Simon Johnson Talks Dubai on PBS Newshour
Courtesy of Trader Mark at Fund My Mutual Fund
One of our favorites, and a voice of reason, is former IMF chief economist, Simon Johnson. Aside from offering good ideas that are summarily dismissed by the political elite and special interests he writes profusely (with a few partners) at the blog Baseline Scenario (which I also believe is summarily dismissed by the political elite and special interests). You should notice a theme here. 😉
He also posted a blog entry on the subject Friday: Does Dubai Matter? Ask Ireland.
If you are not familiar with Johnson, he had an epic story in The Atlantic this spring which is a must read, titled "The Quiet Coup."
The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government—a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets,and is at the center of many emerging-market crises. If the IMF’s staff could speak freely about the U.S., it would tell us what it tells all countries in this situation: recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that is blocking essential reform. And if we are to prevent a true depression, we’re running out of time.
Below we have a 8 minute video where Johnson discusses the implications of Dubai on PBS Newshour. Of course, after viewing it – make sure to promptly ignore it and buy stocks on the open tomorrow morning, Christmas season sale! 😉 Just because you wasted the weekend shopping doesn’t mean Ben B was not busy printing more US dollars … he works 7 days a week, 24 hours… like Santa. Instead of a sleigh he has a helicopter… and delivers bundles of joy to bankers everywhere.
If you are old school, the full transcript is here.
