Economists see major flaws
in the global capital system 
The wave of indignation and protests targeting the monied interests is a logical consequence of a deeply flawed capital system, argue two well-known non-Marxist economists.

Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate economist at Columbia University, writes that "Spain’s protesters, and those in other countries, are right to be indignant: here is a system in which the bankers got bailed out, while those whom they preyed upon have been left to fend for themselves."

He adds, "Worse, the bankers are now back at their desks, earning bonuses that amount to more than most workers hope to earn in a lifetime, while young people who studied hard and played by the rules see no prospects for fulfilling employment.

Stiglitz, author of Freefall: Free Markets and the Sinking of the Global Economy, writes:

"The rise in inequality is the product of a vicious spiral: the rich rent-seekers use their wealth to shape legislation in order to protect and increase their wealth – and their influence. The U.S. Supreme Court, in its notorious Citizens United decision, has given corporations free rein to use their money to influence the direction of politics. But, while the wealthy can use their money to amplify their views, back on the street, police wouldn’t allow me to address the OWS [Occupy Wall Street] protesters through a megaphone."

Nouriel Roubini, an economics professor at New York University, asserts that though Karl Marx "oversold" socialism, " he "was right in claiming that globalization, unfettered financial capitalism, and redistribution of income and wealth from labor to capital could lead capitalism to self-destruct," adding: "As he argued, unregulated capitalism can lead to regular bouts of over-capacity, under-consumption, and the recurrence of destructive financial crises, fueled by credit bubbles and asset-price booms and busts."

Roubini continues:

"Even before the Great Depression, Europe’s enlightened “bourgeois” classes recognized that, to avoid revolution, workers’ rights needed to be protected, wage and labor conditions improved, and a welfare state created to redistribute wealth and finance public goods – education, health care, and a social safety net. The push towards a modern welfare state accelerated after the Great Depression, when the state took on the responsibility for macroeconomic stabilization – a role that required the maintenance of a large middle class by widening the provision of public goods through progressive taxation of incomes and wealth and fostering economic opportunity for all."

Comment: Even before Marx, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations amounts to a 1,000-page denunciation of the monied elite as mis-using Parliament for its advantage but to the detriment of the economy. He was among the first to denounce merchant lobbies and what these days is called "crony capitalism." 

ACLU urges police restraint at Occupy sites
The American Civil Liberties Union is urging authorities to beware use of excessive force against Occupy protesters.

The ACLU is urging supporters to sign this open letter:

We appreciate the many law enforcement agencies and mayors across the country who respect the First Amendment rights of the Occupy protesters. The protestors are exercising core constitutional freedoms to assemble peacefully and speak out. We hope you will recommit yourself to safeguarding those fundamental freedoms.

When police respond to peaceful protest with excessive force, the result is to make people afraid to exercise their free speech rights. The Constitution was intended to protect us from exactly that.

[We urge you to respect/Thank you for respecting] the rights of protestors to speak out and assemble peacefully.

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