Suddenly, he most visibly joined the ranks of journalist Matt Taibbi, former federal regulator, William Black, the blogger Mandelman, former IMF economist Simon Johnson, Aaron Krowne of Ml-implode, Yves Smith and a handful of others, myself among them, who have, for years, repeatedly called for prosecuting financial criminals, a course of action that does not win any favor in a Obama White House too busy "bundling" Wall Street largesse for the President's re-election campaign.
When Inside Job came out, we
contacted him to see if he might be interested in supporting a petition
campaign against banks not too big to jail, as well as join a speaking tour on
the issue. He never called back.
More recently, his publicist wrote me to see if I might be interested in having him on my radio show. After reading the book, I jumped at the chance, and we even discussed a possible date. The next thing I heard was that he was no longer interested, no reason given! Alternative media is not on his radar! Dismissed!
When I read his bio and the
acknowledgements in his book, I guessed why. It is a class thing. Not only does
he thank top execs in Hollywood for help and express appreciation to two
gourmet restaurants in Berkeley, Chez Panisse and Oliveto, for feeding him
well, but also curries favor with well- known millionaires who he assures he is
not against before announcing he is voting for Obama.
Perhaps he should read a newer expose, Bailout by Neil Barofsky, who was the Inspector General on the TARP bank giveawa, and whose work was sabotaged by the Obama Administration. Writes Naked Capitalism editor Yves Smith of his work, "His revelations show in stark detail just how captured by Wall Street our political system is; why the banks have not been held accountable; and how the failure to enact effective regulation has put the country in danger of an even bigger crisis in the future."
Nominally against the system,
Ferguson still curries favor with it, a smart maneuver to position himself as
the "reasonable" alternative to more strident "crazies"--while selling movie tix
and, now, books., of course.
The words capitalism and imperialism do not appear in the book's index. He makes only a fleeting positive reference to Occupy Wall Street and ignores all of the other nationwide anti-bank grassroots activism.
At points, he comes off as a one per center but I don't really care about that. We need more one per-centers to turn against their class interest, as he seems to have.
While his social critique is
trenchant, including attacks on corruption, greed, university complicity with
the financial elites etc--he offers no deep understanding of the system or call
for its replacement by another. He exposes university-based economic think
tanks for not disclosing who subsidizes their research--what they don't say--- while I take on the mainstream media industry
that distorts the news, what they do
say, showing our different orientations. And just for the record, I worked in
corporate network news.
Ferguson speaks briefly and approvingly, (maybe patronizingly) of Occupy, but the elite is his primary frame of focus. He is earnest and almost evangelical in his indictment. His analysis is often provocative and always well - written, but there is no real call to action, only some modest policy prescriptions.
His key points are these:
"The financial sector has become increasingly criminalized, with the widespread fraud that caused the housing bubble going completely unpunished.
Federal tax collections
as a share of GDP are at their lowest level in sixty years, with the wealthy
and highly profitable corporations enjoying the greatest tax reductions.
Most shockingly, the United States, so long the beacon of opportunity for the ambitious poor, has become one of the world's most unequal and unfair societies."
The promo material does indict President Obama who he plans to vote for because, "the Obama Administration" has allowed financial criminals to continue to operate unchecked, even after supposed "reforms" installed after the collapse of 2008."
"Predator Nation reveals how once-revered figures like Alan Greenspan
and Larry Summers became mere courtiers to the elite. (DS: Revered by
whom?) Based on many newly released court filings, it details the extent
of the crimes--there is no other word--committed in the frenzied chase for wealth
that caused the financial crisis. And, finally, it lays out a plan of
action for how we might take back our country and the American dream."
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