Portside

The objective of the ideological project of the economics profession in the current era is to provide a theoretical foundation for unregulated financial markets and unregulated capitalism. The fact that the project has succeeded in the face of logic and history is admittedly a fantastic conjurers’ trick, but it is ridiculous to award Nobel Prizes to the conjurers.

Today, Ireland is under a different sort of tyranny, one imposed by the banks and the troika--the EU, ECB and IMF. The oppressors have demanded austerity and more austerity, forcing the public to pick up the tab for bills incurred by profligate private bankers.

Mondragón has been justly cited as a leading example of what can be done through cooperative organization. But it recently announced that its most important unit, Fagor, was filing for bankruptcy. This raises important larger questions about the market, and longer-term strategies for moving beyond the failings of corporate capitalism and traditional socialism.

The Save the Lobo rally, paid for by Defenders of Wildlife, featured a man in a wolf costume, children scrawling placards with crayons and people offering videoed testimony to be forwarded to Washington. Down the hall, an anti-wolf event was sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, an organization funded by the conservative Koch brothers. The group screened the documentary "Wolves in Government Clothing." Said one Arizona rancher: "Is this politically driven? Absolutely."

"All popular music stems from black music, be it jazz or rock and roll." . . . "I'd be happy if people said that I did a little bit to raise the dignity and recognition of the greatness of African-American music."

Angela Davis leads off an "Intercultural Speaker Series" sparking debate . . . and perhaps some self examination, at a Federal Way, Washington school district.

This statistics stuff is important. The correct analysis and interpretation of statistics are sometimes a matter of life and death.

When rich people and poor people disagree on policy, the rich people win.