This capitalist crisis resembles a certain kind of serious disease. Different symptoms keep flaring up at different locations. It began with sub-prime mortgages in residential housing. Then, sequential flare-ups hit the private banking system, forced millions out of their jobs and homes, drastically cut world trade, and undermined the public services and national debts of several European countries. Meanwhile, another symptom festered in the credit freeze crippling so much private borrowing.

Readers, this is Liu's twelfth piece in this particular series. I will add more commentary later today. Not much to say, other than Liu has put together a decent review of various currency and foreign exchange issues since the early 1990s. There is not much of a specific summary other than a few mid-stream suggestions. My criticism is that he has not yet directly addressed sovereign industrial policies, though he spends a good deal of space recommending a mixed process of foreign exchange and investments. Free Trade, bad, Fair Trade, good. Tadit Anderson

Readers, See the prior article at http://www.economics.arawakcity.org/node/669 . Please, note that what Rogoff and Reinhart are arguing is that the current levels of debt and unemployment are effectively "structural." This translates into econo-speak as "the pain of working people and the extreme drop in consumption" is both not possible to change and that it is "normal" and acceptable because these "problems" do not affect the profits of Wall Street.

Readers, my only complaint with Yeva Nersisyan's analysis is her use of the alleged unemployment rates. What she uses, "10%," is yet another example of persuasive lies produced for the sake of a particular political effect. My expectation is that once the number of people available to the labor force includes those who have lost their unemployment support, those who have taken jobs grossly outside of their capacities, those who have pursued self-employment, and others the number would be much higher. This omission means very little in her analysis of the Reinhart and Rogoff book.

Some of the members of the president's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform are using the trumped-up crisis in Social Security to push their decades-in-the-making agenda of privatization. For example, Andy Stern, one of the commission's key members, wants to see the system transformed from one that guarantees a minimum standard of living to the elderly, their dependents and the disabled into one that leaves them (in whole or in part) dependent on the vagaries of the market.

Asked to comment on Stern's privatization proposal, Dean Baker recently said:

At the close of an emergency Sunday meeting of financial ministers from the 27-member European Union (EU) that lasted until the early hours of Monday, May 10, 2010, the exhausted attendees emerged to announce a startling nearly 750 billion euro (US$1 trillion) financial stabilization package for EU member states with sovereign debt problems and the European Monetary Union (EMU) to restore market confidence in the euro, its common currency for the 16-country eurozone.

Germany had held the key to an orderly resolution of the European Union's sovereign debt crisis. Yet Chancellor Angela Merkel's government faced hostile questioning in the Bundestag, the German parliament, and even a legal challenge in the constitutional court, before it managed to sign off on the rescue package by Friday, April 30. Bundestag members were incensed over the government's lack of transparency in negotiating the deal and the rumored size of German commitment in the rescue package.

Readers, This is a relatively long article, however Henry C.K. Liu writing are generally very good. He is an institutional economist with a strong interest in history and international political economy. He pretty much backs up the same sort of assessments which have been presented here. This article will be followed by another of his articles related to this topic though examining the politics. One other detail he seems to be self educated. Tadit Anderson

Readers, Part of the story here is between the lines. Economic analysts and journalists were actually fully complicit in the run up to the 2007 blow-out. In other words the "economic journalists were a major part of the problem and acted as cheerleaders to the Free Market fantasy. They of course are beholden to the corporate profit takers for their jobs, which become very much a revolving door if they don't produce in the interest of their owners.

Spain plays high-stakes poker game with Germany as borrowing costs surge Spain has upped the ante in a high-stakes poker game with Germany, pushing for the release of EU stress test results for major banks in a move that risks precipitiating a dramatic escalation of Europe's financial crisis.

"We're not afraid of transparency," said the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), saying the full truth would put an end to rumours battering Spain's instutitions. El Pais reported that the government backs the initiative, putting it on a collision course with Germany which insists on secrecy.