[unable to retrieve full-text content]The Collapse of Antiquity: Greece and Rome as Civilization’s Oligarchic Turning Point Available on Amazon The Collapse of Antiquity, the sequel to Michael Hudson’s “…and forgive them their debts,” is the latest in his trilogy on the history of debt. It describes how the dynamics of interest-bearing debt led to the rise of rentier oligarchies Continue Reading
The post The Collapse of Antiquity – release first appeared on Michael Hudson.
Articles by Michael Hudson
With Dennis Kucinich on the Financialized Economy, Collapse
1 day ago[unable to retrieve full-text content]Dennis Kucinich & Michael Hudson Analyze the Banking Collapses: a lightly edited transcript March 15, 2023 Overview: This was an impromptu conversation precipitated by former Congressman Dennis Kucinich to have a deep dive discussion with a former economic advisor, Michael Hudson, on the shockingly large recent bank collapses. As the former chair of the powerful Continue Reading
The post With Dennis Kucinich on the Financialized Economy, Collapse first appeared on Michael Hudson.
Bond Market Play Reveals Systemic Crisis
6 days ago[unable to retrieve full-text content]Economist Michael Hudson analyzes the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate, and Signature Bank, explaining the similarities to the 2008 financial crash. In this discussion with Geopolitical Economy Report editor Ben Norton, Hudson also addresses the US government bailout (which it isn’t calling a bailout), the role of the Federal Reserve and Treasury, the factor Continue Reading
The post Bond Market Play Reveals Systemic Crisis first appeared on Michael Hudson.
Dollar Diplomacy Down
6 days ago[unable to retrieve full-text content]RADHIKA DESAI: Hi everyone. Welcome to the fifth Geopolitical Economy Hour, the fortnightly show about the political and geopolitical economy of our times. I’m Radhika Desai. MICHAEL HUDSON: And I’m Michael Hudson. RADHIKA DESAI: So this is our third and final show on the theme of de-dollarization, based on our work, particularly on Geopolitical Economy Continue Reading
The post Dollar Diplomacy Down first appeared on Michael Hudson.
The Mechanics of a Bond Market and its Impact on the Banking Crisis
8 days ago[unable to retrieve full-text content]Why the Bank Crisis is Not Over The crashes of Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and the related bank insolvencies are much more serious than the 2008-09 crash. The problem at that time was crooked banks making bad mortgage loans. Debtors were unable to pay and were defaulting, and it turned out that the Continue Reading
The post The Mechanics of a Bond Market and its Impact on the Banking Crisis first appeared on Michael Hudson.
Why the Banking System is Breaking Up
10 days ago[unable to retrieve full-text content]Support my work via Patreon The collapses of Silvergate and Silicon Valley Bank are like icebergs calving off from the Antarctic glacier. The financial analogy to the global warming causing this collapse is the rising temperature of interest rates, which spiked last Thursday and Friday to close at 4.60 percent for the U.S. Treasury’s two-year Continue Reading
The post Why the Banking System is Breaking Up first appeared on Michael Hudson.
An Hour with Michael
23 days ago[unable to retrieve full-text content]Come spend an hour with Michael! Thurs March 2nd 5.30pm EST Via zoom. If you are a Patron Plus supporter on Patreon, you will be able to register. We are at 247 supporters, can you get us to 250? The day before the Q&A you’ll receive an email with the link to join. Anyone upgrading Continue Reading
The post An Hour with Michael first appeared on Michael Hudson.
Trade Theory: No Room for Gunboats
24 days ago[unable to retrieve full-text content] RADHIKA DESAI: Hello everyone. Welcome to the fourth Geopolitical Economy Hour, our fortnightly show on the political and geopolitical economy of our times. I’m Radhika Desai. MICHAEL HUDSON: And I’m Michael Hudson. RADHIKA DESAI: Today we are continuing our discussion of de-dollarization. As many of you know we have structured our discussion around some Continue Reading
The post Trade Theory: No Room for Gunboats first appeared on Michael Hudson.
Gary Null Interview – The Rules Are Changing
February 17, 2023[unable to retrieve full-text content]An interview with Gary Null on the longstanding Progressive Commentary Hour, where he asks me to give my State of the Economy briefing.
The post Gary Null Interview – The Rules Are Changing first appeared on Michael Hudson.
