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We have posted on iTulip.com PBS's Bill Moyers' superb coverage of the economic crisis for several years. Friday's Journal takes the discussion to a new level. Below is a excerpt from the interview with Simon Johnson, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. In it, he gets right to the heart of the problem, the reason why the US has not done as it did during the Savings & Loan crisis in the 1980s and as we have recommended here and directly to members of Congress who have contacted us: FIRE Economy interests are preventing the orderly clearing of markets that needs to occur in order to re-start the US banking system. The longer this goes on, the deeper the depression will be. Here it is from the most credible source to date.
BILL MOYERS: Welcome to the Journal.
The battle is joined as they say and here's the headline that framed it: "High Noon: Geithner v. The American Oligarchs." The headline is in one of the most informative new sites in the blogosphere called:
baselinescenario.com. Here's the quote that grabbed me:
Welcome, Simon Johnson to the Journal.
SIMON JOHNSON: Nice to be here.
BILL MOYERS: What are you signaling with that headline, "Geithner vs. the American Oligarchs"?
SIMON JOHNSON: I think I'm signaling something a little bit shocking to Americans, and to myself, actually. Which is the situation we find ourselves in at this moment, this week, is very strongly reminiscent of the situations we've seen many times in other places.
But they're places we don't like to think of ourselves as being similar to. They're emerging markets. It's Russia or Indonesia or a Thailand type situation, or Korea. That's not comfortable. America is different. America is special. America is rich. And, yet, we've somehow find ourselves in the grip of the same sort of crisis and the same sort of oligarchs.
BILL MOYERS: Oligarchy is an un-American term, as you know. It means a government by a small number of people. We don't like to think of ourselves that way.
SIMON JOHNSON: It's a way of governing. As you said. It comes from, you know, a system they tried out in Greece and Athens from time to time. And it was actually an antithesis to democracy in that context.
But, exactly what you said, it's a small group with a lot of power. A lot of wealth. They don't necessarily - they're not necessarily always the names, the household names that spring to mind, in this kind of context. But they are the people who could pull the strings. Who have the influence. Who call the shots. more...
See also:The battle is joined as they say and here's the headline that framed it: "High Noon: Geithner v. The American Oligarchs." The headline is in one of the most informative new sites in the blogosphere called:
baselinescenario.com. Here's the quote that grabbed me:
"There comes a time in every economic crisis, or more specifically, in every struggle to recover from a crisis, when someone steps up to the podium to promise the policies that they say will deliver you back to growth. The person has political support, a strong track record, and every incentive to enter the history books. But one nagging question remains. Can this person, your new economic strategist, really break with the vested elites that got you into this much trouble?"
And here's the man who asked that question. Simon Johnson is former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. He now teaches global economics and management at MIT's Sloan School of Management and is a senior fellow of the Peterson Institute. He is co-founder of that website I quoted baselinescenario.com where he analyzes the global economic and financial crisis.Welcome, Simon Johnson to the Journal.
SIMON JOHNSON: Nice to be here.
BILL MOYERS: What are you signaling with that headline, "Geithner vs. the American Oligarchs"?
SIMON JOHNSON: I think I'm signaling something a little bit shocking to Americans, and to myself, actually. Which is the situation we find ourselves in at this moment, this week, is very strongly reminiscent of the situations we've seen many times in other places.
But they're places we don't like to think of ourselves as being similar to. They're emerging markets. It's Russia or Indonesia or a Thailand type situation, or Korea. That's not comfortable. America is different. America is special. America is rich. And, yet, we've somehow find ourselves in the grip of the same sort of crisis and the same sort of oligarchs.
BILL MOYERS: Oligarchy is an un-American term, as you know. It means a government by a small number of people. We don't like to think of ourselves that way.
SIMON JOHNSON: It's a way of governing. As you said. It comes from, you know, a system they tried out in Greece and Athens from time to time. And it was actually an antithesis to democracy in that context.
But, exactly what you said, it's a small group with a lot of power. A lot of wealth. They don't necessarily - they're not necessarily always the names, the household names that spring to mind, in this kind of context. But they are the people who could pull the strings. Who have the influence. Who call the shots. more...
Part 1: 11 minutes
Part 2: 11 minutes
(Hat tip to member Rajiv)
Part 2: 11 minutes
(Hat tip to member Rajiv)
FRONTLINE: Inside the Meltdown, Tuesday, February 17, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS
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