Mois : décembre 2013

Published on Le Monde diplomatique, english edition, by Maxim Robin, December 2013.

The number of people in US prisons fell in 2012 by around 30,000, the third consecutive fall in as many years: budget difficulties mean that states can no longer afford incarceration for every offence, and at local level Republicans and Democrats are, unusually, unanimous on the need to decongest prisons. In California — which accounted for half of the fall in 2012 — and Texas, there is a drive to reduce sentences and find alternative punishments.   Continuer la lecture de « Inside America: Louisiana’s profitable prisons »

Financial democracy requires bypassing large unaccountable institutions and reconnecting people to the reality of their money — by producing it ourselves – Published on ROARMAG.org, by Brett Scott, December 11, 2013.

In 2012, in celebration of Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, I suggested that we securitize the Queen, using her as collateral for UK government borrowing. I thought she would support this modest proposal because royalty have long been financial innovators. Indeed, what were the old medieval armies but a blunt financial instrument? Monarchs invested resources into them in order to extract dividends from conquered peoples who did not want to be bludgeoned to death … // Continuer la lecture de « Are we witnessing an open source finance revolution? »

Published on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Mohamed Abdel-Baky, Dec 10, 2013.

During a rally held in Minya governorate, Nour Youssef, a member of the Social Democratic Party, urged his village to vote “yes” on the draft constitution.

The crowds shouted, “viva Egypt, bread, freedom and social justice”, repeating the 25 January 25 Revolution slogan.   Continuer la lecture de « Egypt: With it or not »

A push to make America’s banks safer creates new uncertainties – Published on The Economist, Dec 14, 2013.

The 37 words inserted into the 848-page Dodd-Frank law overhauling the regulation of America’s financial institutions seemed innocent enough. Lawmakers wanted regulators to come up with strictures that would prevent banks from gambling with deposits insured by the federal government. The resulting rule, named after a prominent proponent, Paul Volcker, a former head of the Federal Reserve, prohibits banks from “proprietary trading”, meaning transactions conducted purely for their own gain, rather than to serve clients. On December 10th five different regulatory agencies approved the Volcker rule; it will come into force, awkwardly enough, on April 1st.  Continuer la lecture de « The Volcker rule: More questions than answers »