thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-04-01--WHAT IS SOCIALIST PSYCHOLOGY? LEV VYGOTSKY, ACTIVITY THEORY AND SOCIO-HISTORICAL PSYCHOLOGY

he field of psychology is a big capitalist business , whether it is helping capitalists with advertising , finding new consumers , selling self-help books to an anxious public , or helping psychiatrists or counselors make a living off of people ’ s misery .
There are six schools of psychology – psychoanalysis , behaviorism , humanistic psychology , cognitive psychology , physiological psychology and evolutionary psychology .
While all these schools are different from each other , they all have in common they stripping individuals from their social and historical identity and either ignoring it , suppressing it or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ present this isolated , alienated individual of capitalist society as ground zero , as normal .
The purpose of these two articles is to suggest a psychological ray of hope for all socialists who have rightfully been suspicious of the field of psychology or those who have put up with therapists who tell them their problems are due to ; a ) lousy parenting ; b ) positive or negative reinforcement ; c ) conditional love ; d ) cognitive distortions ; e ) chemical imbalances in the body ; f ) evolutionary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other words , everything but cut-throat competition and capitalist irrationalities .
How do socialists navigate our psychological problems when both the analysis and the remedies are all products of a capitalist society ?
Lev Vygotsky is currently “ hot stuff ” in the field of American psychology .
But as in the case of Freud , his work comes to the United States truncated and sanitized as it crosses the Atlantic .
These “ neoliberal ” ( Ratner ) American psychologists praise the work of Vygotsky as the “ father of cooperative learning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ zone of proximal development ” solely in micro-interpersonal ways .
They ignore the impact of macro-cultural forces like capitalism , state surveillance , propaganda , class stratification , anti-democratic politics or the prison industrial complex on psychological issues .
These bourgeois psychologists either don ’ t know or actively suppress the reality that Vygotsky was a Marxist who wanted to build a communist psychology which is ontologically and epistemologically at odds with the social contract theory of society that these neo-liberal psychologists consciously or unconsciously support .
As a Marxian psychologist in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ answer the question , what would a communist psychology look like ?
This article will begin with a high contrast between what capitalist psychology is and what socialist psychology would be like in general .
Secondly , I will contrast the differences between atomistic , organic and dialectical theories of human development in general .
Third , I will contrast the developmental theories of Vygotsky to the well-known theories of the great cognitive psychologist Jean Piaget in childhood and adolescent development .
This will be Part I .
In Part II I will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ psychological changes go through as the economy , the technology and the politics of society change .
I will cover the work that Alexander Luria did with the Russian peasants to show how their perception , identity and cognition changed because of the revolutionary changes in Czarist Russia as Russia moved to be industrialized under socialism .
Next I will discuss what a Marxian theory of the emotions looks like and how it contrasts with bourgeois theories of the emotions .
Then I will discuss how socialist therapy would differ from bourgeois therapy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ basic unit of psychological transformation rather than the individual .
Lastly , we will apply Vygotsky ’ s zone of proximal development not to learning opportunities in child development , which is what Neoliberal psychologists do , but how the zone of proximal development ( renamed by one scholar “ the zone of development ” ) helps us to understand revolutionary situations .
Capitalist psychology splits the individual from his social , historical and class identity .
It takes the stripped-down , isolated , alienated individual as human nature and its point of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the type of society we live under ( capitalist ) the historical period in which we live ( a descendant phase of capitalism ) and our social class location ( upper-middle , middle or working class ) as our point of foundation .
Most every psychological problem is rooted in the chaotic nature of all three systems and how they interact .
Capitalists eternalize alien relations under capitalism and treat them as if they were always there .
They project how people learn , think , emote and remember under capitalism into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ present narcissism , attention-deficit disorders or manic depression as present in tribal or state civilizations just as much as they are under capitalism .
On the other hand , socialist psychology is historically sensitive to how changes in the political economy will create , amplify or destroy , narcissism , attention-deficit disorder or manic depression .
Different social formations create different psychologies and different systems of health or pathology .
Narcissism , the preoccupation with oneself and sense of entitlement are products of capitalist society .
In Colonial America there was no such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , working class , middle class and upper middle class have different psychologies of emotion , thinking , remembering , love making or mental disturbances .
There is a reason why working-class men and women die seven to ten years younger than middle classes .
They are hammered into the ground early by the kind of work they do , the neighborhoods they live in and their eating and drinking habits .
In capitalist psychology social class is ignored .
Psychological theories , whether cognitive , humanistic , physiological or evolutionary act as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bourgeois psychology will reluctantly cede ethnic or gender differences as a result of the political work done by liberals in the past but last 50 years .
But Yankee psychologists either ignore social class or assume that there are three social classes , upper , middle and lower middle .
This is a 70 years out-of-date stratification system .
Sociologists today agree there are at least 6 social classes and they are deeply graded .
Capitalist psychology treats human consciousness as if it were separate from human practice .
In other words , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how their work affects them has no serious bearing on their sense of awareness .
States of consciousness are treated as if the individual were free to be aware of whatever they want .
In socialist psychology what a person does in work over and over again affects and shapes the parameters of their consciousness .
All consciousness is consciousness .
Every social class lives in a little micro-bubble of reality .
A working-class person inhabits a world of religion , community , recreational habits , child-rearing and occupational awareness that is rooted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experiences world of religion , community , recreation , music , child-rearing and occupational habits from a salaried professional viewpoint .
Crossing states of consciousness is awkward because class states of awareness are different .
This is why attempts by “ human resources professionals ” to get social classes to mix at company picnics rarely turns out well as middle managers will change tables and sit with other middle managers and cashiers and factory workers will disrupt attempts to integrate classes at tables and will sit with members of their own social class @ @ @ @ @ @ @ selfish , as if we individuals are like Hobbes ’ atoms , greedy , insensitive , grasping and mindlessly crashing into each other .
Whether it is Freud ’ s ego or the behavioral motivation of pain or pleasure , individuals ’ primary motivation is self-interest .
A socialist psychology understands people are primarily collectively-creative .
This is demonstrated when workers are given the opportunity to operate cooperatives , create workers councils in revolutionary situations or even during natural disasters .
Selfishness is a product of capitalism and not the primary way human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic relationships are visited on the emotional life of its individuals .
Capitalist divide-and-conquer strategies create racism on the job by giving privileges to white workers to keep them from uniting with minorities for better pay .
Capitalists expect loyalty to sports teams even when the owners move the team away and the players sell themselves to the highest bidder .
Capitalists expect working-class loyalty to a nation and for them to fight wars , while capitalists exercise no loyalty to workers when they relocate in another nations where the costs of labor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ psychology where the forces of production ( technology and methods of harnessing energy ) and the relations of production ( the political economy ) are harmonious human beings are not pulled and pushed in opposite directions .
In capitalist psychology the intelligence of people is determined by tests which ask individuals to answer questions on an IQ test .
This ignores the fact that most real-life situations occur at work where people ’ s intelligence is harnessed by having to with others .
For Vygotsky , true intelligence is measured first by their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they have internalized the skills .
Intelligence is further tested when they apply what they have internalized at work to non-work situations , such as play or artistic or scientific endeavors outside of work .
Vygotsky called this cooperative learning the “ zone of proximal development ” .
In capitalist psychology the unconscious is personal .
What is unconscious is a history of what is behind the scenes in an individual ’ s personal life .
In Freud ’ s case , that would be a painful past .
For a socialist psychology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the working class is a “ social ” unconscious .
It is the repressed collective creativity of the human past , dead labor , that causes this individual to have “ social amnesia ” .
The wisdom that has accumulated from revolutionary situations : the heroic stance of the Paris Commune ; the heroism of Russian factory councils and the workers ’ self-management experiments in Spain from 1936-1939 .
All this is blocked from the individual .
To make this social unconscious conscious is to make the working class shapers of history rather @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In capitalist consumption , commodities are fetishized .
Commodities acquire a life of their own and oppress the very people who created them .
