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Mark Weisbrot is co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. He is also the author of "Failed: What the 'Experts' Got Wrong About the Global Economy (Oxford University Press, 2015)."
He writes a weekly column for The Guardian Unlimited (U.K.), and a regular column on economic and policy issues that is distributed to over 550 newspapers by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. He also writes a bi-weekly column for Brazil's largest newspaper, Folha de Sao Paulo. His opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and almost every major U.S. newspaper. He appears regularly on national and local television and radio programs. He is also president of Just Foreign Policy.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, August 2, 2016 Is the Republican Party a Legitimate Party?
It is pretty clear that voter disenfranchisement is the bedrock of Republican power. As such, the legitimacy of the Republican Party is questionable. More broadly, this country needs voting reform that can put an end to this form of "American exceptionalism," just as the civil rights legislation of the 1960s put an end to the disgraceful era of African-American disenfranchisement.
(2 comments) SHARE Wednesday, January 11, 2017 Intel agencies ask Americans to "trust, don't verify" in new Cold War
The media has become so distracted with the festivities at America's new 1950s theme party, hating on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia like there's no tomorrow, that the lack of evidence has become almost irrelevant to the big media conversation.
SHARE Thursday, February 6, 2020 What Does the Future Hold for US-Bolivia Ties?
One hundred and thirty-six economists and statisticians said the OAS charges were false. Members of the US Congress demanded answers from the OAS for their false accusations.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, March 4, 2014 Venezuela is not Ukraine
Washington has been more committed to "regime change" in Venezuela than anywhere else in South America -- not surprisingly, given that it is sitting on the largest oil reserves in the world. And that has always given opposition politicians a strong incentive to not work within the democratic system.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, August 31, 2017 Trump Sanctions on Venezuela Will Cause More Harm
The Trump administration announced new, unprecedented sanctions against Venezuela on Friday that are designed to cut off financing to Venezuela. The Trump team pretends that the sanctions are only directed at the government. But as any economist knows, this is clearly false. By starving the economy of foreign exchange, this action will harm the private sector, most Venezuelans, the poor, and the vulnerable.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, June 20, 2014 Another US spying problem in Latin America: The DEA
thanks to additional leaked documents described by Ryan Devereaux, Glenn Greenwald, and Laura Poitras in The Intercept, we find there is another U.S. agency working with the NSA that poses similar threats: the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The DEA is helping NSA with its non-drug-related spying programs.
(5 comments) SHARE Thursday, November 15, 2018 When will America stop participating in Yemen's genocidal war?
The 1973 War Powers Resolution is still the law of the land, and the courts have not overturned any part of it. There are officials in the "national security state" who believe that the president can decide without Congress to participate in a war. But that is not the law, or is it consistent with the US Constitution.
SHARE Saturday, November 10, 2018 Trump Was Handed a Major Defeat on Tuesday -- And There Will Be More
The Democrats' victory in the House is important not only in the immediate sense that it will provide a check on Trump but also because it could mark the beginning of the end of this nightmare. Trump's strategy for political survival (which appears to be practically his only concern) is to continuously throw red meat to his supporters.
SHARE Wednesday, December 28, 2016 Trump's China Policy is Already a Disaster
We will soon see if the new US presidential administration actually wants to do anything to preserve US manufacturing jobs. In the meantime, picking a fight with China over Taiwan is about the worst way it could start out, short of actual warfare.
SHARE Thursday, October 15, 2020 Possible Recurrence of OAS Electoral Fraud in Bolivia
Bolivia's general elections on Sunday, October 18, could again be threatened by the involvement of the Organization of American States (OAS), Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) Co-Director Mark Weisbrot warns.
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, February 14, 2017 NAFTA has Harmed Mexico Much More Than a Wall Will Ever Do
The wall would cause significant environmental as well as economic damage, if it is ever built. But it is the long-term damage that Washington has helped visit upon the Mexican economy that has brought us to the point where a US president could even propose such a monstrosity.
SHARE Friday, November 30, 2018 Congress is finally pushing the US to withdraw from Yemen. It's about time
The resolution is already co-sponsored by the Democratic leadership, including Nancy Pelosi and the incoming Democratic chairs of the most important House committees. Then the Senate can pass a companion concurrent resolution to force the president to withdraw, and follow up through defunding offensive US activities in Yemen.
(3 comments) SHARE Friday, October 18, 2013 Shutdown Takeaway: The US Wants A Fair Society, Not "Defund Obamacare" Crazy
The Tea Party and its allies have been funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, and right-wing money has expanded a formidable conservative media empire -- from Fox News to the Wall Street Journal, and talk radio with tens of millions of followers. Still, the majority is holding its own for now, despite its under-representation in the public debate.
(3 comments) SHARE Thursday, July 31, 2014 Administration split on Venezuela
Not only is there no talk of sanctions against Israel or Egypt, there is not even talk of reducing or even conditioning the billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars, including military aid, that flow annually to these two countries. By comparison, 43 Venezuelans died in more than two months of violent protests seeking to topple a democratically-elected government, about half of them at the hands of the protesters themselves.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, April 25, 2016 Washington's Dog-Whistle Diplomacy Supports Attempted Coup in Brazil
Washington's strategy in response to the left governments that have governed most of the region in the 21st century is obvious. They have rarely missed an opportunity to undermine or get rid of any of them, and their desire to replace the governing Workers' Party in Brazil with a more compliant, right-wing government is fairly obvious.
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, February 18, 2015 Who's Extorting Whom? It's All About Coercion
On Monday, February 16, European officials "handed Athens an ultimatum: Agree by Friday to continue with a bailout program or risk the funding that the country needs to avoid a default," the New York Times reported.
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, April 22, 2013 The United States Shows Its Contempt For Venezuelan Democracy
Washington's efforts to delegitimize the election mark a significant escalation of US efforts at regime change in Venezuela. Not since its involvement in the 2002 military coup has the US government done this much to promote open conflict in Venezuela.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, December 18, 2013 US budget deal: the good, bad and stupid
The fact that our government is still trying to reduce economic growth and employment while we have more than 20 million people unemployed or underemployed is testimony to the unbridled power of the special interests that dominate debate over economic policy in the United States. It's encouraging that we have some sort of budget, but the economic ignorance continues in Congress.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, May 8, 2014 With Friends Like The IMF And EU, Ukraine Doesn't Need Enemies
You can't destroy an economy in order to save it. The whole purpose of European lending should be to cushion any adjustments and allow Ukraine's economy and employment to grow and avoid a downward spiral. Unfortunately, EU and IMF leaders all too often see crisis as an opportunity to remake the economy in the divine image that they worship, regardless of costs and consequences.
(4 comments) SHARE Friday, August 30, 2013 President Obama should listen to US and UK public: don't strike Syria
No one had put forth any military or security reason for the rush to attack; no one claimed that speed was essential or even relevant to saving any lives. Rather, it now seems, the urge to shoot first and ask questions later was driven by the need to carry out this illegal attack before the public, and their representatives in national and international bodies, could weigh in.