The Insider’s Economic Dictionary: C Is for Camouflage

By Michael Hudson Aug 11, 2013 Capitalism: The term used to describe the social system based on promoting the accumulation of capital. Long used mainly as an economic invective, the term only recently has become more glorified by neoliberals, referring mainly to finance capitalism. Dig deeper ( 13 Min. Read )

The Insider’s Economic Dictionary: B Is for Bailout

By Michael Hudson Aug 10, 2013 Republicans and the financial sector sequester the economic surplus in their own hands, price their economic rents to squeeze incomes, and then criminalize poverty as if the poor vote to be poor as a matter of choice! Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

The Insider’s Economic Dictionary: Part A

By Michael Hudson Aug 9, 2013 Unlike psychological terminology -- which consists mainly of terms of invective (try to think of a desirable personality complex) -- today’s economic vocabulary is euphemistic. One rarely hears the terms "rentier" or "usury" that played so central a role in the debates of past centuries. Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )

Obama’s Master Class in Demagogy 101

By Michael Hudson Jul 27, 2013 The aim of the president’s Knox College speech on Wednesday was to wrap the economic program he has been working out with Wall Street investment bankers in democratic rhetoric. It was an exercise in political stealth. Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )

Michael Hudson on Obama, Social Security and Mean Mrs. Thatcher

Staff / Truthdig Apr 15, 2013 This week on Truthdig Radio in association with KPFK: Economist Michael Hudson attacks Obama's proposed cuts. Also on the program: the fight to keep Monsanto from polluting Hawaii's natural wonders, a college degree ain't what it used to be, and a new movie documents the legal showdown over medical marijuana. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Eat Your Cat Food, Mrs. Robinson

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Apr 12, 2013 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. Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )

Michael Hudson Remembers What Margaret Thatcher Did

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Apr 9, 2013 The deceased prime minister's 11-year rule over the U.K. "was historic mainly by posing the conundrum that has shaped neoliberal politics since 1980: How can governments nurture and endow financial kleptocrats" with the consent of the people? Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Truth Telling Is Offensive

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Apr 7, 2013 Paul Craig Roberts was an assistant secretary of the Treasury under Ronald Reagan. Like many Americans, he has been wounded by the government he helped create, and he's tired of being called offensive and depressing for talking about it. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Banking: From Public to Private and Back Again

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Mar 30, 2013 Once upon a time American banks supported the economy by financing the growth and development of industry. For the last many decades they've had the opposite effect by plowing money into existing assets and loading the economy down with debt. The consequences have been disastrous, economist Michael Hudson told The Real News Network this week. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

The Secret of Modern Monetary Theory

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Mar 20, 2013 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. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Debt Is the Problem

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Mar 15, 2013 It's not the kind created by government spending on social programs, however, economist Michael Hudson says. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Productivity, Compound Interest and Poverty

Staff / Truthdig Feb 10, 2013 "Today’s economy is based on theft under the euphemism of 'free enterprise,' " writes Michael Hudson in the first chapter of his new book "Finance Capitalism and its Discontents." "It’s sometimes called 'socialism for the rich' because they receive most government subsidy. But it’s not the kind of socialism that people talked about a hundred years ago. It is a travesty of social democracy and socialism. In a word, it’s oligarchy."Today’s economy is based on theft under the euphemism of "free enterprise." It’s sometimes called “socialism for the rich” because they receive most government subsidy. But in a word, it’s oligarchy. Dig deeper ( 19 Min. Read )