Capitalist psychology has nothing to say about this .
Besides Wilhelm Reich , Erich Fromm is the only psychologist in any of the six schools of psychology I know who attempted to create pathological category of neurosis called “ the marketing type ” .
Most capitalist psychologists accept accumulation of commodities and capitalist mania for accumulation as not worth capturing as a diagnostic category .
For a socialist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activity – is the very process that makes us human .
It can raise us to heaven ( under socialism ) or condemn us to hell ( life under capitalism ) but there is nothing neutral or private about it .
Meaningful work is what makes us most human .
For capitalist psychology , work is just something to either put up with or derive private pleasure from .
Life for bourgeois psychologists begins when an individual has leisure time .
Work under capitalism still possesses a religious root of the result of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ individuals have free will and they more or less freely choose their situations .
Religious institutions , educational manipulation , propaganda , legitimation , mystification and collusion in oppression is completely Greek to them .
For socialist psychologists all these forms of socio-political control affect free will .
While none of these processes by themselves or even all together determine a person ’ s free will , the options people choose to exercise are significantly constrained .
Lastly , speaking therapeutically , capitalist psychology glorifies the private relationship between the individual and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world is best handled away from other individuals .
This , despite the research that says group therapy has a better success rate .
In a socialist psychology theory the group is not just a witness to the drama of the individual .
Rather it is the vehicle for individual development .
Socialist psychology encourages individuals to find their lost group identity and to learn that through cooperation in groups personal problems can be either gotten rid of or minimized .
More of this in Part II .
Any theory of human development @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( the brain ) , psychological processes ( the mind ) and social structures and processes .
In this section I have followed the work of Jonas Langer ( Theories of Development ) ; Klaus Riegel ( Psychology , My Love ) ; Heinz Werner ’ s Comparative Theory of Mental Development and lastly , Valsiner ’ s book on Werner ( 2005 ) .
There are four major theories of human development .
The Freudian psychoanalytic theory is not included here because most of Freud ’ s theory has been either proven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to scientific experiment .
Of the four theories , nativist , behavioral , constructionist and socio-historical , the first three come out of bourgeois psychology which began at the end of the 19th century .
Only the last theory is socialist .
This first theory , nativism , goes back as far back as the turn of the century .
Nativists have argued that heredity and genetic predispositions are primarily , if not exclusively , the drivers of human development .
Later , evolutionary psychologists ( Cosmides and Tooby ) have added a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reasons why some behaviors are more adaptive than others .
All nativists see change as gradual and continuous .
Gesell , Buhler and Hall would emphasize that the individual is passive ( genetically determined ) and the environment is passive because it takes generations before new adaptive skills are required .
Since most nativists don ’ t have specific stage theories , I include them to show that not all psychological theories even contend that stages exist .
In Pepper ’ s book , World Hypothesis , nativist theories are classified as “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Plato and Leibniz .
The second theory , radical behavioristic theories of development , are mechanistic .
Whether it ’ s Pavlov or Skinner , they see the individual ( whether their focus is the brain or the mind ) as passive and an environment as relatively passive .
This environment either conditions responses resulting from past associations ( Pavlov ) or the environment rewards or punishes the individual ( Skinner ) .
But the environment for the behaviorist operates at a micro level of family , friends , teachers , or school-mates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ macro-social institutions such as capitalism or an authoritarian state .
These theories are called mechanical theories of growth because : • they emphasize what is going on external to the individual ; • see change as gradual and quantitative adaptations to external conditions ; • the individual mind , brain or body is a blank slate which doesn ’ t bring in anything active in the interaction with the environmental slate ; • the whole is a product of the build-up of the parts .
Langer has called these theories the “ mechanical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the individual to ideally reflect the environment .
Its philosophical roots are in Aristotle as well as Locke ’ s association theory .
Like the nativists , behaviorist theories have no stages .
A variant of the second type of behaviorism is Bandura ’ s social learning theory .
This theory sees the environment as active and the person as passive .
Bandura argues about the power of social models – attractive , powerful and having expertise in shaping the individual .
This kind of theory would be a mechanical materialist one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of social circumstances not of their choosing .
In sociology , Durkheim ’ s description of the movement from mechanical to organic society historically might be an example because the individual appears as a passive victim of the division of labor in society .
In geography a mechanical materialist attitude would be the environmental determinism of Ratzel , which says that the climate and geography directly impact how the individual turns out .
The third type of theory emphasizes the active person and a relatively passive environment .
Since the work of Piaget @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the next section , there is no point in describing it in detail here .
Meaning-making is confined to changes in internal states , while the objective world is passive , a prop for a psychobiological drama staged within the body of an individual .
Social mediations such as teachers , media , religion are secondary .
Heinz Werner is another “ organic ” developmental psychologist who saw a child going through predictable stages .
In the first stage of child development , there is a primitive globalism , a whole without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ primitive state does not make a distinction between the objective and the subjective worlds .
Boundaries are fused .
Boundaries are porous between : • physical body and the objects in the world ; • names of things and the things themselves ; and • motives for doing something and actions .
In this primitive globalism , space has no objective properties and is inseparable from the objects or people within the space .
In terms of time , children at first can not tell the difference between objective time passing as measured @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speeds up or slows down based on the level of interest .
This primitive fusion is also characterized by rigidity and instability in its functions .
As part of the developmental process , these states of fusion are followed by a stage of differentiation in which the objective characteristics of the physical world are clearly separated from the subjective experiences of the individuals .
This leads to a stability and flexibility in their functions .
After gaining the capacity to tell the difference between the objective and subjective world , a new whole @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is a complex whole with fully differentiated parts .
Werner was very bold in his claims , arguing that the similar patterns can be comprehended not only in the differences between younger and older children , but also in the development of primates ; the difference between abnormal and normal adults ; and even the difference between people in primitive societies and modern societies .
If Werner ’ s theories were applied to the subject matter of history , he would say that in the Middle Ages there was a primitive unity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , time , cause , human identity was formerly a similar parallel with the fused state of consciousness of a child .
Beginning in early modern Europe , societies would be characterized by gradual separation between the objective world and the subjective world .
This third theory is organic because : • development is seen to be an unfolding process of a plan which is internal to the organism ; • the stages an individual goes through are qualitatively different from each other and go through accumulating levels of complexity ; • there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beginning .
From there , differentiation takes place , resulting in a new , more complex whole .
Werner ’ s theory can be categorized by Pepper as “ organicist ” with its philosophical roots in Kant and Mach .
The fourth way of thinking of development is the dialectical approach .
Here the environment is active and the person is active .
This is typified in the work of Vygotsky , Luria and Leontiev .
Compared to the dialectical theory , the mechanical and organic theories attitude towards interaction is weak .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is active or the environment is active .
But what they all have in common is that the interaction between the environment and the person is not co-creative .
The subjective and objective systems are self-subsisting and only interact through accidental or in a predetermined way , not in a self-organizing way .
The active-active stage of dialectical development is the only one in which both the social world and the individual co-create each other .
On the one hand , social forces produce individuals , but those individuals , through their work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is first the yarn and then becomes the weaver of social life .
The individual-social relationship is not static .
It evolves into a spiral , either getting better or worse but never staying the same over the course of history .
This is what socialist psychology is all about !
Please see the table at the end of the article for a summary .
Piaget and Vygotsky had important similarities .
They both opposed the behaviorists ’ reduction of consciousness to “ behavior ” .
So too , they opposed nativists ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ At the other end , while both were sympathetic to the Gestalt theory of perception in which human consciousness was a whole which was more than the sum of its parts , they both criticized it as being static .
Both Piaget and Vygotsky felt Gestalists ignored human consciousness as developing .
Both Vygotsky and Piaget claimed that there were qualitative leaps between levels of development .
Furthermore , they both asserted that cognitive development was rooted in actionsand could not be simply something that goes on inside the body or the mind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both agreed that actions were driven by goals , unlike the behaviorists who believed “ behavior ” was driven by associations and consequences , both of which came from external forces .
