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Published on Saturday, April 4, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
The Ones Who Got It Right
Why is it that well regarded people working the fields of corporate power and performance who repeatedly predicted the Wall Street bubble and its bursting receive so little media and attention?
Instead, the public is still being exposed to the comments and writings of people like Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin, James Glassman (of Dow 36,000 notoriety) while others like Timothy Geithner, Larry Summers, and Gary Gensler are newly-appointed at high levels in the Obama Administration. These men were variously architects, rationalizers and implementers of the massive de-regulation and non-regulation that unleashed the epic forces of greed, speculation and ruination of millions of livelihoods and trillions of dollars other peoples’ money worldwide.
Here are some of the people who got it right—early and often:
1. William Greider—author and columnist with The Nation magazine—wrote books (including Secrets of the Temple, 1988) and articles warning about the Federal Reserve and the anti-democratic consequences of rampant corporate globalization.
2. Robert Kuttner whose books (e.g. Everything for Sale, 1999) and articles predicted what will happen to workers and pensions when the regulatory state is tossed aside by the corporatists operating inside and outside of government.
3. Jim Hightower whose books (If the Gods Has Meant Us to Vote, They Would Have Given Us Candidates, 2000) and the monthly mass circulation Hightower Lowdown newsletter pointed out again and again the abuses of the “greedhounds” and vastly overpaid corporate bosses that have run consumers of health care, credit, cars and banks into the ground.
4. Nomi Prins (Other People's Money, 2004) a former managing director of Goldman Sachs, quit in disgust and began disclosing how these giant Wall St. firms deal and how, with their ideological backers, they wove their webs of deception and fraud against investors, students borrowing money for college, taxpayers ripped off by corporate contractors, sick people gouged and insurance companies denying legitimate claims. (See her book Jacked: How “Conservatives” Are Picking Your Pocket, 2008)
5. John R. MacArthur, author (The Selling of “Free Trade”, 2001) columnist and publisher of Harpers, authored a sharp, prophetic criticism of NAFTA’s effect on U.S. and Mexican workers. Finally, on March 24, 2009 the New York Times featured a report titled “NAFTA’s Promise, UNfulfilled.”
6. Robert A.G. Monks—the leading shareholder rights advocate in our country warned for years in books (latest Corpocracy, 2008) , articles, testimony and standup challenges at corporate annual meetings that keeping investors—the owners of these companies—powerless and dominated by corporate executives would lead to big trouble. Everyday, you can now see the ways that avaricious abuses of executive compensation by Wall Street led to cooking the books, hiding the debts and wildly losing other peoples’ money.
7. Tom Stanton, whose 1991 book State of Risk, exposed the dangerously undercapitalized condition of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and predicted coming disaster if this reckless leveraging continued. By comparison, a year ago Fannie and Freddie’s federal regulator, James B. Lockhart III called fears of a bailout “nonsense” and amazingly further lowered the required capital levels months before their collapse and takeover a few months later. Mr. Lockhart is still in his job heading a new regulatory entity over these two goliaths.
8. Republican Kevin Phillips, (latest book Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism, 2007) whose numerous writings on Wall Street power and money and the dictatorial rule of the plutocracy were wise, historically—rooted premonitions of future collapse.
9. Dean Baker, (latest Plunder and Blunder, 2004) Washington-based economist, warned repeatedly earlier in this decade of the housing bubble and the calamitous consequences once it burst. He even sold his own home in 2004 and became a tenant, so convinced was he of the housing precipice.
10. Then there is Naomi Klein who has been documenting how economic disasters produced by corporations and their governmental cohorts end up not with reforms but with further increasing the power of the corporate state. (See Shock Doctrine the Rise of Disaster Capitalism, 2007)
Chances are that outside the independent media and an occasional public tv-radio interview, you have not seen or read them in the mass media. But they were right, so why haven’t you? Well, first of all, they took on commercial interests and called them out by name and specific misdeeds. Take it from one who knows, big advertisers do not hesitate to let their media outlets know about their displeasure. Publishers, editors and producers will deny being affected by such realities of the bottom line but money talks—not always but enough to screen out or marginalize the provocative early warners.
Second, these early warners are not like their counterparts such as the market fundamentalists and other active corporatists in the world of writers and commentators. The latter meet and plan often and ferociously attach themselves to political and corporate leaders. While the progressive forecasters do not connect either with each other or with their policy allies on Capitol Hill as much. The media likes to see growing power like that of the intertwined Heritage Foundation with the Reagan regime and their supporters in Congress.
Third, there is this sense that these progressives are exposing conditions that the reporters themselves should be revealing. So why not publish staff-driven magazine-style features instead of publicizing outsiders and covering an unfolding story as reportage. Journalistic prizes go to the former. But, they’re not the same either in reader impact or for change.
Finally, there are establishment figures who tried, in their own way, to blow the whistle—James Grant, Henry Kaufman and, twenty five years ago, Felix Rohatyn come to mind. Their astute alarms regarding excessive risk-taking were ignored. They are not getting much media play either.
Maybe it’s also a cultural thing. Big book deals, radio talk shows, promotions and quotable celebrity status go to the rogues, the grossly negligent, the suppressors of truth and the wrongdoers. They’re just so much more exciting!
This is a fast road to a state of decay.
Instead, the public is still being exposed to the comments and writings of people like Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin, James Glassman (of Dow 36,000 notoriety) while others like Timothy Geithner, Larry Summers, and Gary Gensler are newly-appointed at high levels in the Obama Administration. These men were variously architects, rationalizers and implementers of the massive de-regulation and non-regulation that unleashed the epic forces of greed, speculation and ruination of millions of livelihoods and trillions of dollars other peoples’ money worldwide.
Here are some of the people who got it right—early and often:
1. William Greider—author and columnist with The Nation magazine—wrote books (including Secrets of the Temple, 1988) and articles warning about the Federal Reserve and the anti-democratic consequences of rampant corporate globalization.
2. Robert Kuttner whose books (e.g. Everything for Sale, 1999) and articles predicted what will happen to workers and pensions when the regulatory state is tossed aside by the corporatists operating inside and outside of government.
3. Jim Hightower whose books (If the Gods Has Meant Us to Vote, They Would Have Given Us Candidates, 2000) and the monthly mass circulation Hightower Lowdown newsletter pointed out again and again the abuses of the “greedhounds” and vastly overpaid corporate bosses that have run consumers of health care, credit, cars and banks into the ground.
