You have to click through to see the math and the assumptions behind 80,000 Republican voters dying of COVID in Florida over the coming year.