New French President: the World of Finance is my Enemy

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http://www.nationofchange.org/new-french-president-my-real-enemy-world-finance-1337440030

White-collar criminologist and former senior financial regulator William Black addresses the grassroots reaction to austerity measures in Europe -- from the "Indignados" movement in Spain to the anti-bailout elections in France and Greece -- as well as in the United States, where the Occupy movement is re-emerging as the presidential campaign gets into full gear.

Transcript

AMY GOODMAN: Now, William Black, I wanted to end by asking you quickly about the economic crisis in Europe. In Spain, over 100,000 people took part in anti-austerity rallies Sunday. In Greece, anti-bailout parties won the nation’s recent election. And in France, François Hollande was sworn in today as France’s new president, becoming the first French Socialist in power since the ’90s. He recently said his enemy was the world of finance.

FRANÇOIS HOLLANDE: [translated] My real enemy doesn’t have a name or a face or a party. He’ll never run as president, and so he’ll never be elected, although he does govern. My enemy is the world of finance.


AMY GOODMAN: That is François Hollande, France’s new president. William Black, your final response?

WILLIAM BLACK: Finance is supposed to simply be a middleman to help the real economy. It in fact now completely dominates and is a parasite on the real economy. German austerity has pushed the entire eurozone into recession and the periphery into Great Depression-level unemployment. And the same arguments are being made in the United States and are used as a pretext to try to destroy Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. It is economically illiterate, but politically attractive.

[Fumesucker]

1. "I welcome their hatred." -FDR

"My enemy is the world of finance." -François Hollande

"Worship the job creators" -Republicans

[bemildred]

2. Yep, and about f**king time too.

Enough of these lickspittle, servile politicians.

[Fumesucker]

3. I hope the French version of the Secret Service is the best..

Finance even tried a coup here in the USA..

[bemildred]

4. I'd say they have pretty well succeeded here.

This has been the Land of Oz at least since Raygun. But there are rumblings in the provinces. The problem is the fuckwits are greedy, and hence they never govern well.

[MyTwoSense]

5. Well, he got help somewhere...

It would be interesting to see how a life-long politician has been able to amass three homes on the Mediterranean, another home in Paris, and significant investments. Perhaps the word "enemy" is a tad bit too strong.