Third , Piaget and Vygotsky were both dialectical .
They explained development processes as a result of multiple causation where what was once a cause becomes an effect .
This was opposed to looking for a single cause .
Fourth , each was skeptical of what research on human beings could achieve in a lab .
Both used interviewing techniques .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of intelligence testing in formal settings for different reasons .
Lastly , both were interdisciplinary .
Piaget started as a biologist before he became a psychologist and he never put these disciplines aside in his psychological work .
As for Vygotsky , before becoming a psychologist , he was an art critic and a producer of plays .
Vygotsky and Piaget had many differences .
For one thing , each came out of radically different philosophical traditions .
Piaget was most influenced by Kant and Ernst Mach , while Vygotsky ’ s influences @ @ @ @ @ @ @ course , Marx and Engels .
They also disagreed over the nature of human beings .
Piaget saw human beings as primarily bio-psychological creatures .
He once said that prior to the ages of 7 – 8 , children didn ’ t have much of a social life .
Vygotsky saw human beings as primarily beings right from birth , with biology only setting the necessary conditions .
The third difference has to do with the relationship between language and thought .
Piaget argued that language was a product of cognitive maturation , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vygotsky saw language as a mediator for the completion of thought .
Fourth , Vygotsky and Piaget saw the role of adults and schooling very differently .
Piaget trusted children to spontaneously learn new things and that adults were just background sources providing a setting in which children learned .
The same relationship was played out in schools .
Vygotsky argued that , left to their own devices , children are not spontaneously curious .
It takes adults to get the ball rolling .
Children only sustain curiosity when adults take center stage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Vygotsky argued that without school , scientific concepts can not be learned .
Children do not naturally learn to think more scientifically as a product of maturation .
Fifth , in the relationship between learning and development , Piaget emphasized that maturation leads learning .
For him , learning is a secondary process which occurs later in time .
For Vygotsky , cooperative learning through the zone of proximal development is the leading edge of maturation .
Our biological nature becomes background and the older we get , the more our social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of cognitive development .
Piaget ’ s stages were sensorimotor , preoperational , concrete operational and formal operational .
Vygotsky , in his book Thought and Language , argued that children go through four cognitive stages : syncretism , complexification , graphic-functional and categorical deductive .
A comparison of these stages shows considerable overlap , There are many other differences , but these differences center around child development , whereas I want to turn to the subject of history .
For our purposes , the most important difference between Piaget and Vygotsky centers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are affected by history .
Piaget argues in Psychogenesis and the History of Science that his four cognitive stages of development are affected by social evolution .
All four of his stages will unfold inside the individual , regardless of whether the society is composed of hunter-gatherers , horticulturalists , members of agricultural states , herders or members of industrial capitalist societies .
Vygotsky and his colleagues Luria and Leontiev disagreed .
Luria did research on the impact of the Russian Revolution on peasants .
In the late 1920 ’ s , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perception , how they categorize , their concepts of self and cognition .
He found in changes in cognition from thinking complexes , to the graphic-functional to categorical-deductive stages as peasants moved from the countryside to the cities .
More of this in the second part of this article soon to come .
Piaget ’ s four stages have stood the test of time .
While the ages that children and adolescents go through these stages are not what Piaget originally proposed , the of the stages as well as their contents have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Luria ’ s work , the work of a group in Russia whom Yuriy Karpov calls “ Neo-Vygotskians ” ( The Neo-Vygotskian Approach to Child Development ) does not follow up on Vygotsky ’ s and Luria ’ s stages of cognitive development .
In addition , it is far more difficult to find research from Russia where most of his Marxian followers are likely to be .
Many of the books have not been translated from Russian to English .
In addition , if the books have been published , they are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ affiliated with an educational institution .
Lastly , Vygotsky and his colleagues were in and out of trouble with Stalin and it is hard to know how much their research has been lost , suppressed or marginalized .
In Part I of these article I have introduced a side of Lev Vygotsky that most Yankees know nothing about .
He was a Marxist who sought to build a communist psychology .
I have contrasted capitalist to socialist psychology across eleven categories : psychological disorders , social class , consciousness , motivation , emotions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unconscious , consumptive patterns , work , free will and therapy .
Lastly I compared socialist dialectical human development to the nativistic , mechanistic , organicist theories .
Lastly , two great psychologists of development were compared : the constructionism of Piaget to the socio-historical psychology of Vygotsky .
But what crisis was going in the field of psychology in the mid 1920 ’ s that made Vygotsky intervene ?
What was Luria trying to prove when he went into peasant villages during the Russian Revolution to test their sense of self , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bourgeois psychology emotions are a big deal .
We are told we are repressing them , need to get in touch with them or share them .
Emotions are understood as the sacred private property of individuals .
They are in our guts , or for the cognitive psychologists in our minds .
Socialist psychologists think neoliberal psychologists are looking in the wrong place for our emotions .
For us , emotions are socially constructed , class-based and change over the course of history .
When it comes to bourgeois therapy , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alienation are nowhere to be found in their analysis .
At best people enter group therapy not because research shows it works better than one-on-one , but because it is cheaper .
It is clearly a second choice .
For socialist psychologists , the collective creativity of the group not only helps to solve individual problems but it is the key to reducing all problems in capitalist society .
What happens to people during revolutions psychologically ?
Research in mass psychology shows both increased anxiety and increased joy accompanies building barricades , taking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Can Vygotsky ’ s zone of proximal development explain what is going on here ?
In the second part of this article we will find out .

Up to You.
^3000US citizens have no real political representation.
We don't live in a democracy. And our freedom is disappearing fast.
I don't want to be ruled by hypocrites, whores, and war criminals.
What about you? Time to push back against the corporate oligarchy.
And its multitude of minions and lackeys.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-04-02--Corporate Media ignores how Privatization of Hospitals explains Lack of Beds, Ventilators

he escalating total Covid-19 deaths in New York City and the frantic quest to obtain life-saving medical gear has rightly captured media attention .
New York governor Andrew Cuomo ’ s impassioned plea for more federal assistance and a need-based system for allocating aid among the states was covered by CNN and other major corporate media .
Nonetheless , they omitted the backstory , the grave decline in NYC hospital capacity over the last two decades , continued and endorsed by the leadership of both political parties .
Though much attention was focused on how short of ventilators , masks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was almost no attention to how the city fell into this crisis .
It was as though only the virus was to blame .
Over many years now Medicaid and healthcare activists have made hospital closures an intensely contested issue .
In the last two decades , NYC hospital beds have gone from 73,000 to 53,000 .
Democracy Now co-host Juan Gonzales and guest Sean Petty , an emergency room nurse in the Bronx , point to the role that a market mentality creeping into private and even many nonprofit hospitals has played @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years Cuomo has been in office , the number of beds available per patient in the United States in many states has declined dramatically , mostly because hospital managers see empty beds as not money-making , so they want to reduce the number of empty beds as much as possible , so they staff fewer and fewer beds.
” Beds , in short , are subject to the same just in time principles that govern any other supply chain in the modern market economy .
Applying just in time metrics to all key @ @ @ @ @ @ @ however , is a concept that deserves more critical scrutiny .
Writing in the Atlantic Helen Lewis argued : “ The tech sector ’ s overarching philosophy remains bent towards treating the human brain and body like a machine that can be tweaked and perfected until it is running at peak efficiency , ” the journalist Lux Alptraum wrote for Quartz in 2017 .
This is , however , a fundamentally inhuman philosophy .
People aren ’ t machines .
We are inherently inefficient , with our elderly parents and sick children , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and our need to sleep and eat .
And , as the past few months have demonstrated , our susceptibility to novel viruses.… Humans and the ecosystems of which they are a part are volatile and not always predictable .
The decision to forego back- up systems and ample inventories is analogous to a homeowner ’ s choosing not to insure his/her house because a fire is unlikely and insurance premiums consume after- tax income .
