politics for the 99%

Published on OpEdNews, by Derryl Hermanutz, July 2015:

Part 1, July 12, 2015: Private commercial banks exercise a near absolute monopoly on the primary issuance and allocation of money. Virtually all money is created out of nothing by banks and loaned into existence as government and private debt. Debt binds the nations in compliant submission while money buys the world at destitution prices. It doesn’t have to be this way. Monetary reform — breaking the bank debt-money monopoly — is the first step toward the solution … //

Part 2, July 14, 2015: Monetary understanding is not new knowledge, though the knowledge seems to have been lost in recent decades. It may come as a surprise to people who associate him with neoliberalism, economic hitmen and IMF enforcers; but the “early” Milton Friedman understood money, and advocated intelligent and humane solutions to our bank-debt money system problems … //

Part 3: Macroeconomics is emerging from a long fog and rediscovering the basic features of economic reality. We buy and sell stuff for money in a money economy; we do not trade stuff for other stuff in a barter economy. The real productive economy does not produce its own money. Commercial banks operate the private monopoly that creates all the credit/debt that functions as “the money” in our money economies … // : Part 3.1, July 21, 2015; Part 3.2, July 22, 2015; Part 3.3, … missing …;

Links:

La Finlande sera le premier pays européen à introduire un revenu de base inconditionnel, dans Altermonde Sans Frontières, par Audrey Duperron, le 24 juillet 2015: Le gouvernement finlandais a l’intention d’implémenter un projet pilote de versement d’un revenu de base. Ce projet figure dans la déclaration de politique générale du nouveau gouvernement de centre droit dirigé par le Premier ministre Juha Sipilä, qui a pris les commandes du pays le mois dernier. La Finlande serait ainsi le premier pays européen à introduire un revenu de base inconditionnel;

Chinese businessmen invest in Australian agriculture, on farmlandgrab.org, July 24, 2015: BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhuanet english) – Australia is poised to ride a wave of foreign investment in its agricultural sector. Farms and cattle stations are becoming increasingly attractive to overseas investors – especially Chinese buyers looking for beef sources in other countries (Watch video report, 2.38 mn);

Is the Ugly German Back? Flames of Hate Haunt a Nation, on Spiegel Online International, by staff, July 24, 2015 (Photo Gallery): During the first six months of this year, right-wing extremists in Germany committed attacks against places housing asylum-seekers on an almost daily basis. Many refugees living in the country fear for their lives;

UK: Government could merge income tax and national insurance, on moneywise.co.uk, by Michael Trudeau, July 23, 2015;

Highlands Bancorp, Inc. Reports Net Income up over 84%, on Business Wire, July 23, 2015;

An Open Letter to Transition Towns: Why It Matters, on Progress.org, by Martin Adams, July 23, 2015: Transition Towns can more easily fulfill their mission of building resilient communities by understanding specific economic principles;

Peruvian Unions and ILRF File Labor Rights Complaint Against Peru, on International Labor Rights Forum ILRF, by FENTAGRO, FNTTP, FTTP, CUT, CTP, CATP, CGTP, Equidad, ILRF, July 23, 2015: Complaint alleges that Peru is failing to respect minimum labor standards contained in the U.S.–Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. Violations Have Implications for Trans-Pacific Partnership;

Government ‘rubber stamps’ $6 billion worth of farm sales to overseas buyers, on farmlandgrab.org, July 22, 2015: The Government has “rubber stamped” $6 billion worth of farm sales to overseas investors over the past three years, Labour claims. Labour MP Phil Goff’s bill seeking to curb rural land sales to overseas buyers failed by just one vote in Parliament on Wednesday, sparking an angry debate and accusations of racism …;

Pour un revenu universel de base, dans Libération, par LAURENT JOFFRIN, le 22 juillet 2015: CRITIQUE – Gaspard Koenig, jeune intellectuel lié à la droite réformatrice, défend le revenu inconditionnel d’existence, déjà expérimenté en Alaska ou à Utrecht, et cela fonctionne;

ALASKA/US: Attack on Alaska’s Basic Income averted for now but fiscal pressure on its future increases, on Basic Income Earth Network BIEN, by Karl Widerquist, July 22, 2015;

Book review: Mary O’Hara, Austerity Bites – a journey to the sharp end of cuts in the UK, on Basic Income Earth Network BIEN, by Citizens’ Income Trust, July 22, 2015;

The microfinance delusion – who really wins? on thought leader.co.za, by Jason Hickel, July 22, 2015;

A Golden Firesale, on Outsider Club, by Nick Hodge, July 22, 2015: I don’t understand the joy some Wall Street guys get from watching gold and its investors suffer. There’s a word for this in German: Schadenfreude – it means deriving pleasure from another’s misfortune …;

SMIC ou revenu citoyen minimum? dans Les Echos.fr, par Robert Skidelsky, le 21 juillet 2015;

En Finlande, travailler sera un choix, dans Libération, le 21 juillet 2015;

Are we heading to a jobless future? (Commentary), on Syrause, by The Washington Post (Vivek Wadhwa, fellow at Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford Univ), July 21, 2015;

US: Social Security turns 80 this year, on Elkodaily, by Brandy Calder, July 21, 2015: Eighty years ago, on August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. The new law guaranteed a basic income for retirees and, at the time, the unemployed. Over the years, Social Security has expanded its safety net to provide benefits for retirees, people with disabilities and the chronically ill, and spouses and children of deceased workers …;

Americas United Bank Announces Second Quarter 2015 Results, on Business Wire, July 21, 2015: GLENDALE, Calif.- Americas United Bank (OTCQB: AUNB) today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015, with income of $187,994, or $0.07 per basic share. Total assets at period end were $169.4 million, and the Bank’s equity capital was $25.7 million …;

Canada: The UPX train is running virtually empty during the PAN AM Games, on TTCriders, by Jess, July 17, 2015;

Power and Classification, Casual Workers Struggles in the South African Post Office, on Global Labour Column, by David Dickinson, not dated;

The Labour Code on Industrial Relations Bill 2015, tough times ahead for labour in India, on Global Labour Column, by Sharit Bhowmik, not dated.