he Group of 20 (G-20) is meeting today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday) in Seoul, South Korea, and one of the main topics of discussion will be the role of the U.S. dollar in the post-crisis global economy.
Debate over the dollar's role as the world's main reserve currency rose to a fevered pitch in 2008 when the financial crisis, which began in the United States, first roiled global markets.
Emerging markets – particularly China, which holds some $2 trillion of foreign reserves – bemoaned the dollar's decline as it drained their dollar-denominated assets of value. Food and energy prices have climbed to record highs, as have many foreign currencies, further exacerbating the issue.
http://moneymorning.com/2010/11/11/g-20-finally-dump-dollar-worlds-main-reserve-currency/
Showing posts with label stocks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stocks. Show all posts
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Is the World Ready for a New Reserve Currency?
As the G-20 meets to discuss the world's economic problems -- with many of its members unhappy about the Federal Reserve's efforts to stimulate the U.S. economy by boosting its money supply -- ideas are floating around about new monetary systems. For a host of reasons, leaders of other countries would love to free their economies from the stranglehold of the U.S. dollar's influence.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick recently called for the world to index its currencies to gold. In his proposed system, major currencies in the world such as the dollar, the euro, the yen, the pound and the yuan would move towards adopting a modified gold standard. The precious metal would be used as a reference point that would guide currency movements based on market expectations of inflation, deflation and future currency values.
That would be great for those who are holding gold now, because it would boost demand for gold -- thus causing it to rise in price even more. But since there isn't nearly enough physical gold to back all the currencies around the world, returning to thegold standard would cause a massive reduction in the money supply, which would lead to rapid economic contraction.
Zoellick, under a barrage of criticism for the proposal, backpedaled on Wednesday, suggesting he had been misunderstood. "I'm not advocating a return to the 19th century, when money supply was linked to gold," said Zoellick. Good job, Bob.
Introducing the Mondo
The gold standard aside, I'd like to see the world adopt a new reserve currency to supplant the dollar: Call it the Mondo (from the Italian word for world). This new currency would be based on each country's contribution to global GDP. Thus, the more important a country's economy, the bigger that country's influence on the Mondo's value.
In concept, it's fairly simple. The world's GDP is $61 trillion, according to the World Bank, and the Mondo would be based on a weighted basket of securities from each country in proportion to their share of global GDP. The beauty of the Mondo is that it would allow the world's economy to turn on the basis of changes in the policies of individual national economies in proportion to their real contribution in the global marketplace.
The Mondo's value would fluctuate daily based on changes in the levels of its component currencies -- just like a stock index does. So the U.S., which has 23% of the world's economy ($13.9 trillion in so-called purchasing power parity GDP -- a common measure of what a currency can buy around the world) would see the dollar contribute 23% of its weight to the value of the Mondo. China's yuan would contribute 11% to the weight of the Mondo, since its PPP GDP is $7 trillion, or 11% of global GDP.
Shifting to the Mondo would be great for consumers. Today, commodities like oil are traded in dollars, so when the value of the dollar drops, the price of oil goes up. That's why gasoline prices have been surging higher recently in the face of the Fed's decision to boost the U.S. money supply by $600 billion.
But if oil was traded in Mondos, the Fed's decision would have a much smaller impact on its price, because the value of the Mondo also would heavily reflect the policies of other major world economies China and Japan. And since those countries have not just announced massive stimulus programs, the Mondo would not have dropped as much as the dollar has.
Adoption of the Mondo would help also ease U.S. tensions with China, which holds much of its trillions in reserves in U.S. government securities. If China held those reserves in Mondos, then the negative effect of the weakening dollar on Chinese reserves would be reduced dramatically.
It Took Nixon to Shift the Reserve Currency Standard
It's not hard to imagine the uproar that would ensue if the major economic powers made a serious effort to create the Mondo, or something similar, and bring it into use. Each country would calculate the costs and benefits of swapping out of the dollar as a reserve currency, and countries that found themselves worse off in the short-term would balk at implementing it.
But the world was able to adapt back on Aug. 15, 1971, when President Richard Nixon took the U.S. off the gold standard to "defend the U.S. against currency speculators." The world quickly followed the America's lead.
If using the dollar as a reserve currency becomes too painful, perhaps the global pressure to adopt the Mondo will get strong enough to overcome these objections.
That would be great for those who are holding gold now, because it would boost demand for gold -- thus causing it to rise in price even more. But since there isn't nearly enough physical gold to back all the currencies around the world, returning to the
Zoellick, under a barrage of criticism for the proposal, backpedaled on Wednesday, suggesting he had been misunderstood. "I'm not advocating a return to the 19th century, when money supply was linked to gold," said Zoellick. Good job, Bob.
Introducing the Mondo
The gold standard aside, I'd like to see the world adopt a new reserve currency to supplant the dollar: Call it the Mondo (from the Italian word for world). This new currency would be based on each country's contribution to global GDP. Thus, the more important a country's economy, the bigger that country's influence on the Mondo's value.
The Mondo's value would fluctuate daily based on changes in the levels of its component currencies -- just like a stock index does. So the U.S., which has 23% of the world's economy ($13.9 trillion in so-called purchasing power parity GDP -- a common measure of what a currency can buy around the world) would see the dollar contribute 23% of its weight to the value of the Mondo. China's yuan would contribute 11% to the weight of the Mondo, since its PPP GDP is $7 trillion, or 11% of global GDP.
Shifting to the Mondo would be great for consumers. Today, commodities like oil are traded in dollars, so when the value of the dollar drops, the price of oil goes up. That's why gasoline prices have been surging higher recently in the face of the Fed's decision to boost the U.S. money supply by $600 billion.
But if oil was traded in Mondos, the Fed's decision would have a much smaller impact on its price, because the value of the Mondo also would heavily reflect the policies of other major world economies China and Japan. And since those countries have not just announced massive stimulus programs, the Mondo would not have dropped as much as the dollar has.
Adoption of the Mondo would help also ease U.S. tensions with China, which holds much of its trillions in reserves in U.S. government securities. If China held those reserves in Mondos, then the negative effect of the weakening dollar on Chinese reserves would be reduced dramatically.
It Took Nixon to Shift the Reserve Currency Standard
It's not hard to imagine the uproar that would ensue if the major economic powers made a serious effort to create the Mondo, or something similar, and bring it into use. Each country would calculate the costs and benefits of swapping out of the dollar as a reserve currency, and countries that found themselves worse off in the short-term would balk at implementing it.
But the world was able to adapt back on Aug. 15, 1971, when President Richard Nixon took the U.S. off the gold standard to "defend the U.S. against currency speculators." The world quickly followed the America's lead.
If using the dollar as a reserve currency becomes too painful, perhaps the global pressure to adopt the Mondo will get strong enough to overcome these objections.
Glenn Beck: Five Step Plan
his is a rush transcript from "Glenn Beck," November 10, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GLENN BECK, HOST: Last night, almost 3 million people watched this broadcast to find out about George Soros. Last night, we introduced you to the puppet master — billionaire, financier George Soros — notorious for collapsing economies and regimes all around the world.
He's known as the man who broke the Bank of England. The prime minister of Malaysia called Soros an "unscrupulous profiteer." In Thailand, he was branded the "economic war criminal." They also said that he sucks the blood from people.
In 1994, George Soros stated, quote, "Just right that the former Soviet Empire is now called the Soros Empire."
Combine thesecredits with his power, along with his financial fortune, it is no wonder that he fancies himself some sort of god. That's not something that we have said, that is something that he claims. He has described himself over and over again as some sort of god, even as the conscience of the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE SOROS, BILLIONAIRE/FINANCIER: Yes, I did say that, and actually, I stand by it. I think the world very much needs a conscience. I want my foundation network to be the conscience of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: OK. He wants it to be the conscience of the world. He's a very, very generous man. Most people in the world know him as a philanthropist — huge charity guy. Well, we'll look into that charity tonight.
He gets a kick out of playing god. It's actually amusing to him. He said in his own words, "It's a game."
Unfortunately, what Mr. Soros forgets is these are real people. This is not some game. Real lives are being destroyed for his financial gain and for his power.
I'm called a hate-monger because I have conservative views and positions like, I don't know, let people keep their money.
And let me tell you this — it takes a cold, cold heart to have full knowledge that what you are doing to make a buck is literally destroying the lives of people. And now, he's messing with your life. He says, in his own words, America is his next target.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOROS: I became concerned with the problems of globalization. They had global markets, but their politics is based on sovereign of states. So, how do you deal with that issue?
And then, I came to the realization that open society is in danger by our current leadership, in this country. And that is when I refocused my attention on the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: He has focused his attention. This isn't a hypothesis. This has been proven. This is what this man does. He has done it before and now, he wants orderly decline of the dollar — his words, not mine.
If you thought $5 or $4 a gallon gas is painful, wait until Soros devalues your dollar even more. Forget driving. How about eating?
