Category Archives: Wall Street

Robert Stark interviews Bay Area Guy about the SF Bay Area and the FIRE Economy

October 25, 2016aesthetics, Alex von Goldstein, American Culture, Banking, Bay Area Guy, Bay Area Renters Federation, Bernie Sanders, capitalism, Cities, Corporations, Culture, Distributism, Economics, Environment, FIRE Economy, Hillary Clinton, Killing the Host, Lafayette CA, Michael Hudson, Neoliberalism, Oligarchy, Radical Center, San Francisco, Scott Smith, Sonja Trauss, Suburbia, Taxation, Third Way Economics, Tobin Tax, Urbanism, Usury, Wall Street, Wealthrobertstark

Robert Stark, Rabbit & Alex von Goldstein talk to Bay Area-based blogger Bay Area Guy of Occident Invicta

Topics include:

Bay Area Guy’s article The Bay Area and the FIRE Economy, which reviews Robert Stark’s interview with Laura Foote Clark of Grow SF
How as a renter in the Bay Area this issue personally effects Bay Area Guy
The role that Banks and the FIRE sector play in driving up the cost of real estate
Bay Area Guy’s point that he does not want the Bay Area to become like SoCal: an environmental eyesore characterized by track housing and strip malls
However Bay Area Guy does endorse Laura’s proposal of having Silicon Valley become more urbanized
The role that mass immigration plays in the housing crisis on top of the FIRE economy
Bay Area Renters Federation’s Sonja Trauss: Advocating for Housing Development in San Francisco
San Francisco Bay Area Renters’ Federation‘s lawsuit against the city of Lafayette over a development
The argument that white NIMBY’s oppose development because of diversity, and Bay Area Guy’s article, “Diversity” is Simply Code for “Non-white”
Bay Area Guy’s review of Killing the Host by Michael Hudson
The FIRE economy, which is an economy based on Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate sectors
Michael Hudson’s proposal to tax unearned income(ex. Tobin tax)
The goal of a fair tax policy should not just be to redistribute wealth, but also to punish predatory behavior, and incentivize productive behavior
How Michael Hudson invokes the arguments of Classical Liberals such as Adam Smith, and John Stewart Mills, who distinguished between earned and unearned income
Unearned income is any wealth not generated by production or labor
Debt and living paycheck to paycheck is the road to serfdom
How the majority of people’s income goes towards unearned income(ex. rent, insurance, mortgages)
How lower wages are bad for the economy, because consumers have less money to spend
Wikileaks: Hillary Clinton Calls Bernie Sanders Supporters Basement Dwellers, and that she viewed Wall Street as best to manage the economy
The Calvinist mentality in American culture, that your worth is based on your wealth
What makes Hudson’s book so brilliant is he points out that the ultra rich make their money through unproductive or predatory ways
Examples of countries that have moved away from the FIRE economy include Germany and Japan, who have a high end manufacturing base
In contrast the FIRE economies of the United States and the United Kingdom became dominant using protectionist and mercantilist measures, but liberalized their economies later on
Why Universal Healthcare and Public investment in infrastructure benefit the economy
Michael Hudson debunks supply side economics by pointing out the rich spend most of their extra income on products they already own, or lend their money out at interest
How the concept of a free market has been twisted from freedom from the rentier economy, into letting the financial sector do what ever they want
Michael Hudson’s point that the primary function of banking is not to fund business or stimulate the economy, but to bid up assets already in place, and attach debt to rents

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Robert Stark interviews James Howard Kunstler

September 21, 2016aesthetics, Alex von Goldstein, American Culture, Architecture, Banking, Consumerism, Corporations, Culture, decentralization, Donald Trump, Dystopia, Economics, Environment, Futurism, Globalization, Historic Preservation, History, Immigration, James Howard Kunstler, Literature, localism, Mass Transit, Mid-Century Modern, New Urbanism, New York, overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Peak Oil, Rabbit, Skyscrapers, Suburbia, Urbanism, Wall Street, Water, Zoningrobertstark

Robert Stark, Rabbit, and Alex von Goldstein talk to writer and social critic, James Howard Kunstler

Topics include:

The history of suburbia
James’ theory of history that things happen because they seem like a good idea at the time
How our auto oriented petroleum based society is unsustainable
How bad urban planing has negative psychological and cultural implications
The role of zoning laws, and how zoning can both encourage and prevent suburban sprawl
The future of suburbia, how some will be retrofitted into walkalble communities, while others will be abandoned
The New Urbanist Movement
Mass immigration and overpopulation
Why James does not view skyscrapers and hyper density as viable alternatives to suburbia
Robert’s point that tall structures can have aesthetic value, and how James acknowledges that the early wave of skyscrapers(ex. Singer Building, Woolworth Building, Manhattan Municipal Building) were beautiful structures but historical flukes
How European cities provide the ideal model for urbanism
Examples of sustainable American cities include Portland, Oregon, Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia
Mass Transit, and why James favors investing in existing rail infrastrusture over new high speed rail
The Streetcar suburb, and how they provide a model for New Urbanism
James’ point that even with alternative energy and technological innovation, we still have to downsize and localize our society and economy
How peak oil will lead to economic and political decentralization
How Peak Oil will make Globalization unsustainable
The future of China and the Arab Gulf States
Pre-War Japan as the best example of an advanced civilization without industrialization
The scarcity of water in the future, and how the inland water system will regain it’s value
Historic Preservation, how the movement was started in the 1960’s in response to the demolition of Pennsylvania Station in NYC, and the debate about what should be preserved
Rabbit makes the case for mid century modern
Capital scarcities in the future, and how mass development is dependent upon the financial system
James’ four book series set in a post economic collapse America, the World Made by Hand

