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Monday, March 26, 2012

Bill Moyers Interviews David Stockman On Crony Capitalism

Excellent interview!

Bill Moyers Interviews David Stockman On Crony Capitalism


By Jeff Harding, on January 21st, 2012
This is a great interview of our own David Stockman by Bill Moyers. The title is “Crony Capitalism,” and the interview is wide-ranging and informative. David spells out the causes of our current malaise and the history behind it. The good thing about shows like this is that Moyers actually let’s Stockman talk at length. Enjoy!
19 comments to Bill Moyers Interviews David Stockman On Crony Capitalism
  • Roger Wise
    January 22, 2012 at 8:36 am
    Mr. Moyers your interview with David Stockman was spot on, well done in more ways than one! There’s is really very little difference between the two party political system. Our political “system” appears to be illusion wrapped in a delusion fed by the shadow of a starving chicken. The American public needs a pair of glasses without the rose colored lens of crony capitalism. The “Mother’s Milk” of American politics is drowning “freedom and liberty” of opportunity, innovation and individualism. Our “future” and “wealth creation” has been hi-jacked by zero interest rates. Perhaps the events of huge cruise ship Costa Concordia and its Captain “Chicken of the Sea” is an analogy of Washington, D.C. leadership and policy.
    • Cinnimon
      January 23, 2012 at 1:27 pm
      Nicely said! I agree. All the debates in the world will not fix a corrupt system. Only the people can put a stop to that. In order to do so, we must be informed, stand firm, and fight back.
  • harkin
    January 22, 2012 at 10:46 am
    First Moyers piece I can recall that wasn’t a complete shill piece for the democrats. He left out a lot, such as Obama’s support for bailouts, but for Moyers to allow Stockman to get out complete points on the corruption cycle between Washington and Wall St was a watershed, especially the part about Dodd-Frank being a funding bill for lawyers and regulators.
    Gretchen Mortenson comes in late to go call for monetary seizures and prosecution for the rich while ignoring the politicians who enabled them, wouldn’t be Moyers without that.
    • violet rose
      January 23, 2012 at 11:03 am
      Yet you completely dismiss Reagan’s and Bush’s reign of terror on our country…. wish led us to this point in time… NOT Obama who has to clean up said mess….. Reagan and Bush. Which makes you… just as guilty for getting us into this mess…..and well… your Monday Quarterback whining. It’s the republican way….isn’t it?
    • Cinnimon
      January 23, 2012 at 1:33 pm
      Actually, he didn’t play favorites at ALL. But don’t take my word for it – Check out these links and make up your own mind: http://vimeo.com/35369616 At the top of the interview he traces the cronies in the current white house – chides Pres. Obama (as he should have) and then moves backward through time and the administrations. Also, just for fun – check out this eye opener:http://www.thevisualeverything.com/2011/12/crony-capitalism-visualized/
  • harkin
    January 22, 2012 at 10:48 am
    whoops – grethen morgenson, not the actress.
  • Skip Cook
    January 22, 2012 at 8:35 pm
    Like some congressman from Texas said, “I got two responses from my constituents in response to the TARP bailout, NO and HELL NO!”
  • T Smyth
    January 22, 2012 at 8:47 pm
    Crony capitalism, as explained by David Stockman, merely opens up to closer scrutiny something we have all seen for the last 30 years. Since then the outright purchase of Washington DC has escalated to the point that there does not seem to be one person in DC who should not be wearing a corporations logo.
    Money is the poison destroying democracy. It has virtually eliminated free speach in the United States and has puppet strings not only on DC but also state legislators. Thank you Bill Moyer for the interview with Stockman. I hope the democracy of the United States still has time to be saved.
    • C. Moore
      January 23, 2012 at 9:47 pm
      @ T. Smith: I agree. It’s important to really hear what Stockman is saying. He’s not just offering a point of view; Stockman started to lose faith pretty early on. He’s telling us where the power in this country lies and how it has shifted. The banks and politicians are entwined. Until we get the money out of politics, and Stockman says this, nothing will change. Both he and G. M. say what happened in 2008 will happen again; the banks profits are UP–since 2008! It will happen again because we have learned nothing, because those who should have suffered consequences did not (and apparently won’t) and once more, the burden will fall on the backs of what is left of the middle-class.
  • Bill Brown
    January 23, 2012 at 10:02 am
    Both Bill Moyers and David Stockman see the results of yesterday’s causes; however neither are among the ‘ In Group ” of the young Tea party or Middle of the Road Dems today. We have problems with no real solutions in sight as long as we keep the current roller coasters on track. Thus, get the roller coaster off the track.
    Minnesota
  • Gary Meloni
    January 23, 2012 at 10:26 am
    I’m no fan of Moyer but could not beat back the temptation to watch the show with the Stockman interview.
    Excellent
  • Jeff Harding
    January 23, 2012 at 11:37 am