We told you just recently, I told you this for, what, two years now? That they would devalue the dollar and that inflation would come.
"Financial Times" reported it today. It's about to be added to yourgrocery bill. And if you're the one in the household doing the grocery shopping, you've already seen it. But, oh, you haven't seen nothing yet.
As they devalue the dollar, in orderly decline, you will start to see prices like one group — inflation group predicted that it will soon cost
$11 — $11.43 for an ear of corn. One ear.
How about going to the grocery store and seeing a price tag on loaf of wheat bread of $23.05?
This sugar, this size, 32 ounces of sugar — $62.21.
For the milk, good old soy milk — I mean, who doesn't — smooth and delicious, $24.31 for this size.
For a container of this coffee, Folgers, 11 1/2 ounces, $77.71.
For a container of orange juice, not this size but for 64 fluid ounces, Minute Maid orange juice, they are now saying it will be $45.71.
And one thing I couldn't believe and we called the experts and ask them, OK, please tell me that the institute on inflation is nuts. No. No, no. They're not, unfortunately.
I couldn't believe that one candy bar, one Hersey's milk chocolate candy bar, 1 1/2 ounces, Hershey's milk chocolate, $15.50.
This, Mr. Soros, is not a game — at least not for the shlubs outside of your world. I don't know anybody inside the world of George Soros. Well, you've got Timothy Geithner. You have Ben Bernanke. You have most of the politicians in Washington.
We are the ones who are going to risk in this game. When he manages the decline of our dollar, him and his minions in Washington, who do think pays the price? Will it be him? Or will it be you?
You see, he knows what's coming. And because of that, he can hedge. He knows exactly where to go. He knows where the exits are. And he's done it over and over again.
He will gain profit and power — and you will lose both. He's playing god, which is fine by him because he's an atheists.
So, there has to be a god. Who's going to fill that void? Well, he's smart enough to do it.
In one transcript, he said that he was benevolent just like god. He sees the future just like god. So, what does god's bible preach? Globalization.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOROS: Open society is a desirable form of social organization, both as a means to an end, and as an end itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: OK. That's, by the way, replacement of republic, an open society.
This is not a leap of faith. I am stating this as fact. And as I told you last night at GlennBeck.com and on TheBlaze.com, you will find all of these facts and all the research.
Do not take my word for it. Not one bit on this show. Do not take my word for it. Read about it yourself.
Most of it comes in the form of his own words. Come on over here for a second.
These are — many of these are the books we use to prepare the show. And many of these books are written by him. This one, this one, this one. You can read about it.
He's not shy about telling you. I mean God wrote a book, too. He wrote three.
Because of his own words, we know what to look for. We know the signs. We know what he's done in the past to bring down regimes. He's left a blueprint, pattern to look for.
And now that Soros is saying that he has turned his focus and set his sights on America, don't you think we should look at his past and see how he has done it before? What are the footprints? Where is he leaving fingerprints? How did he do it? Four or five times before.
Well, we also should look at what has he accomplished so far, how far down that line is he.
Tonight, we look at the puppet master's latest work of art: America under siege.
(MUSIC)
BECK: All right. George Soros has his sights on America.
So, how does he view us? Well, it's easy. He views us like this: America is the main obstacle to a stable and just world order, the United States — his words, not mine.
So, not only does he want to bring America to her knees, financially, he wants to reap obscene profits off us as well. Like when he made $1 billion off the collapse of the British sterling — his claim, not mine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOROS: The money that I made on this particular transaction would be estimated about $1 billion.
CHARLIE ROSE: You are the guy they said who broke the Bank of England.
SOROS: Right. And —
ROSE: And did.
SOROS: Well, that's true.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: He's just a loveable, old spooky dude. By the way, his people when they met my number two in the story that I told you last night, and remember left us this threat — I mean this gift. He says they didn't really make that much of it. So, is he lying then or is he lying now? Which is it?
This man causes misery in his wake. People's lives were ruined. Retirement account, savings, jobs, all gone. Grandma and grandpa saved their whole life — gone. And he just walks away.
You saved your whole life if you put all of your money away for retirement. It's now worth 30 percent less in the last 10 years. And it's about to worth a lot less.
What are you going to do? Are you going to go back and get another job?
See, he doesn't think about that stuff because your life is a game to this man. And again, listen to George Soros in his own words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOROS: When you try to improve society, you affect different people and different interests differently. And they are not actually commensurate. So, you very often have all kind of unintended adverse consequences.
So I have to experiment. And it was — it was a learning process. The first part was this subversive activity, disrupting the oppressive regimes. That was a lot of fun. That's actually what we hoped on this whole enterprise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: That was a lot of fun, experimenting with people's lives. This is what happens when people put themselves in an elite category or point themselves rulers, or in his case, see themselves as some sort of a god. You become a play thing and he is the all-knowing, all-seeing creator.
He has been playing this game for a very long time. Before I show you how he's playing it now and what is coming, I want to start in Czechoslovakia. Half a century ago in Czechoslovakia, it was a scary, scary time to live in this part of the world.
The world was changing. Europe was on fire. Joblessness, hunger — hunger was on the rise. People didn't know what to do. Protesters started rioting in the street. The average person was frightened out of their mind.
And so, what did they do? They begged the government. Please bring order. Stop the people rioting in the streets. Well, they did.
And the next thing the average person knew, they were a communist country. It is important to remember this story because that's what history books would tell you. But there is now new documents out that were never supposed to be released and it plays directly into today and what is happening in America. And we'll get to that by the bottom of the hour.
But right now, I want to show you the signs. What is George Soros trying to do? What is it? How does he do it?
After country after country after country, we found that there are five steps to him gaining control. He does it over and over and over again. So, let's see what the steps are and let's if he's done any of them here.
The first one is form a shadow government using humanitarian aid as cover. This is what he just said. It's kind of funny. It's kind of fun. The first step he said is subversive activities. OK?
Step two: control the airwaves. Fund existing radio and TV outlets and take control over them or start your own outlets. Remember: take control of existing or start your own.
Step three: destabilize the state, weaken the government and build an anti-government kind of feeling in this country. You exploit an economic crisis or take advantage of existing crisis — pressure from the top and the bottom. This will allow you to weaken the government and build anti- government public sentiment.
Step four: you provoke an election crisis. You wait for an election. And during the election, you cry voter fraud.
Step five: take power. You stage massive demonstrations, civil disobedience, sit-ins, general strike, you encourage activism. You promote voter fraud and tell followers what to do through your radio and television stations.
We'll start at the beginning, shall we? Do any of those sound familiar? This is the way George Soros takes a country down every time — every time.
Again, he's done — how many times, Joe (ph), four or five? Four times — four times before. We'll be number five.
So, let's go back here. The five steps to control. The first one is form a shadow government using humanitarian aid as a cover.
Now, is he doing this? Well, let me start with the central George Soros operation, which is OSI. This is his main group. OSI, it is the Open Society Institute. It sounds warm and fuzzy. And to hear the way they tell it, it is warm and fuzzy.
Oddly enough, yesterday, in a sign of I think total panic and collapse, OSI released a video talking all about all the wonderful things that George Soros does. It's fantastic! Must have cost a fortune to put this up. Coincidentally, it's released the day that we do our special to show that he's just a loveable, old philanthropist.
That's all he does, he cares about people. Oh, I'm sure he does. I'm sure he does. Because he's a humanitarian. He's a philanthropist, you know? He gives tons of money. I'll show you that whole thing at the end of the show.
Through the Open Society Foundation, he donates almost half a billion dollars annually to charity causes all around the globe. Well, that's fantastic. That's fantastic. I love people who give a lot of money to charity. I think that's fantastic. I do.
Now, when you look at a charity, this is what I learned when I started to try to be responsible with my money, you look at people as an investment. Who's — what's the best way to invest in people. But you need, if you're going to give away half a billion dollars every single year, you better have somebody who really knows how to manage it and you better have somebody who has a big, big heart.
Who is the person to head up your charitable arm, Mr. Soros? Well, he found — he just found — I mean, just the founder of SDS, the radical student group from the 1960s. You remember — you remember the days of rage riots? Yes. Oh, and the spin-off group, Weather Underground? Yes.
Just the guy who started this stuff, that's who heads the charitable arm. It's almost like subversive activities are kind of fun to Mr. Soros under the cover of humanitarian aid.
So, OSI spreads money all over the country, but I'm sure — I'm sure the head of OSI, he's probably changed. One of the things that OSI funded was the Shadow Conventions in 2000. It funneled up one-third of the Shadow Convention — who hosted here — I mean, unless you are an avid C-Span watcher, you probably don't remember them, but it was an attempt to, as they put it, focus on the issues that the parties just won't touch, issues like campaign finance reform.
Wait a minute. Last night, campaign finance reform. That's a good humanitarian thing, isn't it? Seriously, that going to feed a lot of children.