4. Nomi Prins (Other People's Money, 2004) a former managing director of Goldman Sachs, quit in disgust and began disclosing how these giant Wall St. firms deal and how, with their ideological backers, they wove their webs of deception and fraud against investors, students borrowing money for college, taxpayers ripped off by corporate contractors, sick people gouged and insurance companies denying legitimate claims. (See her book Jacked: How “Conservatives” Are Picking Your Pocket, 2008)
5. John R. MacArthur, author (The Selling of “Free Trade”, 2001) columnist and publisher of Harpers, authored a sharp, prophetic criticism of NAFTA’s effect on U.S. and Mexican workers. Finally, on March 24, 2009 the New York Times featured a report titled “NAFTA’s Promise, UNfulfilled.”
6. Robert A.G. Monks—the leading shareholder rights advocate in our country warned for years in books (latest Corpocracy, 2008) , articles, testimony and standup challenges at corporate annual meetings that keeping investors—the owners of these companies—powerless and dominated by corporate executives would lead to big trouble. Everyday, you can now see the ways that avaricious abuses of executive compensation by Wall Street led to cooking the books, hiding the debts and wildly losing other peoples’ money.
7. Tom Stanton, whose 1991 book State of Risk, exposed the dangerously undercapitalized condition of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and predicted coming disaster if this reckless leveraging continued. By comparison, a year ago Fannie and Freddie’s federal regulator, James B. Lockhart III called fears of a bailout “nonsense” and amazingly further lowered the required capital levels months before their collapse and takeover a few months later. Mr. Lockhart is still in his job heading a new regulatory entity over these two goliaths.
8. Republican Kevin Phillips, (latest book Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism, 2007) whose numerous writings on Wall Street power and money and the dictatorial rule of the plutocracy were wise, historically—rooted premonitions of future collapse.
9. Dean Baker, (latest Plunder and Blunder, 2004) Washington-based economist, warned repeatedly earlier in this decade of the housing bubble and the calamitous consequences once it burst. He even sold his own home in 2004 and became a tenant, so convinced was he of the housing precipice.
10. Then there is Naomi Klein who has been documenting how economic disasters produced by corporations and their governmental cohorts end up not with reforms but with further increasing the power of the corporate state. (See Shock Doctrine the Rise of Disaster Capitalism, 2007)
Chances are that outside the independent media and an occasional public tv-radio interview, you have not seen or read them in the mass media. But they were right, so why haven’t you? Well, first of all, they took on commercial interests and called them out by name and specific misdeeds. Take it from one who knows, big advertisers do not hesitate to let their media outlets know about their displeasure. Publishers, editors and producers will deny being affected by such realities of the bottom line but money talks—not always but enough to screen out or marginalize the provocative early warners.
Second, these early warners are not like their counterparts such as the market fundamentalists and other active corporatists in the world of writers and commentators. The latter meet and plan often and ferociously attach themselves to political and corporate leaders. While the progressive forecasters do not connect either with each other or with their policy allies on Capitol Hill as much. The media likes to see growing power like that of the intertwined Heritage Foundation with the Reagan regime and their supporters in Congress.
Third, there is this sense that these progressives are exposing conditions that the reporters themselves should be revealing. So why not publish staff-driven magazine-style features instead of publicizing outsiders and covering an unfolding story as reportage. Journalistic prizes go to the former. But, they’re not the same either in reader impact or for change.
Finally, there are establishment figures who tried, in their own way, to blow the whistle—James Grant, Henry Kaufman and, twenty five years ago, Felix Rohatyn come to mind. Their astute alarms regarding excessive risk-taking were ignored. They are not getting much media play either.
Maybe it’s also a cultural thing. Big book deals, radio talk shows, promotions and quotable celebrity status go to the rogues, the grossly negligent, the suppressors of truth and the wrongdoers. They’re just so much more exciting!
This is a fast road to a state of decay.
Posted in Economy/Trade
110 Comments so far
Show AllYou assume, of course, that the purpose of corporation-centric economic activity is intended to create and maintain a functioning society, rather than simply to concentrate wealth. ???
Consumers are Suckers.
CORPISBORG.
People try. Fail. Try. Fail.
Try. Succeed.
michael jordan
http://sites.google.com/site/apolloguide/
The most wonderful thing about Ralph is that he does not give a rats ass whether you get it. He just keeps pushing that rock up the hill and gathering what little moss there is to be found. If you don't get his message this year then maybe you will get it later.
Ralph has been channeling Joe Hill when Joe said, "don't mourn, Organize!" --at his hanging. We take an enormous amount of Ralph's hard work and dedication for granted. He is an archangel to this country and the real work he has done will live on forever. He is the only candidate in my 60 + years who really tried to change this country for the better year in and year out. Like Jimmy Carter but painting with a much broader brush. He has a love for people like Studs Terkel had and wants people to build institutional change which will last and not waver in the political winds. Ralph represents the lasting change which will only be realized in a future we and our children patiently fashion.
michael jordan
http://sites.google.com/site/apolloguide/
Well said. I absolutely agree.
Joel Emmanuel Hägglund or Joe Hill was executed by firing squad.
Thank you. I sit corrected.
michael jordan
http://sites.google.com/site/apolloguide/
Good to see you again, Siouxrose and Poet.
I liked your posts, ShadowDancer and Elohim.
I can understand from some of the discourse in this site why so many thoughtful posters have dropped out. It's like watching a soap opera without talent or screenwriters.
Although some have abused me for naively saying Obama won't shoot us for taking to the streets, I stand by my statement. I also think we better do it during his tenure, for I couldn't vouch for the next occupant of the Oval Office.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
"I can understand from some of the discourse in this site why so many thoughtful posters have dropped out. It's like watching a soap opera without talent or screenwriters."
Well, for most of them, their disappearance from this site was not voluntary.
Such a good article; and here's another person to add to your list: Lawrence Hrebiniak, author of "The Mismanagement of America, Inc.". You can see a video of him discussing his book on YouTube, or at Knowledge@Wharton - check it out.
