The Oligarchy Doesn't Care About Democracy, Just Rigged Markets

[marmar]

The Oligarchy Doesn't Care About Democracy, Just Rigged Markets

Monday, 07 April 2014 10:40
By Mark Karlin, Truthout | Author Interview

In All the Presidents' Bankers: The Hidden Alliances That Drive American Power, Wall Street journalist (and former Goldman Sachs executive) Nomi Prins writes a painstakingly researched history of the financial industry's collusion with the White House to create a self-serving United States financial policy.

.....(snip).....

Mark Karlin: Could your book have been called Wall Street Financiers Are America's Co-Presidents?

Nomi Prins: Yes, that's a great way to describe the symbiotic relationship between the men that run the White House and those that run Wall Street. But equally, the title could have been American Presidents are Wall Street's Co-Bankers. When I set out to research this book, I specifically did not want to write another book about how bankers rule the world. Many people, myself included, have written books along that "dog wags the tail" theme. But I wanted to explore the relationships between the men that reside at the two poles of power over America, those who are elected to the White House and those that govern over its finances, and about how long, and to what extent, they operate on the same page.

What I found, is that that for the past century, mutually reinforcing relationships amongst the most powerful men in the past century were drivers of American domestic, national and foreign policy than just the government was, no matter who the president, or what the party in the Oval. I found that every president had connections of various degrees of closeness with the most influential bankers during his term. I knew these associations existed throughout the decades, but I was surprised to discover just how prevalent they were.

.....(snip).....

Reading your new book, I get the feeling that the privileged few in the private sector who control most of America's money, de facto, don't really give a whit about democracy. What they are focused on is free markets for the plutocracy like a laser. Is that your perspective?

The notion of free markets, mechanisms where buyers and sellers can meet to exchange securities or various kinds of goods, in which each participant has access to the same information, is a fallacy. Transparency in trading across global financial markets is a fallacy. Not only are markets rigged by, and for, the biggest players, so is the entire political-financial system.

The connection between democracy and free markets is interesting though. Democracy is predicated on the idea that every vote counts equally, and in the utopian perspective, the government adopts policies that benefit or adhere to the majority of those votes. In fact, it's the minority of elite families and private individuals that exercise the most control over America's policies and actions.

The myth of a free market is that every trader or participant is equal, when in fact the biggest players with access to the most information and technology are the ones that have a disproportionate advantage over the smaller players. What we have is a plutocracy of government and markets. The privileged few don't care, or need to care, about democracy any more than they would ever want to have truly "free" markets, though what they do want are markets liberated from as many regulations as possible. In practice, that leads to huge inherent risk. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/progressivepicks/item/22953-the-oligarchy-doesnt-care-about-democracy-just-rigged-markets

[xchrom]

1. and the Choir said AMEN...

[TRoN33]

2. I guaranteed that this will lead to

Currency being obsolete. People around the world will rise against oligarchy and forced the money to be render useless and wasteful of plant resources. I doubt it's going to last beyond year 2100.

[PotatoChip]

3. More people need to read this.

The entire, depressing piece. To say it is a huge eye-opener, would be an understatement.

I feel ill.

[deutsey]

4. A very informative but depressing interview

It's a case of "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make ye sick."

"A transformation certainly doesn't begin with a president who populates his administration with the same people whose philosophy of less rules for their friends brought us to our current situation. It won't change with Hillary Clinton for the same reasons. It wouldn't change with Jeb Bush. Honestly, I think we're 'stuck on awful' for the next decade."

[Octafish]

13. "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make ye sick."

What Greg Palast pointed out:

Joseph Stiglitz couldn't believe his ears. Here they were in the White House, with President Bill Clinton asking the chiefs of the US Treasury for guidance on the life and death of America's economy, when the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers turns to his boss, Secretary Robert Rubin, and says, "What would Goldman think of that?"

SOURCE: http://www.gregpalast.com/larry-summers-goldman-sacked/

Sick, all right.

[closeupready]

5. Correct.

K&R

[WillyT]

6. K & R !!!

[deutsey]

7. Nomi Prins is on Democracy Now! today (4-8-14) n/t

[malaise]

8. K & R

for truth

[think]

9. Kick rec..... don't expect to find this book to be discussed in the MSM.....

[abelenkpe]

10. Good thing everyone's retirement is tied up in a market

Rigged to benefit a few connected insiders.

[raouldukelives]

11. K&R Why voting alone won't change anything.

For every person who tries to legitimately GOTV for a progressive candidate there is someone investing in Wall St and funding the attacks against us.

[bemildred]

12. Money talks. The government listens. nt