“Most Serious Financial Crisis Since Great Depression”:"“ Result of Right-Wing Ideology..."

[babylonsister]

On Democracy Now! today:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/1/23/recession

Economics Journalist Robert Kuttner on the “Most Serious Financial Crisis Since the Great Depression”: “This is the Result of Right-Wing Ideology and the Political Power of Wall Street”

Amid growing fears of a worldwide recession, the Federal Reserve slashed a key interest rate by three quarters of a percentage point on Tuesday, the biggest single cut in nearly a quarter of a century. Meanwhile, President Bush and Congressional leaders pledged to work together on a stimulus measure that would inject about $150 billion dollars in additional money into the economy. But many economists are skeptical over whether any measures can turn around a severe slump in the housing market and the subprime mortgage crisis, signs of growing unemployment and weakening consumer spending and the added blow of record high oil prices. We speak to veteran economics journalist Robert Kuttner and Robert Weissman, co-director of the corporate accountability group Essential Action, and editor of Multinational Monitor magazine.


Robert Kuttner, Veteran economics and financial journalist. He is a founder and co-editor of the American Prospect magazine and a former investigator for the Senate Banking Committee. He is the author of seven books, his latest is “The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity.”

Robert Weissman, Co-director of Essential Action, a corporate accountability group based in Washington, D.C. He is also editor of Multinational Monitor magazine.

[Narkos]

1. Love Kuttner!

[Lost4words]

2. thanks, it will be on here in 20 minutes. Best Show on the box!

I love Amy !

8643

[LogansPapa]

3. Why Now?

¾ of a point - in one move. Why would the Fed. do that now, if the economy is "going big guns" as some have suggested?

$8-10 an hour jobs does not a robust economy make. Unless you’re going to work two 40 hour jobs a week.

‘The chickens have come home to roost’ and our folly in Iraq has caused the tide of supposed prosperity to head out to sea. That is, unless you happen to work for or own Halliburton stock.

Your president’s got less than four percentage points to work with if things go even further South financially. He’ll have to spread these last few morsels out though, to get his administration through the next 363 days.

Cheney’s got to be giggling his a** off, like some deviate little brother hiding in his sister’s closet - trying to see her naked. Him and Bush41’s friends will laugh all the way to the bank.

You know the ones I feel sorry for though, are the kids coming back from the Middle East. With their in-depth training, under the worst possible conditions, they’ll have to push other (mainly older) folks off company payrolls - or scrape along on Stateside armed forces jobs.

Happens every war - as it dials down and probably won’t have much effect in the bigger cities, except to suppress overall wages and benefits of people already in those effected professions.

We had no plan for Baghdad once the bombs stopped falling. Now we have no plan for the return of our very best.

[bdamomma]

5. welcome to DU LogansPapa!!

Not a very good forecast for us Americans not at all.:hi:

[LogansPapa]

6. Howdy!

Thanks for the Welcome!

[madrchsod]

4. both sides of the aisle are responsible for this meltdown.

everyone`s hands are dirty on this one