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526 [lbo-talk] Ron Paul on the Civil War -- rank: 1000

The Civil War "involved a great loss of liberty": http://www.theatlantic.com/personal/archive/2012/01/an-interesting-perspective-on-american-history/251766/

Document Size:	4866
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Jan 21 07:54:51 PST 2012

527 [lbo-talk] the Grundrisse and credit. -- rank: 1000

On Jan 19, 2012, at 1:02 PM, Julio Huato wrote: > I will follow Michael's lead and venture my comments: Which were really good. Thanks! Doug

Document Size:	4669
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jan 19 13:04:06 PST 2012

528 [lbo-talk] the Grundrisse and credit -- rank: 1000

On Jan 18, 2012, at 10:30 PM, Mike Beggs wrote: >> On Jan 18, 2012, at 9:35 PM, michael perelman wrote: >> >>> BitCoin >> >> Ok, what's the story of that shit? > > It is told pretty well here. It is a pretty funny story actually, like > something out of a Charles Stross book: > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/oct/18/bitcoin-value-crash-cryptocurrency My god. Some dude in the alt.currencies working group of OWS dismissed my critique of l ...

Document Size:	5305
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jan 19 12:25:14 PST 2012

529 [lbo-talk] the Grundrisse and credit -- rank: 1000

On Jan 19, 2012, at 11:05 AM, Jordan Hayes wrote: > Doug writes: > >> I'm talking jubilee. > > Well, you might be alone then :-) David Graeber, where all this started. E.g.: http://rs79.vrx.net/opinions/ideas/economics/jubilee/ The only viable strategy is the biblical concept of jubilee, the re-balancing of everything. The Saudis just did it, that was their reaction to the Arab spring. They simply canceled all debts.

Document Size:	5073
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jan 19 08:37:07 PST 2012

530 [lbo-talk] the Grundrisse and credit -- rank: 1000

On Jan 19, 2012, at 10:47 AM, Jordan Hayes wrote: > Wait, you're talking about cancelling all assets? I thought we were talking about debt? Household debt was more like $11.5T as of 2Q11? Housing was $8.5T of that, so there's "only" about $3T of unsecured debt. > > I still say what needs to happen is greater access to refinancing. That would also incur a hit to bank profits, but it ought to be more orderly -- and frankly, fair. Writeoffs are completely sane and therapeutic. ...

Document Size:	5057
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jan 19 07:56:18 PST 2012

531 [lbo-talk] the Grundrisse and credit -- rank: 1000

On Jan 19, 2012, at 4:59 AM, Michael Pollak wrote: > I think it's closer to the opposite. The reason you had debt jubilees in the age of literal debt-slavery was because you had to precisely because it was a matter of the state's survival. Unchecked, it led inevitably to civil war and abandonment of the land. But there were many fewer consequences. A debt jubilee now would lead to total financial collapse. U.S. households alone hold $47 trillion in financial assets. Imagine what would happe ...

Document Size:	5055
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jan 19 07:26:50 PST 2012

532 [lbo-talk] the Grundrisse and credit -- rank: 1000

On Jan 18, 2012, at 9:35 PM, michael perelman wrote: > BitCoin Ok, what's the story of that shit?

Document Size:	4617
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jan 18 19:20:37 PST 2012

533 [lbo-talk] Obama to reject Keystone -- rank: 1000

On Jan 18, 2012, at 5:27 PM, Marv Gandall wrote: > On 2012-01-18, at 4:42 PM, Doug Henwood wrote: > >> >> On Jan 18, 2012, at 12:29 PM, Somebody Somebody wrote: >> >>> Why has Keystone pipeline become such a cause célèbre for environmentalists and liberal groups? Is this principally a matter of opposing the development of oil sands exploration in Canada or is it a result of concern of spills by the pipeline in the U.S.? >> >> The first, I think. > ...

Document Size:	5357
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jan 18 14:31:26 PST 2012

534 [lbo-talk] ok, that clarifies everything -- rank: 1000

what a shit... Begin forwarded message: > From: "POLITICO Breaking News" <breakingnews at politico.com> > Date: January 18, 2012 3:23:52 PM EST > To: <dhenwood at panix.com> > Subject: POLITICO Breaking News > Reply-To: "POLITICO subscriptions" <reply-feb71c787c6d0578-65921_HTML-232043841-1041082-0 at politicoemail.com> > > POLITICO Breaking News > ------------------------------------------------- > President Barack Obama made his ...

Document Size:	6593
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jan 18 13:44:06 PST 2012

535 [lbo-talk] Obama to reject Keystone -- rank: 1000

On Jan 18, 2012, at 12:29 PM, Somebody Somebody wrote: > Why has Keystone pipeline become such a cause célèbre for environmentalists and liberal groups? Is this principally a matter of opposing the development of oil sands exploration in Canada or is it a result of concern of spills by the pipeline in the U.S.? The first, I think. Doug

Document Size:	4859
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jan 18 13:42:25 PST 2012

536 [lbo-talk] Obama to reject Keystone -- rank: 1000

[this can't be the last word] [WASHINGTON POST] NEWS ALERT -------------- next part -------------- Obama administration to reject Keystone pipeline The Obama administration will announce this afternoon it is rejecting a Canadian firm?s application for a permit to build and operate a massive oil pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border, according to sources who have been briefed on the matter.

Document Size:	4862
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jan 18 09:12:30 PST 2012

537 [lbo-talk] charge-offs -- rank: 1000

On Jan 17, 2012, at 5:12 PM, shag carpet bomb wrote: > i'd be curious how much of that is a partial walking away. it's probably a drop in the bucket...but this burns my ass. is this number counting banks and the numbers they are "charging off" by selling debt to a collection agency that buys it for pennies on the dollar. It's net of collections. They've given up.

Document Size:	4753
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Jan 17 14:20:29 PST 2012

538 [lbo-talk] Greece: 32 cents? -- rank: 1000

Speaking of debt writedowns: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-17/greece-nearing-deal-with-private-creditors-marathon-ceo-says.html > Greece is nearing a deal with private creditors that would give them cash and securities with a market value of about 32 cents per euro of government debt, according to Bruce Richards, a hedge-fund manager on the creditors committee. Hedge fund manager! What a contrast with the Latin debt crisis in the 1980s, when William Rhodes of Citi and a dozen colleag ...

Document Size:	5136
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Jan 17 13:26:39 PST 2012

539 [lbo-talk] charge-offs -- rank: 1000

By the way, there has been a lot of walking away from debt over the last few years. According to FDIC data, banks have written off about $150 billion in credit card debt since 2008 - about 37% of the outstanding balance at the beginning of the period, or 22% of the most recent total. For mortgages, the numbers are smaller - about $102 billion, or 5% of the amount outstanding. That may not look so big, but the quarterly average is more than 11 times the historical (1990-2006) average. For credit ...

Document Size:	5142
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Jan 17 13:01:09 PST 2012

540 [lbo-talk] the Grundrisse and credit -- rank: 1000

On Jan 17, 2012, at 3:18 PM, 123hop at comcast.net wrote: > If debt = credit expansion, then it is central to the real economy only inasmuch as it permits economic expansion. For example, if credit were expanded to fund infrastructure renewal or a shift from fossil fuels to green energy, then I can see how it's central. > > But credit expansion can also be used to fuel speculation, in which case I don't see how it's central to anything except the ability of a few to gamble without risk. ...

Document Size:	5785
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Jan 17 12:27:58 PST 2012