Too much is made of who the puppet President is. Sheeple voters (Dems and Reps)
enjoy a liberal conservation/confrontation and are concerned with trivial matters (abortion, gay rights, immigration, etc.) that have nothing to do with how the country is governed and nothing to do with their livelihood. These voters reelected 93% of the experienced politicians to office--experienced in special interest groups and bribers (lobbyists)and experienced in wasting money.
With this competing left/right crap, our masters in the Fed and authentic government offices continue their ripoffs and laugh all the way to their banks.
Here's another who accurately predicted this meltdown:
http://ravibatra.com/
The reason why the people who got it right all along were ignored can be best summed up in two words: political correctness. It's far easier to fall for the corporate bs propaganda on the media in the form of seductive but irrational sound bites than it is to listen to and read rational discussions such as what Nader posts. That said, even today most people still don't know what really hit them. It's embarrassing to have to live with the fact that most Americans have a short term memory. No wonder political correctness trumps intellectual honesty.
For those who still don't get it, read, "What Cooked the World's Economy" (Village Voice)or the "Big Takeover" from Rollingstone Magazine. Nader is right in that Obama has made some disastrous appointments of people to try to get us out of the mess that they themselves helped create.
Competence is rarely rewarded. There is a current real-life example in the COBRA subsidy plan to help laid-off workers afford to continue the health insurance they had from their now former employers. The concept is admirable. The execution was designed by a sadistic bureaucrat who clearly doesn't know the difference between employee benefit deductions and payroll tax deductions. Here it is: Employers who must comply with COBRA (any employer who has 20+ employees) will be required to pay 65% of the monthly premium of the employees whom they lay off and who enroll in COBRA. The Federal Government will "repay" this outlay via credits on the payroll deposits (Social Security, Medicare, and federal income tax withholding) that the employer makes. They employers will claim these credits quarterly as they file their quarterly wage reports. First problem is the apples and oranges nature of this transaction in refunding from deposits to social security / medicare and from the federal income tax withheld (all liabilities accounted for on the balance sheet) to pay for insurance -- an expense category which is tracked on a business' profit and loss statement. Who is going to keep track of the comings and goings of these credits vs the liability payments to the SSA and US Treasury. And, when the employers file their quarterly reports, claiming their credits, will the US Treasury then be issuing refund payments to all of those employers? Who makes sure that the credits claimed are accurate? How? What if an employee fails to make his/her 35% share payments and their insurance is cancelled. How will an employer know that he is no longer responsible to continue paying the 65% portion for that cancelled former employee? Do you think the insurance companies will have an accurate and timely mechanism to issue refunds and/or notifications? Will employers be at risk of being accused of fraud if they unknowingly claim refunds for premiums for former employees who have, unbeknownst to the employer, defaulted on their premiums? Currently COBRA payments are handled directly between the insurer and the former employee/subscriber and the employer is not involved. This subsidy plan creates a convoluted, irrational exchange of money involving four parties and uses as a clearinghouse a completely unrelated fund of money. Whoever designed this is deranged, and uninformed, and does not know what the process of payroll, withholding and depositing to these so-called trust accounts involves. They have created a bureaucratic nightmare which will require extensive record keeping just to cover ones behind. The simple solution? The federal government should simply pay directly to the insurance company the 65% upon the insurance company's submission of claim -- their list of COBRA subscribers and the record of those subscribers' 35% payments.
I may be a bit out of the loop on COBRA law...If the government is planning on requiring employers to foot 65% of the insurance cost that is a vast improvement over when I was still working. If I remember correctly my employer would have had to pay next to 0-10% while I picked up 90% of the cost and had no income, except maybe some unemployment. I remember working it out once. Fortunately, I didn't have to be concerned then or now.
You sound like a man who has employees who may be eligible at some point. You can always fire them now and do the work yourself. Hell, guys like you think labor is a word for 'pain in the ass' anyway.
But you and I know you either don't know how to do the work or you're just lazy and need to bitch about being in the wrong business.:)
Excellent example of our messed up system. As for competance, I don't think those designers of COBRA were incompetant. My suspicion is they knew what they could gain from robbing people like that. They're nothing but sneaky weasels.
Exactly.
Most Americans do NOT deserve an honest intellectual like Nader as president. What they do deserve is Obama, a proven liar, a mass producer of mass hypnotism through demagoguery, a war criminal.
Democrats LOVE to blame Nader for the 2000 election but also LOVE to blame Bush for stealing it. They never blame themselves for anything. 2 million registered Democrats voted for Bush in 2000. That's 2 million!
Let me also remind you Lesser Evilists that Obama's 100 days will be a wet dream for Wall Street and the 60 millions plus who voted for him will be 1 trillion dollars poorer. YES WE DID!
This article is nothing but crying over spilled milk. Look, I may have voted for Obama and proudly so and yes, I'm dissatisfied with some of his appointments but what is the point of saying "so and so was right ..." and doing nothing about it? If you people want a Ralph Nader in the White House, go back and put better pols on the local level and help the rest of us build up better representation. If all Nader can do is publish silly fault-finding articles talking about who was right 10 years ago, no wonder he could retain his support and dropped from 2.8 million in 2000 to below 740,000 votes in 2008. Mr. Nader, please move on and let's get with the times. Use the money you obtained from all those defense contractors towards counterlobbying for a change.
Excuse us but we the people have every right to know who was right and who was wrong so that we may know who to trust in the future. The reason this country fell apart financially is the electorate got thrown into confusion about who to listen to for sound financial advice and predictions. As for your suggestion that we all shut up and do something, discussing the matters and reviewing history is part of the solution. If you don't like it, then just leave us alone so that we can help bail you out. Your ignorance is completely uncalled for.
Now Nebraska Nathan1, you must already know that Ralph invests in the MIC so he "can go to their shareholder meetings and learn whats really going on," & "He gives all the money he makes from investing in Fidelity-Magellan to CHARITY." I learned these truths and others from his acolytes on CD. Such as all people who voted for Obama are robots who should 'kiss their asses,' everyone is stupid except them, only naderites know the "real truth," and, oh my! That us 'Stupid Robots who should kiss their asses actually are pro-war & death. Yes, "elohim" asks me to look into the pit of my soul, the morass for signs of life.....as God is my witness I'm cracking up now, Hope you are Okay-glad Obama is working on the Nuclear Arms Reduction Treaty.
