Matt Taibbi: Griftopia: A Story of Bankers, Politicians, and the Most Audacious Power Grab in American History (2010)

An illuminating and darkly comic tale of the ongoing financial and political crisis in America.

The financial crisis that exploded in 2008 isn’t past but prologue. The grifter class—made up of the largest players in the financial industry and the politicians who do their bidding—has been growing in power, and the crisis was only one terrifying manifestation of how they’ve hijacked America’s political and economic life.

Matt Taibbi has combined deep sources, trailblazing reportage, and provocative analysis to create the most lucid, emotionally galvanizing account yet written of this ongoing American crisis. He offers fresh reporting on the backroom deals of the bailout; tells the story of Goldman Sachs, the “vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity”; and uncovers the hidden commodities bubble that transferred billions of dollars to Wall Street while creating food shortages around the world.

Publisher Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of Random House, New York, 2010
ISBN 0385529953, 9780385529952
252 pages

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RMF Report: Breaking Up? A Route Out of the Eurozone Crisis (2011)

“Debtor-led default and exit are fraught with risk, and have costs attached to them. But the alternative is economic and social decline within the EMU that could still end up in chaotic and even costlier exit. In contrast, if default and exit were planned and executed by a decisive government, they could put the country on the path to recovery. For that it would be necessary to adopt a broad economic and social programme including capital controls, redistribution, industrial policy, and thorough restructuring of the state. The aim would be to change the balance of power in favour of labour, simultaneously putting the country on the path of sustainable growth and high employment. Not least, national independence would also be protected.” (from Executive summary)

Authors: C. Lapavitsas, A. Kaltenbrunner, D. Lindo, J. Meadway, J. Michell, J.P. Painceira, E. Pires, J. Powell, A. Stenfors, N. Teles, L. Vatikiotis
Published by Research on Money and Finance, November 2011
RMF Occassional Report 3
92 pages

Media Coverage of the Report: The Miami Herald (by Joanna Kakissis, 17 November 2011), Prin (in Greek, by Petros Kosmas, 13 November 2011), El Pais (in Spanish, by Amanda Mars, 13 November 2011), Guardian (by Heather Stewart, 13 November 2011), Eleftherotypia (in Greek, by Leonidas Vatikiotis, 12 November, 2011), CNN (by Costas Lapavitsas, 10 November 2011).

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Edu-Factory Journal, No. 0-1 (2010-2011)

Edu-factory is a transnational collective engaged in the transformations of the global university and conflicts in knowledge production. The website of the global network (www.edu-factory.org) collects and connects theoretical investigations and reports from university struggles. The network has organized meetings all around the world, paying particular attention to the intertwining of student and faculty struggles.

Issue 1: University Struggles and the System of Measure
September 2011
Editors: Nirmal Puwar, Gerald Raunig and Brett Neilson
81 pages
Contributions by Edu-factory collective, Enda Brophy and Myka Tucker-Abramson, Lina Dokuzović and Eduard Freudmann, Victor Jeleniewski Seidler, Mary Evans, Bridget Fowler, Peer Illner

Issue 0: The Double Crisis
January 2010
141 pages
Contributions by Edu-factory collective, Christopher Newfield, George Caffentzis, Jon Solomon, Stefano Harney, Ned Rossiter, Marc Bousquet, Revista Multitud, Pedro Barbosa Mendes, Claudia Bernardi and Andrea Ghelfi, Lina Dokuzović and Eduard Freudmann, Uninomade

ISSN 2078-3884
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