Campaign finance reform — remember we said he spent over $100 million to get campaign finance reform. And what happened? Oh, yes, I remember. It led to the boom in 501(c)(3)s, like MoveOn.org, or "Media Matters," or any of the other things that he seems to fund. They can take in as much money as they want.
And now, all of those — all of those political organizations are controlled by George Soros. But remember, it's humanitarian. One of the organizers of the Shadow Convention was Arianna Huffington, which is now getting the "Huffington Post" money from George Soros to be able to hire reporters. Isn't that great?
She was introducing here in 2000 at the Shadow Convention, she was introducing somebody else, another guest speaker, another co-organizer of the event. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, HUFFINGTON POST: When I'm moving to the reflect on the issue of the Shadow Convention, but the persistence of poverty in the middle of our prosperity and it gives me great pleasure to welcome one of our conveners, the Reverend Jim Wallis, the head of the Call to Renewal, a new coalition of churches to fight poverty and the editor of "Sojourners" magazine. He's also been a mentor and inspiration to me. So, get ready to be inspired, Jim Wallis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Praise Jesus. Jim Wallis. Sojourners. Faith politics culture. That's right.
Sojourners, didn't he get a bunch of money recently to help boycott me? That's right! I remember him now. And Sojourners, another group funded by OSI.
George Soros, an atheist, dumping a whole bunch of money into a Christian organization. That almost doesn't make sense. Oh, but it's humanitarian. It kind of makes you question the motives, doesn't it?
Of course, it doesn't take long to see that his attraction to Jim Wallis is because he's a big government progressive. The solution is not with the people and the churches, it is get everybody into the government. He's infiltrating the churches. You see how it works?
I know. I know. I'm sorry, Mr. Soros, it's just humanitarian aid.
Step number two is to control the airwaves. Has George Soros done this at all? Well, Open Society — I mean, it's very innocent here. I mean, it's pure as the driven snow — recently donated $1.8 million so that NPR could hire new journalist. Do we have the NPR thing? Yes, they just -
- $1.8 million so they could hire 100 journalists.
And then Soros wrote $100 million check to "Media Matters" to go along with — sorry, $1 million to go along with NPR, which was great. Their stated goal, by the way, what got him to write that was they're going to get me off the air and then destroy FOX. Isn't that great?
By the way, he gave that million dollars and all that money after we were threatened — I mean, we were given a gift by Mr. Soros and they realize that I wouldn't shut up. I wouldn't stop. And so, then, he decided, well, I guess I'm going to have to destroy him another way.
A million dollars also to the TeaPartyTracker.org. TeaPartyTracker.org, this is a Web site that they developed with the NAACP's media staff. It's supposed to expose the intolerant element of the Tea Party. Then the NAACP takes its content and collaborates with Think Progress, another Soros funded group, along with "Media Matters" — and there you go.
The next three steps, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: We're talking about the plan of control that George Soros uses to take control of the governments. The first one was to form shadow government using humanitarian aid as a cover — in George Soros' words, subversive activities.
By the way, here's Sojourners. Here's a letter a friend of mine gave me today. It's me on the cover. "Glenn Beck doesn't like us. We must be doing something right." It's a fundraising letter for this guy.
Number two: control the airwaves. Is he doing that? Yes.
Number three: destabilize the state and weaken the government and build an anti-government sentiment. OK. So, is he doing this? Well, again, we go back to his organization.
His humanitarian organization heavily funds the Tides Foundation — the Tides Foundation, $4.2 million. They are the ones that funded the anti-capitalist "Story of Stuff" indoctrination videos that we have told you that helps the kids resent government that supports a free market system.
Tides, itself, takes some of its money and then it sends on to places like the Apollo Alliance, the home of Van Jones. They're the ones that also crafted the stimulus bill, you know, for the little guy, like Andy Stern. I think we know how everyone feels about the stimulus bill.
Also, OSI decides that they're going to fund a place called the Center for American Progress. You know that one. That's a progressive think tank that churns out big government ideas, and who get many of their ideas from another group OSI funds, the IPS. This is the Institute for Policy Studies.
You know what they've just come out with? This is great. They've just come out with a couple things. First, President Obama needs to bypass Congress and issue more executive orders now that the election is over.
And they've come out with this exciting new report that says, quote, "Outside pressure, inside strategy." Wow! That sounds familiar. "Inside strategy, outside pressure" — it's almost like bottom up, top down. What am I — what am I remembering here? Oh, yes, I remember, Czechoslovakia — top to bottom, bottom to top, inside out.
Remind me of that along with George Soros and Van Jones in just a few minutes. I'll show you something that will blow your mind.
Step four — step four is provoke an election crisis. Well, that, of course, that doesn't — we haven't done anything like that, you know, where you lose confidence in the vote? No, no, no. Of course not.
Of course, you have OSI funding ACORN. This is a group that's willing to sell, you know, human sex slave traffickers and give them a tax break.
Soros also created this SOS, the Secretary of State Project. This is a group that is specifically designed to groom and elect secretary of states around the nation because they're the ones who have to certify election results. How do you think — what's his name from Minnesota got in last time? Remember all that? Remember? Al Franken.
Yes, who is this project? Isn't that weird? They're the ones that call the shots.
And Soros has pumped millions in voting-related groups, some of them legitimate, some get caught doing illegal things, some are kind of little shady.
I like this one myself, One America Votes. They get money from the Tides. Remember, Soros funds that group. They send illegal immigrants door to door in Washington state just before this last election to tell people that they were illegal, but you should get out and vote. There's George Soros for you.
Then step number five: take power. Take power — this one is kind of hand in hand with stage demonstrations. This one is about to come.
We've already seen the beginnings of it, the One Nation rally. We saw this. This is the labor union rally in D.C. as a response to 8.28 — a project of the Tides Center, aka, George Soros' group.
OSI also donated to the Ruckus Society, environmental justice group known for their aggressive tactics. Remember, that was the guy I told you about last night who was causing all the riots in Seattle?
Then, OSI has donated to several groups who are trying to get me off the air. You have Faith in Public Life, that's funded by OSI. They're calling for my head.
You have Sojourners, of course. They're calling for my head.
You have "Media Matters."
All of them out of the pocket of George Soros.
Mark my words. And I believe I said that for the last two years on inflation. As I told you, massive inflation will come and you're beginning to see it now. Staged demonstrations and riots in the streets, you will see them here.
What you're seeing today in the U.K., these students demonstrating in the streets. That's a demonstration, by the way. They will come here, too, because what are they rioting about? That they are cutting services at schools and raising tuitions. Really?
Well, they will come, and they will be orchestrated, funded, or they will be exploited by Soros-like groups. If you're watching this show, and George Soros is the puppet master, so I'm sure he's having somebody else watch it, what happens? What happens to all of these groups? What happens to all of these groups?
This man is playing god. He thinks he's god. God created the earth in six days and then rested on the seventh. Well, George Soros has created all of these things.
And believe me, it's not just in fact here. Do you have this?
Yes, come here, Erin. Come here. You stand over here. Stand. Lovely and talented Erin.
These are the open society — these are just the things that he has donated to, I just want to say, because we don't have a lot of time so I wanted to show you the list.
These are the lists of the organization that are involved, you know, in these five steps. And we wrote it out for you, but I just wanted to show you that, you know, it's no big deal. It's not like you're overpowered or anything like this.
There is more. This is less than half of them. But other than that, there is nothing to see here. Just move on with your lives. Nothing to see here, folks.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,602143,00.html
GLENN BECK, HOST: Last night, almost 3 million people watched this broadcast to find out about George Soros. Last night, we introduced you to the puppet master — billionaire, financier George Soros — notorious for collapsing economies and regimes all around the world.
He's known as the man who broke the Bank of England. The prime minister of Malaysia called Soros an "unscrupulous profiteer." In Thailand, he was branded the "economic war criminal." They also said that he sucks the blood from people.
In 1994, George Soros stated, quote, "Just right that the former Soviet Empire is now called the Soros Empire."
Combine these
GEORGE SOROS, BILLIONAIRE/FINANCIER: Yes, I did say that, and actually, I stand by it. I think the world very much needs a conscience. I want my foundation network to be the conscience of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: OK. He wants it to be the conscience of the world. He's a very, very generous man. Most people in the world know him as a philanthropist — huge charity guy. Well, we'll look into that charity tonight.
He gets a kick out of playing god. It's actually amusing to him. He said in his own words, "It's a game."
Unfortunately, what Mr. Soros forgets is these are real people. This is not some game. Real lives are being destroyed for his financial gain and for his power.
I'm called a hate-monger because I have conservative views and positions like, I don't know, let people keep their money.
And let me tell you this — it takes a cold, cold heart to have full knowledge that what you are doing to make a buck is literally destroying the lives of people. And now, he's messing with your life. He says, in his own words, America is his next target.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOROS: I became concerned with the problems of globalization. They had global markets, but their politics is based on sovereign of states. So, how do you deal with that issue?