NN1-Check Out how these NaderLoving-ObamaHaters reinforce their tunnelvision, Right Now the lead article on CD is about Obama/Nuclear weapons Reductions, it's Positive Soooooo....there are NO threaders! His haters ignore his positive press. But another critical article will get over a hundred posts.....
And this, Whenever Ralph announces he is going to run for president many millions of Americans celebrate. And they are all Republicans. That say ANYTHING? It does to me. My enemies friend is my enemy.
NN1-I'm gonna bong some bud I grew now.
Thanks for the heads up on "I'm single, marry me eff you" Jenny, what a shrill gem!
US Blues
Azjoe and Nathan, you love to tear down your betters. I guess this makes you 'intellectuals'. I've run into quite a few of your type in my 68 years. Unfortunately, those like Ralph are fewer and harder to find. Democrats and Republicans alike cheer YOU, who don't have the since to recognize an honest, upright and intelligent man with the courage to devote his life to exposing and opposing corruption, greed and stupidity. Ralph is not a politician and is too good to be a president. He should be on the president's right shoulder giving him advice, instead of people like Hillary Clinton.
Have a good high. Everything's cool, Obama's in charge.
Nebraska Nathan1 and azjoe,
You two sicken me enough as it is with your trash talk posts. You two never acknowledge Nader's contributions to worthwhile causes because you Obamabots never want to learn. If Barry were such a great community organizer, he wouldn't have turned into the current corporate sellout he is today. azjoe, your two senators from AZ stink and Nebraska Nathan1, nice to see your stupid Ben Nelson joining the Blue Dog coalition and further SOILING the Democrat Party !
Ignore the trolls, Jennifer. They are boringly predictable and, I might add, are probably paid to raise our blood pressure. They are fools.
These two are hardly paid trolls. They are far less than such. No, they have other motivations, ones that they really should discuss with a mental health professional.
Hi Rick, How are you? Well I hope. You're certainly correct I'm unpaid to opine. These Nader threads sure get emotional! Now, I've never elicited a kind word from you, but I do try now & then, again, hope you are well. I ignored yesterday's RR insults-I think, I lose track, and will try again today. Unless I'm told to kiss someone's ass-that might be good for a response!
I mean Butterflies & Honey, that's mean!
US Blues
jonabark
Forget the debates about Nader vs. pragmatic voting, What Ralph is saying here goes much deeper than self promotion and it is impossible to overstate its importance. If these voices were well known and their ideas were being heard the political landscape would be functioning at a level much closer to reality.
This is what idealistic people of every stripe agree about, the promotion of excellence, the attention that must be paid by those who value truth and accuracy to those who "get it right". Obama was elected only because he got it a little bit right about Iraq. I think there are important voices Ralph left out: Danny Schechter, Nouriel Roubini, and Jim Kunstler. Jim is dangerously feisty and says some things that are unpalatable to me but he is a good writer and as sharp and uninhibited as Ed Abbey was. Of those I read, he was the most loud and clear and precise predictor of the crash and its causes and nature. He borrowed much from Roubini but also combined it with his own research and knowledge of the peak oil implications.
And to the extent that a number of European countries are functioning better than the US, it is because voices like those Ralph cited are well-known. In Europe, Noam Chomsky is a household word - Yet in his home country, only a few out of a thousand even recognize his name.
"The ascedancy of greed and materialism in U.S. society during the 1980's has been widely acknowleded, but the distinctive form this greed assumed in an age of deindustrialization has attracted less attention and analysis.
Changes in investment policies and tax codes accelerated trends favoring consumption over production, leveraged buyouts over productive investments, short-term profits over long-term investment, and love of gain over collective obligations and responsibilities. People at the highest income levels embraced behaviors previously associated with the poor- seeking short-term sensations and pleasures rather than pursuing disciplined long-range investments, programs or policies.
At the macrosocial level, these policies have produced paralyzing levels of public and private debt, squandered the social resources and industrial infrastructure of the nation, and generated long-term costs to individuals and their environments while imposing burdens on future generations.
On the miscrosocial level, they have encouraged the very attitudes displayed most often in adolescent warrior fantasies- regressive desire, narcissistic grandiosity, and anxieties about identity that lead to craving for sensations, distractions, and displays of power...
In return for all the broken promises and devastated lives Congress and the Presidents have left the nation with an even better developed taste for spectatorship of the kind described long ago by J.A. Hobson- gloating over the perils, pains, and slaughter of fellow-men who he does not know, but whose destruction he desires in a blind and artificially stimulated passion of hatred and revenge."
George Lipsitz, "The Possessive Investment in Whiteness", 1998
............................................................................
"The American people have been politically bewildered about their foreign policy for fifty years. In war they are alternately drugged about the promise of bloodless and easy victory, then whipped up with official warnings that peace will be expensive and far off...Politically this new American is not only ignorant; he is indifferent. There is the United States, or Home. And there are all the other places...
Unsupplied with statesmen capable of building him an enduring peace consonant with his own sacrifices, the American turns by reductio ad absurdum to an emotional apprehension of war. If you cannot think about the war, can you not at least feel about it? Besides the escapism away from the war there is in the United States a unique escapism into war , into atrocity stories, into magic-weapon stories, into hero stories, into sex-and-war stories, that defeats the political teacher.
Today the fighting man overseas is waiting for the statesman at home to do something. The statesman at home is waiting for the people to suggest for him to do something. The people are waiting for the press and radio to suggest what they should ask the statesman to do. The press and radio are waiting for their foreign correspondants and war reporters overseas to suggest to them what they should suggest to the public. And the reporters and correspondants are unable to analyze, much less suggest political action, because the fighting man (officers and censorship, that is) want one last orgy of home town stories, more mindless and more alike than the slow molasses drippings of four years of sloppy, apolitical, dear-mom war and say that politics is the affair of the statesman back home.
"Bases Overseas" by Geoge Weller, 1944
You obviously have no opinions or a thought of your own to make here. So here is a quick education.
Neither of the authors quotes you use to present what is apparently your thinking offers a cogent, logical argument for their position. There is some thinking about it, as in spontaneous writing but without spontaneity. But especially the superficiality of the writing itself.
Thesis paragraphs with false facts or doubtful authority with subsequent tedium of opinion or emotional baggage or even a false sophistication and false cynicism of a poor writer and 5th rate thinker.
