The new cost-of-living index proposed in Obama’s latest budget is really a means to push lower living standards on people who need Social Security, University of Missouri economist Michael Hudson says.
Leaving the gold standard in 1971 meant the U.S. was free to manage its money supply to prevent deflation and “truly damaging levels of inflation.” But mainstream economists, led by the free-market Chicago School, have ignored this fact, leaving the public’s fate to the caprices of markets for decades.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa responded to recession in his country with increased spending on education, health care and infrastructure, and the economy is rebounding fantastically.