Since Money is Political
February 14, 2023[unable to retrieve full-text content]“Understanding money and the dollar system,” Geopolitical Hour Episode 3, February 9, 2023, with economists Radhika Desai & Michael Hudson. podcast: Radhika Hello and welcome to this third Geopolitical Economy Hour. I’m Radhika Desai. Michael And I’m Michael Hudson. Radhika As many of you know, in this collaboration with Ben Norton’s Geopolitical Economy Report, Michael Continue Reading
The post Since Money is Political first appeared on Michael Hudson.
The Hypocrisy Just Makes Me Cry
February 7, 2023[unable to retrieve full-text content]Danny: Greetings everyone. [We] have two very special guests today. [This] is the first conversation of a series that we will be having on The Left Lens leading into the one year anniversary of the official beginning — or at least what the mainstream may say is the beginning — of the Ukraine proxy war — really Continue Reading
The post The Hypocrisy Just Makes Me Cry first appeared on Michael Hudson.
Inflation’s Drivers on The Geopolitical Hour
January 29, 2023[unable to retrieve full-text content]In this episode of Geopolitical Economy Hour, economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson discuss inflation: what it is, what causes it, and what are the problems in how the Federal Reserve and other central banks respond to it. Transcript RADHIKA DESAI: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the second Geopolitical Economy Hour. I’m Radhika Desai. MICHAEL HUDSON: Continue Reading
The post Inflation’s Drivers on The Geopolitical Hour first appeared on Michael Hudson.
Introducing the Geopolitical Economy Hour
January 18, 2023[unable to retrieve full-text content]Radhika: Hi everyone, and welcome to this Geopolitical Economy Hour. I’m Radhika Desai. Michael: And I’m Michael Hudson. Radhika: Every fortnight we are going to meet for an hour to discuss major development in the fast-changing geopolitical economy of our twenty-first-century world. We’ll discuss international developments. We’ll discuss their roots in individual countries and regions. Continue Reading
The post Introducing the Geopolitical Economy Hour first appeared on Michael Hudson.
Systemic Sponsors of Self-Interest
January 17, 2023[unable to retrieve full-text content]Q & A transcript from our 4th Patreon event. Please join Michael’s Patreon group as a Patreon Plus member, so that you too can join us and ask Michael any question at our next session in March. Karl Fitzgerald (KF): To start off with our typical end-of-year topic: How have you seen this year’s economic Continue Reading
The post Systemic Sponsors of Self-Interest first appeared on Michael Hudson.
China the Change Agent – Patreon Q&A #3
December 12, 2022Each quarter, Patreon Plus supporters can ask Michael questions. Here is a transcript of the most recent one, just in time for our next Q&A this Thursday. Please support Michael’s work via his Patreon page.
Karl Fitzgerald: Alright, let’s get into it. We’ve got lots of good questions. Welcome, everyone. My name is Karl Fitzgerald. I’ve been Michael’s webmaster for over a decade now and yes, we’re so lucky to have Michael Hudson with us today. We’ve all read his books. We’ve all seen his whirlwind approach to unveiling the reality of economics so yes, Michael, great to have you here. I wanted to start off with just a nice easy one. I’m sure you could answer this in your sleep but for you, what are some of the guiding principles that listeners should really grasp in terms
Michael Hudson’s Patreon Q&A
December 8, 2022It’s time for our quarterly Q&A with Michael! Please support Michael’s important work via his Patreon page.
Theme: NATO’s provocative role in Eastern Europe.
If you are a Patron Plus supporter on Patreon, you will be able to register.
Anyone upgrading to Patron Plus at least 24 hours prior to the event is invited.
**Register for the Q&A with the name and email on the Patreon account**
Oligopoly Unchecked
December 6, 2022Platypus interview on The Destiny of Civilization
The destiny of civilization: An interview with Michael HudsonOn July 15, 2022, Platypus Affiliated Society member D. L. Jacobs interviewed Michael Hudson to discuss his new book, The Destiny of Civilization: Finance Capitalism, Industrial Capitalism or Socialism (2022). An edited transcript follows.
