Max Keiser and his sidekick, Stacy, report on their recent trip to Greece where they witnessed a society taking it to the streets.
They also cover the IMF report which just downgraded the United States' GDP rate from 2.7 to 2.5%. Kaiser says these numbers are cooked. Stacy and Max stop and consider the irony in this as Stacy points out the IMF just a few years ago was "bankrupt". Then they focus on how the IMF is playing Hank Paulson type of politics with America, calling for America to increase its debt ceiling ASAP. As Stacy points out, all the IMF wants is more debt posted by America. If America will increase its debt to the banksters, the IMF will cease downgrading American GDP.
They then cover these sentences from a recent piece in the Financial Times by Stephen Roach:
"The global economy is being hobbled by a new generation of zombies, the economic walking dead. The US Consumer is in the early stages of an unprecedented retrenchment."Max Keiser Interviews Professor Steve KeenAfter Stacy completes her segment of tossing headlines to Max, Max comes back from a break in the show to interview "The Non-Economist, Non-Economist" Australian Economics Professor Steve Keen. Professor Keen takes Keiser through the differences of private vs. public debt . . . a fascinating explanation of why we are in a Global Debt Crisis today. Keen beautifully explains private created debt drives the economy while government debt is like an ambulance which comes along to rescue the bad drivers in the private sector.
Possibly the most contentious assertion which Keen makes is the only way for us to get out of this mess is to increase private wages. Keen says raising wages will cause inflation; however, he states the only way to reduce the "value" of our debt is to increase inflation.
Lastly, my favorite thought from Steve Keen is how he looks at the banks. He says they are the big villains in the Credit Crisis as they are not in the business of lending money to finance business capitalization any longer, but are in the business of speculation.
While Molotov cocktails burn on Athens’ streets, more vitriolic battles yet are blazing over Greece’s debt crisis behind the scenes, as financial markets and eurozone politicians fight their ground