And then, I came to the realization that open society is in danger by our current leadership, in this country. And that is when I refocused my attention on the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: He has focused his attention. This isn't a hypothesis. This has been proven. This is what this man does. He has done it before and now, he wants orderly decline of the dollar — his words, not mine.
If you thought $5 or $4 a gallon gas is painful, wait until Soros devalues your dollar even more. Forget driving. How about eating?
We told you just recently, I told you this for, what, two years now? That they would devalue the dollar and that inflation would come.
"Financial Times" reported it today. It's about to be added to your
As they devalue the dollar, in orderly decline, you will start to see prices like one group — inflation group predicted that it will soon cost
$11 — $11.43 for an ear of corn. One ear.
How about going to the grocery store and seeing a price tag on loaf of wheat bread of $23.05?
This sugar, this size, 32 ounces of sugar — $62.21.
For the milk, good old soy milk — I mean, who doesn't — smooth and delicious, $24.31 for this size.
For a container of this coffee, Folgers, 11 1/2 ounces, $77.71.
For a container of orange juice, not this size but for 64 fluid ounces, Minute Maid orange juice, they are now saying it will be $45.71.
And one thing I couldn't believe and we called the experts and ask them, OK, please tell me that the institute on inflation is nuts. No. No, no. They're not, unfortunately.
I couldn't believe that one candy bar, one Hersey's milk chocolate candy bar, 1 1/2 ounces, Hershey's milk chocolate, $15.50.
This, Mr. Soros, is not a game — at least not for the shlubs outside of your world. I don't know anybody inside the world of George Soros. Well, you've got Timothy Geithner. You have Ben Bernanke. You have most of the politicians in Washington.
We are the ones who are going to risk in this game. When he manages the decline of our dollar, him and his minions in Washington, who do think pays the price? Will it be him? Or will it be you?
You see, he knows what's coming. And because of that, he can hedge. He knows exactly where to go. He knows where the exits are. And he's done it over and over again.
He will gain profit and power — and you will lose both. He's playing god, which is fine by him because he's an atheists.
So, there has to be a god. Who's going to fill that void? Well, he's smart enough to do it.
In one transcript, he said that he was benevolent just like god. He sees the future just like god. So, what does god's bible preach? Globalization.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOROS: Open society is a desirable form of social organization, both as a means to an end, and as an end itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: OK. That's, by the way, replacement of republic, an open society.
This is not a leap of faith. I am stating this as fact. And as I told you last night at GlennBeck.com and on TheBlaze.com, you will find all of these facts and all the research.
Do not take my word for it. Not one bit on this show. Do not take my word for it. Read about it yourself.
Most of it comes in the form of his own words. Come on over here for a second.
These are — many of these are the books we use to prepare the show. And many of these books are written by him. This one, this one, this one. You can read about it.
He's not shy about telling you. I mean God wrote a book, too. He wrote three.
Because of his own words, we know what to look for. We know the signs. We know what he's done in the past to bring down regimes. He's left a blueprint, pattern to look for.
And now that Soros is saying that he has turned his focus and set his sights on America, don't you think we should look at his past and see how he has done it before? What are the footprints? Where is he leaving fingerprints? How did he do it? Four or five times before.
Well, we also should look at what has he accomplished so far, how far down that line is he.
Tonight, we look at the puppet master's latest work of art: America under siege.
(MUSIC)
BECK: All right. George Soros has his sights on America.
So, how does he view us? Well, it's easy. He views us like this: America is the main obstacle to a stable and just world order, the United States — his words, not mine.
So, not only does he want to bring America to her knees, financially, he wants to reap obscene profits off us as well. Like when he made $1 billion off the collapse of the British sterling — his claim, not mine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOROS: The money that I made on this particular transaction would be estimated about $1 billion.
CHARLIE ROSE: You are the guy they said who broke the Bank of England.
SOROS: Right. And —
ROSE: And did.
SOROS: Well, that's true.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: He's just a loveable, old spooky dude. By the way, his people when they met my number two in the story that I told you last night, and remember left us this threat — I mean this gift. He says they didn't really make that much of it. So, is he lying then or is he lying now? Which is it?
This man causes misery in his wake. People's lives were ruined. Retirement account, savings, jobs, all gone. Grandma and grandpa saved their whole life — gone. And he just walks away.
You saved your whole life if you put all of your money away for retirement. It's now worth 30 percent less in the last 10 years. And it's about to worth a lot less.
What are you going to do? Are you going to go back and get another job?
See, he doesn't think about that stuff because your life is a game to this man. And again, listen to George Soros in his own words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOROS: When you try to improve society, you affect different people and different interests differently. And they are not actually commensurate. So, you very often have all kind of unintended adverse consequences.
So I have to experiment. And it was — it was a learning process. The first part was this subversive activity, disrupting the oppressive regimes. That was a lot of fun. That's actually what we hoped on this whole enterprise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: That was a lot of fun, experimenting with people's lives. This is what happens when people put themselves in an elite category or point themselves rulers, or in his case, see themselves as some sort of a god. You become a play thing and he is the all-knowing, all-seeing creator.
He has been playing this game for a very long time. Before I show you how he's playing it now and what is coming, I want to start in Czechoslovakia. Half a century ago in Czechoslovakia, it was a scary, scary time to live in this part of the world.
The world was changing. Europe was on fire. Joblessness, hunger — hunger was on the rise. People didn't know what to do. Protesters started rioting in the street. The average person was frightened out of their mind.
And so, what did they do? They begged the government. Please bring order. Stop the people rioting in the streets. Well, they did.
And the next thing the average person knew, they were a communist country. It is important to remember this story because that's what history books would tell you. But there is now new documents out that were never supposed to be released and it plays directly into today and what is happening in America. And we'll get to that by the bottom of the hour.
But right now, I want to show you the signs. What is George Soros trying to do? What is it? How does he do it?
After country after country after country, we found that there are five steps to him gaining control. He does it over and over and over again. So, let's see what the steps are and let's if he's done any of them here.
The first one is form a shadow government using humanitarian aid as cover. This is what he just said. It's kind of funny. It's kind of fun. The first step he said is subversive activities. OK?
Step two: control the airwaves. Fund existing radio and TV outlets and take control over them or start your own outlets. Remember: take control of existing or start your own.
Step three: destabilize the state, weaken the government and build an anti-government kind of feeling in this country. You exploit an economic crisis or take advantage of existing crisis — pressure from the top and the bottom. This will allow you to weaken the government and build anti- government public sentiment.
Step four: you provoke an election crisis. You wait for an election. And during the election, you cry voter fraud.
Step five: take power. You stage massive demonstrations, civil disobedience, sit-ins, general strike, you encourage activism. You promote voter fraud and tell followers what to do through your radio and television stations.
We'll start at the beginning, shall we? Do any of those sound familiar? This is the way George Soros takes a country down every time — every time.
Again, he's done — how many times, Joe (ph), four or five? Four times — four times before. We'll be number five.
So, let's go back here. The five steps to control. The first one is form a shadow government using humanitarian aid as a cover.
Now, is he doing this? Well, let me start with the central George Soros operation, which is OSI. This is his main group. OSI, it is the Open Society Institute. It sounds warm and fuzzy. And to hear the way they tell it, it is warm and fuzzy.
Oddly enough, yesterday, in a sign of I think total panic and collapse, OSI released a video talking all about all the wonderful things that George Soros does. It's fantastic! Must have cost a fortune to put this up. Coincidentally, it's released the day that we do our special to show that he's just a loveable, old philanthropist.
That's all he does, he cares about people. Oh, I'm sure he does. I'm sure he does. Because he's a humanitarian. He's a philanthropist, you know? He gives tons of money. I'll show you that whole thing at the end of the show.
Through the Open Society Foundation, he donates almost half a billion dollars annually to charity causes all around the globe. Well, that's fantastic. That's fantastic. I love people who give a lot of money to charity. I think that's fantastic. I do.
Now, when you look at a charity, this is what I learned when I started to try to be responsible with my money, you look at people as an investment. Who's — what's the best way to invest in people. But you need, if you're going to give away half a billion dollars every single year, you better have somebody who really knows how to manage it and you better have somebody who has a big, big heart.
Who is the person to head up your charitable arm, Mr. Soros? Well, he found — he just found — I mean, just the founder of SDS, the radical student group from the 1960s. You remember — you remember the days of rage riots? Yes. Oh, and the spin-off group, Weather Underground? Yes.
Just the guy who started this stuff, that's who heads the charitable arm. It's almost like subversive activities are kind of fun to Mr. Soros under the cover of humanitarian aid.