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Robert Stark interviews Ron Unz about his campaign for Senate

May 1, 2016Alex von Goldstein, California, Crime, Economics, education, Elections, Environment, Immigration, Iraq War, Kamala Harris, Radical Center, Republican Party, Ron Unz, Taxation, Tobin Tax, Wall Streetrobertstark

Robert Stark and co-host Alex von Goldstein talk to Ron Unz about his campaign for US Senate in California. Ron Unz is the editor of The Unz Review and his campaign website is unzforsenate.org. He is also chairman of Free Harvard/Fair Harvard, a slate of candidates running for the university’s Board of Overseers on a platform of immediately abolishing undergraduate tuition.

Topics include:

How Ron Unz organized and sponsored a successful ballot initiative(prop 227) to keep English in the Schools
The San Francisco Chronicle article about Ron Unz, Even Republicans Swing Left in 1st California U.S. Senate Debate
His support for Raising the Minimum Wage
Raising the minimum wage as a politically correct way to reduce illegal immigration
His stance on Immigration and support for a reduction in legal immigration
How mass immigration effects workers and the environment
Cutting College Tuition and his campaign for ending tuition at Harvard
The Myth of American Meritocracy
Opposing Affirmative Action
Controlling the Wall Street Casinos and His support for a Financial Transaction Tax
The importance of Admitting the Iraq War was a Disaster
Civil Liberties and Government Surveillance

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Robert Stark interviews Presidential Candidate Scott Smith

April 15, 2016Alex von Goldstein, Banking, Basic Income, Economics, Politics, Scott Smith, Taxation, Tobin Tax, Wall Street, Wealthrobertstark

Robert Stark and co-host Alex von Goldstein talk to independent presidential candidate Scott Smith. With a background in Wall Street finance, Scott Smith is a serial entrepreneur, having co-founded companies in such diverse industries as agriculture, finance, educational media, and technology. He began his career as a pioneer grower of Sunburst tangerines, helping to develop a market for the fruit and establish the variety’s popularity. In the 1990’s Scott was an early pioneer in structured finance, developing the model for conduit financing. His model was rapidly adopted by Wall Street and used for securitizing many forms of debt. His campaign website is Scott Smith 2016

Topics include:

Scott Smith’s plan to abolish the income tax, pay off the deficit without cutting social programs
How Scott’s economic proposals adress both the concerns of the left and the right
Scott’s support for a Financial Settlements Tax to replace the income tax
How under Banking 2.0 you would no longer pay interest on loans, so loans would cost less than they do today
How Banks would obtain money for loans directly from the Fed at no interest, so little banks would be able to compete with big banks, helping to reduce service fees for customers
The need for a basic citizens income and how to implement it without using tax revenue and creating inflation
Healthcare, how we pay more money to insurance companies than we do to healthcare, and Scott’s solutions
Immigration
Scott’s plan to legalize drugs and putting the government in charge of producing and selling drugs
Scott’s book The Ten Financial Commandments
How to explain financial policies in layman’s terms

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Robert Stark interviews Presidential Candidate Kyle Kopitke

February 2, 20169/11, Banking, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Economics, Environment, Free Trade, Globalization, Healthcare, Immigration, income inequality, Independent Political Candidates, Jerry Brown, Kyle Kopitke, Oligarchy, Overpopulation, Police State, terrorism, Third Political Parties, Trans-Pacific Partnership, Usury, Wall Street, War, Water, Wealthrobertstark

Kyle Kopitke is running for president as an independent. His campaign website is PresidentKopitke2016.info and he blogs at President Kopitke 2016

Topics include:

Why he running for president
His Military and Foreign Policy Experience
How he was the State Director for the Jerry Brown for President campaign during the Utah Primary in 1992 and defeated Bill Clinton there
His search for a Vice Presidential Candidate
How the political system is bought off by the 1% and their globalist agenda
Donald Trump & Bernie Sanders
The 2nd Amendment & The Constitution
Ending Student Loan debt
How the 1% avoid paying taxes
His support for a financial transaction tax on Wall Street
His support for a moratorium on foreclosures of homes, farms, and small businesses
His opposition to trade deals such as NAFTA and the Trans Pacific Partnership
His support for a 1 year moratorium on immigration
Environmental Protection
The water situation in Flint, Michigan where he lives
Ending Forced Vaccines
The Zika Virus
Why he supports decommissioning all nuclear power plants
Healthcare
Civil Liberties