Matt Stoller

In this "monopoly edition" of Perspectives, Matt Stoller, author of Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy, forecasts the actual amount of the Wall Street bailout; the coming disappearance of most small business; the problems that emerge when monopolies control health care; the emergence of a Wall Street-oriented "planned economy"; the failure of progressives to stop the theft of trillions, and much more.

The House passed the $2.2 trillion Wall Street bailout, filled with goodies for corporate America, by voice vote today-- but not before Trump lost his shit on Twitter this morning when someone told him Thomas Massie (R-KY) had decided to force a roll call vote.

This morning, Naked Capitalism carried a piece by economist Michael Hudson on the ramifications of the pandemic on the U.S. economy. Hudson explained how to escape from catastrophe by looking at a biblical perspective.

Stock markets reacted badly to the Fed's panicky decision to lower U.S. interest rates to zero over the weekend, due, at least in part, to Trump's blustering, threatening, hysterical demands that they do something to save his collapsing presidency.

Trump's economy is coming apart-- and it's not just the coronavirus' impact on Wall Street. Newsweek reported that since Señor Trumpanzee took office, income growth has slowed significantly compared to the growth rate under Obama.

If the old maxim is true that absolute power corrupts absolutely, then California Democrats have a very real problem. As the power and legitimacy of the GOP has waned, Democrats have seized control of a supermajority in the state, with both hands.

Yesterday I opened a package that arrived at my doorstep and found an old friend's new book, Goliath-- The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power And Democracy. This is the book that Thomas Frank called "the secret history of economic democracy in America. 'Secret' because it's still a story that will trouble everyone: conservatives, liberals, Silicon Valley and Big Oil." Yep... that's Matt Stoller...

Feel the love?In 2006, I started interacting with other progressive bloggers nationally through some e-mail groups. I freely shot off my mouth pretty regularly and often attacked Rahm Emanuel, than head of the DCCC. I assumed the 600 or so people on the list knew what I knew about Emanuel and his record as a neoliberal, self-serving and corrupt shit head. Bad assumption.

Russia may have paid to get them in office, but China seems to be getting the most out of itDuring Wednesday’s debate, the candidates were all asked to name the biggest single national security threat to the country. Few of them had the self-discipline to name just one, but almost all of then named China.

Let's not wait for President Beto to get to the White House before taking action on FacebookFirst a caveat: I don't really "get" Facebook and my page is pathetic and 95% of the time I just use it to promote my DWT posts.