D. L. Jacobs: Can tell us about your background regarding Marxism and how you came to political economy?Michael Hudson: Well, I grew up in a Marxist household. My father was a political prisoner, one of the Minneapolis 17. Minneapolis was the only city in the world that was a Trotskyist city, and my parents worked with Trotsky in Mexico. So, I grew up not having any intention of going into economics. I wanted to be a musician,
EU Pressures
December 1, 2022Questions from almayadeen TV, Lebanon. Mohammad Itmaizeh
1 – In light of the conditions that Europe is experiencing, in terms of high energy prices and the repercussions on the industrial sector, like the closure of factories and the high cost of production. In your opinion do European countries have the capacity and resources to prevent industrial investments from “escaping”? Especially since the US plans in general to restore industry to its lands, thus, it may represent an opportunity to lure European industries to move to there and take advantage of cheap energy prices. This shift will have wide repercussions on Europe’s productive capacities and competitiveness, as well as on its trade balance. So, what happens to the position of Europe in the global economic
War and Debt to Rule
November 10, 2022Cross posted from La Tribune Diplomatic International.
French version
Mohsen Abdelmoumen: Your analysis of Mesopotamian times and the wise rule of Emperors embodied by the practice of the Jubilee (compared to the predation of oligarchies) resonate with the Islamic economic theory which forbids riba (meaning usury) and imposes that banks and creditors share the risk of investment or debt. It also seems something deeply rooted in our Arabic and North African traditions of equality and justice where it is socially unacceptable to leave part of the community in dire poverty. As an anthropologist, have you related the success or failure of modern finance to anthropological factors like the structures of the rural families, theories developed by some like Emmanuel Todd?
The Rentier Economy is a Free Lunch
November 8, 2022The Real Progressives Live with Michael Hudson on The Destiny of Civilization
[embedded content]
[00:00:06] Luke Parcher: All right. For those who might not know me, I’m Luke Parcher, I’m a student and activist. I volunteer with Real Progressives. I’m on our leadership team and I also do a show on Sundays covering politics and current events, and I do some interviews throughout the week and things which you guys can find on Real Progress in Action.
I want to quickly talk about Real Progressives. If you’re interested in learning more about us, you can go to realprogressives.org. We have articles, content, podcasts, all sorts of things. And if you’re interested in helping us out, we are a nonprofit. You can go to realprogressives.org/donate. I also want to plug our
Germany’s position in America’s New World Order
November 2, 2022Germany has become an economic satellite of America’s New Cold War with Russia, China and the rest of Eurasia.
Germany and other NATO countries have been told to impose trade and investment sanctions upon themselves that will outlast today’s proxy war in Ukraine. U.S. President Biden and his State Department spokesmen have explained that Ukraine is just the opening arena in a much broader dynamic that is splitting the world into two opposing sets of economic alliances. This global fracture promises to be a ten- or twenty-year struggle to determine whether the world economy will be a unipolar U.S.-centered dollarized economy, or a multipolar, multi-currency world centered on the Eurasian heartland with mixed public/private economies.
President Biden has characterized
We Do Read Comments: Re Nader
October 16, 2022[unable to retrieve full-text content]Some follow up comments to my appearance on the Ralph Nader show. I am looking forward to our next Q&A session with Patreon Plus supporters this Friday. Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash
The post We Do Read Comments: Re Nader first appeared on Michael Hudson.
Escaping the Western Rentier
October 7, 2022Cross-posted from Pepe Escobar’s The Cradle.
It is impossible to track the geoeconomic turbulence inherent to the “birth pangs” of the multipolar world without the insights of Professor Michael Hudson at the University of Missouri, and author of the already seminal The Destiny of Civilization.In his latest essay, Professor Hudson digs deeper into Germany’s suicidal economic/financial policies; their effect on the already falling euro – and hints at some possibilities for fast integrating Eurasia and the Global South as a whole to try to break the Hegemon’s stranglehold.
That led to a series of email exchanges, especially about the future role of the yuan, where Hudson remarked:
“The Chinese whom I’ve talked to for years and years did not expect the dollar to weaken.
The Euro Without German Industry
October 4, 2022The reaction to the sabotage of three of the four Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in four places on Monday, September 26, has focused on speculations about who did it and whether NATO will make a serious attempt to discover the answer. Yet instead of panic, there has been a great sigh of diplomatic relief, even calm. Disabling these pipelines ends the uncertainty and worries on the part of US/NATO diplomats that nearly reached a crisis proportion the previous week, when large demonstrations took place in Germany calling for the sanctions to end and to commission Nord Stream 2 to resolve the energy shortage.
The German public was coming to understand what it will mean if their steel companies, fertilizer companies, glass companies and toilet-paper companies were shutting
On the Federal Reserve with Ralph Nader
September 26, 2022RALPH NADER RADIO HOUR EP 465
[embedded content]
TRANSCRIPT, September 17, 2022.