Fortunately , most homeowners don ’ t or are not allowed to think that way .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ things are different .
Governor Cuomo has been generally supportive of the neoliberal development model that includes tax cuts for business and fiscal austerity for the public sector to fund those cuts .
He shares the centrist faith in markets as perfect information processing systems and strives to remove the public from active participation in such decisions .
When the state budget mandated multi-billion-dollar cuts in spending for hospitals he attempted to deflect attention to his role by creating a commission comprised disproportionately of health industry insiders .
Those industry insiders seem to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ backstory .
“ Focusing on closed and consolidated hospitals does nothing to help the task at hand , ” said Brian Conway , spokesman for the Greater New York Hospital Association .
“ All that matters is rising to the current challenge , and the hospital community is deeply committed to doing exactly that .
This is the familiar line of an institution in crisis .
When the crisis is in full force now is not the time to explore its history .
That would be fine except for two facts .
Knowing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ point is one key to a more humane resolution of it .
Major media , including NPR , sadly have done little to explore the deeper background of the NYC shortages .
Activists and alternative media must fill the void .
Secondly , even in the face of corporate healthcare ’ s many tragedies and inequities , its proponents and beneficiaries continue to push for its preservation and extension of a market dominated health system from which they profit .
Recent sociological studies aimed at locating and finding the backgrounds of the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ healthcare indicate that MBAs are replacing those whose primary focus is in health delivery , public health , and biomedical research .
Thus if these players get their way , potential vaccines to prevent a future COVID-19 pandemic will be patented and thus limited to those who can afford their inflated prices .
The politics of healthcare and COVID-19 provide ample reasons for anger—toward corporate healthcare and the corporate media so oblivious to their exploitation .

Editor's Note Thank you, John Buell! While Trump decimated the federal response to this pandemic by cutting the NSC pandemic team, funding for the CDC and WHO, and throwing out the health crisis playbook (among other harmful decisions), the destruction of public and community healthcare began with GOP darling Ronald Reagan. So much of the mess that the US has become, the corporatization of everything, the selling off of the commons, disenfranchisement, destruction of the safety net, (and so much more) began with Reagan. How ironic that today he would be far too liberal to be a member of the Republican Party, much less a Republican president. We stand at the beginning of a pandemic. The United States is once again #1, and for a statistic where last is best. The federal response has been an epic fail under an administration best know for lies, graft, and incompetence. There is no sign that it will improve soon, and this may well result in finally succeeding at making the United States a third world country. While Trump is failing in this time at marshaling the responses needed to protect the country and our people, he is simply cutting through the last leg of a stool that the GOP has been trying to topple since at least Franklin D. Roosevelt’s launching of Social Security. However, the efforts to turn the United States into an oligarchy go far beyond the government. It aims to privatize everything, and I do mean everything; from government functions to necessary services, to resources, to the genetic material of every living thing. It does not take a genius to realize that it is a terrible idea to privatize things such as healthcare and corrections, or for that matter utilities such as electricity, water treatment, or even the internet. While believing that business can do everything better (more efficiently and assumedly cheaper) than the government, it is not true. For the driving motives of “business” are PROFIT and GROWTH. On one hand, that means spending as little as possible on the bottom line, and on the other, it means making as much as possible on the “product” or service sold. This includes practices such as limiting availability and removing competition. Which brings us to the many dystopian manifestations of the current pandemic and the “privatized” healthcare system of the United States. I live in an area where on an average night the Emergency Departments are overflowing and it can take a day to move someone from the ED to a room. Meanwhile, the hospital I go to most frequently as a whole ward that they have had closed for over a year. I’m positive this is the case across the country because the goal is to provide as limited services with as few staff as is possible. There have been no plans to expand emergency care in the whole city even though the city is underserved. Another version of this is in the “PPE” (personal protective equipment), and things like ventilators. Hospitals, cities, and states, and FEMA are bidding against each other while manufacturers raise prices and send millions of necessary items overseas to the highest bidders. WHY hasn’t the “President” invoked price controls and anti-profiteering measures? It has been done numerous times. There was even legislation (which I assume is STILL sitting on Mitch McConnell’s enormous desk) known as the War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007 that might be dusted off and passed. Unless somebody stops capitalism as usual, this already disastrous situation could morph into a total catastrophe˘—Rowan Wolf, Uncommon Thought
By John Buell
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he escalating total Covid-19 deaths in New York City and the frantic quest to obtain life-saving medical gear has rightly captured media attention. New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s impassioned plea for more federal assistance and a need-based system for allocating aid among the states was covered by CNN and other major corporate media. Nonetheless, they omitted the backstory, the grave decline in NYC hospital capacity over the last two decades, continued and endorsed by the leadership of both political parties.
Though much attention was focused on how short of ventilators, masks, and beds the hospitals were there was almost no attention to how the city fell into this crisis. It was as though only the virus was to blame. Over many years now Medicaid and healthcare activists have made hospital closures an intensely contested issue. In the last two decades, NYC hospital beds have gone from 73,000 to 53,000. Democracy Now co-host Juan Gonzales and guest Sean Petty, an emergency room nurse in the Bronx, point to the role that a market mentality creeping into private and even many nonprofit hospitals has played in this decline. “During the years Cuomo has been in office, the number of beds available per patient in the United States in many states has declined dramatically, mostly because hospital managers see empty beds as not money-making, so they want to reduce the number of empty beds as much as possible, so they staff fewer and fewer beds.” Beds, in short, are subject to the same just in time principles that govern any other supply chain in the modern market economy. Applying just in time metrics to all key resources purportedly maximizes efficiency.
Efficiency, however, is a concept that deserves more critical scrutiny. Writing in the Atlantic Helen Lewis argued: “The tech sector’s overarching philosophy remains bent towards treating the human brain and body like a machine that can be tweaked and perfected until it is running at peak efficiency,” the journalist Lux Alptraum wrote for Quartz in 2017. This is, however, a fundamentally inhuman philosophy. People aren’t machines. We are inherently inefficient, with our elderly parents and sick children, our mental-health problems, our chronic diseases, and our need to sleep and eat. And, as the past few months have demonstrated, our susceptibility to novel viruses.…
Humans and the ecosystems of which they are a part are volatile and not always predictable. The decision to forego back- up systems and ample inventories is analogous to a homeowner’s choosing not to insure his/her house because a fire is unlikely and insurance premiums consume after- tax income. Fortunately, most homeowners don’t or are not allowed to think that way. In the public arena, however, things are different.
Governor Cuomo has been generally supportive of the neoliberal development model that includes tax cuts for business and fiscal austerity for the public sector to fund those cuts. He shares the centrist faith in markets as perfect information processing systems and strives to remove the public from active participation in such decisions. When the state budget mandated multi-billion-dollar cuts in spending for hospitals he attempted to deflect attention to his role by creating a commission comprised disproportionately of health industry insiders.
Those industry insiders seem to object even to the discussion of this backstory. “Focusing on closed and consolidated hospitals does nothing to help the task at hand,” said Brian Conway, spokesman for the Greater New York Hospital Association. “All that matters is rising to the current challenge, and the hospital community is deeply committed to doing exactly that.
This is the familiar line of an institution in crisis. When the crisis is in full force now is not the time to explore its history. That would be fine except for two facts. Knowing how we arrived at this potentially catastrophic point is one key to a more humane resolution of it. Major media, including NPR, sadly have done little to explore the deeper background of the NYC shortages. Activists and alternative media must fill the void. Secondly, even in the face of corporate healthcare’s many tragedies and inequities, its proponents and beneficiaries continue to push for its preservation and extension of a market dominated health system from which they profit.
Recent sociological studies aimed at locating and finding the backgrounds of the most influential leaders in both private and nonprofit healthcare indicate that MBAs are replacing those whose primary focus is in health delivery, public health, and biomedical research. Thus if these players get their way, potential vaccines to prevent a future COVID-19 pandemic will be patented and thus limited to those who can afford their inflated prices. The politics of healthcare and COVID-19 provide ample reasons for anger—toward corporate healthcare and the corporate media so oblivious to their exploitation.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-04-02--MoA’s gloomy prediction: The U.S. Will Drown In Covid-19 Cases

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible .
