Still Broken Five Years Later

By Mike Whitney, CounterPunch Feb 22, 2014 Very few people seem to know that the crisis began in a shadowy part of the financial system called repo, which is short for repurchase agreement. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Foreclosure Filings Jump as Investors Eye Exits

By Mike Whitney, CounterPunch Feb 15, 2014 It’s too bad Keynes isn’t around today to see how the toxic combo of financial engineering, central bank liquidity and fraud have transformed the world’s biggest economy into a hobbled, crisis-prone invalid that’s unable to grow without giant doses of zero-rate heroin and mega-leverage crack cocaine. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

Obama Killed the American Dream

By Mike Whitney, CounterPunch Feb 8, 2014 Here's your shining city on the hill in a nutshell: a privately owned gulag where petty drug offenders are locked up for life so some chiseling hedge fund manager can report record profits to his shareholders. Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )

Work Until You’re Dead?

By Mike Whitney, CounterPunch Jan 2, 2014 A sizable chunk of the adult population is going to punch a clock until they keel over in the office parking lot and get hauled off in the company dumpster. And those are the lucky ones, the so called baby boomers. By the time we get to the millennials it’ll be even worse because the economy will have been ravaged by 25 or 30 years of austerity leaving the proles to scrape by on hardtack and gruel. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

A Repo Implosion

By Mike Whitney, CounterPunch Oct 13, 2013 Obama is determined to prevail in his battle with GOP leaders over the debt ceiling, but not for the reasons stated in the media. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

The True State of the Economy

By Mike Whitney, CounterPunch Oct 5, 2013 There is a tradeoff for all the loot Obama’s friends have been pilfering from working people, and that tradeoff is trust. Americans no longer have confidence in the government, the market or the justice system. And while the effects might not appear in the next month or two, there are sectors of the economy that are showing signs of weakness already. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

The Housing Market Recovery Is ‘A Complete Hoax’

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig May 3, 2013 Homeownership is at its lowest level in 18 years, but housing prices are rising. Why? Because banks are creating real estate scarcity by buying up homes and selectively stalling foreclosures. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Scheer Trumps Krugman in Stockman Debate

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Apr 12, 2013 Journalist Mike Whitney praised the Truthdig editor in chief for being "the only voice on the left" to defend former Reagan budget director David Stockman against an "army of toffeenose pundits" who failed to honor the essential truth of Stockman's controversial New York Times op-ed. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )