No more efforts to increase employment. Not even the slightest sign of relief for homeowners. Not in America. Not in Europe. So who's getting the government's protection?
Once again, it's the most prosperous among us -- the creditors. Paul Krugman calls them "rentiers," the French word for people who depend for their (sizeable) incomes not on hard work and long hours but from paper.
..The only real beneficiaries of Pain Caucus policies (aside from the Chinese government) are the rentiers: bankers and wealthy individuals with lots of bonds in their portfolios.
Nice for them, but they don't do a damn thing for the economy, for their country, or for anyone else but themselves.
And that explains why creditor interests bulk so large in policy; not only is this the class that makes big campaign contributions, it’s the class that has personal access to policy makers — many of whom go to work for these people when they exit government through the revolving door. The process of influence doesn’t have to involve raw corruption (although that happens, too). All it requires is the tendency to assume that what’s good for the people you hang out with, the people who seem so impressive in meetings — hey, they’re rich, they’re smart, and they have great tailors — must be good for the economy as a whole.
But the reality is just the opposite: creditor-friendly policies are crippling the economy. This is a negative-sum game, in which the attempt to protect the rentiers from any losses is inflicting much larger losses on everyone else. And the only way to get a real recovery is to stop playing that game.
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Let's not forget that those guys with bonds in their portfolios and/or corner offices to go to are depending on kids fighting in Iraq (yes, still) and Afghanistan not to make too big a fuss when they get home and find there is no home.
I’d like to share with you today a story, a story about Tim Collette and his son in my state of Oregon. ... Mr. Collette says, my biggest problem now is my [son] comes from the military in August, and my home is being foreclosed on in 18 days. He’s been hit by an I.E.D., people shooting at him, and he just wanted to come home and sleep in his room, in his bed, and be safe for 15 days. And I told him I’d make that happen. I don’t know how yet. ... And for Tim and countless others, it didn’t need to be this bad. ...Think Progress
