Michael Hudson

Dream House, Nightmare Mortgage: Carry on!

By Michael Wednesday, April 7, 2021 Interviews, Real Estate and Georgism renegade economists Permalink

An interview with Australia's Renegade Economists. Karl: Listeners, it’s time to discuss with Professor Michael Hudson, the author of ‘The Bubble and Beyond’, ‘Forgive Them Their Debts’, ‘Super Imperialism’ and so many others. We’re lucky to have Michael with us yet again to continue our series of interviews and, Michael, here we are where, in Australia at least, we’ve made it through COVID, America is still being whacked by it. But our central banks, they’ve really put a lot of pressure on society, it seems like the mainstream economy is struggling, but Wall Street’s powering ahead and sitting behind that, of course, is the real estate market, which is also booming. Yes, society’s economic fragility, it’s been weighed down by high land prices and record high debts, but central banks ...

What Flavour Oligarchy?

By Michael Monday, March 29, 2021 Interviews Pepe Escobar Permalink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecElFWphOAE Ibrahima: Good morning or good evening, depending on where you are located and welcome to the Henry George School. My name is Ibrahima Drame and I'm the director of education. It's a great honor to have you with us today for another joint webinar co-organized with the International Union for Land Value Taxation with two great thinkers, Professor Michael Hudson and Pepe Escobar to discuss the emerging economic world order. I 'd like to thank Michael and Pepe for accepting to share their ideas with us my friend Alanna Hartzok co-founder of Earth Rights Institute, who will be moderating the session this morning. So, before I hand it over to Alanna, I'd like to ask all attendees to keep muted until we open the Q&A session. And of course, in the ...

Removing The Debt Barrier To Economic Growth

By Michael Monday, March 15, 2021 Articles, Debt No tags Permalink

Michael Hudson and Paul Craig Roberts Cross posted from Paul's site. Out of habit, American economists worry about federal debt. But federal debt can be redeemed by the Federal Reserve printing the money with which to retire the bonds. The debt problem rests with individuals, companies, and state and local governments. They have no printing press. We have explained that the indebtedness of the population means there is little discretionary income with which to drive the economy. The offshoring of middle class jobs lowered incomes, and after paying debt service—mortgage interest, car payments, credit card interest, student loan debt—Americans’ pockets are empty. This situation has been worsened by Covid lockdowns. In the US the federal government has sent out a few Covid payments to ...

The Democrats Role in Distracting with Identity Politics

By Michael Monday, February 22, 2021 Interviews economic history Permalink

Vrettos 2021 The Radical Imagination episode February 10, 2021 https://youtu.be/C8EC9c2u5OU Vrettos: 1. We're waiting to see how the rhetoric of the new Biden administration will play out in actual policies. Hudson: Biden’s long political career has been right-wing. He’s the senator from Delaware, the country’s most pro-corporate state – which is why most U.S. corporations are incorporated there. As such, he represents the banking and credit-card industry. He sponsored the regressive bankruptcy “reform” written and put into his hands by the credit-card companies. As a budget hawk, he’s rejected MMT, and also “Medicare for all” as if it is too expensive for the government to afford – thereby making the private sector afford to pay 18% of US GDP for health-insurance monopolies. Hardly by surprise, Biden has chosen cabinet members as corporate lobbyists, including ...

At the Oxford Economics Society

By Michael Wednesday, February 3, 2021 Speeches No tags Permalink

22/01/2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtHX23Trvy4 Oscar Brisset: Welcome to the first event of the Oxford Economics Society for this academic year. I’m Oscar, the Co-President of our society, and I’m glad to welcome you back for another term of exciting discussions. Although we were hoping last term to be back in-person by January, due to the worsening Covid-19 situation in the UK our events this term are going to remain online, so that everyone at home can still participate. A new year calls for new resolutions, and our society’s resolution for 2021 is to increase the diversity of economic topics discussed. To give you an idea, we’ll be hosting a presentation on Decolonising Economics and its role in Emerging Markets by Dr. Ingrid Kvangraven, the executive board member of Diversifying and Decolonising Economics. We’ll be hosting Prof. ...

