Last week we discussed the organization U.S. Uncut and their plans to stage rallies and protests on February 26th to show their displeasure with large corporations that dodge taxes We want to follow up this morning and show you some of the video taken at their protests this weekend. Apparently they were able to disrupt some business at local BofA branches.
This group is of interest to us for a few reasons, even though we completely disagree with their premise and message. First, we want to bring to light these types of "American Uprisings" to help people understand that this is only the very tip of the iceberg. Huge austerity cuts are coming to the United States in the not-so-distant future, that is certain. Once those cuts become reality and politicians begin presenting their solutions, you can bet the protests will be 100x larger than what we saw from U.S. Uncut this weekend. Second, we want to help explain why these groups are misguided when it comes to their message (see our post American Uprising - The Preview) and help people understand the true nature of our economic problems and solutions. Third, Americans need to understand the seriousness of what is coming our way and find ways to protect their investments and financial health in the face of these risks.
This first guy is very interesting. Again, the idea that cracking down on large corporations that do not pay taxes will solve all our problems and have no repercussions is simply misguided. We agree that these corporations should never have received bailouts of any kind. However, the men and women that work at these corporations breathe the same air and bleed the same red blood as those at U.S. Uncut. Their jobs are just as meaningful and important as any, including union workers. Corporations will do what it takes to earn a profit and an acceptable ROI for their inventors and owners. That means they will save money elsewhere if they are forced to pay these taxes in some government crackdown. Most likely they will cut jobs, which means more Americans unemployed. As we mentioned before, any man or woman is freely able to invest in these "evil corporations" and become an owner, thereby profiting in the same way and earning the same return as all the other shareholders. By the way, closing all the tax loopholes in the world won't bring in enough money to keep this ship afloat in the long run!
"Global unemployment remains at record highs, with widening income inequality adding to social strains," he said, citing turmoil in North Africa as a prelude to what may happen as 400m youths join the workforce over the next decade. "We could see rising social and political instability within nations – even war," he said.
The IMF has published a paper entitled Inequality, Leverage and Crisis arguing that the extreme gap between rich and poor – with echoes of the US in the late 1920s – was an underlying cause of the Great Recession from 2008-2009.
The paper, by the Fund's modelling unit, warned of "disastrous consequences" for the world economy unless workers regain their "bargaining power" against rentiers. It suggests radical changes to the tax system and debt relief for workers.
Mr Strauss-Kahn said the toxic global imbalances that caused the financial crisis are re-emerging, naming China and Germany as the two arch-sinners that rely on export surpluses to power growth at the expense of the US and other deficit countries.
"The most important question is to deal with the recurrent problem of some countries' large external surpluses," he said, warning that failure to curb excesses will lead to global clashes and rising protectionism in trade and finance.
In a veiled warning to China and other countries holding down their currencies for commercial advantage, the IMF chief said "exchange-rate adjustment should not be resisted". Nor should capital controls be imposed to stop the inflow of funds.
The comments appear to align the IMF behind Washington in the simmering dispute over the declining dollar. China and Brazil have accused the US of covert currency warfare through quantitative easing, but the claim is slippery since the US has a huge structural trade deficit.
Mr Strauss-Kahn also hinted that parts of Asia are exceeding the safe speed limit for growth and needed to "tighten" further before inflation gets out of control. "There are risks of overheating, and even a hard landing," he said.>> Source: The Telegraph