I’m posting this interview that Kate Hudson of Reality Radio did with economist Michael Burke mainly because it covers so much and does so with great clarity. Radio interviews, if done well, can sometimes be far more accessible as a way of explaining a situation than any number of articles.
In the interview Michael talks about the contradiction of François Hollande’s claim that growth can work along side austerity, but that his election at least provides the space to begin a serious discussion about the failure of austerity – which on its own the right claim can generate growth – and the need for state led investment without simultaneously shrinking the economy.
He also talks about Greece and the potential for Syriza to provide resistance to the current solution of using bailout money to bailout banks and to decimate the lives of ordinary people. While Syriza may not have a fully developed solution at the moment, they at least are determined to protect people rather than creditors. Also they have moved from a minority party to one the most popular, according to recent polls, very quickly.
Michael argues too that the European left has a unique opportunity. After long arguing for the nationalisation of banks, the majority of European banks now are either nationalised or under the direct influence of European states who have provided guarantees and recapitalisation. This influence should be used to demand that banks provide directed investment for infrastructure which, considering that interest rates to banks are currently historically low would automatically create a return.
Well worth a listen.
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May 24, 2012 4:02 pm
Thanks for posting this audio, which is, indeed “well worth a listen.”
Burke is, however, quite wrong about the USA where the depth of the cuts, in every area except “national security” is at least as bad as anything in Europe.
“…In Philadelphia, the municipal school district recently announced its dissolution, marking what may be the end of public education in that city; in California, Governor Jerry Brown is seeking to slash $8.3 billion from healthcare and welfare programs in his annual budget; and at the federal level, the ticking time-bomb of more than $2 trillion in cuts looms on the horizon, set to implode early next year…”
This excerpt from today’s Counterpunch indicates the sort of thing that is going on. Let US liberals find consolation in Obama’s policies if they must, in European terms his administration is extremely right wing, authoritarian and deeply neo-liberal. Imperialist foreign policies invariably go with anti-working class domestic policies and Obama’s appalling government is no exception.