Saturday, March 10, 2012

Is the endgame for Greece the same for the US?



European austerity continues to takes its toll. On Tuesday - Greece issued a warning to all the banksters who've invested in about $260 billion worth of Greek debt - telling them they'd better take a new deal accepting about half the value of their investments - or risk getting nothing at all. Greece is hoping that about 90% of its investors will take the haircut - giving Greece a chance to restructure its debt in a way that's more manageable. And investors have until Thursday to decide if they'll take the deal - but if they choose not to - then once again a Greek default becomes a very real possibility. Of course asking investors to take a haircut is nothing compared to what the Greek people have had to sacrifice under years of austerity - with massive layoffs - cuts to social services - and wage decreases. All of which have led to unrest in the streets - hostility with neighboring nations like Germany - and even the ousting of democratically-elected leaders. Greece right now is the epicenter of the crisis of corporate capitalism that is engulfing the world today. And the question isn't how will things work out in Greece - but instead how long until what we're seeing in Greece comes to the United States? Richard Wolff joins Thom now - he is an Economist and Visiting Professor with the Graduate Program in International Affairs at New School University in New York City and Author of the book "Capitalism Hits the Fan."

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