This article is as good an example as any of the importance of Ralph Nader. It explains why he is such a good public and cultural critic and such a lousey politician (which is a compliment to him). Ralph is well-read and has been well-read for decades.
Further, Ralph does not cite ponderous academic tomes whose main function is to be a cure for insomnia unless you are one of a very small cadre invested in a particular academic discipline. Rather, Ralph commends us to writers and analysts who make their understanding accessable to ordinary people.
Poet
One of the best and most concise summations of the worth of a Ralph Nader I have ever read. Thank you for it,Poet.
Two important omissions by Nader:
1. Thomas Frank - the re-known author of "What's the Matter with Kansas", who now writes progressive op-eds for the Wall Street Journal. Frank wrote the seminal "One Market Under God" in the '90s.
2. The late economist Hyman Minsky and the entire "heterodox" economic tradition of which he was a part. Minsky and his disciples saw this coming, understood why, and announced it to anyone willing to listen for years. Minskians have been on the margins of the economic profession during the recent era dominated by idiotic Chicago School economics; and prominent only in places like UMass Amherst, UMKC, and the Levy Institute (though both Stiglitz and Krugman are close to being Minskians). Now that Minsky is rightly gaining recognition as the economist who best explains how modern economies really work - the Minsky-school should be ascendent. If that doesn't happen it's safe to say that the entirety of American Academic Economics is a bought and paid for subsidiary of Wall Street.
Minsky's work figures prominantly in the analysis of Foster and Magdoff.
The publishers and editors of "The Monthly Review", e.g. Harry Magdoff and John Bellamy Foster who have been warning about these problems for decades. The latest book, which often recalls their past analysis, is "The Great Financial Crisis; Causes and Consequences" and presents the clearest explanation of the current situation I have read so far.
You left out one important name to the ultra liberal and ultra conservative: RON PAUL.
The cause of the problem is not "high taxes and big government" or complete legislative inactivity, nor is the solution a return to the gold standard or 'good ole' housecalls. Jeeeez!
"This is a fast road to a state of decay."
Ralph, once again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You know, I tried to warn my friends, family, and coworkers about the corporate/military puppet Barry was but not only would they not listen, they thought I was a far left mental looney ! McSAME, yeah he was obvious but Barry was a hideous weasel like Raygun. Well, looking at the mess Barry's continuing for the most part, sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or cry. In both cases, I could say "See I told you so" and yet I'd still get attacked at.
To all you Obamabots out there, KISS MY ASS ! LOL !
P.S.: Sorry to scream like that but I just couldn't help it. :-)
Hmmm, you look familiar. You must be that same JenniferBedingfield on alternet.org who keeps crying and screaming like a Naderite crybaby. I don't want to disappoint you but, young lady, you have to face reality. Be it your failure to get married or your favorite candidate who couldn't write a useful article let alone run a presidential campaign let alone win, you have to understand that in life, there are compromises. I'm sorry to hear what happened to your last date and I wish you luck. However, while you can keep talking about courage, all your silly crying, namecalling, and screaming will keep you stuck in the loser's column. The user "Beck" in alternet.org may have been a proud Obama voter just like myself and I've even seen her accept you calling her an Obamabot but you have to realize that we have to take what we can in life. Your begging for too much will leave you with nothing and then you'll keep crying the next day and the day after that. Now wipe those tears and grow up. Obama has had a mixed bag but if you read Thomas More's reply to you yesterday under "Saving Obama", you would have realized that by now, Nader wouldn't even be able to form a cabinet let alone enact his first policy. If you keep finding fault and acting so stubborn, no man will want to be with you. I'm not saying you should give yourself up but you're just going to have to make compromises and sacrifices too whether you like it or not. Now wipe those tears and grow up. You're making a mountain out of an ant hill.
Well, compared to the screaming and tantrums that Democrats have thrown at Nader and everyone who voted for him while their party was handing the country over to Bush lock, stock, and barrel, I must say that Jennifer is pretty restrained.
Your condescension is extremely childish.
Oh, no you don't ! You make fun of me all you want but that won't put me to tears because I'm used to speaking my mind out and telling the truth even if it hurts. To you Obamabots, compromising is conceding but that's the same in the DLC and Blue Doggie wing of the Democrat Party. Even Rachel Maddow is disgusted with your senator Ben Nelson for joining Evan Bayh in splitting the Democrat Party even further. Evan Bayh should be primaried and kicked to the curb. If not, he might as well be replaced by even a Republican because he is a Republican anyway. As for that Obamabot "Beck", yeah she and I get into tough political catfights. She has her cronies but that doesn't bother me. In fact, even if no one on Alternet were to back me up, I'd still speak my mind out. In case you didn't know, I had actually toned down some but still hold my courage and convictions. I've made enough sacrifices in life as it is and I know where to draw the line. And I still refuse to believe you or Thomas on the claim that Nader wouldn't have been able to form his own cabinet. Nader would have the courage to expose the sellouts in both parties obstructing pro-people appointments and legislation. And in case you didn't know Eugene Debs, here's a quote to stamp on your head "It is better to vote for what you want and not get it than it is to vote for what you don't want and get it."
You tell em, Jenny! I agree with you but think you sound a little crazy/mad. But you probably have reason. I know when I'm talking to my friends I sound that way too, especially when the decibels get loud.
I don't think Ralph would make a good president--not under our present system. But he sure would make a good advisor for one with the intelligence, humility, and courage to listen to him. Obama is intelligent, but I think he lacks courage. That's the way it looks when he does turnarounds on health care and other matters. The honeymoon's still on, and it's good to feel good about American for a change, but I shudder to think what will happen when it's over and reality sets in. About the only good thing I can think of Obama is that he's definitely not George Bush. Oh, and he seems to have good taste in women.
I've always voted for Ralph Nader, when I've bothered to vote. It may be 'wasted' but it helps to know that my vote is for an upright man. If Ralph had promised to fight for a single payer health system, he would have done so had he won. He wouldn't be throwing trillions at the very people who've made such a mess of things. Instead he would be seeing to it that wall st. was very carefully regulated.
Keep your courage and convictions. They are good things to have. Ask Ralph.