Share with kin , friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise .
DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA , BY “ B ” This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama Why The U.S. Will Drown In Covid-19 Cases Here are examples for some of the reasons why the U.S. will now experience a gigantic epidemic wave .
The reasons include ill discipline , ignorance and incompetence , nutty religiousness and racism .
US students party on spring break despite coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Florida for their spring break , defying recommendations from the federal government and Center for Disease Control ( CDC ) over the coronavirus outbreak .
National health officials are advising against gatherings of 10 or more people .
Two weeks ago , amid the coronavirus pandemic , about 70 students from the University of Texas at Austin partied in Mexico on spring break .
The students , all in their 20s , flew on a chartered plane to Cabo San Lucas , and some returned on separate commercial flights to Texas .
Now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the virus and are self-isolating .
More students were monitored and tested on Wednesday , university officials said , after 28 initial positive tests .
… Students at the University of Tampa , the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other colleges have tested positive after returning from spring break trips to Florida , Alabama , Tennessee and elsewhere .
Transmission of 2019-nCoV Infection from an Asymptomatic Contact in Germany We are reporting a case of 2019-nCoV infection acquired outside Asia in which transmission appears to have occurred during the incubation period in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t is notable that the infection appears to have been transmitted during the incubation period of the index patient , in whom the illness was brief and nonspecific .
The fact that asymptomatic persons are potential sources of 2019-nCoV infection may warrant a reassessment of transmission dynamics of the current outbreak .
Shadowy Church Is at Center of Coronavirus Outbreak in South Korea At meetings of the secretive Shincheonji Church of Jesus , worshipers sit packed together on the floor , forbidden to wear glasses — or face masks .
They come to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say .
After services , they split up into groups for Bible study , or to go out into the streets and proselytize .
… Now , health officials are zeroing in on the church ’ s practices as they seek to contain South Korea ’ s alarming coronavirus outbreak , in which members of Shincheonji , along with their relatives and others who got the virus from them , account for more than half of the confirmed infections .
Florida Follows Others in Allowing Church Amid Stay-Home Order Florida Governor Ron DeSantis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rejecting calls for such a measure .
But like other mandates ranging from New York to New Mexico , it ensures that Floridians can still attend religious services .
… The order comes after similar steps Tuesday in Texas , another late mover that made an exception for religious worship .
Michigan imposed a stay-at-home order with a religious carve-out effective March 24 .
Religious gatherings were also exempted from Ohio ’ s stay-at-home order , issued Sunday by Republican Governor Mike DeWine .
Solid Rock , an Ohio megachurch whose Cincinnati location @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Donald Trump last month , held an in-person service Sunday and said on its website that it would exert a constitutional right to continue meeting .
Other states that allow some exemption for religious services include Delaware , Kansas , Louisiana , Massachusetts , New Jersey , New Mexico , New York , Pennsylvania and West Virginia , according to the Center for American Progress .
• The Coronavirus – No Need To Panic – Jan 25 2020 • Novel Coronavirus Defies Conspiracy Theories As Data Shows Its Coming Decline – Feb @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Number Of New Coronavirus Cases In Decline – Feb 8 2020 • Coronavirus – Statistical Change Causes Confusion – New Case Count Continues To Decline– Feb 13 2020 • Coronavirus – The Decline Of New Cases Continues – Economic Ripples Begin To Emerge – Feb 21 2020 • As Virus Spreads Over The Planet Governments Are Slow To React – Feb 27 2020 • Coronavirus – Its Time To Press Your Government To React Faster – Feb 29 2020 • Why Is The Coronavirus More Dangerous Than The Flu ?
– Mar 9 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – Why We Must Shut Everything Down And Do It Now – Mar 11 2020 • The Pandemic Will Cause A Global Depression – We Need Demand Side Measures To Counter It – Mar 16 2020 • Coronavirus – A Lockdown Is Not Enough – Mar 17 2020 • False Claims About The Novel Coronavirus And How To Debunk Them – Mar 19 2020 • Coronavirus – On Western Government Failures And Possible Therapies – Mar 21 2020 • Coronavirus – How To Lift Lockdowns And Why We Should All Wear Masks – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Corona Crisis – Mar 26 2020 • U.S .
Virus Cases Are Off The Scale – But Its People Can Build A Movement From This – Mar 31 2020 • China Did Not Deceive Us – Counting Death During An Epidemic Is Really Difficult– Apr 1 2020 • Why The U.S. Will Drown In Covid-19 Cases – Apr 2 2020 Posted by b on April 2 , 2020 at 15:49 UTC | Permalink “ b ” is Moon of Alabama ’ s founding ( and chief ) editor .
This site ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economics , philosophy and blogger Billmon ’ s Whiskey Bar writings .
Moon Of Alabama was opened as an independent , open forum for members of the Whiskey Bar community .
Bernhard ) ” b ” ) started and still runs the site .
Once in a while you will also find posts and art from regular commentators .
You can reach the current administrator of this site by emailing Bernhard at MoonofA @ aol.com .
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License .

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible. Share with kin, friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise.
DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA, BY "B"
This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama
Moon of Alabama's editor is predicting a very gloomy near future for the United States. Its latest dispatch is simply titled: Why The U.S. Will Drown In Covid-19 Cases. As a highly sober and reliable analyst, this is not to be taken cavalierly. Here's his arguments.
Why The U.S. Will Drown In Covid-19 Cases
Here are examples for some of the reasons why the U.S. will now experience a gigantic epidemic wave.
The reasons include ill discipline, ignorance and incompetence, nutty religiousness and racism.
March 20 2020 - BBC
US students party on spring break despite coronavirus
Crowds of US university students flocked to Florida for their spring break, defying recommendations from the federal government and Center for Disease Control (CDC) over the coronavirus outbreak. National health officials are advising against gatherings of 10 or more people.
April 1 2020 - NYT
44 Texas Students Have Coronavirus After Spring Break Trip
Two weeks ago, amid the coronavirus pandemic, about 70 students from the University of Texas at Austin partied in Mexico on spring break. The students, all in their 20s, flew on a chartered plane to Cabo San Lucas, and some returned on separate commercial flights to Texas. Now, 44 of them have tested positive for the virus and are self-isolating. More students were monitored and tested on Wednesday, university officials said, after 28 initial positive tests.
...
Students at the University of Tampa, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other colleges have tested positive after returning from spring break trips to Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and elsewhere.
January 30 2020 - New England Journal of Medicine
Transmission of 2019-nCoV Infection from an Asymptomatic Contact in Germany
We are reporting a case of 2019-nCoV infection acquired outside Asia in which transmission appears to have occurred during the incubation period in the index patient.
...
[I]t is notable that the infection appears to have been transmitted during the incubation period of the index patient, in whom the illness was brief and nonspecific. The fact that asymptomatic persons are potential sources of 2019-nCoV infection may warrant a reassessment of transmission dynamics of the current outbreak.
April 2 2020
Andisheh Nouraee @andishehnouraee - 0:49 UTC · Apr 2, 2020 A stunning admission of deadly ignorance from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who says he only just learned that asymptomatic people can transmit #Covid19. “[I]ndividuals could have been infecting people before they ever felt bad, but we didn’t know that until the last 24 hours.” - vid
---
March 4 2020 - NYT
Shadowy Church Is at Center of Coronavirus Outbreak in South Korea
At meetings of the secretive Shincheonji Church of Jesus, worshipers sit packed together on the floor, forbidden to wear glasses — or face masks. They come to church even when sick, former members say. After services, they split up into groups for Bible study, or to go out into the streets and proselytize.
...
