| 1. | The Shock Doctrine | ||
|
(1) The strategy by the world's economic elites of imposing an extremely neoliberal economic regime on communities they control, using some form of shock: a natural disaster, a coup d'etat, a war, a financial crisis, etc. Once the community has been crippled by this first shock, the economic "reforms" are imposed suddenly, creating a secondary blow. Then, as the community begins to recover and fight back, the authorities use torture and police brutality to (literally) shock the community a third time. (2) title of a book by Naomi Klein describing def. 1 (Please see disaster capitalism.) Ms. Klein's 2007 book described the rise of disaster capitalism in mostly poor countries: Chile (after 1973), Argentina (after 1989), Poland (after 1993), and Sri Lanka (after 2004). But in 2009, the super rich were able to inflict the shock doctrine on the richest countries of the world, including Germany, France, and Italy.
The 2008 financial crisis was entirely a product of the richest 1% of the human race; but soon after, national governments scrambled to punish the remaining 99% for the crisis instead, by slashing public services and imposing austerity programs. |
|||
| 2. | plutonomy | ||
|
(ECONOMICS) economies in which consumption by the very rich is what drives most growth: Bulgari watches, Maybach limousines, Gulfstream V business jets, vacations in the Maldives, Dolce & Gabbana suits, private security services, money laundering, and income tax evasion. Initially coined by analysts at Citigroup in 2005 to describe the growth of the Usonian economy during that period despite horrible economic fundamentals. Later used by Naomi Klein in her essential work, *The Shock Doctrine*. The US., UK, and Canada are the key Plutonomies - economies powered by the wealthy. Continental Europe (excluding Italy) and Japan are in the egalitarian bloc.
- Equity risk premium embedded in "global imbalances" are unwarranted. In plutonomies the rich absorb a disproportionate chunk of the economy and have a massive impact on reported aggregate numbers like savings rates, current account deficits, consumption levels, etc. {Citigroup Oct 16, 2005 Plutonomy Report Part 1} |
|||
| 3. | disaster capitalism | ||
|
(POLICY) an extreme form of capitalism created in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. In some cases, as in Chile (1973), the disaster is a coup d'etat with the express purpose of imposing disaster capitalism. In other cases, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, it is a genuine natural disaster that literally kills. After some disasters, the authorities in some countries may well respond by imposing "reforms" that would have been impossible before. These include: (1) privatization of public property, making it unavailable to the indigenous people; (2) arbitrary elimination of laws ("deregulation"); and (3) slashing democratically chosen programs that help ordinary citizens ("austerity programs"). The concept was popularized in Naomi Klein's excellent 2007 book, *The Shock Doctrine*. "Disaster capitalism" is neoliberalism imposed undemocratically. It exploits natural disasters, civil wars, foreign invasions, coups d'etat, terrorism, or explicit deception. It always seeks to make its changes irreversible.
Naomi Klein mostly blames the International Monetary Fund, but there are other culprits as well. |
|||
| 4. | Bushed nomics | ||
|
The twelve long years under which America was led to believe there's nothing wrong with opportunism when it comes to earning an honest penny at the expense of foreign countries hostile over American occupation. Do you want more bushed nomics? because that's what you'll get with McCain.
|
|||
| 5. | express purpose | ||
|
specific object; explicit and sole goal. Used to describe the reason one committed a particular act, especially if the motivation is somewhat unusual. "Disaster capitalism" sometimes takes advantage of natural disasters, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. But in 1973, Pinochet and the US Central Intelligence Agency carried out a coup d'etat with the express purpose of imposing neoliberal policies against the democratic will of the Chilean people.
|
|||
| 6. | Satan sandwich | ||
|
Dressing up a succesful right-wing hostage-taking situation as an act of political compromise. This debt ceiling agreement is a real sugar-coated satan sandwich!
|
|||
