I have just finished watching the new documentary series on the ABC - Addicted to Money. For those interested in all things financial it was well worth watching. The following is a synopsis of the program on the ABC website:
Addicted To Money is THE program for anyone who wants to know how the financial crisis came about, what it means for us now, and what we can do to create a sustainable economy. Biting and punchy, this three-part series is a survival guide for the ?New Economy', presented with wit, charm and incisive appeal by David McWilliams, a young economist who talks just as candidly to the most influential and powerful players in the global economy as he does to ordinary people.
In the first episode of this polemical series, David McWilliams establishes that we have not just been living through a global recession, but what amounts to a coordinated economic crime. The banks were not only in control, but also out of control. The financial industry established what was effectively a drug syndicate, pushing the most dangerous addiction of all, easy credit. "When even the suburban bank manager has become a drug pusher, things are seriously unhinged," says McWilliams.
For next week's episode:
In episode two of Addicted To Money David McWilliams reveals how Australia and many other nations have become ?one-trick' economies, vulnerable to the inevitable sudden shocks that are a by-product of a fragile, globalised economy.
In Australia's case, we have become totally dependent on Chinese resource demand, putting our future in the hands of "a party-state dictatorship with a very big cheque book" says McWilliams.
China in turn has marched itself up an economic cul-de-sac, becoming overwhelmingly dependent on demand for its exports and in the process accumulating masses of potentially volatile US dollars.
McWilliams predicts that the US is headed for de facto default of its sovereign debt, and this has consequences for all of us.
Keep an eye on the ABC's webpage for further updates - http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/netw/200911/programs/DO0838W001D2009-11-05T203500.htm
Regards,
Scott Keefer
