Novara Media Downstream: 2008 Whistleblower on the Next Big Crash w/ Ann Pettifor
10 snips
Jan 26, 2026 Ann Pettifor, Keynesian economist who foresaw 2008 and campaigns on debt relief and a Green New Deal. She unpacks the $217 trillion shadow banking system, the mechanics behind the 2008 collapse and why AI investment looks like a speculative bubble. She critques crypto, pensionized speculation and central bank power, and argues finance must be tamed for any credible Green New Deal.
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From Gold Town To Global Debt Campaigns
- Ann Pettifor traces her economics journey from a South African gold-mining town to campaigning on sovereign debt and predicting the 2008 crash.
- She turned practical campaigning (Jubilee 2000) and research at the New Economics Foundation into forecasting the coming systemic blow-up.
How Pole Dancers Helped Crash Wall Street
- Pettifor recounts how Wall Street lent risky mortgages to very poor people, whose defaults then triggered the global crash.
- She highlights the paradox that the poorest mortgage holders helped collapse the entire system.
Casino Finance Vs The Real Economy
- The economy lives in real production and income while finance is a vast 'casino' detached from real value creation.
- Pettifor warns $500tn in financial assets dwarfs $100tn GDP, so financial crashes tether gamblers back to public institutions.





