Graeber is one of the few Western writers who helped me feel less alienated from other humans, who wasn't trying to sell something, or pit me against others in an ideological battle. While I don't feel they're as profound as Graeber, I've recently started listening to Radikha Desai and Michael Hudson's talks centered around geopolitical economics; they bring a lot of important context to this moment in history, peeling back the onion layers of Western propaganda to reveal the underlying currents driving international politics and the future of humanity at a global level. This is the first in their series:
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/01/13/radhika-desai-michael-hudson-multipolarity/
#geopolitics #economics #MichaelHudson #RadikhaDesai

If you don't show up for court (which is what usually happens), they'll get a default judgment, and with it, the legal right to raid your bank account and your paycheck. That, in turn, is an *asset* that, once again, the debt collector can sell to an even scummier bottom-feeder, pocketing a lump sum.

McKenzie doesn't know what will fix this. But #MichaelHudson, a renowned scholar of the debt practices of antiquity, has some ideas.

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But this is an ideological fairy-tale. As #MichaelHudson describes in his brilliant histories of #jubilee - debt cancellation - through history, societies that unfailingly prioritize the claims of lenders over borrowers eventually collapse:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/08/jubilant/#construire-des-passerelles

Foundationally, debts are amassed by producers who need to borrow capital to make the things that we all need.

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Origins of debt: #MichaelHudson reveals how financial oligarchies in Greece & Rome shaped our world | #GeopoliticalEconomyReport | #Rumble
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Economist Michael Hudson discusses his book "The Collapse of Antiquity: Greece and Rome as Civilization’s Oligarchic Turning Point", and how this history from 2000 years ago is still so relevant to understand our debt-based societies today.
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https://rumble.com/v2pwc6z-origins-of-debt-michael-hudson-reveals-how-financial-oligarchies-in-greece-.html

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#Dedollarization is about more than currencies: As dollar system declines, what comes next? | #GeopoliticalEconomyReport | #Rumble
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Economists #RadhikaDesai and #MichaelHudson discuss #Dedollarization, the global drive to drop the US dollar, and the transition away from #financialized #neoliberalism toward a new economic system.
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https://rumble.com/v2l4r6v-de-dollarization-is-about-more-than-currencies-as-dollar-system-declines-wh.html
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And far from regretting this, she went on to write elaborate justifications for the cruel policies she helped administer.

The historian #MichaelHudson describes #debt and #DebtCancellation as a key determinant of whether a given civilization survives. In every venture, producers have to borrow capital from lenders - farmers, for example, must borrow to pay for seed and fertilizer and labor. When the ventures are successful, the borrowers pay back the lenders.

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I can't recommend listening to Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson enough... they're two amazing economists whose discussions are often way over my head but are at least understandable enough to want to keep listening to more. This recent interview with them covering the economics behind the Ukraine War is great: https://watch.thekitty.zone/watch?v=CkQCSPM2QUY
...as is this intro discussion to a 3-part series on how money, the dollar system, and US economic hegemony work (or don't): https://watch.thekitty.zone/watch?v=Ew21FOlftkU
For me, who spent so much of my adult life feeling ever more trapped by an atomizing identity-politics-based (and not in the Combahee River Collective sense, which was largely about centering Black women) leftist culture, listening to these two speak about broad geopolitical paradigms and who holds real power within them is like waking up from a coma...
#Ukraine #economics #RadhikaDesai #MichaelHudson #GeopoliticalEconomy

I just proved to myself that I can survive without news or social media for a whole week. But one of the first things I did when I got back was listen to this wide-ranging discussion about the Ukraine War, geopolitics, debt, global financial markets, etc (which I still haven't finished because it's 2 friggin' hours) by Michael Hudson and Radhika Desai:
https://vid.puffyan.us/watch?v=CkQCSPM2QUY
One part about the Ukraine War that I thought was very important was the selling off of Ukrainian assets to foreign countries, which they get into at 35:08. Also, how the next few years might look for the average US citizen as a result of dedollarization and war spending, starting at 1:06:55. If I listen to the rest, I'm sure I'll have more parts to highlight; these economists are phenomenal! Also, Radhika's most recent book is available for free download by chapter here: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mono/10.4324/9781003200000/capitalism-coronavirus-war-radhika-desai
#economics #RadhikaDesai #MichaelHudson #geopolitics

@rbreich #RobertReich

Great idea! How about a #MichaelHudson type tax on land! He seems more Georgist than Anarchist, but let's make lending for rentals or real-estate less desirable or profitable for bankers and make housing inflation equal to CPI or commensurate with wage inflation. If we're working in the capitalist paradigm of economics and finance, then land tax ought to be a good first step. Means test it - of course. As Hudson says, "That's the only way it works." But, isn't that what the in-fighting among the Republicans is all about - old school land aristocracy and real estate capitalism vs finance capitalism - not talking about what they say but what they do. And, along those lines, let's tax cap gains, royalties, rent, interest, profit from employees, and so on. Isn't that the point of taxes? Namely to control or dictate behavior? Let's control the capitalists - the 6%!!!!!

@rbreich

Great idea! How about a #MichaelHudson type tax on land! He seems more Georgist than Anarchist, but let's make lending for rentals or real-estate less desirable or profitable for bankers and make housing inflation equal to CPI or commensurate with wage inflation. If we're working in the capitalist paradigm of economics and finance, then land tax ought to be a good first step. Means test it - of course. As Hudson says, "That's the only way it works." But, isn't that what the in-fighting among the Republicans is all about - old school land aristocracy and real estate capitalism vs finance capitalism - not talking about what they say but what they do. And, along those lines, let's tax cap gains, royalties, rent, interest, profit from employees, and so on. Isn't that the point of taxes? Namely to control or dictate behavior? Let's control the capitalists - the 6%

Despite this, the Fed has a substantial cheering section for continued interest rates, composed of the ultra-rich and their lickspittle Renfields. While the specifics are quite modern, the underlying dynamic is as old as civilization itself.

Historian #MichaelHudson specializes in the role that debt and credit played in different societies.

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