The bubble and beyond : fictitious capital, debt deflation and the global crisis

THE BUBBLE AND BEYOND describes how the expansive forces of industrial capitalism have been subverted by today's predatory finance capitalism. How did it all happen and how will it affect us? The answer is a laundry list of issues: What is inflated debt? Debt deflation? Globalization? Privatization of public assets? The mortgage crisis? Bailouts? Fraud? Casino Capitalism? Junk economics and voodoo mathematics? Monopoly power? Austerity? Unemployment? What is the rentier class? Balance of payments? De-Dollarization? Political ideologies? Partisanship? Two separate economies? Is government regulation always wrong? What is the best tax policy? Why the 1% versus the 99%? Economics has become very confusing and difficult to understand (and out of reach for most of us) because about 20 different geo-political issues impact economic health and growth worldwide, and few are studied in the classroom or given space in the press. There is a way out of the labyrinth, however, as Professor Hudson demonstrates across 20 readable chapters (see Table of Contents at http://michael-hudson.com). THE BUBBLE AND BEYOND is a compendium and brief history of economic thought and why it matters not only to Americans, but to people everywhere. You will find yourself referring to it again and again as a fount of information, much of which has been out of favor for decades and/or suppressed by financial interests. Professor Hudson provides chapter and verse, names names, and explains the mistakes and outright fraud that have often been committed in the name of political ideology, by both the right and the left. You will encounter all of the heroes and miscreants of economics, industry, and politics from the Bible and Babylon to present day banksters, misguided FED policy-makers, and captains of the finance/insurance/real estate (FIRE) sector and the military-industrial complex. In one chapter after another, Hudson tells who did what and to whom — and who wins and who loses. He amply shows why the world is in such a financial mess — and what can be done about it. PROFESSOR HUDSON'S most controversial claim is that “Debts that can’t be paid, won’t be.” The question he poses is whether debt non-payment will lead to worldwide foreclosures — including sell-offs of public domain assets by debt-strapped local and national governments (exactly what some of the 1% would like — a newly-poor feudalistic society with the 1% collecting all the "fees") — or whether the debts will be written down in line with the ability to pay, as has been done by corporations via Chapter 11 bankruptcies and reorganizations throughout a more enlightened modern economic history. In Professor Hudson's bold view, debt write-downs versus privatization and sell-offs of public domain assets are the economic issues that will dominate politics over the next generation. ILLUSTRATED with 2 dozen charts and exhibits that make it plain where money goes versus where it might go — and ought to go. (Pull-quote lists for the press in the eBook edition.) The Bubble and Beyond describes how the fabulous expansive forces of industrial capitalism have been subverted by a predatory finance capitalism. What the FED hailed as The Great Moderation has left the middle class to take on a lifetime of bank debt to obtain access to housing, education to get a job, an auto to drive to it, and simply to maintain living standards that wages and salaries no longer support. What has derailed the economy is the take-over of academic economics and politics by the financial sector in order to censor criticism and misrepresent statistics so as to give the impression that the economy can borrow its way out of debt. The reality is that income used to pay down today s debt overhead is not available to be spent on goods and services. The result is debt deflation, followed by austerity and the the "fire sale" or decay of infrastructure at the national and local levels. The most controversial claim by Prof. Hudson is that Debts that can't be paid, won't be. The question he poses is whether their non-payment will lead to worldwide foreclosures including sell-offs of the public domain by debt-strapped local and national governments or whether they will be written down in line with the ability to pay. This is the economic issue that will dominate politics over the next generation. Illustrated with charts and exhibits that make it plain where money goes versus where it should go. Michael Hudson’s new book The Bubble & Beyond is vital for those vying to make sense of the economic quicksand global policy makers find themselves in. He ties a thread between the big issues of our times – underwater housing, money market manipulations and lifetime debt – concerns that appear too difficult for the world’s big name economists. Hudson does this by looking at the systemic causes of inequality, complexity and economic despair. The book traces how industrial capitalism has turned into finance capitalism. The finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) sector has emerged to create “balance sheet wealth” not by new tangible investment and employment, but financially in the form of debt leveraging and rent-extraction. Decision making is clouded by an economic system that favors natural monopolies. Michael’s reading of policy implications for the geo-political future is compelling