"I am not so optimistic that this reform is possible, because there has in fact been a soft coup d'etat in the US, which now exists in a state of crony corporatism that wields enormous influence over the media and within the government.
Let's be clear about this, the oligarchs are flush with victory, and feel that they are firmly in control, able to subvert and direct any popular movement to the support of their own fascist ends and unslakable will to power.
This is the contempt in which they hold the majority of American people and the political process: the common people are easily led fools, and everyone else who is smart enough to know better has their price. And they would beggar every middle class voter in the US before they will voluntarily give up one dime of their ill gotten gains.
But my model says that the oligarchs will continue to press their advantages, being flushed with victory, until they provoke a strong reaction that frightens everyone, like a wake up call, and the tide then turns to genuine reform."
Simon Johnson, The Quiet Coup, August 2010
Stocks were a bit weak today, having opened quite a bit lower than Friday's close in the futures market.
Jitters over the Chinese economy were the putative cause in spokesmodel land.
Gold and silver were off a bit on a stronger US Dollar as shown in the chart below. The DX Index is topping 96.
There will be a gold option expiration this week on Thursday the 25th.
Looking at the chart below, I remind you of the active role that both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama played in consummating what had been a trend to turn away from The New Deal and the working class since the 1970's, in partnership with the Republicans and their traditional supporters amongst the affluent professional class, aka the highly credentialed 'winners.'
Have a pleasant evening.