So, OSI spreads money all over the country, but I'm sure — I'm sure the head of OSI, he's probably changed. One of the things that OSI funded was the Shadow Conventions in 2000. It funneled up one-third of the Shadow Convention — who hosted here — I mean, unless you are an avid C-Span watcher, you probably don't remember them, but it was an attempt to, as they put it, focus on the issues that the parties just won't touch, issues like campaign finance reform.
Wait a minute. Last night, campaign finance reform. That's a good humanitarian thing, isn't it? Seriously, that going to feed a lot of children.
Campaign finance reform — remember we said he spent over $100 million to get campaign finance reform. And what happened? Oh, yes, I remember. It led to the boom in 501(c)(3)s, like MoveOn.org, or "Media Matters," or any of the other things that he seems to fund. They can take in as much money as they want.
And now, all of those — all of those political organizations are controlled by George Soros. But remember, it's humanitarian. One of the organizers of the Shadow Convention was Arianna Huffington, which is now getting the "Huffington Post" money from George Soros to be able to hire reporters. Isn't that great?
She was introducing here in 2000 at the Shadow Convention, she was introducing somebody else, another guest speaker, another co-organizer of the event. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, HUFFINGTON POST: When I'm moving to the reflect on the issue of the Shadow Convention, but the persistence of poverty in the middle of our prosperity and it gives me great pleasure to welcome one of our conveners, the Reverend Jim Wallis, the head of the Call to Renewal, a new coalition of churches to fight poverty and the editor of "Sojourners" magazine. He's also been a mentor and inspiration to me. So, get ready to be inspired, Jim Wallis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Praise Jesus. Jim Wallis. Sojourners. Faith politics culture. That's right.
Sojourners, didn't he get a bunch of money recently to help boycott me? That's right! I remember him now. And Sojourners, another group funded by OSI.
George Soros, an atheist, dumping a whole bunch of money into a Christian organization. That almost doesn't make sense. Oh, but it's humanitarian. It kind of makes you question the motives, doesn't it?
Of course, it doesn't take long to see that his attraction to Jim Wallis is because he's a big government progressive. The solution is not with the people and the churches, it is get everybody into the government. He's infiltrating the churches. You see how it works?
I know. I know. I'm sorry, Mr. Soros, it's just humanitarian aid.
Step number two is to control the airwaves. Has George Soros done this at all? Well, Open Society — I mean, it's very innocent here. I mean, it's pure as the driven snow — recently donated $1.8 million so that NPR could hire new journalist. Do we have the NPR thing? Yes, they just -
- $1.8 million so they could hire 100 journalists.
And then Soros wrote $100 million check to "Media Matters" to go along with — sorry, $1 million to go along with NPR, which was great. Their stated goal, by the way, what got him to write that was they're going to get me off the air and then destroy FOX. Isn't that great?
By the way, he gave that million dollars and all that money after we were threatened — I mean, we were given a gift by Mr. Soros and they realize that I wouldn't shut up. I wouldn't stop. And so, then, he decided, well, I guess I'm going to have to destroy him another way.
A million dollars also to the TeaPartyTracker.org. TeaPartyTracker.org, this is a Web site that they developed with the NAACP's media staff. It's supposed to expose the intolerant element of the Tea Party. Then the NAACP takes its content and collaborates with Think Progress, another Soros funded group, along with "Media Matters" — and there you go.
The next three steps, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: We're talking about the plan of control that George Soros uses to take control of the governments. The first one was to form shadow government using humanitarian aid as a cover — in George Soros' words, subversive activities.
By the way, here's Sojourners. Here's a letter a friend of mine gave me today. It's me on the cover. "Glenn Beck doesn't like us. We must be doing something right." It's a fundraising letter for this guy.
Number two: control the airwaves. Is he doing that? Yes.
Number three: destabilize the state and weaken the government and build an anti-government sentiment. OK. So, is he doing this? Well, again, we go back to his organization.
His humanitarian organization heavily funds the Tides Foundation — the Tides Foundation, $4.2 million. They are the ones that funded the anti-capitalist "Story of Stuff" indoctrination videos that we have told you that helps the kids resent government that supports a free market system.
Tides, itself, takes some of its money and then it sends on to places like the Apollo Alliance, the home of Van Jones. They're the ones that also crafted the stimulus bill, you know, for the little guy, like Andy Stern. I think we know how everyone feels about the stimulus bill.
Also, OSI decides that they're going to fund a place called the Center for American Progress. You know that one. That's a progressive think tank that churns out big government ideas, and who get many of their ideas from another group OSI funds, the IPS. This is the Institute for Policy Studies.
You know what they've just come out with? This is great. They've just come out with a couple things. First, President Obama needs to bypass Congress and issue more executive orders now that the election is over.
And they've come out with this exciting new report that says, quote, "Outside pressure, inside strategy." Wow! That sounds familiar. "Inside strategy, outside pressure" — it's almost like bottom up, top down. What am I — what am I remembering here? Oh, yes, I remember, Czechoslovakia — top to bottom, bottom to top, inside out.
Remind me of that along with George Soros and Van Jones in just a few minutes. I'll show you something that will blow your mind.
Step four — step four is provoke an election crisis. Well, that, of course, that doesn't — we haven't done anything like that, you know, where you lose confidence in the vote? No, no, no. Of course not.
Of course, you have OSI funding ACORN. This is a group that's willing to sell, you know, human sex slave traffickers and give them a tax break.
Soros also created this SOS, the Secretary of State Project. This is a group that is specifically designed to groom and elect secretary of states around the nation because they're the ones who have to certify election results. How do you think — what's his name from Minnesota got in last time? Remember all that? Remember? Al Franken.
Yes, who is this project? Isn't that weird? They're the ones that call the shots.
And Soros has pumped millions in voting-related groups, some of them legitimate, some get caught doing illegal things, some are kind of little shady.
I like this one myself, One America Votes. They get money from the Tides. Remember, Soros funds that group. They send illegal immigrants door to door in Washington state just before this last election to tell people that they were illegal, but you should get out and vote. There's George Soros for you.
Then step number five: take power. Take power — this one is kind of hand in hand with stage demonstrations. This one is about to come.
We've already seen the beginnings of it, the One Nation rally. We saw this. This is the labor union rally in D.C. as a response to 8.28 — a project of the Tides Center, aka, George Soros' group.
OSI also donated to the Ruckus Society, environmental justice group known for their aggressive tactics. Remember, that was the guy I told you about last night who was causing all the riots in Seattle?
Then, OSI has donated to several groups who are trying to get me off the air. You have Faith in Public Life, that's funded by OSI. They're calling for my head.
You have Sojourners, of course. They're calling for my head.
You have "Media Matters."
All of them out of the pocket of George Soros.
Mark my words. And I believe I said that for the last two years on inflation. As I told you, massive inflation will come and you're beginning to see it now. Staged demonstrations and riots in the streets, you will see them here.
What you're seeing today in the U.K., these students demonstrating in the streets. That's a demonstration, by the way. They will come here, too, because what are they rioting about? That they are cutting services at schools and raising tuitions. Really?
Well, they will come, and they will be orchestrated, funded, or they will be exploited by Soros-like groups. If you're watching this show, and George Soros is the puppet master, so I'm sure he's having somebody else watch it, what happens? What happens to all of these groups? What happens to all of these groups?
This man is playing god. He thinks he's god. God created the earth in six days and then rested on the seventh. Well, George Soros has created all of these things.
And believe me, it's not just in fact here. Do you have this?
Yes, come here, Erin. Come here. You stand over here. Stand. Lovely and talented Erin.
These are the open society — these are just the things that he has donated to, I just want to say, because we don't have a lot of time so I wanted to show you the list.
These are the lists of the organization that are involved, you know, in these five steps. And we wrote it out for you, but I just wanted to show you that, you know, it's no big deal. It's not like you're overpowered or anything like this.
There is more. This is less than half of them. But other than that, there is nothing to see here. Just move on with your lives. Nothing to see here, folks.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,602143,00.html
Monday, November 8, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Goldman: Real Cost Of Fed “Easing” Will Exceed $2 Trillion
Goldman Sachs anticipates that the real cost of the second round of quantitative easing will be in excess of $2 trillion and will continue well into 2012, while other prominent economists have denounced the Fed’s actions.
The Fed announced yesterday that it would purchase $600 billion in Treasury securities in a statement that left open the possibility of the real cost rising much higher.
“The Committee will regularly review the pace of its securities purchases and the overall size of the asset-purchase program in light of incoming information and will adjust the program as needed to best foster maximum employment and price stability.” the statement read.
As pointed out by Tyler Durden at the Zero Hedge blog, Goldman Sachs has predicted that the real cost of the Fed’s plan will sky rocket.
“We believe that the program will grow significantly beyond the initial $600 billion” remarks Goldman’s Jan Hatzius.
“In practice, QE2 is likely to continue well beyond June 2011–at least well into 2012–if our forecasts for unemployment and inflation are close to the mark. We believe that purchases could ultimately cumulate to around $2 trillion…” she continues.
