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After initially voting down the Wall Street bailout plan, the House of Representatives last Friday voted to pass a lengthy bill to rescue failing financial institutions. Thirty three Democrats and twenty five Republicans switched their votes to support the 442 page bill which the Senate earlier loaded up with $150 billion in tax breaks. Dissenting lawmakers complained that not enough regulations were added into the bill, nor were there enough measures of relief for low and middle income Americans struggling with foreclosures and unemployment. Meanwhile new unemployment figures showed 159,000 job losses in the US in the month of September alone, the largest number in 5 years. But its not just the US economy that’s in trouble. Germany, France, Italy, and several other European nations struggled with collapsing banks and debated their own bailout plans over the weekend. Asian banks are also starting to feel a credit crunch.

GUEST: Danny Schechter, author of “Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity and the Subprime Scandal”

Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

When crisis strikes, people in power take advantage of the panic of the moment to drive through measures that benefit them and further oppress the rest of us. That is the thesis of Naomi Klein’s new bestselling book, Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. The current economic crisis in the US and the bailout plan just passed by Congress is a typical example says Klein, of how elites entrench disaster capitalism. Naomi Klein is an award winning journalist, writer, commentator, film maker, and speaker. Her book, Shock Doctrine has earned praise around the world, has made it onto numerous bestseller lists, including the New York Times, and is being translated into 26 languages. Most recently, she spoke at Scripps College in Southern California and applied her Shock Doctrine thesis to what we see unfolding on Wall Street and Washington DC.

GUEST: Naomi Klein, author of “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Thank You Gifts:

Plunder: Investigating our Economic Calamity and the Subprime Scandal (book)
In Debt We Trust (film)
Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (book)
Naomi Klein Speech on US Economic Crisis (DVD)
Take Back the Economy Dollar-a-Day Pack (all of the above)