To begin the process of democratizing the economy step 1 is to restore the banks to their status as public utilities

This is Part 2 of a three part discussion with James K. Galbraith and Leo Panitch on whether any sort of New Deal is now possible in America. This segment crystallizes for me the difference between Keynesian reformers like Galbraith and Krugman, say, and revolutionaries like Panitch. Galbraith  continues to have faith in regulation and the government institutions that are capable of controlling economic and financial policies, claiming in effect it’s just a question of reform, of having the right personnel in those institutions and a reasonable government in power. Panitch recognizes that the problem isn’t a mere issue of personnel or government.  It’s a structural problem because these institutions are embedded in Wall Street, maintaining the financialization of the economy and undermining thereby a real industrial economy based on supply and demand. These institutions in fact serve Wall Street. 

What we need, Panitch argues - and I  could’t agree more - is to begin the process of aggressively democratizing the economy. The first step would be to restore banks to their status as public utilities, for it is the oligarchical control of banking corporations with their destructive neoliberal policies that is the root cause of all our social and economic malaise. 

Much on the Progressive's Wishlist but much for which we should be grateful

We should be grateful to the occupy wall street folks who may just have started the non-violent socio-economic revolution for which we've all been waiting. The democratic character of this movement, the rapidity with which it is spreading, and its breadth give us great hope.(See OWS  statement in the above blog entry.)

We who happen to live in Ontario should also be grateful to all those who voted against a potential Hudakian Regime. With Ford and Harper in place, Hudak's victory would surely have created downright despair for progressives here and elsewhere.  Instead we have a little room to work now.

We owe Rachel Maddow, Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert thanks, too, for actually giving us the real U.S. news.  Would that we had three like this in Canada, though Rick Mercer and This Hour Has 22 Minutes do on occasion make a good effort.

And, finally, we owe deep gratitude to all the progressives around the world who constantly remind us, in big and small ways, that social and economic justice are always worth fighting for in any way one can. A special thanks to three Canadians who have in particular inspired me: Brigette DePape, Kai Nagata, and Naomi Klein.