Unbearable Cost: Bush, Greenspan and the Economics of Empire

235 Pages·2006·0.944 MB·English

by  James K. Galbraith (auth.)

Unbearable Cost
This page intentionally left blank
Unbearable Cost
Bush, Greenspan and the Economics of
Empire
James K. Galbraith
© James K. Galbraith 2006
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2006 978-0-230-01889-1
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90
Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author
of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
First published 2006 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom
and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European
Union and other countries.
ISBN 13: 978–0–230–01901–0 paperback
ISBN 978-0-230-01901-0 ISBN 978-0-230-23672-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230236721
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Galbraith, James K.
Unbearable cost : Bush, Greenspan and the economics of empire /
by James K. Galbraith.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-230-01889-1 (cloth) - ISBN 978-0-230-01901-0 (pbk.)
1. United States – Economic policy – 2001–2. United States – Politics
and government – 2001– 3. Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946–
4. Greenspan, Alan, 1926– I. Title.
HC106.83.G34 2007
338.973–dc22 2006045599
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06
For Molly Ivins
Funnier Than Me
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Permissions xii
Introduction 1
About Bush
Corporate Democracy; Civic Disrespect 7
(The Texas Observer, 19 January 2001)
Lies, Dumb Lies, and Sample Statistics 10
(The Texas Observer, 16 March 2001)
Defending Democrats ... and Democracy 12
(The Texas Observer, 10 May 2002)
Tracking Down the Corporate Crooks 15
(With Bill Black)
(Boston Globe, 23 July 2002)
The Realities of Resistance 18
(The Texas Observer, 22 November 2002)
Why Bush Likes a Bad Economy 21
(The Progressive, October 2003)
The No-Jobs President 26
(Salon, 19 January 2004)
Bush’s Hail Mary 32
(Salon, 9 February 2004)
The Plutocrats Go Wild 36
(The Washington Monthly, September 2004)
Dissecting Cheney 39
(Salon, 5 October 2004)
Waiting to Vote 43
(Salon, 3 November 2004)
Abolish Election Day 45
(The Nationonline, 29 November 2004)
vii
viii Contents
Democracy Inaction 51
(Salon, 30 November 2004)
The Floodgates Have Opened 54
(With Michael D. Intriligator)
(The American Prospect, September 2005)
About War
National Defense 59
(The Texas Observer, September 2001)
The Future Oil War 62
(The Texas Observer, 23 November 2001)
The Cheney Doctrine 65
(The Texas Observer, 11 October 2002)
The Unbearable Costs of Empire 72
(The American Prospect, 18 November 2002)
The Paramilitary Mind 76
(The Texas Observer, 14 March 2003)
What Economic Price This War? 79
(Boston Globe, 24 March 2003)
Still Wrong: Why Liberals Should Keep Opposing the War 81
(The American Prospect, 1 April 2003)
Don’t Blame Rumsfeld, Blame Bush 84
(The Texas Observer, 30 April 2003)
The Iraqi Quagmire 87
(The The Texas Observer, 29 August 2003)
War and Economy Don’t Wear Well 90
(Newsday, 4 November 2003)
How You Will Pay for the War 93
(Salon, 20 April 2004)
The Economics of the Oil War 96
(Previously unpublished, 2004)
Boom Times for War Inc. 99
(Salon, 30 September 2004)
The Gambler’s Fallacy 102
(Based on remarks for C-Span, 22 February 2005)
Withdrawal Symptoms 106
(Mother Jones, March–April 2006)
Contents ix
About Greenspan
Back to the Cross of Gold 113
(The Texas Observer, 13 January 1995)
Greenspan’s Error 116
(New York Times, 11 July 1995)
The Free Ride of Mr Greenspan 118
(The Texas Observer, 23 February 1996)
There’s Some Good News That’s Bad News 121
(Newsday, 27 March 1996)
Greenspan’s Whim 124
(New York Times, 27 March 1997)
Greenspan’s Glasnost 126
(The Texas Observer, 30 January 1998)
The Butterfly Effect 129
(With George Purcell)
(The Texas Observer, 3 July 1998)
The Credit, Where Credit is Due 133
(TheStreet.com, 27 January 2000)
Stop the Sabotage Coming from the Fed 135
(The Texas Observer, 17 March 2000)
The Charge of the Fed Brigade 137
(TheStreet.com, 21 March 2000)
We Cannot Have Discipline, So We Must Have Pain 139
(The Texas Observer, 8 April 2000)
The Swiss Guard 141
(TheStreet.com, May 2000)
Watching Greenspan Grow 144
(The American Prospect, 29 January 2001)
The Man Who Stayed Too Long 149
(Salon, 20 May 2004)
Bernankenstein’s Monster 152
(Mother Jones, January–February 2006)
About the Economy
I Don’t Want To Talk About It 159
(The Texas Observer, 24 April 1998)