Now, health officials are zeroing in on the church’s practices as they seek to contain South Korea’s alarming coronavirus outbreak, in which members of Shincheonji, along with their relatives and others who got the virus from them, account for more than half of the confirmed infections.
April 2 2020 - Bloomberg
Florida Follows Others in Allowing Church Amid Stay-Home Order
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a stay-at-home order after weeks of rejecting calls for such a measure. But like other mandates ranging from New York to New Mexico, it ensures that Floridians can still attend religious services.
...
Religious gatherings were also exempted from Ohio’s stay-at-home order, issued Sunday by Republican Governor Mike DeWine. Solid Rock, an Ohio megachurch whose Cincinnati location hosted an event for evangelical supporters of President Donald Trump last month, held an in-person service Sunday and said on its website that it would exert a constitutional right to continue meeting. Other states that allow some exemption for religious services include Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, according to the Center for American Progress.
My god, I see a disaster brewing…
#COVID19Pandemic #RacialTimeBomb
Previous Moon of Alabama posts on the issue:
Posted by b on April 2, 2020 at 15:49 UTC | Permalink
Comments Sampler
NOTE ^1000Careerist lackeys serving the elites control the American press. Ever pushing for war and inequality, covering up the oligarchy's crimes... They are in reality shameless disinformers. No wonder the world is in such terrible disarray.
About the author(s) "b" is Moon of Alabama's founding (and chief) editor. This site's purpose is to discuss politics, economics, philosophy and blogger Billmon's Whiskey Bar writings. Moon Of Alabama was opened as an independent, open forum for members of the Whiskey Bar community. Bernhard )"b") started and still runs the site. Once in a while you will also find posts and art from regular commentators. You can reach the current administrator of this site by emailing Bernhard at MoonofA@aol.com.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
ALL CAPTIONS AND PULL QUOTES BY THE EDITORS NOT THE AUTHORS
Comment here or on our Facebook Group page.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-04-04--Was the Fed Just Nationalized?

Was the Fed Just Nationalized?

Mainstream politicians have long insisted that Medicare for all , a universal basic income , student debt relief and a slew of other much-needed public programs are off the table because the federal government can not afford them .
But that was before Wall Street and the stock market were driven onto life-support by a virus .
Congress has now suddenly discovered the magic money tree .
It took only a few days for Congress to unanimously pass the Coronavirus Aid , Relief , and Economic Security ( CARES ) Act , which will be doling out $ 2.2 trillion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to Corporate America with few strings attached .
Beyond that , the Federal Reserve is making over $ 4 trillion available to banks , hedge funds and other financial entities of all stripes ; it has dropped the fed funds rate ( the rate at which banks borrow from each other ) effectively to zero ; and it has made $ 1.5 trillion available to the repo market .
It is also the Federal Reserve that will be picking up the tab for this bonanza , at least to start .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gates to unlimited quantitative easing , buying Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities “ in the amounts needed to support smooth market functions.
” Last month , the Fed bought $ 650 billion worth of federal securities .
At that rate , notes Wall Street on Parade , it will own the entire Treasury market in about 22 months .
As Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari acknowledged on 60 Minutes , “ There is an infinite amount of cash at the Federal Reserve.
” In theory , quantitative easing is just a temporary measure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the market when the economy gets back on its feet .
But in practice , we have seen that QE is a one-way street .
When central banks have tried to reverse it with “ quantitative tightening , ” economies have shrunk and stock markets have plunged .
So the Fed is likely to just keep rolling over the bonds , which is what normally happens anyway with the federal debt .
The debt is never actually paid off but is just rolled over from year to year .
Only the interest must @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 575 billion in 2019 .
The benefit of having the Fed rather than private bondholders hold the bonds is that the Fed rebates its profits to the Treasury after deducting its costs , making the loans virtually interest-free .
Interest-free loans rolled over indefinitely are in effect free money .
The Fed is “ monetizing ” the debt .
What will individuals , families , communities and state and local governments be getting out of this massive bailout ?
Not much .
Qualifying individuals will get a very modest one-time payment of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been extended for the next four months .
For local governments , $ 150 billion has been allocated for crisis relief , and one of the Fed ’ s newly expanded Special Purpose Vehicles will buy municipal bonds .
But there is no provision for reducing the interest rate on the bonds , which typically runs at 3 or 4 percent plus hefty bond dealer fees and foregone taxes on tax-free issues .
Unlike the federal government , municipal governments will not be getting a rebate on the interest on their bonds .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ this deal .
David Dayen calls it “ a robbery in progress.
” But there have been some promising developments that could be harnessed for the benefit of the people .
The Fed has evidently abandoned its vaunted “ independence ” and is now working in partnership with the Treasury .
In some sense , it has been nationalized .
A true partnership , however , would make the printing press available for more than just buying toxic corporate assets .
A central bank that was run as a public utility could fund @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stimulate productivity and generally serve the public .
The reason the Fed is now working with the Treasury is that it needs the Treasury to help it bail out a financial industry burdened with an avalanche of dodgy assets that are fast losing value .
The problem for the Fed is that it is only allowed to purchase or lend against securities with government guarantees , including Treasury securities , agency mortgage-backed securities , debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , and ( arguably ) municipal securities .
To get around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Unlike in QE , in which the Fed moves assets onto its own balance sheet , the Treasury will now be buying assets and backstopping loans through SPVs that the Treasury will own and control .
SPVs are a form of shadow bank , which like all banks create money by “ monetizing ” debt or turning it into something that can be spent in the marketplace .
The SPV decides what assets to buy and borrows from the central bank to do it .
The central bank then passively creates the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the assets backing the loan .
As Jim Bianco wrote on Bloomberg : Of the designated SPVs , none currently serves a public purpose beyond buoying the markets ; but they could be designed for such purposes .
The taxpayers are on the hook for replenishing the $ 425 billion in the Exchange Stabilization Fund , and they should be entitled to share in the benefits .
Congress could designate a Special Purpose Vehicle to fund its infrastructure projects , and to fund those much-needed public services including Medicare for all , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and similar programs .
It could also purchase a controlling interest in insolvent or profligate banks , pharmaceutical companies , oil companies and other offenders and regulate them in a way that serves the public interest .
Another possibility would be for Congress to fund these programs in the usual way by issuing government bonds , but to enter into a partnership agreement first by which the central bank would buy the bonds , roll them over indefinitely , and rebate the interest to the Treasury .
That is how Japanese Prime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ programs , with none of the predicted inflationary effects on consumer prices .
In fact the Japanese consumer price index is hovering at a very low 0.4 % , well below even the central bank ’ s 2 percent target , although the Bank of Japan has monetized nearly half of the government ’ s debt .
Half of the US debt would be over $ 11 trillion .
Assuming $ 6 trillion for the current corporate bailouts , that means another $ 5 trillion could safely be monetized for programs benefiting individuals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ How to do this without driving up consumer prices will be the subject of another article . )
State and local governments , which are on the front lines for delivering emergency services , have for the most part been left out of the bailout bonanza .
While we are waiting for action from Congress , the Fed could make cheap loans available to local governments using its existing powers under Federal Reserve Act Sec .
14 ( 2 ) ( b ) , which authorizes the Fed to purchase the bills , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local governments having maturities of six months or less .
Since local governments must balance their budgets , these loans would have to be repaid , but the loans could be extended by rolling them over for a reasonable period , as is done with repo loans and the federal debt ; and the loans could be made at the same near-zero interest rate banks can borrow at now .
State and local governments are at least as creditworthy as banks – they have a taxpayer base and massive assets .
In fact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ insolvent long ago if it were not for the deep pocket of the central bank and the bailouts of the federal government , including the FDIC insurance scheme that rescued the banks from bankruptcy in the Great Depression .
There is a way state and local governments can take advantage of the near-zero interest rates available to banks even without federal action .
They can set up their own publicly-owned banks .
Besides giving them the ability to borrow much more cheaply , having their own banks would allow them to leverage their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ revolving fund issuing loans at 3 % would gross the state $ 3 million per year .