Hi George. Sometimes, I do think I take the political dysfunctionality too hard on myself but I'm working on dealing with it and trying to take it easy. As for making a good president under the current system, if personality and being a show off are what it takes to be president regardless of supporting policies that screw the people while enriching the wealthy and corporate elites, I see what you mean. I wish Obama well and actually hope he doesn't fail in leading the country in a progressive direction but so far, there are very few progressive victories so far and at best he has weakened my mistrust very little. In fact, watching more people helplessly losing their jobs, their homes, or even their lives along with the possibility of military recruitment rising desperately due to rising unemployment strengthens my fears I had about Mccain and Obama. On the part about intelligence, if there's one thing Dubya taught us, it's that academic intelligence doesn't always count but instead political intelligence is what the voters look for. Maybe Obama will convince more voters to think that academic intelligence does indeed matter but I'm not holding my breath.
To expand a bit on the input from George Markley, not that he needs it.
As we live in a political system in which power is limited to only those members of the Duopoly a Nader Presidency would be doomed to failure due to a complete lack of cooperation with both Dems and Repubs. That , of course, does not mean we should not continue to vote for and support him, far from it in fact.
If I may, Ms. Bedingfield, might I suggest that you ignore the comment from this fellow. He is more than a bit confused and will bounce from a very childish attempt to defame and insult directly to an insistence that he wishes honest dialogue and civil debate. Bipolar? Maybe, drugs, possibly, usefulness , never.
Hi Red Rick,
I assume you're referring to azjoe or Nebraska Nathan1. It seems that both of them are very mean to Ralph Nader and those of us who admire his courageous activities in life, win or lose. Those two Obamabots are even sadistic sick puppies. I'll try to ignore them unless I feel that they really need a strong counter reply to hit their raw nerves.
These two are children, whether chronological or just emotional, nothing more or less than that. They will gang up on you just for the simple pleasure of feeling as if they were actually functioning in an adult world. Of course real adults understand that what they do is far from that.
As one who appreciates your efforts I would advise just talking around them until they lose interest and go away. Which they will, sooner or later, whether voluntarily or by administration mandate. After all it is not as if they had anything whatsoever to contribute.
Good idea Red Rick. Ignoring you is the best advice you could give to that young lady. She needs to grow up and start dealing with reality calmly and cool minded just like Obama is doing. Sure, Obama has issues but being too idealist and negative minded only breeds more trouble. JenniferBedingfield could learn from practical thinkers, not closed minded idealists.
You nailed it.
michael jordan
http://sites.google.com/site/apolloguide/
Gosh Big Jenny B-field, what a Splash you make on Common Dreams! Why, you've had marriage proposals, made new friends, told us all all about your kin-folk, but best, you THRILLED our men-folk with yo tail of Singleness!! My Oh MY! A real by-herself-girl! Holy Cow! (well nothing is holy),
And now my ilk can 'kiss your ass?' Damn, another intellectual nader lover.
Keep Common Dreams Posted. Because whether or not you're single is just germaine as hell.
As far as kissing your ass goes though....the Missouri Hog Farm & Trailer I see you Fouling is kinda antithetical to that thought's ultimate fruition. Maybe one of the Hogs Though.
US Blues.
Jeeze, azjoe, give it up! You're beginning to sound like a brute. Turn on, tune in, and shut the fuck up!
George Markley, Good Morning, I don't respond to most personal insults, for instance my only reply to you here is I say seek love, be happy.
People don't like the way I fight. Physically or verbally. But being insulted constantly, you are a prime example here, sometimes provokes a response. That is how it is.
This lady suggested us robots kiss her ass. I was repelled, and my response reflected that.
As far as responding in kind to you right Now, ugly and insulting like your post, I won't-98% of the time I do not. But that does not mean I am a doormat.
I know you have good principles, I respect that. But if you tell me to kiss your ass it is ON. That is filthy and no one with self-respect takes it. Caio.
US Blues
Listen azjoe,
Some of us in life don't share your luxurious life styles and maybe I don't mind being somewhat open about myself. Maybe describing my life's general complications that a lot of us in this world share can help because some people will be happy to offer great ideas as I would to them when they have problems that I happen to have some of the answers to. As for calling me a Nader lover, I'm proud to be one because like I said earlier, his courage inspired me and even changed my way of life for the better unlike you who chose to remain a coward and talk crap like "Well, he'll never get elected, blah-blah-blah" ! It's like a parent telling his or her child that they'll always fail. YOU are part of the problem. You knew Barry would drag us into Afghanistan, continue Iraq, be a dud on the economic policies and continue Dubya's crap, etc ... and yet you voted for him anyway and now we're all dragged into his mess. What little progressive victories are there will be marginalized at this rate. As for the MO farms, well your buddy Klinton went along with the GOP to wipe out even more small farms as if Raygun wasn't bad enough at it and if Barry signs HR 875, Monsato's wet dream, he can forget running for a second term !
azjoe,
You should see her posts on alternet.org. She has been making a lot of enemies although she has plenty of sympathetic followers. It is true that nearly all of her enemies have voted for Obama while those who voted for Nader, Mckinney, Barr, etc ... support her a lot. Jenny probably sounds like a lost little girl who can't learn to get a hold of herself. Jenny's not all that strong as she sounds like. She's come across folks such as "Pelican Beak" on alternet.org who'd share some of the common beliefs he had with Jenny and put her in tears. It is amazing that even Thomas More's truthful posts about 3rd parties would make her cry. I'll see what I can say to bring that little girl to her senses.
P.S.: Jenny reminds me of a daughter of my neighbor who'd always get into silly political arguments with her parents and even her boyfriend. Her parents loved her boyfriend for being nice and compromising and wished he could do something to get her to shut up and learn to compromise. She'd never give it up. They would never abuse her but they would punish her by humiliating her for being too unruly by tickling her until she wet herself and cried. Her boyfriend at first refused to join them but as time when on, he thought that maybe if he also punished her for being too choosy and demanding that she'd come to her senses. She ran away one night when she screamed "I hate you" 4 times so loud to her parents and her boyfriend. She moved to Washington DC it turns out since she was hell bent on moving. She looked so beautiful even when she'd cry and yet she was way too demanding. Jenny could learn a lesson of reducing her demands and learning the gentle art of compromising.
