by MICHAEL HUDSON
Ralph Nader Radio Hour on Sep 17, 2022
Ralph does a deep dive into the real purpose of the Federal Reserve and other aspects of the American economy with progressive economist, Michael Hudson.
Transcript
Tom Morello: I’m Tom Morello and you’re listening to the Ralph Nader Radio Hour.
Steve Skrovan: Welcome to the Ralph Nader Radio Hour. My name is Steve Skrovan, along with my co-host, David Feldman. Hello, David.
David Feldman: Hello, Steve.
Steve Skrovan: And of course, it’s not a show without the man of the hour, Ralph Nader. Hello, Ralph.
Ralph Nader: Hi everybody.
Steve Skrovan: Our featured guest today will be economist Michael Hudson. Many of you have been clamoring to have him on the show and we’ve taken heed. He’s a progressive economist who will join us to talk about the Federal Reserve, how American laws are pro-creditor and anti- debtor, stock buybacks, gambling, Wall Street transaction taxes and much more. It will be a view of the economy you normally don’t get in the establishment press. We’re also going to welcome back our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, to get his take on how a New Mexico elected official got removed from office because of his role in the January 6th insurrection. And we’re also going to talk about a letter from retired military leaders about rejecting Trumpism.
As always, somewhere in the middle, we’ll check in with our corporate crime reporter Russell Mokhiber, but first, the Fed is tightening our belt. Who among us is going to have to lose a few pounds? David?
David Feldman: Michael Hudson is President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends, a Wall Street financial analyst, as well as the author of several books including: Super-Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire …and forgive them their debts – Lending, Foreclosure and Redemption from Bronze Age Finance to the Jubilee Year, and Finance Capitalism and its Discontents. Welcome to the Ralph Nader Radio Hour, Michael Hudson.
Michael Hudson: Well, it’s good to be here. Thanks for inviting me.
Ralph Nader: Thank you indeed, Michael. It’s long overdue. Let me start with debt, which you’ve written a lot about. There’s over $1.7 trillion outstanding student debt. There’s almost that much in terms of mortgage debt. There’s almost that much in terms of auto loan debt. And that doesn’t even begin to talk about the payday loan racket debt, so we’re talking trillions of dollars, as Senator Everett Dirksen said once, in another context, using billions, “a trillion here, a trillion there, and pretty soon it adds up to real money.” The drive is to get people not to use cash, check, or money order, and to do everything by credit card, debit card, and other multiplying payment systems. It impresses me as being a major controlling process. Once they suck you into the credit card gulag, they can penalize you, overcharge you, ruin your credit score, fine-prints you to huge disadvantage in the fine-print contracts.
In effect, they strip you of control over your own money to the extent you had it years ago when everything was cash, check, or money order. What’s your view of this drive to get rid of cash and checks and it’s driven by both banks, other corporations, and by the US Treasury, which doesn’t want you to receive an actual Social Security check. For example, they push you into a bank account or a Direct Express [prepaid debit card] system. So, give us the power strategy behind all this. And you think we’re going to go into an era, as 65% of the American people in the Gallup poll just said, where there’s no more cash or checks?
Michael Hudson: Well, I think you’ve asked two questions there. You begin by talking about the debt question, which is what I’ve written on much more than the electronic payment question. I want to begin with the debt question. The problem is, why do people have to go into debt so much in the first place? The problem, in my mind, isn’t simply that they use credit cards, except for the very high fees that are charged for the credit cards. The problem is their inability to keep current and have to run up increasing credit card debt. And right now, if you’re late on a credit card payment, or you’re downgraded because you haven’t paid your electric bill, your interest rate jumps from 19% all the way up to 29%.
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