If that same $ 100 million were used to capitalize a bank , it could issue ten times that sum in loans , grossing $ 30 million per year .
Costs would need to be deducted from those earnings , including the cost of funds ; but the cost of funds is quite low for banks today .
They can borrow to meet their liquidity needs from their own deposit pool , or at 0.25 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at about the same rate in the repo market , which is now backstopped by the central bank .
The blatant disparities in the congressional response to the current crisis have shone a bright light on how our financial system is rigged against the people in favor of a wealthy elite .
Crisis is when change happens ; this is the time for advocates to unite in demanding change on behalf of the people .
As Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis admonished in a recent post :

Mainstream politicians have long insisted that Medicare for all, a universal basic income, student debt relief and a slew of other much-needed public programs are off the table because the federal government cannot afford them. But that was before Wall Street and the stock market were driven onto life-support by a virus. Congress has now suddenly discovered the magic money tree. It took only a few days for Congress to unanimously pass the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which will be doling out $2.2 trillion in crisis relief, most of it going to Corporate America with few strings attached. Beyond that, the Federal Reserve is making over $4 trillion available to banks, hedge funds and other financial entities of all stripes; it has dropped the fed funds rate (the rate at which banks borrow from each other) effectively to zero; and it has made $1.5 trillion available to the repo market.
It is also the Federal Reserve that will be picking up the tab for this bonanza, at least to start. The US central bank has opened the sluice gates to unlimited quantitative easing, buying Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities “in the amounts needed to support smooth market functions.” Last month, the Fed bought $650 billion worth of federal securities. At that rate, notes Wall Street on Parade, it will own the entire Treasury market in about 22 months. As Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari acknowledged on 60 Minutes, “There is an infinite amount of cash at the Federal Reserve.”
In theory, quantitative easing is just a temporary measure, reversible by selling bonds back into the market when the economy gets back on its feet. But in practice, we have seen that QE is a one-way street. When central banks have tried to reverse it with “quantitative tightening,” economies have shrunk and stock markets have plunged. So the Fed is likely to just keep rolling over the bonds, which is what normally happens anyway with the federal debt. The debt is never actually paid off but is just rolled over from year to year. Only the interest must be paid, to the tune of $575 billion in 2019. The benefit of having the Fed rather than private bondholders hold the bonds is that the Fed rebates its profits to the Treasury after deducting its costs, making the loans virtually interest-free. Interest-free loans rolled over indefinitely are in effect free money. The Fed is “monetizing” the debt.
What will individuals, families, communities and state and local governments be getting out of this massive bailout? Not much. Qualifying individuals will get a very modest one-time payment of $1,200, and unemployment benefits have been extended for the next four months. For local governments, $150 billion has been allocated for crisis relief, and one of the Fed’s newly expanded Special Purpose Vehicles will buy municipal bonds. But there is no provision for reducing the interest rate on the bonds, which typically runs at 3 or 4 percent plus hefty bond dealer fees and foregone taxes on tax-free issues. Unlike the federal government, municipal governments will not be getting a rebate on the interest on their bonds.
The taxpayers have obviously been shortchanged in this deal. David Dayen calls it “a robbery in progress.” But there have been some promising developments that could be harnessed for the benefit of the people. The Fed has evidently abandoned its vaunted “independence” and is now working in partnership with the Treasury. In some sense, it has been nationalized. A true partnership, however, would make the printing press available for more than just buying toxic corporate assets. A central bank that was run as a public utility could fund programs designed to kickstart the economy, stimulate productivity and generally serve the public.
Harnessing the Central Bank
The reason the Fed is now working with the Treasury is that it needs the Treasury to help it bail out a financial industry burdened with an avalanche of dodgy assets that are fast losing value. The problem for the Fed is that it is only allowed to purchase or lend against securities with government guarantees, including Treasury securities, agency mortgage-backed securities, debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and (arguably) municipal securities. To get around that wrinkle, as Wolf Richter explains:
[T]he Treasury will create (or resuscitate) a series of special-purpose vehicles (SPVs) to buy all manner of financial assets, backed by $425 billion in collateral conveniently supplied by the US taxpayer via the Exchange Stabilization Fund. The Fed will lend to SPVs against this collateral which, when leveraged, could fund $4-5 trillion in asset purchases. That includes municipal bonds, non-agency mortgages, corporate bonds, commercial paper, and every variety of asset-backed security. The only things the government can’t (transparently, yet) buy are publicly-traded stocks and high-yield bonds.
Unlike in QE, in which the Fed moves assets onto its own balance sheet, the Treasury will now be buying assets and backstopping loans through SPVs that the Treasury will own and control. SPVs are a form of shadow bank, which like all banks create money by “monetizing” debt or turning it into something that can be spent in the marketplace. The SPV decides what assets to buy and borrows from the central bank to do it. The central bank then passively creates the funds, which are used to purchase the assets backing the loan. As Jim Bianco wrote on Bloomberg:
In other words, the federal government is nationalizing large swaths of the financial markets. The Fed is providing the money to do it. BlackRock will be doing the trades. This scheme essentially merges the Fed and Treasury into one organization. … In effect, the Fed is giving the Treasury access to its printing press. This means that, in the extreme, the administration would be free to use its control, not the Fed’s control, of these SPVs to instruct the Fed to print more money so it could buy securities and hand out loans in an effort to ramp financial markets higher going into the election.
Of the designated SPVs, none currently serves a public purpose beyond buoying the markets; but they could be designed for such purposes. The taxpayers are on the hook for replenishing the $425 billion in the Exchange Stabilization Fund, and they should be entitled to share in the benefits. Congress could designate a Special Purpose Vehicle to fund its infrastructure projects, and to fund those much-needed public services including Medicare for all, a universal basic income, student debt relief, and similar programs. It could also purchase a controlling interest in insolvent or profligate banks, pharmaceutical companies, oil companies and other offenders and regulate them in a way that serves the public interest.
Another possibility would be for Congress to fund these programs in the usual way by issuing government bonds, but to enter into a partnership agreement first by which the central bank would buy the bonds, roll them over indefinitely, and rebate the interest to the Treasury. That is how Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has funded his stimulus programs, with none of the predicted inflationary effects on consumer prices. In fact the Japanese consumer price index is hovering at a very low 0.4%, well below even the central bank’s 2 percent target, although the Bank of Japan has monetized nearly half of the government’s debt. Half of the US debt would be over $11 trillion. Assuming $6 trillion for the current corporate bailouts, that means another $5 trillion could safely be monetized for programs benefiting individuals, families and local governments. (How to do this without driving up consumer prices will be the subject of another article.)
Relief for State and Local Governments
State and local governments, which are on the front lines for delivering emergency services, have for the most part been left out of the bailout bonanza. While we are waiting for action from Congress, the Fed could make cheap loans available to local governments using its existing powers under Federal Reserve Act Sec. 14(2)(b), which authorizes the Fed to purchase the bills, bonds, and notes of state and local governments having maturities of six months or less. Since local governments must balance their budgets, these loans would have to be repaid, but the loans could be extended by rolling them over for a reasonable period, as is done with repo loans and the federal debt; and the loans could be made at the same near-zero interest rate banks can borrow at now. State and local governments are at least as creditworthy as banks – they have a taxpayer base and massive assets. In fact the private banking industry would have been insolvent long ago if it were not for the deep pocket of the central bank and the bailouts of the federal government, including the FDIC insurance scheme that rescued the banks from bankruptcy in the Great Depression.
There is a way state and local governments can take advantage of the near-zero interest rates available to banks even without federal action. They can set up their own publicly-owned banks. Besides giving them the ability to borrow much more cheaply, having their own banks would allow them to leverage their loan funds. A $100 million revolving fund issuing loans at 3% would gross the state $3 million per year. If that same $100 million were used to capitalize a bank, it could issue ten times that sum in loans, grossing $30 million per year. Costs would need to be deducted from those earnings, including the cost of funds; but the cost of funds is quite low for banks today. They can borrow to meet their liquidity needs from their own deposit pool, or at 0.25% in the fed funds market, or at about the same rate in the repo market, which is now backstopped by the central bank.
