Quotation for Today: Leveraged Buyouts of Governments

“I cannot have success with my policies if the E.U.’s policies don’t change.”

Mario Monti 

Mario Monti, a technocrat, is the current Prime Minister of Italy. Monti was selected as prime minister by the Parliament of Italy when the former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, was forced to resign.

The above comment by Mario Monti, cited in The New York Times, expresses his frustration in dealing with the economic crisis in Italy. A crisis that has been exacerbated by a contrived sovereign debt problem and European Central Bank policies that facilitate the greed of the one-percent.  


The related article by Michael Hudson will help you understand how the leveraged buyout (LBO) process works on governments.  At the state level in the United States  --  especially in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin  --  the government-LBO process is in full swing. It is called "privatization"; but it is really the theft of publicly-owned assets.  Again, the usual one-percent benefits at the expense of the 99-percent.


Michael Hudson is Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and an author.


Update:  The charter school phenomenon should be included in the government-LBO process.  See article, "Education According to Mike Milken," in Quotation for Today, dated 12 January, 2012.


"A Long Bleak Winter." Editorial. The New York Times 13 January, 2012: online edition.


Related article:


Hudson, Michael. "Europe’s Transition From Social Democracy to Oligarchy." Michael Hudson 6 December, 2011.