You have a choice. Either you can have more oil, or more clean water. Fracking is not good for the water supply. Michael Hudson More Quotes by Michael Hudson More Quotes From Michael Hudson The companies aren't hiring, because consumers don't have enough money to buy the goods and services. Michael Hudson hiring consumers enough We're in a chronic debt-deflation. There's no way we can recover unless you write down the debts. And that's what the IMF basically is implying (and it was explicit regarding Greece), but its not spelling it out, because that's not what can be said in polite company. Michael Hudson debt writing way Small banks that lend to consumers are fine. Michael Hudson fine consumers Most banks - with Deutsche Bank at the top of the spectrum here - have decided that they can't make money lending to barrowers anymore, so they're going to the second business plan: They lend money to casino capitalists. That is, to people who want to gamble on derivatives. Michael Hudson casinos want people A derivative is a bet on whether a stock, or a bond or a real estate asset, is going to go up or down. There's a winner and a loser. It's like betting on a horserace. Michael Hudson derivatives loser real What's the best gamble in the world, right now? Its betting that Deutsche Bank stock is going to go down. Short sellers borrowed money from their banks to place bets that Deutsche Bank stock is going to go down. Now, it's wringing its hands and saying, "Oh the speculators are killing us." But it's Deutsche Bank and the other banks that are providing the money to the speculators to bet on credit. Michael Hudson credit hands world You have to abolish pension plans. You have to abolish social spending. You have to raise taxes. You have to have at least fifty percent of the European population emigrate, either to Russia or China. You would have to have mass starvation. Very simple. That's the price that the Eurozone thinks is well worth paying. Michael Hudson pension-plans simple thinking To save the banks, you would have to turn the entire Eurozone into Greece. Michael Hudson eurozone greece turns To save the banks from making losses that would wipe out their net worth, you'll have to get rid of Social Security. It means that you'll essentially have to abolish government and turn it over to the banking system to run, with an idea that the role of governments is to extract income from the economy to pay to the bondholders and the banks. Michael Hudson loss running mean When you say "paying the banks," what they really mean is paying the bank bondholders. They are basically the One Percent. Michael Hudson really-mean percent mean Either you can save the economy, or you can save the One Percent from losing a single penny. Michael Hudson economy pennies losing We're at the end of long cycle that began in 1945, loading the economy with debt. We're not going to be able to get out of it until you write down the debts. But that's what the IMF believes is unthinkable. It can't say that, because it's supposed to represent the interest of the banks. Michael Hudson writing long believe In fact, there's no way that banks can be paid everything that they're owed. Michael Hudson paid facts way People have to pay so much money to the banks that they don't have enough money to buy the goods and services they produce. So there's not much new investment, there's not new employment (except minimum-wage "service" jobs), markets are shrinking, and people are defaulting. So many companies can't pay their banks. Michael Hudson shrinking jobs people High prices can be the result of speculation, and maybe plunging prices can be attributed to the end of speculation, but low prices over time aren't caused by speculation. That's oversupply, mainly by Saudi Arabia flooding the market with low-priced oil to discourage rival oil producers, whether it's Russian oil or American fracking. Michael Hudson fracking arabia oil Debt deflation is when there's less money that people have to spend out of their paychecks on goods and services, because they're paying the FIRE sector. Oil going down is a function of the supply and demand of oil in the market. It's a separate phenomenon. Michael Hudson oil fire people I think the less fracking there is, the better it is for the economy and society. Michael Hudson fracking economy thinking Nothing could be better for the economy than to get rid of fracking. Michael Hudson fracking economy Almost all of the demand for oil that suddenly pushed prices up was speculative demand. People began to speculate not only in stocks and bonds and real estate, but also in commodities. The market went up for old tankers, which were used simply to store oil in. A lot of the oil was simply being stored for trading, not used. Michael Hudson oil real people One of the big problems in America's economic polarization and shrinkage is that pensions can't be paid. So there are going to be defaults on pensions here, just like Europeans are insisting in rolling back pensions. You can look at Greece and Argentina as the future of America. Michael Hudson argentina rolling america