The blatant disparities in the congressional response to the current crisis have shone a bright light on how our financial system is rigged against the people in favor of a wealthy elite. Crisis is when change happens; this is the time for advocates to unite in demanding change on behalf of the people. As Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis admonished in a recent post:
[T]his new phase of the crisis is, at the very least, making it clear to us that anything goes – that everything is now possible.… Whether the epidemic helps deliver the good or the most evil society will depend … on whether progressives manage to band together. For if we do not, just like in 2008 we did not, the bankers, the spivs [petty criminals], the oligarchs and the neofascists will prove, again, that they are the ones who know how not to let a good crisis go to waste.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-04-04--Disaster Capitalism and the Real Culprit in the Italian Covid-19 Catastrophe

Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein worries that the Coronavirus pandemic will provide another opportunity for neoliberal elites to impose more of their right wing agenda on a citizenry scared and confused by this mysterious and dangerous disease .
Klein of course is expanding on her award winning Shock Doctrine Naomi The Shock Doctrine .
Klein showed how corporate elites worldwide have repeatedly and brutally used “ the public ’ s disorientation following a collective shock — wars , coups , terrorist attacks , market crashes or natural disasters — to push through radical pro-corporate measures.
” Klein is surely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proposed temporary cuts in the payroll tax as a fiscal stimulus .
This act would in effect partially defund Social Security , forcing Democrats to choose between a tax increase or reductions in or means testing the program .
Turning Social Security into a means tested program would undermine its popularity and probably destroy it , a long time goal of conservative Republicans and neolibereal Democrats .
Fortunately enough politicians smelled the rat and this idea does not seem to have gone far .
If elites do not always get what they want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis does provide opportunities for progressive activism .
Social Security itself was born out of the economic and political turmoil of the thirties .
In the context of the Covid19 epidemic Medicare for All has become more widely discussed than at any point in its development .
Articulating the positive contribution to everyone ’ s health and fending off some of its more devious opponents is especially important now .
America ’ s patchwork , profit oriented healthcare has already played a destructive role in the unfolding of this crisis .
One of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spread of the disease is knowledge of who is being infected and where they are infected .
When patients can ’ t come to the doctor they can ’ t be treated ; they are more likely to spread the disease ; and the physician is deprived of valuable information about the spread of the disease , information that improves possible interventions .
Although we do not yet know the full story of the CDC ’ s botched rollout of the Covid19 test kits , the Washington Post , never a fan of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : ” Unlike the United States… the single-payer countries have been especially nimble at making free , or low-cost , virus screening widely available for patients with coughs and fevers.
” The benefits go beyond speed .
Where public programs are well respected and well funded , that respect can also be reflected in the quality of the men and women who staff them .
Jorgen Kurtzhals , the head of the University of Copenhagen medical school , told the Post that the strength of Denmark ’ s single-payer system is that it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ educated and well-trained staff , and given some quite un-detailed instructions , they can actually develop plans for an extremely rapid response.
” No one claims that any of the single payer systems is perfect .
Most importantly a system that is humane , egalitarian , and efficient can not work as well if it is underfunded .
Common Dreams notes : “ Britain ’ s National Health Service ( NHS ) , following years of austerity imposed by Conservative governments , is facing staff and supply shortages as hospitals are being overwhelmed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.K. , is struggling with a shortage of ventilators.
” In Italy Giacomo Gabbuti and Lorenzo Zamponi report : “ The problem isn ’ t that this system is public and universal , but that it should be more so .
Sadly , over time we have allowed the various Italian equivalents of Donald Trump and Joe Biden to make it a bit more like the American system.
” ( Jacobin ) This is part of the political dilemma single payer advocates face .
Their systems are widely popular .
Italy ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even parties of the right and far right would not dare call for its elimination .
But conservatives understand that if fiscal constraints—real or imagined–necessitate cuts in funding , the system will not perform as well .
Its inadequacies can then be cited in defense of privatization and eventual dismantling of the entire system .
Italians have the fifth longest longevity in the world ( the United States is a distant 35th ) and their public healthcare makes a great contribution to that end .
If one is looking for a culprit to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ looking at the Eurozone ’ s fiscal iron cage—to borrow former Greek Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis ’ s perfect phrase– limiting what democracies can spend on behalf of their people .

Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein worries that the Coronavirus pandemic will provide another opportunity for neoliberal elites to impose more of their right wing agenda on a citizenry scared and confused by this mysterious and dangerous disease. Klein of course is expanding on her award winning Shock Doctrine Naomi The Shock Doctrine. Klein showed how corporate elites worldwide have repeatedly and brutally used “the public’s disorientation following a collective shock — wars, coups, terrorist attacks, market crashes or natural disasters — to push through radical pro-corporate measures.”
Klein is surely correct to be concerned. President Trump proposed temporary cuts in the payroll tax as a fiscal stimulus. This act would in effect partially defund Social Security, forcing Democrats to choose between a tax increase or reductions in or means testing the program. Turning Social Security into a means tested program would undermine its popularity and probably destroy it, a long time goal of conservative Republicans and neolibereal Democrats. Fortunately enough politicians smelled the rat and this idea does not seem to have gone far. If elites do not always get what they want, it is also the case that crisis does provide opportunities for progressive activism. Social Security itself was born out of the economic and political turmoil of the thirties. In the context of the Covid19 epidemic Medicare for All has become more widely discussed than at any point in its development. Articulating the positive contribution to everyone’s health and fending off some of its more devious opponents is especially important now.
America’s patchwork, profit oriented healthcare has already played a destructive role in the unfolding of this crisis. One of the most important factors in limiting the spread of the disease is knowledge of who is being infected and where they are infected. When patients can’t come to the doctor they can’t be treated; they are more likely to spread the disease; and the physician is deprived of valuable information about the spread of the disease, information that improves possible interventions.
Although we do not yet know the full story of the CDC’s botched rollout of the Covid19 test kits, the Washington Post, never a fan of Senator Sanders or single payer, reported:”Unlike the United States… the single-payer countries have been especially nimble at making free, or low-cost, virus screening widely available for patients with coughs and fevers.” The benefits go beyond speed. Where public programs are well respected and well funded, that respect can also be reflected in the quality of the men and women who staff them. Jorgen Kurtzhals, the head of the University of Copenhagen medical school, told the Post that the strength of Denmark’s single-payer system is that it has “a lot of really highly educated and well-trained staff, and given some quite un-detailed instructions, they can actually develop plans for an extremely rapid response.”
No one claims that any of the single payer systems is perfect. Most importantly a system that is humane, egalitarian, and efficient cannot work as well if it is underfunded. Common Dreams notes: “Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), following years of austerity imposed by Conservative governments, is facing staff and supply shortages as hospitals are being overwhelmed with patients. Canada, like the U.K., is struggling with a shortage of ventilators.”
In Italy Giacomo Gabbuti and Lorenzo Zamponi report: “The problem isn’t that this system is public and universal, but that it should be more so. Sadly, over time we have allowed the various Italian equivalents of Donald Trump and Joe Biden to make it a bit more like the American system.”(Jacobin)
This is part of the political dilemma single payer advocates face. Their systems are widely popular. Italy’s health system is so well regarded that even parties of the right and far right would not dare call for its elimination. But conservatives understand that if fiscal constraints—real or imagined–necessitate cuts in funding, the system will not perform as well. Its inadequacies can then be cited in defense of privatization and eventual dismantling of the entire system.
Italians have the fifth longest longevity in the world (the United States is a distant 35th) and their public healthcare makes a great contribution to that end. If one is looking for a culprit to blame for continuing deficiencies, start by looking at the Eurozone’s fiscal iron cage—to borrow former Greek Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis’s perfect phrase– limiting what democracies can spend on behalf of their people.