Michael Hudson is president of the Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends and a distinguished research professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He has been a Wall Street analyst, chief economist at the Hudson Institute, and served as chief economic adviser to the 2008 US presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich. He was listed one of six economists by the Financial Times who predicted the coming 2008 economic crisis. Michael is also a member of the policy group of Reform Task Force Latvia, and is author of, among other books, 'Super-Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire.'