It is appropriate to use the Latin when asking the question of where are we going because this crisis is about the economic collapse of a martial empire. The latest G-7 meeting in the New Rome, Washington, D.C., was a summoning of the leaders of the subordinate nations to the center of a troubled and, probably, dying Imperial Center. The capos could not come to any agreement likely because the Center no longer has the vision to lead or the power to enforce. Paulson and the others are only struggling to save the shattered system (or is it only a final heist) that worked so well for them. They are out of ideas and, unfortunately, in the U.S., Obama appears devoid of any new ideas listening only to advisors from the now discredited deregulationist Chicago School of Economics and old Clinton deregulators like Robert Rubin who, like Secretary Paulson, is an alumni of the now deeply troubled Goldman Sachs. In other words, the key architects of the current catastrophe are what he believes are the dimensions of change – incredible. At the global geopolitical level, there is not one leader envisioning a new future. All of the actions thus far are an attempt to return to a past that worked so well for them.
We must begin a dialogue about a new future. As Rich knows I have been calling this downturn for quite some time and for the last three years have been thinking about how we must have a new vision of where we as a planet should go. I have written in the blog about certain components of this. See “Global New Deal” and “The New Frugality.”
Permit me a slight detour. We now know that fraudulent behavior was rampant on Wall Street, in the City of London, and the rest of the world’s financial centers. Hundreds of billions of dollars were stolen through fraudulent misrepresentations by the leaders of global banks and, as a result, they fleeced investors and creditors. I could wax eloquent about this, but I believe that no government can be legitimate if it does not make a determined effort to retrieve the funds and persecute the perpetrators. It is also likely that the politicians that the U.S. and many other nations elected to power cannot and will not try to recover our monies. If the truth of what occurred is not told, then demagogues will tap into the anger of people who have lost so much – and these people can be mobilized. Already, the deregulating Republican Congress has had its hopes revived by their opposition to the Paulson-Bush-Pelosi-Obama-Frank Golden Parachute for Goldman Sachs Bailout Bill. Yes, the Democrats are snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
A short postscript: those that voted for the Bill said they did it to keep the stock market from collapsing. The collapse of last week can be dated to the minute the Bill PASSED!!! The Congresspersons who voted for the Bill should simply resign or be recalled for their incompetence. In other words, they could have waited and thought through what the right thing to do is – not what George Bush told them to do.
These crimes and imbecilities have already been committed, the question is where, if we are intelligent, will we go from here? We know that any new future must be international, environmentally sound, improve global income equality, and be democratic. Where should we be heading?