Pin-Stripe Welfare: Shift Risk to Middle Classes, Profits to Elites

Gee whiz, talk about coincidence! Yesterday I posted regarding the need for scrutiny of the activities of Senator Dodd's Banking Committee.When I hit the post button, I worried I had ranted too much. Today I came across Diane Rehm's interview with Kevin Phillips, author of Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism. Boy, did he make me look like a milquetoast! If you listen to the interview, you will understand the title of this post. I first heard Phillips talking on the radio a few days ago. It happened in a fragment that ended too quickly for me to get much information about what I was listening to. First impression was that the guy was just a whack job -- he was described as a former Nixon advisor. Later he grabbed my attention with his muscular prose as he compared the United States to Rome and insisted that Wall Street is our version of their Coliseum. I'm not sure if this metaphor is in his book, but it had an archetypal power that is rare in discourse about finance. Then I saw some positive reviews and an interesting Wikipedia bio. Frugal Ben says, this interview is a must-listen-to item. Go here for interview. Listen to the feed or save the file to your computer so you can hear it at your leisure or put it on your iPod. If that link is changed by the show's site, get an active link to the show from the April 17 archive. Please email me if links here get broken.