“Under our longer-term projections it is easy to come up with models that show no tightening until 2015 or later.
In a report last month Hatzius concluded that the projections for QE could reach $4 trillion.
As we reported yesterday, the Fed no longer cares about hiding the fact that it is openly devaluing the dollar and forcing China and other major countries to move away from holding reserves of the currency.
Several prominent economists and even some of the Fed’s own members have warned that the resulting decline in the value of the dollar and rampant inflation could spell disaster for any possible economic recovery.
Meanwhile, influential professor of economics Nouriel Roubini today tweeted that the purchase of debt will continue into a third and fourth round. but will do nothing to revive the real economy:
The Fed announced yesterday that it would purchase $600 billion in Treasury securities in a statement that left open the possibility of the real cost rising much higher.
“The Committee will regularly review the pace of its securities purchases and the overall size of the asset-purchase program in light of incoming information and will adjust the program as needed to best foster maximum employment and price stability.” the statement read.
As pointed out by Tyler Durden at the Zero Hedge blog, Goldman Sachs has predicted that the real cost of the Fed’s plan will sky rocket.
“We believe that the program will grow significantly beyond the initial $600 billion” remarks Goldman’s Jan Hatzius.
“In practice, QE2 is likely to continue well beyond June 2011–at least well into 2012–if our forecasts for unemployment and inflation are close to the mark. We believe that purchases could ultimately cumulate to around $2 trillion…” she continues.
“Under our longer-term projections it is easy to come up with models that show no tightening until 2015 or later.
In a report last month Hatzius concluded that the projections for QE could reach $4 trillion.
As we reported yesterday, the Fed no longer cares about hiding the fact that it is openly devaluing the dollar and forcing China and other major countries to move away from holding reserves of the currency.
Several prominent economists and even some of the Fed’s own members have warned that the resulting decline in the value of the dollar and rampant inflation could spell disaster for any possible economic recovery.
Meanwhile, influential professor of economics Nouriel Roubini today tweeted that the purchase of debt will continue into a third and fourth round. but will do nothing to revive the real economy:
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Federal Reserve to print billions of dollars in massive shadow stimulus
The Federal Reserve's policy-setting panel began a crucial two-day meeting Tuesday, poised to cast aside its long-held reluctance to micro-manage the economy in a bid to avoid a lost decade of growth.
The central bank's open market committee (FOMC) is expected to approve massive stimulus spending not seen since the depths of the economic crisis.
At the conclusion of the meeting Wednesday, the Fed is expected to announce it willresume the large-scale purchase of long-term US bonds -- essentially printing billions of dollars -- in the hope of boosting a weak recovery.
While the Fed took similar measures during the crisis, it is unprecedented when the economy is not teetering on the edge of collapse, raising protests from some Fed members who fear it is unnecessary and will fuel long-term inflation.
Critics of the policy argue that although the recovery is painfully slow, markets should be allowed to do their work. They also worry that if the policy fails the Fed's credibility will be wrecked.
"I think that this will quite possibly be the worst mistake by the Fed in a generation," said Stephen Stanley of Pierpont Securities.
But supporters argue that the Fed is failing in both of the prongs of its dual mandate, with unemployment and inflation both at unsustainable levels and must act.
Since Fed chairman Ben Bernanke first suggested the possibility in late September, and confirmed it in October, markets and most economists have penciled in another round of quantitative easing (QE) as a solid bet.
Goldman Sachs analysts and others predicted the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee would start with a purchase of about 500 billion dollars in Treasury bonds.
The Fed already has poured in more than 1.5 trillion dollars to spark a recovery.
The FOMC meeting opened Tuesday in the thick of hotly contested congressional and local elections nationwide.
President Barack Obama's Democrats are poised to lose seats in Congress to Republicans, who oppose the administration's massive stimulus spending that dragged the economy out of the worst recession since the Great Depression, but ran up sky-high deficits doing it.
A government report Friday showing only modest third-quarter economic growth bolstered expectations of further Fed stimulus to lower long-term interest rates and fight off deflationary pressure in the slack economy.
The world's largest economy grew at a 2.0 percent annual rate in July-September, in line with expectations, slightly more than a 1.7 percent expansion in the second quarter.
Economists consider that economic growth must reach about three percent for some time to significantly reduce high unemployment.
But more than a year after the recession officially ended, unemployment has been hovering near double-digits.
When the government reports payroll data on Friday, the jobless rate was expected to remain stuck at 9.6 percent for the third straight month in October.
"The US economic recovery continues on, but growth remains too weak to cause a serious improvement in the labor market," said Augustine Faucher at Moody's Analytics.
Amid that backdrop the Fed has left interest rates at historic lows and is unlikely to change that stance any time soon.
Nomura Global Economics analysts predicted the FOMC statement would include a commitment tocontinue buying until the committee's forecasts show significant progress toward full employment and inflation approaches more acceptable levels.
The central bank's open market committee (FOMC) is expected to approve massive stimulus spending not seen since the depths of the economic crisis.
At the conclusion of the meeting Wednesday, the Fed is expected to announce it will
While the Fed took similar measures during the crisis, it is unprecedented when the economy is not teetering on the edge of collapse, raising protests from some Fed members who fear it is unnecessary and will fuel long-term inflation.
Critics of the policy argue that although the recovery is painfully slow, markets should be allowed to do their work. They also worry that if the policy fails the Fed's credibility will be wrecked.
"I think that this will quite possibly be the worst mistake by the Fed in a generation," said Stephen Stanley of Pierpont Securities.
But supporters argue that the Fed is failing in both of the prongs of its dual mandate, with unemployment and inflation both at unsustainable levels and must act.
Since Fed chairman Ben Bernanke first suggested the possibility in late September, and confirmed it in October, markets and most economists have penciled in another round of quantitative easing (QE) as a solid bet.
Goldman Sachs analysts and others predicted the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee would start with a purchase of about 500 billion dollars in Treasury bonds.
The Fed already has poured in more than 1.5 trillion dollars to spark a recovery.
The FOMC meeting opened Tuesday in the thick of hotly contested congressional and local elections nationwide.
President Barack Obama's Democrats are poised to lose seats in Congress to Republicans, who oppose the administration's massive stimulus spending that dragged the economy out of the worst recession since the Great Depression, but ran up sky-high deficits doing it.
A government report Friday showing only modest third-quarter economic growth bolstered expectations of further Fed stimulus to lower long-term interest rates and fight off deflationary pressure in the slack economy.
The world's largest economy grew at a 2.0 percent annual rate in July-September, in line with expectations, slightly more than a 1.7 percent expansion in the second quarter.
Economists consider that economic growth must reach about three percent for some time to significantly reduce high unemployment.
But more than a year after the recession officially ended, unemployment has been hovering near double-digits.
When the government reports payroll data on Friday, the jobless rate was expected to remain stuck at 9.6 percent for the third straight month in October.
"The US economic recovery continues on, but growth remains too weak to cause a serious improvement in the labor market," said Augustine Faucher at Moody's Analytics.
Amid that backdrop the Fed has left interest rates at historic lows and is unlikely to change that stance any time soon.
Nomura Global Economics analysts predicted the FOMC statement would include a commitment to
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The Fed at Jekyll Island: 100 Years Later, They’re Baaack!
Well isn’t this cute?
Just days after the Federal Reserve will announce it has launched QE2, the Fed will hold a major conference at Jekyll Island, celebrating the secret meeting held 100 years ago that resulted in the creation of the Fed.
The island is off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia.
In November 1910, Senator Nelson W. Aldrich and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department A.P. Andrews, and other top financiers,arrived at the Jekyll Island Club to discuss monetary policy and thebanking system. The secret meetings led to the creation of the Federal Reserve.
Forbes magazine founder Bertie Charles Forbes wrote several years later:
On November 6 of this year, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak on ‘Federal Reserve: Past and Present’ before the ‘A Return to Jekyll Island: The Origins, History, and Future of the Federal Reserve’ conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta at the Jekll Island Club Hotel.
The conference opens a day earlier on Friday, November 5, when Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart gives welcome remarks.
Also at the conference:
Given that the current Fed chairman loves new “tools” by which to inflate the currency and that the conference will be about discussing new tools and old, these guys will be re-enforcing each others mad thinking that they can micro-manage the economy without creating dangerously high inflation. They will think that they were not directly responsible for the recent boom-bust cycle,even though Alan Greenspan created it with his mad money printing..
Just days after the Federal Reserve will announce it has launched QE2, the Fed will hold a major conference at Jekyll Island, celebrating the secret meeting held 100 years ago that resulted in the creation of the Fed.
The island is off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia.