Tom Morello: I’m Tom Morello and you’re listening to the Ralph Nader Radio Hour.
Steve Skrovan: Welcome to the Ralph Nader Radio Hour. My name is Steve Skrovan, along with my co-host, David Feldman. Hello, David.
David Feldman: Hello, Steve.
Steve Skrovan: And of course, it’s not a show without the man of the hour, Ralph Nader.Hello, Ralph.
Ralph Nader: Hi everybody.
Steve Skrovan: Our featured guest today will be economist Michael Hudson. Many of you have been clamoring to have him on the show and we’ve taken heed. He’s a progressive economist who will join us to talk about the Federal Reserve, how American laws are pro-creditor and anti- debtor, stock buybacks, gambling, Wall Street
A short history of inflation in modern times
September 12, 2022Economist Michael Hudson joins Multipolarista host Ben Norton to discuss partial student debt relief in the US, inflation and the Fed, disaster capitalism in Ukraine, and China’s challenge to the petrodollar.
[embedded content]
Transcript
BEN NORTON: Hey everyone, this is Ben Norton of Multipolarista. I’m joined by one of my favorite guests today, the brilliant economist Michael Hudson. And there are a lot of things that we plan on talking about today.
We’re going to address the partial student debt relief in the United States, and the problem of debt, which is something that Professor Hudson has written a lot about.
We’re going to talk about the inflation crisis, and some of the history of responses to the inflation that we’ve seen in the US. For instance, I’m going
Moscow’s New Found Independence
August 9, 2022RT, 8 Aug, 2022 05:05, HomeBusiness NewsWestern sanctions are good for Moscow – US economistA former Wall Street analyst says the Russian economy is being made self-sufficient
The economic war unleashed by the West against Russia has backfired and may bring the country much good, former Wall Street financier Michael Hudson has told the German news outlet Junge Welt.
“The West’s sanctions are great for Russia. Any country threatened by US sanctions is forced to become self-sufficient,” Hudson said in an interview published on Saturday.He said that sanctions have effectively pushed Russia toward import-substitution, and the country is on track to becoming completely free of reliance on Western goods.
“Instead of importing German cars, Russia is turning to China to develop
The Big Context
August 8, 2022Interview of Michael Hudson by Andrei The Saker, August 2022
Russian transcript
Transcript
Key: ATS = Andrei The Saker; MH = Michael Hudson
ATSWell first of all, Michael, a huge, huge thank you for agreeing to this conversation. It’s a big pleasure for me to have you here, it’s a big honour too, and I really look forward to getting your insight as to what’s happening, ’cause there’s a lot happening right now. The first thing I want to ask you about is a current event then we can go into deeper things. What do you make of Pelosi landing in Taiwan and how do you see … what is this all about, what’s happening here?
MHWell I think in what you just wrote today you made it all clear. There’s really no practical effect of what she did, so why should China have actually done
Counterpunch to Economic History
August 8, 2022CounterPunch Radio – _July 15, 2022 – Michael Hudson ERIC DRAITSER: Hello and welcome to CounterPunch Radio. My name is Eric Draitser, thanks so much for tuning in, and coming back to the show. First-time listeners finding the show, welcome aboard. Thank you so much, we really appreciate your support. If you want to support CounterPunch, the best way to do that is to get a subscription to CounterPunch Plus, that way you get access to all of our exclusive content. Remember folks, this is basically the print magazine, now online. We have discontinued the print magazine and taken even more content, but it behind a little paywall just like everybody else is doing these days and it’s there for you. CounterPunch is unlike any other space on the left online. You have competing
Read More »Finance Capitalism’s Self-Destructive Nature
July 18, 2022[embedded content]
Transcript of Interview on The Left Lens with Danny Haiphong May 25th, 2022
DANNY HAIPHONG: Good afternoon, everyone. Happy Wednesday, May 25th, welcome to the stream, to another left lens. Today we have a very special guest so as you’re coming in make sure you are liking the stream sharing it, make sure that you are subscribing to the channel and hitting that notifications bell, and as always you know please do support this work here at this channel and all the work that I do at patreon.com/dannyhaiphong. But with that said I want to introduce our guests because we have a lot to talk about over the next hour and it is economist Michael Hudson.
He is the author of the new book, The Destiny of Civilization: Finance capitalism, Industrial Capitalism or