“The pound of flesh which I demand of him is deerely bought, ’tis mine, and I will haue it.” Shylock in the Merchant of Venice. Despite the relevance of its theme to much of my work, I am not in the habit of quoting Shakespeare’s anti-Semitic play of 1596, the Merchant of Venice. But William Buiter’s column [...]
Recent blog posts
What future for Capitalism? - Ann on Al Jazeera
posted by Debtonation | Sat, 06/03/2010 - 15:556th March 2010 Ann joins Joseph Stiglitz, Tariq Ali and Ruth Lea on Al Jazeera’s “Empire”
After Iceland’s Referendum, What Next?
posted by Debtonation | Thu, 04/03/2010 - 22:314th March 2010 With Saturday’s Iceland referendum due in just a couple of days (6th March), Advocacy International’s directors have an op-ed article critical of the UK and Netherlands governments in today’s Morgunbladid, Iceland’s main daily newspaper. English version> Icelandic version> Press release> Full text of the article: So the negotiations have broken down, British and Dutch “bullying” (FT [...]
How Greece’s Crisis Could Impact America
posted by Debtonation | Tue, 02/03/2010 - 14:563rd March 2010 If today’s speculators bring down the Greek economy, they will likely blow up more debtor nations, and then in a cascading effect, turn on their main benefactors, the now heavily indebted British and United States governments. Citizens are rightly angry at the way both the Bush and Obama administrations, aided by Governor Ben Bernanke [...]
A wake-up call from Vultures
posted by Debtonation | Wed, 24/02/2010 - 13:3024 February, 2010 In the international financial system, the Rule of Law seldom applies. It is in this context that a wake of vultures (for that is the collective noun) hovers over weakened debtor nations as diverse as the Congo, Iceland, Greece and Portugal and operate within weak international law. They are international creditors, and their presence reminds [...]
Bankers must be made to serve the economy…..
posted by Debtonation | Sun, 21/02/2010 - 18:4121 February, 2010 Once again apologies for a longish absence. This is down in part, to smashing (literally) building works, to a little grandchild-minding, and to other writing commitments. But have been itching to comment on a) Greece and the EU b) Iceland (it seems the UK is easing up on the pressure); c) the [...]
The ‘Robin Hood Tax’
posted by Debtonation | Wed, 10/02/2010 - 10:3210th February 2010 I have a comment in todays Guardian on the new campaign on the Tobin Tax - the ‘Robin Hood Tax’. Click here to read the whole article: Ann Pettifor: “The proposed currency transaction tax (CTT) represents the tiniest grain of sand in the wheels of global, mobile capital, and places very little restraint on the [...]
A rant about the latest US jobs data
posted by Debtonation | Sat, 06/02/2010 - 16:156th February 2010 There’s a lot of rigging of jobs data, so it’s easy for any new announcement to get my adrenalin pumping. Add to that the way journalists and economists talk about these numbers – and it’s enough to get a girl blogging. The particular article raising my ire today is James Politi’s in the FT: [...]
Women talking macro-economics
posted by Debtonation | Fri, 05/02/2010 - 11:415th February 2010 My conversation earlier this week with Elena Sisti – of Italy’s Altreconomia on macro-economics, reform of the finance sector, money, and yes, how we women have left the all-important matter of finance to the boys. Big mistake. It’s time to get in there, and exercise influence. Too much is at stake. ELENA: In the build [...]
Bankers failure to fulfil their role
posted by Debtonation | Wed, 27/01/2010 - 21:0727th January, 2010 Letter to the Guardian: Dear Sir, I was astonished to read Lord Myners’s assertion that banks use our deposits to lend out to businesses and homebuyers. (Comment, 25 January). This is simply not the case, and has not been the case since 1694 when the British banking system was established, and intangible bank money began [...]
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