In November 1910, Senator Nelson W. Aldrich and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department A.P. Andrews, and other top financiers,arrived at the Jekyll Island Club to discuss monetary policy and the
Forbes magazine founder Bertie Charles Forbes wrote several years later:
Picture a party of the nation’s greatest bankers stealing out of New York on a private railroad car under cover of darkness, stealthily riding hundred of miles South, embarking on a mysterious launch, sneaking onto an island deserted by all but a few servants, living there a full week under such rigid secrecy that the names of not one of them was once mentioned, lest the servants learn the identity and disclose to the world this strangest, most secret expedition in the history of American finance. I am not romancing; I am giving to the world, for the first time, the real story of how the famous Aldrich currency report, the foundation of our new currency system, was written… The utmost secrecy was enjoined upon all. The public must not glean a hint of what was to be done. Senator Aldrich notified each one to go quietly into a private car of which the railroad had received orders to draw up on an unfrequented platform. Off the party set. New York’s ubiquitous reporters had been foiled… Nelson (Aldrich) had confided to Henry, Frank, Paul and Piatt that he was to keep them locked up at Jekyll Island, out of the rest of the world, until they had evolved and compiled a scientific currency system for the United States, the real birth of the present Federal Reserve System, the plan done on Jekyll Island in the conference with Paul, Frank and Henry… Warburg is the link that binds the Aldrich system and the present system together. He more than any one man has made the system possible as a working reality.EPJ has obtained the agenda of the Fed meeting that will celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the secret meeting.
On November 6 of this year, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak on ‘Federal Reserve: Past and Present’ before the ‘A Return to Jekyll Island: The Origins, History, and Future of the Federal Reserve’ conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta at the Jekll Island Club Hotel.
The conference opens a day earlier on Friday, November 5, when Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart gives welcome remarks.
Also at the conference:
Needless to say, nothing good can come out of a conference of Fed members talking to each other after just launching QE2 and who will be “inspired” by the historic Jekyll Island location and the 100 year celebration.Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser will moderate a discussion of a paper, ‘To Establish a More Effective Supervision of Banking: How the Birth of the Fed Altered Bank Supervision’
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto will moderate a discussion of a paper, ‘The Promise and Performance of the Federal Reserve as Lender of Last Resort 1914-1933′.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher will moderate a discussion of a paper, ‘Where It All Began: International Trade, the Market for Acceptances, and the Making of Lending of Last Resort in Britain’
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard will moderate a discussion of a paper, ‘From Passing Legislation to Building an Institution: Perspectives on the Early Years of the Federal Reserve System’
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard will moderate a discussion of a paper, ‘The Fed from the Treasury-Fed Accord (1951) until the End of Monetary Targeting (1982)’.
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker will moderate a discussion of a paper, ‘The Recent Financial Turmoil: New Directions for Monetary Policy Analysis’.
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans will moderate a panel on ‘The Role of Research in Monetary Policy Deliberations’.
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota will speak on ‘Policy and Asset Bubbles’.
Given that the current Fed chairman loves new “tools” by which to inflate the currency and that the conference will be about discussing new tools and old, these guys will be re-enforcing each others mad thinking that they can micro-manage the economy without creating dangerously high inflation. They will think that they were not directly responsible for the recent boom-bust cycle,even though Alan Greenspan created it with his mad money printing..
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
QE2 Is Not A Recovery Plan, It’s A Stealthy Scheme To Prepare For The Next Bank Bailout
I’ve shown in rather elaborate detail in recent weeks that quantitative easing does not help the real economy generate a sustained recovery. This can be summed up as follows:
The problem with a policy like QE is that it does not actually add net new financial assets to the private sector. This is ultimately the primary misconception regarding QE. The expansion of the monetary base is not net new money in your pockets. Thus, it will not help finance new spending or investment, it will not create jobs, it will not increase aggregate demand, etc. Therefore, any policy effectiveness is based on a shuffling of assets and hopes for a sustained psychological change. A sitting member of the FOMC has (finally) admitted that QE is unlikely to do anything for the economy:
But there is one distinct benefit of such a policy – it alters the composition of bank balance sheets. At the end of the day it’s really just an asset swap and a transfer of risk via bond duration or bond type. The kicker here, is that if you’re a bad bank with a few trillion dollars in bad mortgage paper you’re delighted if a AAA rated entity comes in and swaps those assets out with their highly rated paper. This is exactly what the Fed did in 2009 and make no mistake – it was hugely successful in clearing the credit markets and altering the
composition of bank balance sheets. This was Mr. Bernanke’s goal after all. He was simply trying to clear the credit markets and improve the banking system and he believed that would ultimately fix the problems in the US economy. Unfortunately, he misdiagnosed a householdbalance sheet recession as a banking crisis. QE1 provided liquidity in the credit markets and it gave the banks some much needed breathing room. Unfortunately, the impact on the real economy was far more muted.
I think Ben Bernanke knows all of this. He has added $1T in reserves to the banks already and it hasn’t resulted in a surge in borrowing or self sustaining economy recovery. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that adding another trillion won’t change anything either. If there is low demand for apples putting more apples on the shelves does not improve the apples salesman’s ability to sell more apples.
But Mr. Bernanke is seeing the same thing that I am seeing. He sees a weak economy and a housing market that appears to be rolling over again. Knowing that the banks are extremely fragile here and understanding that there is absolutely no political will for another bailout Mr. Bernanke is creating his own bailout by bypassing Congress.
Some of my colleagues say I am giving Mr. Bernanke far too much credit here. After all, this would require a great deal of foresight and a level of proactivity that hasn’t really been a trademark of his in recent years. I am not so certain. In fact, I don’t doubt for one second that Mr. Bernanke is fully prepared to do whatever he must to avoid another bank meltdown. He continues to believe that this is a supply side problem and not a demand side problem. He may have failed in his mandate of full employment, but when it comes to the banking sector Mr. Bernanke is more than accommodative.
What’s unfortunate in all of this is that the policy is being sold to the American public as if it’s a Main Street stimulant. There is, arguably, some merit in doing what Mr. Bernanke is doing. After all, another bank meltdown would be truly traumatic (though probably necessary). So, there’s an argument in favor of being prepared. But selling it as another Main Street stimulant is disingenuous at best. And unfortunately, 99.9% of the public is too oblivious to:
- QE did not reduce interest rates in Japan and was ultimately deemed a failure by
the Bank of Japan:
“QE’s effect on raising aggregate demand and prices was often limited” (Ugai, 2006)
- QE has been shown to have had little to no impact in the U.K. (also see here).
- While QE worked to ease the strains in the credit markets in 2008 and also improved bank balance sheets there was no change in
interest rates during the entirety of the program in the USA and borrowing has remained very weak. - Because the US has a demand side problem and not a supply side problem QE is unlikely to result in higher aggregate demand and revenues (see here).
- QE is likely to negatively impact corporate margins as investors falsely interpret QE as “money printing” and seek the safety of hard assets (see here).
- The “wealth effect” of QE is likely to fail. Attempts to keep asset prices “higher than they otherwise would be” will always fail (see here).
- Since QE has been shown to have no discernible long-term impact on interest rates or aggregate demand there is no fundamental reason for stocks to move higher due to the program (see here).
The problem with a policy like QE is that it does not actually add net new financial assets to the private sector. This is ultimately the primary misconception regarding QE. The expansion of the monetary base is not net new money in your pockets. Thus, it will not help finance new spending or investment, it will not create jobs, it will not increase aggregate demand, etc. Therefore, any policy effectiveness is based on a shuffling of assets and hopes for a sustained psychological change. A sitting member of the FOMC has (finally) admitted that QE is unlikely to do anything for the economy:
“What is the ultimate impact on the overall economy of this shift in risk? In the baseline models used by central banks, all bondholders are taxpayers. In these models, QE is essentially shifting risk from one pocket to another. As a result, the increase in tax risk (what I’m calling the fourth effect of QE) completely undoes the decrease in interest rate risk (the third effect of QE). QE ends up having no effects, except for those associated with any new forward guidance that it signals.”
But there is one distinct benefit of such a policy – it alters the composition of bank balance sheets. At the end of the day it’s really just an asset swap and a transfer of risk via bond duration or bond type. The kicker here, is that if you’re a bad bank with a few trillion dollars in bad mortgage paper you’re delighted if a AAA rated entity comes in and swaps those assets out with their highly rated paper. This is exactly what the Fed did in 2009 and make no mistake – it was hugely successful in clearing the credit markets and altering the
composition of bank balance sheets. This was Mr. Bernanke’s goal after all. He was simply trying to clear the credit markets and improve the banking system and he believed that would ultimately fix the problems in the US economy. Unfortunately, he misdiagnosed a household
I think Ben Bernanke knows all of this. He has added $1T in reserves to the banks already and it hasn’t resulted in a surge in borrowing or self sustaining economy recovery. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that adding another trillion won’t change anything either. If there is low demand for apples putting more apples on the shelves does not improve the apples salesman’s ability to sell more apples.
