Obama White House must Act Now to Stimulate Economy

Update - 18Aug2011: Common Dreams 17Aug2011

"Need Concrete Plans to Rebuild Infrastructure; Focus of Efforts should be to Get Back to Work"

  Kucinich Building Support for the National Emergency Employment Defense Act; "Time to Get Real about Creating Jobs"

Kucinich to introduce bill in the House this fall - "National Emergency Employment Defense Act" ("NEED" HR__ pdf).

The Real News Network's "Banks to Cash-In Again on New Fed Plan" video series of interviews with Yves Smith - from November 2010.

In this 9 month old interview, Paul Jay, Executive Producer of The Real News Network, talks to Yves Smith, author of the book, ECONned, and owner of the economics website, Naked Capitalism, about what has turned out to be the Fed's last Quantitative Easing (spending to stimulate growth in the economy) - back in November of 2009.

The first two rounds of stimulus spending, the so called, QE1 and QE2 packages were funnelled to the financial sector and the banks - who instead of loaning it out to create primary investments in plant and equipment, have thrown all the free money (0% interest) into financial instruments - trying to make as much return as possible, as quickly as possible to shore up their books - which are full of toxic derivatives which aren't worth the paper their written on - second and third mortgages packaged to hide their real value. And which - ironically - with the downgrading of US debt last week, were fraudulently labelled AAA by Standard and Poor's (+ others) in the lead up to the 2008 financial meltdown.

It's interesting to see how little the situation has changed in 9 months. The economy is not growing, the stock market is volatile and jobs haven't happened. We're tracking sideways - only now - the stakes are even higher.

The European Central Bank is now on the verge of collapse as countries in the regional free trade agreement struggle against huge financial players who are shorting down their currencies - well aware as they are, that with-in the Euro-zone rules these nations don't have the tools they need to fend off such attacks (the ability to adjust their sovereign's value through interest rate adjustment). Essentially the trade zone is on the verge of collapse, as is the economic co-operation conference of leading industrial economies, the so called G-20. Meanwhile the political austerity insanity in Washington moves forward despite all economic indicators pointing in the opposite direction.

So one assumes the White House must be (hopefully ... they have to be, they've got to be - mustn't they?) on the cusp of using some extraordinary mechanisms and financial ingenuity to find a way to stimulate the economy - despite the austerity agreement - to stabilize the situation. Like through the issue of long term Treasury Bonds specifically attached to a delivery mechanism, National Enterprise Corporations, for example - the sole purpose of which would be to build some actual real world infrastructure - roads, bridges, high speed rail, schools, sewers, a smart electrical grid, ... .

The Office of the President have the tools, but will Obama use them?


So, with no further ranting ...

Just like it was yesterday:..

Part 1 - Banks to Cash-In Again on New Fed Plan

November 9, 2010

Part 2 - The Turkey Votes for Thanksgiving

November 10, 2010


Yves Smith is the creator of the influential financial blog Naked Capitalism, author of "ECONned: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism".

The series Home Page at TRNN: "Banks to Cash-In Again on New Fed Plan".


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