I already nailed you on your first paragraph in another reply. As to your PS, what her parents and her boyfriend did to her was nothing but ABUSE ! I don't care how demanding the girl was. Her parents had no right to ABUSE her like that. I don't blame her for leaving her parents and her cowardly boyfriend for not standing up for her. I'm surprised she didn't file child abuse charges against them but then again, perhaps NE law doesn't give much room for sweethearts such as her. At least she had the courage to stop accepting any more abuse. God bless her soul.
This old Indian wonders how the Tribes ever lived for 1000's & 1000's of years upon the earth without their form of money. Or basically their form of anything else?
But now the people including myself get to be "bill payers" and to "render unto Casear what is Caesar's." No matter how much they babble on & babble on in their modern day Babylon the people get to be "bill payers," and to "render unto Casear,"
Now another day older and the people who own the mortuary rub their hands together a little more excitedly over the prospects of my carcass being a day closer.
I wonder if Jesus when he said, render unto Caesar what is Caesar's was thinking, "It may appear Caesar is building some kind of real wonderful worldly paradise but long run all Caesar is doing is building Hell on Earth?
All I know is Caesar's rule is limited to this world.
Life is good. What an experience! It's always best to forgive.
Of course the nations that inhabited this continent prior to its "discovery" by the white man actually did have money, and postal service, and ambassadors, and treaties, and trade. But the essential point, however inaccurate, is sort of valid.
I wonder if in the original version Jesus didn't say "render Caesar". That would make more since.
Yeah, life's good, even for this old 'round eyes'. Forgiving is very under-rated. You just gotta let go.
Even a broken clock is correct once a day....
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
A broken clock is right twice a day, although I am unsure what that has to do with it.
But the point was never about being right or wrong, it was about being part of the IN crowd.
as i read this piece and the statement about the oligarchy's control of the media, i am thinking about y'day's piece about PBS' censorship of the documentary on u.s. healthcare.
liberty or death
Alex Carey:
... the 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: The growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.
Australian social scientist, quoted by Noam Chomsky in World Orders Old and New
Obama is the defining moment of Africans melting into the American-Euro Empire, a.k.a. America. The last group (Indians/India) now reap the rewards of some of our best jobs, either by shipping them in here, or sending the jobs directly to them in India. Mexicans get the drug biz and jobs in our armies (then citizenship) for fighting Washington and Wall Street's illegal wars. And China, they get to play the enemy and sell our own slaves here their crap.
Nice deals for the rich, the political and those at the "top" of the media chain.
And the machine rolls on.
(Kudos to those in France and Germany who today have started getting tough.)
I am really dissapointed that Ralph Nader did not include in his list David C. Korten, who has got it right since 1996, when he published his first book "When Corporations Rule the World", later he published "The Post-Corporate World", "The Great Turning" and his just released book, "An Agenda for a New Economey". The sad thing is that David Korten has never to my knowledge been invited on the mainstream media.
Dave Bronstein, Obama may surprise you. He's a realist, and if he doesn't want to be assassinated, he has to play the game. But he has told us repeatedly that change must come from below (that's us) and a leader will go where the people push. Certainly when the workers of Republic Windows and Doors conducted a sit-in to prevent the selling of assets until they got their final paychecks and benefits, Obama came out in support of them. So I think we have a President who would not shoot us if we took to the streets, unlike our last one. I also think he hopes we will pick up the pitchforks. I could be wrong, but that's what I think. I'm just wondering how bad it has to get before people do it. For sure, it's going to get worse, in spite of the corporate media saying we're turning the corner.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
BeForKids - A silly & naive "analysis." You are dreaming. There is no such thing as a capitalist president who wouldn't call in the troops to shoot down protestors, when a serious popular threat to ruling class control emerges. Ironically, it's silly naive attitudes like yours that will prevent the population from ever "picking up the pitchforks."
You are urging people to believe in the phony Obama, even after his bailout proposal, which condemns the population to permanent financial slavery. If the bailout didn't convince you of where he really stands, nothing will -- until the day he calls in troops & gives them the order to fire.
You write that you "... think he hopes we will pick up the pitchforks." This is simply comical. He was bombing innocent villagers with Predator drones in less than 100 hours after his inauguration. Of every single decision he's made so far, almost 100% of them were for the clear benefit of the ruling class, while the only ones that weren't (like stem call research) cost the ruling class nothing.
v.purto
Five kudos to DaveBronstein, Leon could not say better; albeit he did. Alas, our square one is not 8 years back, it is rather 80, ten times longer.
BeForKids,
Excellent analysis. Obama will do his best to lead but we the people can't sit by idly. Back during the Great Depression, people didn't wait for FDR to solve everything. In fact, FDR needed their support to counter huge opposition in Congress and the media. In fact, FDR faced 5 assassination attempts, 1 was very well known in 1934. As to your question about how bad it has to get, well that depends on what it actually takes for the people to wake up from fear and ignorance of taking to the streets. The monied elites are indeed very powerful and they have plenty of military backup and all to control the Congress and the White House. We the people will have to be relentless in fighting back. It doesn't matter who's in the White House. What matters is how successful we the people can unite in controlling our leaders that we elect at the polling booths.
What are you talking about ? We sacrified ourselves enough already and you want to tell us to do more of it and let Barry keep allowing the devils sell us out ? The guy's acting like a coward just like most pols in Washington ! Please don't give silly conspiracy theory excuses to defend his selling out. Barry isn't surprising me though I wished deep down in my heart that he would. I would be utterly thrilled if he could prove me wrong but so far, I'm seeing none of it. I'm already sacrificing more than enough in life already and to tell me to sacrifice even more makes me angry to the point of screaming KISS MY ASS ! Sorry to be sounding very bitter about all this but Nader was correct all along but was written off and treated badly.
Excellent points!
Hey, changemymind, why do you think they were in such a hurry to dispose of the evidence? Same as in Fallujah. Of course there it was white phosphorus. Which falls under the heading of war crime.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
I also thank you for your list and the books of these people. I find that books are, for here in america, the best source of real information. Unfortunately that information was around for a long time but being written it is basically still available. That implies that when the electricity goes out, you can still read about it.
Ralph, you left an important name off your list - your own. Perhaps due to modesty, of which some have accused you to be lacking. Never me.
I also would have liked to see Paul Krugman's name, because although perhaps considered mainstream, being a NYT columnist, he has been a Cassandra on this issue for years. Thanks to Paul, I bailed in 2006, selling a white elephant of a fixer in an up scale neighborhood, and buying a small mortgage free home on the edge of town. He had me watching the market like a hawk. I wanted and got a safe haven for the impending depression. I am very sorry for all those caught in this economic tidal wave.
