The following is excerpted from "End This Depression Now!" available now from W.W. Norton & Company. CHAPTER ONE: HOW BAD THINGS ARE In March 2009 Ben Bernanke, normally neither the most cheerful nor the most poetic of men, waxed optimistic about the economic prospect. After the fall of Lehman Brothers six months earlier, America had entered a terrifying economic nosedive. But appearing on the TV show 60 Minutes, the Fed chairman declared that spring was at hand. BLOG POSTS | Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Petro Plutocracy Last week the world got a preview of America's new, post-Citizens-United petro plutocracy, with the oil lords flexing their political muscles like oil-soaked bodybuilders pumped up on a steroid drip of campaign dollars. It was all about fracking. | | David Ropeik: The Heartland Billboard Embarrassment and the Dangers of Ideological Ignorance It is far less an appeal to reason, and far more a campaign to preach to the choir, to circle the ideological wagons of the members of the tribe, and rally the troops around Heartland's deeply conservative and libertarian ideals. | | Noam Chomsky: Plutonomy and the Precariat The Occupy movement has been an extremely exciting development. If the bonds and associations it has established can be sustained through a long, dark period ahead -- because victory won't come quickly -- it could prove a significant moment in American history. | | Sen. Bill Bradley: We Can All Do Better America's idealism, optimism, and spirit of self-reliance -- all these have created the unique American character. But the America of today is in a state of confusion. We don't see our problems clearly, or if we do, we often -- out of inertia, fear, or greed -- fail to deal with them. | | Ed Lawler: Preventing the Loss of Key Talent Jobs don't have a worth; individuals do, and at a time of economic expansion it is particularly important that individuals be paid what they are worth in the market. How about long-term employment relationships and job security? | | MOST POPULAR ON HUFFINGTONPOST.COM |
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