“You have to abolish pension plans. You have to abolish social spending. You have to raise taxes. You have to have at least fifty percent of the European population emigrate, either to Russia or China. You would have to have mass starvation. Very simple. That's the price that the Eurozone thinks is well worth paying.” ThinkingWellsSocialSimplePlansTaxesMassPercentRaisesPopulationChinaSpendingRussiaFiftyStarvationAbolishPensionEurozonePension Plans Author:Michael Hudson
“To save the banks, you would have to turn the entire Eurozone into Greece.” TurnsGreeceEurozone Author:Michael Hudson
“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
“The only way people can repay the debt is by cutting their living standards very drastically. It means agreeing to shift their pension plans from defined benefit plans - when you know what you're going to get - into just "defined contribution plans," where you put money in, like into a roach motel, and you don't know what's coming out.” PeopleKnowsWayMeanCuttingPlansBenefitsStandardsDebtDefinedContributionComing OutPensionRoachesMotelsPension Plans Author:Michael Hudson
“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
“When you say "paying the banks," what they really mean is paying the bank bondholders. They are basically the One Percent.” MeanPercentReally Mean Author:Michael Hudson
“Either you can save the economy, or you can save the One Percent from losing a single penny.” EconomyLosingPercentPennies Author:Michael Hudson
“Every government, from the Obama administration right through to Angela Merkel, the Eurozone and the IMF, promise to save the banks, not the economy.” GovernmentEconomyPromiseAdministrationAngelaImfEurozone Author:Michael Hudson
“No price is too high to pay to try to make the financial system go on a little bit longer. But ultimately it can't be saved, because of the mathematics that are involved.” TryingLittlesBitsPayGoes OnInvolvedLittle BitMathematicsFinancialSavedFinancial System Author:Michael Hudson
“Debts grow and grow. And the more they grow, the more they shrink the economy. When you shrink the economy, you shrink the ability to pay the debts, so it's all an illusion that the system can be saved. The question is, how long are people going to be willing to live in this illusion?” PeopleLongGrowsAbilityPayEconomyWillingIllusionDebtSavedShrinks Author:Michael Hudson