A big part of the process of financialization is the influence of elite/corporate interests in politics and policy setting.  A recent article published by a website The Nation exemplifies this principle: our Federal Reserve system is quietly being saturated with Goldman Sachs alumni,  “… on January 1, 2016, one-third of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks will be led by someone with strong ties to Goldman Sachs.”

This is an oligarchical marriage at its finest.   Former employees of one of the most malicious, avaricious entities existing today are setting national financial policy.  We already know what kinds of shenanigans Milton Friedman sycophants are capable of enacting, see Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine; we already know what kinds of shenanigans Alan Greenspan engaged in to set us up for the Great Recession, see Matt Taibbi’s Griftopia;  it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the kinds of implications such corporate power can wield in the case of our Federal Reserve, who is mandated to “Promoting consumer protection, fair lending, and community development.”

I’ve written before about the myth of free-market capitalism.  We can hardly claim to be such a system if our monetary policies are being regulated by a group of people whose allegiance and past behavior severely betray the American Dream and especially our democracy.

We have a choice to make in less than a year.  We must choose wisely because the future of our nation is at stake:  do we maintain a democracy or give ourselves over entirely to the oligarchy.   One candidate is staunchly running on the foundations of curbing corporate influence in our government.  Let’s make sure he gets the chance to do so.  #vote2016

Yours,

Frankie

PS  You can also let your voice be heard more actively at this contact section of the Federal Reserve website.  Let Ms. Yellen know that we are aware of the issue and we need change.