Quotessence
Home / Authors / Michael Hudson
Michael Hudson

Michael Hudson Quotes

Professor

Filter quotes by topic

AllEconomyPeopleDebtIfsPayIncomeTaxesLoanThinkingInterestRealGovernmentRunningMeanSuper ImperialismFinancialGoodsGoods And ServicesEstatesStudents

Famous Michael Hudson Quotes

“The fact that you have government-guaranteed student loans has created a whole new sector in the American economy that didn't really exist before - private for-profit universities that sell junk degrees that don't help the students. They promise the students, "We'll help you get a better job. We'll arrange a loan so that you don't have to pay a penny for this education." Their pet bank gets them the government-guaranteed loan, and the student may get the junk degree, but doesn't get a job, so they don't pay the loan.”

MayWholeFactsHelpingGovernmentJobsPayEconomyStudentsPromiseDegreesSellsUniversityProfitPetLoanPenniesJunkBetter JobsStudent LoanAmerican Economy
Author:Michael Hudson
Create image

“In housing you have jingle mail and you can walk away and leave the bank holding the bag. In the case of student loans, the debt follows you through life, and the banks or government will turn it over to collection agencies that are not very nice people and can do all sorts of harassing things to you. It's becoming a nightmare.”

PeopleGovernmentTurnsCan DoWalksCasesNiceStudentsBecomingDebtAgencyCollectionsBagsNightmareMailHousingLoanVery NiceNice PeopleStudent LoanJingles
Author:Michael Hudson
Create image

“Education is something that should not be organized on a for-profit basis, because in that case its purpose is not really to provide an education. It's not to teach students how to get better work, but how to provide banks with a free giveaway opportunity from the government, by making junk loans that are defaulted on. The effect may be to wreck the futures of the graduates that fall for the false promises that are being made.”

ShouldMayMadeGovernmentPurposeFallOpportunityTeachCasesEffectsStudentsPromiseBasesProfitGet BetterOrganizedGraduatesLoanJunkWrecksFalse Promises
Author:Michael Hudson
Create image

“The other dynamic keeping the stock market up - both for technology stocks and others - is that companies are using a lot of their income for stock buybacks and to pay out higher dividends, not make new investment,. So to the extent that companies use financial engineering rather than industrial engineering to increase the price of their stock you're going to have a bubble. But it's not considered a bubble, because the government is behind it, and it hasn't burst yet.”

UseGovernmentPayBehindsCompanyTechnologyHigherIncreaseInvestmentFinancialIncomeBubblesEngineeringDividends
Author:Michael Hudson
Create image

“The bank's product is debt, because the banks want to make sure that they can get paid for the debt. But ultimately the only party that can pay the debt is the government, because it runs the printing presses. So the debts ultimately either are paid by the government, or they're paid by a huge transfer of property from debtors to creditors - or, the debts are written off.”

WantGovernmentRunningPartyPayWrittenProductsHugePaidPressesPropertyDebtTransfersPrintingPrinting PressCreditorsDebtors
Author:Michael Hudson
Create image

“You'll have to have the governments sell off all of their public domains; sell off their railroads, sell off their public land. You'll essentially have to introduce neo-feudalism. You'll have to roll the clock of history back a thousand years, and reduce the European population to debt slavery. It's as simple a solution as the Eurozone has imposed on Greece. And it's a solution that the leaders and the banks are urging for responsible economists to promote for the population at large.”

YearsGovernmentSimpleLeaderLandThousandSolutionsResponsibleSlaverySellsPopulationDebtClockIntroducingThousand YearsEconomistDomainGreeceRailroadsFeudalismEurozonePublic DomainPublic Lands
Author:Michael Hudson
Create image

“To save the banks from making losses that would wipe out their net worth, you'll have to get rid of Social Security. It means that you'll essentially have to abolish government and turn it over to the banking system to run, with an idea that the role of governments is to extract income from the economy to pay to the bondholders and the banks.”

MeanIdeasGovernmentRunningTurnsSocialLossPayRolesEconomySecurityIncomeSocial SecurityBankingWipeAbolishBanking SystemNet WorthRole Of Government
Author:Michael Hudson
Create image

“What do the 5%, or the 1% actually use their money for? They lend it back to the economy at large, they load it down with debt. They make their money by lending to the bottom 95%, or the bottom 99%. When you give them more after-tax income, it enables them to buy even more control of government, even more control of election campaigns. They're not going to spend this money back into the goods-and-services economy.”

GivingUseGovernmentEconomyTaxesElectionBottomDebtCampaignsIncomeGoodsLoadLendingGoods And Services
Author:Michael Hudson
Create image