The perpetrators should be jailed. Unfortunately we elected them. Yes, I blame those who deregulated the banking industry and that includes Clinton! Friend of the Left? Hell no! I read that Larry Summers talked him into undoing Glass-Steagall. I doubt it was a hard sell. Some in the banking industry crossed the legal line, but they always would have. Most just did what the law allowed, thanks to our public servants in Congress.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
You are right about Paul Krugman, right about the consequences of dumping Glass-Steagle and right about Jefferson.
This country has never been perfect, and never will be as long as people are running things. However,it is what it is, and we may as well enjoy having a new bunch of incompetants to deal with. For many of us, it still works, and we just have to keep trying to fix the problems of those that are in umnfortunate circumstances. Constant complaining about the new administration will not help. Give them a little time and see how they get along with the disaster they inherited. Remember, the last set of self serving idiots had eight years to control everything, not three months.
You're right. What we need is a robot president, programed to quote Thomas Jefferson. We could even build him an ebony robot for companionship. But it would behoove us to build a few robots who complain constantly, just to keep things honest.
Your comment is not that of a "citizen" -- it's the statement of a helpless ostrich; a blind follower. You're not interested in perceiving what's actually happening; you're interested only in making excuses for it ("...country never been perfect, blah blah, because imperfect humans run things, blah blah"). (Incidentally, that argument works for Nazi Germany, too, which was also "not perfect," and was also "run by humans".) You'd be happy as long as everyone followed along, blindly & complacently, just like you. This is the position of the lib-tard.
You write, "...Remember, the last set of self serving idiots had eight years to control everything, not three months."
- Actually, the real nature of the last gang was totally obvious just from the way they stole the presidency. Even before Inauguration Day of 2001, one could be sure of that gang's criminality. Three months was not needed to be able to judge them accurately.
The new gang is no different in that respect. They are better at public relations & less heavy-handed. But they serve the same class interests as the last gang, & their policy framework represents continuity with slight elements of re-adjustment, not "change." The whole picture could be written in shorthand as:
Bush = pro-war, pro-empire, pro-Wall St, with a ban on stem-cell research; poor diction, constant smirking
Obama = pro-war, pro-empire, pro-Wall St, but reversing the ban on stem-cell research. Has good diction, doesn't smirk.
re DaveBronstein April 4th, 2009 1:16 pm
"...the real nature of the last gang was totally obvious just from the way they stole the presidency."
yes.
and the nature of the gang across town was totally obvious from the way they rolled over and let the thieves get clean away.
"yes.
and the nature of the gang across town was totally obvious from the way they rolled over and let the thieves get clean away."
And while they were rolling over and letting the thieves get clean away, they were screaming their heads off at Nader and everyone who voted for him. Bigger hypocrites than Rove.
they're already coming around in steady bunches. remember that they're not all of the same ideological cloth. the Dems still have a crapload of conservative, corporatist members in their ranks, and they're not budging regardless, much like the trogs on the right.
the people who really wanted substantive change, however, are coming around and will continue to come around as this administration procedes down smilar paths of Bush, Clinton and Reagan.
i think Obama's a godsend in this regard, just as Clinton was for the left of the Dem party years ago. We'll have more of us by 2012, mark my words.
Once the EFCA gets ground underfoot, you'll see even more defections. Just be ready to let bygones be bygones and go forward. Not everyone's eyes can open simultaneously.
I have worked over 30 years in a small, local governmental organization habitually run by incompetent people who hire other incompetent people (middle managers) to abet them in their incompetence. It's the usual story: if you point out obvious incompetence, you get into a load of trouble. In the regime of George Wanker Bush, incompetence was the norm; so for all the slobbering, knuckle dragging morons who constituted that regime, everything was great. Barry-O and much of his supporting cast are obviously more intelligent yet, re the economy and Afghanistan, the result is the same. The answer apparently lies in the crotch, not in the mind.
Could you please explain something - Are you a close friend of Obama? Just wondering why you call him Barry-O? Isn't his name Barak?
v.purto
My take is that Barry-O is a construct of Barry Goldwater and Jelly-O (Ronald Reagan) Dig deap, licketyglick, and you find out a lot of interesting fucks, err, facts. Current mess is a final act of half-a-millennium tragedy, presenting itself as a farse. Find out author of last phrase. Best digs.
You may not be aware of this, but it's common in democratic countries for people to ridicule politicians or show them disrespect. Referring to Barack (not Barak) Obama as "Barry O" is a way of expressing disdain for him.
Similarly, George Bush's middle name isn't "Wanker"--my guess is that the writer was intending to show disrespect, but I suppose it's possible he actually knows Bush well and this is an affectionate nickname.
Ralph Nader, on the question with which you begin your article, you have some interesting suggestions for answers. I might add to these the likelihood that some of these who "got it right" about our looming financial disaster were not so active before the presidential election as now about airing these critiques. I don't know about all the progressives in your list I do know about Greider and Hightower (as well as one you didn't mention, William K. Black who appeared last night on Bill Moyers Journal) that they were Obama supporters before the election and, for various reasons of support for him on other issues, were perhaps reluctant to rock the boat by bringing up inconvenient truths that might endanger his election. Just a footnote suggestion for your good analysis.
Jerry D Rose, Good Morning
Dean Baker offered qualified support for Geithner last Fall, quite qualifed, but support. He also criticized him, true. Adroitly, he did both.
-In The Guardian-
US Blues.
Hi azjoe, Dean Baker, "adroitly,he did both." Yep, that would be Dean Baker.
Thanks for the list, Ralph.
q
Nader should add to his list Michael Whitney, Michael Hudson and F. Willian Endahl to his list of those who said the current state of economic affairs was corrupt and were leading to a great bust. As for anyone taking a position being 'subjective' I would counter those taking an alternative position to those of the status quo were not doing so out of personal gain or subjectivity. Those countering the status quo of Greenspan etc....were doing so by analyzing economic data with credible analytic tools. Hardly subjective.
Nader should add to his list my personal favourite, Dr. Doom himself - Nouriel Roubini. I am familiar with your 3 chosen wise men, in particular Mike Whitney, he writes excellent pieces.