Foster JB and Holleman - The Financial Power Elite

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1、REVIEWOFTHEMONTHTheFinancialPowerEliteJOHNBEllaMyFOsTERaNdHaNNaHHOllEMaNYoumeantotellmethatthesuccessofthe[economic]programandmyreelectionhingesontheFederalReserveandabunchoffuckingbondtraders?—PresidentBillClinton1Onlytwicebeforeinthelastcentury—afterthe1907BankPanicandfollowingthe1929StockMarketCr

2、ash—hasoutragedirectedatU.S.financialelitesreachedtoday’slevel,inthewakeoftheGreatFinancialCrisisof2007-2009.ATimemagazinepollinlateOctober2009revealedthat71percentofthepublicbelievedthatlimitsshouldbeimposedonthecompensationofWallStreetexecutives;67percentwantedthegov-ernmenttoforceexecutivepaycuts

3、onWallStreetfirmsthatreceivedfederalbailoutmoney;and58percentagreedthatWallStreetexertedtoomuchinfluenceovergovernmenteconomicrecoverypolicy.2InJanuary2009PresidentObamacapitalizedonthegrowingangeragainstfinancialinterestsbycallingexorbitantbankbonusessubsi-dizedbytaxpayerbailouts“shameful,”andthrea

4、teningnewregulations.JournalistMattTaibbiopenedhisJuly2009RollingStonearticlewith:“ThefirstthingyouneedtoknowaboutGoldmanSachsisthatit’severywhere.Theworld’smostpowerfulinvestmentbankisagreatvampiresquidwrappedaroundthefaceofhumanity,relentlesslyjammingitsbloodfun-nelintoanythingthatsmellslikemoney.

5、”FormerchiefeconomistoftheInternationalMonetaryFund,SimonJohnson,publishedanarticleintheMay2009Atlanticentitled“TheQuietCoup,”decryingthetakeoverbythe“Americanfinancialoligarchy”ofstrategicpositionswithinthefed-eralgovernmentthatgive“thefinancialsectoravetooverpublicpolicy.”3TheFinancialCrisisInquir

6、yCommission,establishedbyWashingtonin2009,waschargedwithexamining“thecauses,domesticandglobal,ofthecurrentfinancialandeconomiccrisisintheUnitedStates.”Itschairman,PhilAngelides,compareditstasktothatoftheJohnBellamyFoster(jfoster@monthlyreview.org)iseditorofMonthlyReview,professorofsociologyattheUniv

7、ersityofOregon,andauthor(withFredMagdoff)ofTheGreatFinancialCrisis(MonthlyReviewPress,2009).HannahHolleman(holleman@uoregon.edu)isagraduatestudentinsociologyattheUniversityofOregon.Sheiscoauthorof“The