Dec 19, 2017 – Arsenal For Democracy Ep. 208

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Topics: Water utility privatization in the United States and beyond; the Sanders-Warren recovery plan for Puerto Rico. People: Bill, Rachel, Nate. Produced: Dec 17th, 2017.

Episode 208 (51 min):
AFD 208

Note: No new episodes until January 9th.

Related links

AFD 208 Articles Discussed (PDF)

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Music by friend of the show Stunt Bird.

July 15, 2015 – Arsenal For Democracy 134

Posted by Bill on behalf of the team.

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Topics: Supreme Court rulings on marriage equality and Obamacare, order on Texas abortion clinics law; Puerto Rico and Greece debt crises. People: Bill, Kelley, and Nate. Produced: July 13th, 2015.

Discussion Points:

– U.S. Supreme Court: What are the implications of major rulings and orders on marriage equality, Obamacare, and reproductive freedom?
– Debt Crises: What’s next for Puerto Rico and Greece?

Episode 134 (47 min):
AFD 134

Related Links

AFD by Kelley: “The Supreme Court Order You May Have Missed”
AFD by Bill: “Marriage Equality Day”
AFD by Bill: “A Sinking Feeling in Puerto Rico”
AFD Posts about Greece

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And don’t forget to check out The Digitized Ramblings of an 8-Bit Animal, the video blog of our announcer, Justin.

A sinking feeling in Puerto Rico

Greece (full story➚) isn’t the only place staring down the barrel of an imminent major default, it seems. So is the U.S. Commonwealth territory of Puerto Rico.

“Puerto Rico’s Governor Says Island’s Debts Are ‘Not Payable’” – The New York Times:

Puerto Rico’s bonds have a face value roughly eight times that of Detroit’s bonds. Its call for debt relief on such a vast scale could raise borrowing costs for other local governments as investors become more wary of lending.

Perhaps more important, much of Puerto Rico’s debt is widely held by individual investors on the United States mainland, in mutual funds or other investment accounts, and they may not be aware of it.
[…]
“There is no U.S. precedent for anything [in debt restructuring] of this scale or scope,” according to the report, one of whose writers was Anne O. Krueger, a former chief economist at the World Bank and currently a research professor at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

 
Oh hell.

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