Ann Pettifor – 11th June 2009 – For the Guardian Online.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/12/recession-economic-crisis

A banker, Alan Clarke of BNP Paribas, citing a NIESR report, confidently tells the Guardian that the recession is over. Should we take the word of any banker – especially one that claims to be an economist – seriously?

Given that the economics profession was blind-sided by the ‘debtonation’ of 9th August, 2007, I am deeply sceptical. Second, given that this is a banker-induced recession; that reckless and often fraudulent behaviour by bankers led to a loss of $60 trillion of yours and my wealth (in the form of pensions, equities, lost interest on savings, and lost income from job losses) last year, should we believe a banker’s particular spin on the crisis?

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Ann Pettifor – 12th May 2009

Have just returned from a flying visit to Iceland, where I was mightily impressed by the warmth and strength of the Icelandic character. Also struck by the pride Icelanders have in the way the financial crisis deepened and strengthened their democracy – leading to the ousting of a corrupt government, and the election of a progressive coalition.

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Tuesday, 21st April.  Guardian round table: The CBI thinks the worst is over. Gordon Brown says Britain is overcoming the problems of recession. In budget week, we gauge the levels of optimism

Ann Pettifor “My rating of green shoots is at zero – if ideologically driven attacks on government spending by all political parties persist. Its striking this intense focus on the public sector deficit. Why so little mention of the backdrop? The historically unprecedented meltdown of private sector finances.

The savage Credit Crunch meant that demand from heavily indebted consumers and companies collapsed. The crisis forced thousands of companies and households into bankruptcy. The fall in consumption and industrial production delivered a massive shock to the economy, with still-rising job losses, loan defaults and bank failures.

With the collapse in demand from the private sector, where is demand to come from if not government? And as the weakening body of the economy gradually deflates, what private stimulus is to revive it?

Finally, what of that long-forgotten instrument, the multiplier? If government revives the deflating body of the economy – with spending on the Green New Deal – consumers and companies will perk up, and the multiplier will kick in. Government income and tax revenues rise automatically, to restore public finances to health.

In other words, as sure as night follows day, the government’s finances will recover – but only if, and when, the economy recovers.”

Ann Pettifor is executive director of ­Advocacy International

Debtonation Readers: This is the full version of my latest blog for Huffington Post:15th March, 2009

Once a-ponzi time, millions worshiped at the feet of the Wizards of Finance.  These Wizards preached an economic religion that promised security and an abundance of riches from the ‘Emerald City’ — Wall St.

Investors following this religion were led to believe that they could make capital gains effortlessly and endlessly.

To make these gains, it was argued, there was no need for protection from the authorities. 401(k) plans were safe in the hands of the Wizards. There was also no need for investors to engage in hard work: to invest in research; to engage more labor; to sweat at making goods or delivering services.

There would be no need to save.  Money would be made effortlessly.

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8th December, 2008

My piece in today’s Guardian, The Credit Crisis Myth, was resoundingly rubbished in many of the comments. Reminds me of when my book, The Coming First World Debt Crisis came out in 2006… Then it was: Chicken Licken – The sky is falling!

Read the article (and comments)

6th December 2008

The tears of millions of Americans stripped of livelihoods and healthcare remain hidden from view, unlike the tearful special pleading of the unscrupulous leaders of the finance sector, and this week, of the auto industry CEO’s. The latest unemployment numbers to emerge from the Dept. of Labor imply immense pain and anguish; and emotional, mental, familial and even social breakdown.  For those of us in other G8 countries cushioned by a public health service that is still, mercifully, largely free, it is hard to imagine how Americans cope with the shock of losing a job, and also their health care. As we await Barack Obama’s inaugural speech, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1933 speech becomes more and more striking for its relevance. I have used it often, but do so again, unashamedly.

But first, a brief whinge: on successive visits to the US, I have struggled to get biographies and speeches by FDR. I hope that is changing. US citizens should be proud of the fact that a time of grave global financial crisis, when Europe moved to the right, towards fascism, the United States, under Roosevelt’s leadership, moved in a progressive direction.

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4th December 2008

‘Financial writers’ and establishment economists seem to live in a different world.  They often bring to mind bats, hanging upside down in the cavernous, soaring rafters of a barn, analysing the world from a great distance, and upside-down. Take one Diana Henriques – described as a ’senior financial writer for the New York Times‘.  She was on the Rachel Maddow Show on US TV last night, reviewing the gargantuan $700 billion bail-out of US banks.  In defence of the opaque and unaccountable activities of the Treasury team dishing out taxpayer largesse she said this: “No-one could lay out a war-game for this (crisis) in advance”. (Ehem, correction: some were well prepared, and could have.)  But it was the next remark that took my breath away:

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Al Jazeera: 19th November 2008

On Wed. Riz Khan hosted a discussion on the financial crisis. I was surprised to disagree with economist and panelist James Galbraith over why it is that IOUs (or debt) issued by the Federal Reserve replaced gold as the world’s reserve asset. Watch the discussion on Al Jazeera’s site here.

7th November 2008

Paul Mason economics editor of the BBC’s Newsnight hosted an interesting event at the Frontline Club on Thursday 7^th November. In attendance: Gillian Tett of the Financial Times, Michael Blastland, a freelance writer, Paul Lashmar, and yours truly. The theme was, and I paraphrase: “Why did the media fail to predict the crash? And what can editors do to prevent such myopia in the future?” Self-flagellation was in evidence all evening to the credit of the journalists present.

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Appropos the debate about Keynes below Graham Turner of GFC Economics and author of The Credit Crunch, submitted a fascinating article to the FT on this subject. In it he cites the experience of Japan’s failed attempt to kick-start the economy with public works expenditure in the 1990s.

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