    You all should know that Stockman is (mostly) “Austrian” in his economics. What this interview didn’t emphasize, although he certainly makes a point of it, is the Fed’s role in the boom and bust cycle. Moyers would rather hear about the evils of “capitalism”, which he seems to equate with crony capitalism, and which Stockman has to keep reminding him is not the same as free market capitalism. But, all in all, Stockman points out that the Fed is also captured by Crony Capitalism since we have a monetary system based on a faulty theory that serves TPTB.
  • sormosen
    January 23, 2012 at 12:52 pm
    when and where is your next interview
  • M, Thomas Murray
    January 23, 2012 at 1:13 pm
    This is a comment on the TV interview of David Stockman and Bill Moyers on “crony capitalism”:
    Near the end of the interview Moyers said something like: It is interesting that there is a basic tension between (the ideas of) capitalism and (the ideas of) democracy.
    Stockman replied along the following line: Bill, in saying that you should be sure to put the word “crony” in front of capitalism.
    If every nuance were recognized in this short colloquy, there would become apparent a gulf so wide that the normal viewer would have been astonished at how far apart the Moyers position and the Stockman position really are.
    I would expect that if Stockman had been offered time to respond completely he would have made the following point (which for complete elaboration, could have been exended to book length as it is what goes to the heart of the matter):
    Bill, Stockton could have said, your last statement gets the matter entirely backward. The inherent tension is between democracy and a socialist form of economy. In such a mixture, economic decisions are made, by definition, by folks who have the political power. Without care, unalloyed democracy can become tyranny. Our founders understood that and, accordingly, included numerous checks and balances in the American Constitution.
    Human nature is corrupt, as a “Moyer Christian” is well aware. One defect in human nature is selfishness.. If certain citizens have, without restraint, the power to make the economic decisions of society, those decisions are bound to reflect their personal, individual interest. Only a “market economy” provides the discipline necessary to keep governmental economic decision-making in favor of the powerful.
    Consider the current public discussion of government economic policies. Inevitably, it seems, the discussion deteriorates to a determination of what “class” benefits from a specific governmental decision. Not what is in the overall long-term best interest of the country—what is best for a class is the issue. That focus perhaps is endemic to unrestrained democratic government but it is not endemic to the type of government our framers provided in our Constitution.
    A careful study of the cash flow in the Solyndra case demonstrates this point beautifully –those with the power (the current “cronies” of crony capitalism), made a bad decision and they were nonetheless able to arrange things so that they personally profited from that decision while all of its negative effects are falling on the public (billions in wasted subsidies). The TARP decision to bail out the banks is finally being seen as exemplifying this fallacy in spades.
    To put a touch of theory on the point, the heart of an effective democracy must be the rule of law. Representation of current public desires is not sufficient. A market economy is not only consistent with, it is also necessary for the rule of law. In socialism the politically powerful reign.
    My criticism is that the viewer of this Moyer’s interview did not have the benefit of the strength and importance of the debate between socialism and free-enterprise. Maybe that can be supplied at another time.
  • Scot Srodes
    January 23, 2012 at 3:38 pm
    Stockman should have discussed the other meaning of “finacialization”, which means creating debt instruments to finance more and more of what is consumed in the U.S. Everyone knows the “creativity” that was required to find more home borrowers, but subprime lending is rising significantly in the student loan area, where college grads where provided loans for degree’s that will not be able to produce the income to ever be able to pay off the loan. Lobbiest and lenders knew this, which is why that got a law passed that doesn’t permit student loan debt to be purged during bankruptcy.
    Everything from TV’s to toasters has been financed, which pulls forward demand and makes the big assumption that future earnings will be able to pay off the debt. Like the U.S. govt, consumers have found out two things – one, there are no guarantees of future earnings, and most importantly, debt grows exponentially – causing interest payments on the debt to consume a greater and greater portion of the income. Just as savings can compound and start increasing rapidly after many years, so does debt.
    If people ever passed 5th grade math and learned exponents, they would know that exponential growth of GDP, resources, or debt is unsustainable.
    WAKE UP AMERICA!
  • Karl
    January 25, 2012 at 2:47 pm
    Can anyone help- Finding the statements on OBamas 10 yr plan to cut offshore banking please
    I dont get you tube- thanks





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