The rentier resurgence and takeover: Finance Capitalism vs. Industrial Capitalism

By Michael Wednesday, January 27, 2021 Articles No tags Permalink

This article is based on Chapter 1 of Cold War 2.0. The Geopolitical Economics of Finance Capitalism vs. Industrial Capitalism (Dresden, ISLET: in press; Chinese translation 2021). © 2020. All rights reserved. Marx and many of his less radical contemporary reformers saw the historical role of industrial capitalism as being to clear away the legacy of feudalism – the landlords, bankers and monopolists extracting economic rent without producing real value. But that reform movement failed. Today, the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE) sector has regained control of government, creating neo-rentier economies. The aim of this post-industrial finance capitalism is the oppositeof that of industrial capitalism as known to 19th-century economists: It seeks wealth primarily through the extraction of economic rent, not industrial capital formation. Tax favoritism for real estate, ...

Multipolarity and Financial Capitalism

By Michael Wednesday, January 6, 2021 Interviews No tags Permalink

Ross Welcome to Renegade Inc. However you look at it, 2020 was a train wreck. So as we look forward to 2021, we wanted to get political and economic insight from two friends of the show. Chris Williamson and Michael Hudson share their views on what we can look out for in the new year. Ross Michael Hudson, fantastic to have you back at Renegade Inc. Michael Hudson Good to be back, Ross. Ross Michael, describe 2020 in one word. Michael Hudson In one word? The pandemic, setting the stage for homelessness. Ross Wow! what is the one thing? Because we focused hard on the negative throughout the year. What's the one thing you think has been positive or been something that's transpired from this pandemic which actually we should ...

Rentiers a bunch of gangsters

By Michael Wednesday, January 6, 2021 Interviews No tags Permalink

Michael Hudson and Pepe Escobar discuss rent and rent-seeking, i.e., unproductive economic activity, in the US and China mainly but including the Russian, Iranian and Brazilian economies. In the first 15 minutes, an overview from Michael Hudson explains what happened in the US economy once jobs and manufacturing were offshored to mainly China. He proposes that even if China did not exist, the US economy has been changed to the extent that it is almost impossible to change back to a productive economy without material changes in the economic model. Pepe keeps the conversation flowing quickly with incisive questions. The two esteemed gentlemen take a look at the Chinese view on a possible Biden administration and how the military hawks in Washington could be countered. Outlining the ‘conflict of systems’ between the ...

A Hard Look at Rent and Rent Seeking

By Michael Monday, December 14, 2020 Debates No tags Permalink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IquO_TcMZIQ&t=37s In this interactive seminar organized jointly by the Henry George School and the International Union for Land Value Taxation, Michael Hudson and Pepe Escobar will unpack one of the most destructive features of our economic system and the many different ways it drives wealth inequality. They will also focus on China and the “Great Game” regarding control of the world’s resources. Michael Hudson is an American economist, Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri–Kansas City and a researcher at the Levy Economics Institute at Bard College, former Wall Street analyst, political consultant, commentator and journalist. ... He identifies himself as a classical economist. Michael is the author of J is for Junk Economics (2017), Killing the Host (2015), The Bubble and Beyond (2012), Super-Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire (1968 & 2003), Trade, Development and Foreign Debt ...

Jubillee Perspectives with Steve Keen

By Michael Monday, December 7, 2020 Interviews Jubilee Permalink

DEC 4, 2020 Is it time for a debt jubilee? Steve Keen and Michael Hudson have both been arguing for a debt jubilee for some time. Now, as COVID-19 hits the poorest hardest, and leaves those with money better off than before, is this the right time to write off debt? Can the economy recover without it? After all, its stagnated since the 2008 global financial crisis. If you were to have a debt jubilee, how would you do it. Steve and Michael have different ideas about how it should be implemented. They explain their thinking to Phil Dobbie on this week’s free edition of the Debunking Economics podcast. TRANSCRIPT PHIL: It is obvious COVID-19 and our response to it is having a devastating impact on the world economy. And perhaps the biggest impact ...