politics for the 99%

Published on ZNet (first on Roarmag.org), by Jérôme Roos, Aug 22, 2015.

On August 1, Puerto Rico defaulted on part of its enormous $72 billion debt, paying back only $628,000 on a $58 million loan that was due at the start of the month. The default, which marks the most serious credit event in US state and municipal bond markets since the city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy in 2013, has led many to draw obvious comparisons to Greece – and understandably so.  

Like Greece, Puerto Rico has been mired in a protracted recession that has seen unemployment rise, living standards fall and countless people leave their homeland in search of better life opportunities abroad. Like Greece, Puerto Rico is buckling under an unsustainable debt load that its leaders claim “cannot be paid.” And like Greece, Puerto Rico is effectively a ward of the larger union of which it is a part: Greece of the Eurozone and Puerto Rico of the United States.

But for all these obvious similarities, there is one puzzling difference: while Puerto Rico was allowed to default on its debts without drawing much ire – or interest – from the US government, Greece has not been able to do the same. Why was Puerto Rico allowed to default while Greece was not? The answer is simple: first follow the rules, then follow the money – and you will see … //

… Meanwhile, even though it cannot apply for an IMF bailout, the Puerto Rican government has already called in the help of three ex-IMF officials, including the Fund’s former deputy chief economist Anne Krueger, for advise on how to proceed. In a report published at the end of June, the three advisors called on the government to fire thousands of teachers, close schools, increase property taxes, suspend the minimum wage and slash the amount of paid holidays in half.

Perhaps, then, Puerto Rico’s default is not all that different from Greece’s non-default after all. Barely a month after Eurozone officials incorporated Greece as a de facto economic protectorate, US investors appear to be adamant to exact the same kind of discipline from their own long-standing debt colony. Default, it seems, is fine – as long as the bankers and the vultures are repaid.

(full text).

(Jerome Roos is a PhD researcher in International Political Economy at the European University Institute, and founding editor of ROAR Magazine (on en.wikipedia). Follow him on Twitter at @JeromeRoos).

Links:

No faith in Mosul inquiry, on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Salah Nasrawi, Aug 20, 2015 … an inquiry into the fall of Mosul to Islamic State forces has finally been concluded, but it is unlikely to satisfy the Iraqi public;
(see also: Khalta rice – Moushira Abdel-Malek, on Al-Ahram weekly online);

INDIA: Mortality from acute abdominal conditions can be reduced by improving basic surgical care, on The Times of India, by Rupali Mukherjee, Aug 18, 2015;

Heureux sans travailler, dans Altermonde sans fronntière, par Christelle Granja, le 18 août 2015; pour des raisons diverses mais de leur plein gré, ils et elles ont cessé de travailler et le vivent très bien. Leurs proches, pas toujours, tant la valeur travail reste l’alpha et l’oméga par lequel on juge de l’activité d’une personne;

Prolétaires de tous les pays, reposez-vous, dans Agora VOX, par Victor (son site), le 17 aout 2015;

KenFM im Gespräch mit Daniel Ebner – Der Urzeit-Code, 94.00 min, von wwwKenFMde am 12. Aug 2015 hochgeladen … Jahrhunderte träumte der Mensch davon, fliegen zu können. Dank aufwendiger Maschinen gelang ihm dieser Wunsch vor etwas über einem Jahrhundert;

Original Version: 2m Wedge-Tailed Eagle takes down Drone, watch it Punch it out of the sky – Australia (Eagle is Fine), 0.15 min, uploaded by Melbourne Aereal Video, Aug 8, 2015: SLOW-MO version; ThugLife Version; WOW we found it Version;

on giving up screens, meditating, and the importance of Not Doing, on real sociology, July 25, 2015;

The rise of femfascism – Honey Badger Radio, 7.05 min, uploaded by karen strauhan, July 16, 2015 … join the Honey Badgers and special guest Lauren Southern as we discuss the rise of fascist feminism and the new age of badthought;

Trois bébés tigres blancs voient le jour en Normandie [DIAPORAMA], dans Le Parisien.fr, le 9 juin 2015;

American Indians Confront Savage Anxieties, 25.23 min, uploaded by Moyers & Company, Dec 26, 2014 … earlier this month, as part of the $585 billion defense bill for 2015, Congress passed a measure that would give lands sacred to American Indians in Arizona to a foreign company. This week, Bill speaks with Robert A. Williams Jr., a professor specializing in American Indian law, about how such deals are a part of American Indian’s tragic history of dispossession;

Green City Growers, 7.14 min, uploaded by Workplace Demcracy, June 18, 2014 … the Evergreen Cooperatives are a connected group of worker-owned cooperatives in Cleveland, Ohio. They are committed to local, worker-owned job creation; sustainable, green and democratic workplaces; and community economic development;

Top 7 best Eagle Attacks HD, 6.02 min, uploaded by ANIMALBIOLOGIE, June 15, 2014

What the 1% Don’t Want You to Know – economist Paul Krugman, 24.30 min, uploaded by Moyers & Company, April 18, 2914 … (he) explains how the United States is becoming an oligarchy – the very system our founders revolted against …;

Rare Historical Photos In Color II, 12.15 min, uploaded by enes asm, April 2, 2014;

Workplace Democracy and Democratic Ownership – Richard Wolff & Gar Alperovitz, 93.41 min, uploaded by Workplace Demcracy, April 1, 2014 … moving from theory to strategy – Left Forum 2013;

Samir Amin and Socialism in the 21st Century, 43.46 min, uploaded by NewsClickin, May 14, 2012 … (he) speaks about the implosion of contemporary capitalism. He articulates the need for the radical left, in the North as well as the South, to be bold in formulating its political alternative to the existing system. It is time for the left to articulate a new socialist agenda, not merely as a repetition of the 20 century socialism, but recreating it in light of the lessons learned from the past and the changes we are seeing in the world today;
(Samir Amin (Arabic: سمير أمين‎) (born 3 September 1931) is an French-Egyptian Marxian economist.[1] He lives in Dakar, Senegal …; /External Links);

I’m a sexy woman, so stop objectifying me, 20.16 min, uploaded by karen strauhan, March 28, 2012.