Bill Mitchell — Europhile reform dreamers wake up – there will be no ‘far-reaching’ reforms

I have now escaped the near-Arctic chill and back to warmer climes for a little while. While I was in Finland though, the Finnish news media was agape over the – Joint Statement – released by 8 Finance Ministers from the smaller Northern EU Member States (March 6, 2018). The statement released by the finance ministers of Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Sweden aired their views on how the Eurozone (EMU) might develop. Nobody should be under any delusion that significant reforms are going to come soon. These characters are locked into the austerity mindset and any claims that a new Macron-Merkel partnership will take the EMU into more progressive territory should be viewed as blind hope rather than bedded down in any realistic understanding of what is likely or possible....

As an aside, when I was in Barcelona (March 1-3), it was repeatedly claimed by the audiences of the events I spoke at that a unified European culture would eventually emerge, which justifies the progressive Europhile position to stick with the ‘reform’ process and reject breaking up either the Eurozone, the overall EU or both.
Time horizons of around 100 to 150 years were mentioned....

Oh, good,  the Deutsche Reich has only 100-150 years to run.

Bill Mitchell – billy blog
Europhile reform dreamers wake up – there will be no ‘far-reaching’ reforms
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Robert Reich’s Seriously Funny Crusade to Save Capitalism and America’s Middle Class

But Reich has no intention of bludgeoning his audience with bleak statistics and grim predictions. “As you can see, the economy has worn me down,” says the 4-foot-11-inch Reich, pausing as laughter spreads across the room. “Really, before the Great Recession I was, you know, 6 foot 2.”

Moments earlier, when I met Reich in an empty banquet room and asked if he preferred to be called “Professor” or “Bob,” he answered in a deadpan voice: “‘Your Highness.’” I had traveled from Los Angeles to trail Reich for a couple of days to better understand the man who has become at once the most visible, and most entertaining, critic of the nation’s unequal economy.

In an era dominated by polarizing blowhard commentators, Reich is an anomaly: The avuncular scholar who prefers to disarm rather than denigrate.…

Reich's core message is:

“Anybody who thinks that the answer is found in policy has not been paying attention,” he said, revealing a major shift in thinking for a man who has championed his share of policy prescriptions. “Good policies are a dime a dozen. The real issue now is a matter of power. How in the world do you get good policies enacted and enforced?”

Moyers & Co
Robert Reich’s Seriously Funny Crusade to Save Capitalism and America’s Middle Class

Danny Feingold

Stephen Rosenfeld — 37 Ways to Reform the Economy So It’s Not Rigged for the Rich, According to Progressive Economists

Unpacking "Rewriting the Rules."

AlterNet
37 Ways to Reform the Economy So It’s Not Rigged for the Rich, According to Progressive Economists
Stephen Rosenfeld

James Petras — Latin America and the Anglo-American Booby-Left

James Petras goes after Noam Chomsky and the "Anglo-American Booby-Left" for misreading trends in Latin America, which he sees slipping back into neoliberalism.

The Official James Petras website
Latin America and the Anglo-American Booby-Left
James Petras | Bartle Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York and adjunct professor at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Dan Kervick — Rugged Egalitarianism: Progress through Democracy, Solidarity, Equality and Work

Dan's 20 point proposal.

Rugged Egalitarianism: Progress through Democracy, Solidarity, Equality and Work

Dan Kervick

Tschäff Reisberg — New Economic Perspectives

Tschäff Reisberg reflects on his recent trip to Kansas City.

This episode of life
New Economic Perspectives
Tschäff Reisberg