But Mr. Bernanke is seeing the same thing that I am seeing. He sees a weak economy and a housing market that appears to be rolling over again. Knowing that the banks are extremely fragile here and understanding that there is absolutely no political will for another bailout Mr. Bernanke is creating his own bailout by bypassing Congress.
Some of my colleagues say I am giving Mr. Bernanke far too much credit here. After all, this would require a great deal of foresight and a level of proactivity that hasn’t really been a trademark of his in recent years. I am not so certain. In fact, I don’t doubt for one second that Mr. Bernanke is fully prepared to do whatever he must to avoid another bank meltdown. He continues to believe that this is a supply side problem and not a demand side problem. He may have failed in his mandate of full employment, but when it comes to the banking sector Mr. Bernanke is more than accommodative.
What’s unfortunate in all of this is that the policy is being sold to the American public as if it’s a Main Street stimulant. There is, arguably, some merit in doing what Mr. Bernanke is doing. After all, another bank meltdown would be truly traumatic (though probably necessary). So, there’s an argument in favor of being prepared. But selling it as another Main Street stimulant is disingenuous at best. And unfortunately, 99.9% of the public is too oblivious to:
1. Understand QEThe implications are obvious. The Fed will likely start with a rather small round of QE this week. After all, if I am correct Mr. Bernanke doesn’t want to unload all of his shells too early. He wants to be fully prepared in case the banks relapse so he can step in with a sizable bank bailout. So, don’t be one bit surprised this week when Mr. Bernanke announces a small round of Treasury purchases with the option to buy MBS in the future. In all likelihood, this program will remain open until it’s clear that the U.S. economy is sustaining recovery and another bank meltdown is off the table. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is some economic panacea. Unless of course, you’re a banker.
2. Raise a fuss.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
The scary actual U.S. government debt
Boston University economist Laurence Kotlikoff says U.S. government debt is not $13.5-trillion (U.S.), which is 60 per cent of current gross domestic product, as global investors and American taxpayers think, but rather 14-fold higher: $200-trillion – 840 per cent of current GDP. “Let’s get real,” Prof. Kotlikoff says. “The U.S. is bankrupt.”
Writing in the September issue of Finance and Development, a journal of the International Monetary Fund, Prof. Kotlikoff says the IMF itself has quietly confirmed that the U.S. is in terrible fiscal trouble – far worse than the Washington-based lender of last resort has previously acknowledged. “The U.S. fiscal gap is huge,” the IMF asserted in a June report. “Closing the fiscal gap requires a permanent annual fiscal adjustment equal to about 14 per cent of U.S. GDP.”
This sum is equal to all current U.S. federal taxes combined. The consequences of the IMF’s fiscal fix, a doubling of federal taxes in perpetuity, would be appalling – and possibly worse than appalling.
Prof. Kotlikoff says: “The IMF is saying that, to close this fiscal gap [by taxation], would require an immediate and permanent doubling of our personal income taxes, our corporate taxes and all other federal taxes.
“America’s fiscal gap is enormous – so massive that closing it appears impossible without immediate and radical reforms to its healthcare
, tax and Social Security systems – as well as military and other discretionary spending cuts.”
He cites earlier calculations by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that concluded that the UnitedStates would need to increase tax revenue by 12 percentage points of GDP to bring revenue into line with spending commitments. But the CBO calculations assumed that the growth of government programs (including Medicare) would be cut by one-third in the short term and by two-thirds in the long term. This assumption, Prof. Kotlikoff notes, is politically implausible – if not politically impossible.
One way or another, the fiscal gap must be closed. If not, the country’s spending will forever exceed its revenue growth, and no one’s real debt can increase faster than his real income forever.
Prof. Kotlikoff uses “fiscal gap,” not the accumulation of deficits, to define public debt. The fiscal gap is the difference between a government’s projected revenue (expressed in today’s dollar value) and its projected spending (also expressed in today’s dollar value). By this measure, the United States is in worse shape than Greece.
Prof. Kotlikoff is a noted economist. He is a research associate at the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research. He is a former senior economist with then-president Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers. He has served as a consultant with governments around the world. He is the author (or co-author) of 14 books: Jimmy Stewart Is Dead (2010), his most recent book, explains his recommendations for reform.
He says the U.S. cannot end its fiscal crisis by increasing taxes. He opposes further stimulus spending because it will simply increase the debt. But he does suggest reforms that would help – most of which would require a significant withering away of the state. He proposes that the government give every person an annual voucher for health care, provided that the total cost not exceed 10 per cent of GDP. (U.S. health care now consumes 16 per cent of GDP.) He suggests the replacement of all current federal taxes with a single consumption tax of 18 per cent. He calls for government-sponsored personal retirement accounts, with the government making contributions only for the poor, the unemployed and people with disabilities.
Without drastic reform, Prof. Kotlikoff says, the only alternative would be a massive printing of money by the U.S. Treasury – and hyperinflation.
As former president Bill Clinton once prematurely said, the era of big government is over. In the coming years, the U.S. will almost certainly be compelled to deconstruct its welfare state.
Prof. Kotlikoff doesn’t trust government accounting, or government regulation. The official vocabulary (deficit, debt, transfer payment, tax, borrowing), he says, is vulnerable to official manipulation and off-the-books deceit. He calls it “Enron accounting.” He also calls it a lie. Here is an economist who speaks plainly, as the legendary straight-shooting film star Jimmy Stewart did for an earlier generation.
But Prof. Kotlikoff’s economic genre isn’t the Western. It’s the horror story – “and scarier,” one reviewer of his book suggests, than Stephen King.
Writing in the September issue of Finance and Development, a journal of the International Monetary Fund, Prof. Kotlikoff says the IMF itself has quietly confirmed that the U.S. is in terrible fiscal trouble – far worse than the Washington-based lender of last resort has previously acknowledged. “The U.S. fiscal gap is huge,” the IMF asserted in a June report. “Closing the fiscal gap requires a permanent annual fiscal adjustment equal to about 14 per cent of U.S. GDP.”
This sum is equal to all current U.S. federal taxes combined. The consequences of the IMF’s fiscal fix, a doubling of federal taxes in perpetuity, would be appalling – and possibly worse than appalling.
Prof. Kotlikoff says: “The IMF is saying that, to close this fiscal gap [by taxation], would require an immediate and permanent doubling of our personal income taxes, our corporate taxes and all other federal taxes.
“America’s fiscal gap is enormous – so massive that closing it appears impossible without immediate and radical reforms to its health
He cites earlier calculations by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that concluded that the United
One way or another, the fiscal gap must be closed. If not, the country’s spending will forever exceed its revenue growth, and no one’s real debt can increase faster than his real income forever.
Prof. Kotlikoff uses “fiscal gap,” not the accumulation of deficits, to define public debt. The fiscal gap is the difference between a government’s projected revenue (expressed in today’s dollar value) and its projected spending (also expressed in today’s dollar value). By this measure, the United States is in worse shape than Greece.
Prof. Kotlikoff is a noted economist. He is a research associate at the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research. He is a former senior economist with then-president Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers. He has served as a consultant with governments around the world. He is the author (or co-author) of 14 books: Jimmy Stewart Is Dead (2010), his most recent book, explains his recommendations for reform.
He says the U.S. cannot end its fiscal crisis by increasing taxes. He opposes further stimulus spending because it will simply increase the debt. But he does suggest reforms that would help – most of which would require a significant withering away of the state. He proposes that the government give every person an annual voucher for health care, provided that the total cost not exceed 10 per cent of GDP. (U.S. health care now consumes 16 per cent of GDP.) He suggests the replacement of all current federal taxes with a single consumption tax of 18 per cent. He calls for government-sponsored personal retirement accounts, with the government making contributions only for the poor, the unemployed and people with disabilities.
Without drastic reform, Prof. Kotlikoff says, the only alternative would be a massive printing of money by the U.S. Treasury – and hyperinflation.
As former president Bill Clinton once prematurely said, the era of big government is over. In the coming years, the U.S. will almost certainly be compelled to deconstruct its welfare state.
Prof. Kotlikoff doesn’t trust government accounting, or government regulation. The official vocabulary (deficit, debt, transfer payment, tax, borrowing), he says, is vulnerable to official manipulation and off-the-books deceit. He calls it “Enron accounting.” He also calls it a lie. Here is an economist who speaks plainly, as the legendary straight-shooting film star Jimmy Stewart did for an earlier generation.
But Prof. Kotlikoff’s economic genre isn’t the Western. It’s the horror story – “and scarier,” one reviewer of his book suggests, than Stephen King.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Cato: Bernanke is Not Printing Enough Money
A commentary on monetary policy that can only be described as coming out of the playbook of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe has been published on the pages of the Cato Institute. The conclusion of the commentary is that Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, who has over a trillion dollars sitting in excess reserves that can come flying into the economy at any time, and who promises a new round of trillion dollar money printing, is not inflating enough.
I kid you not.
Using Milton Friedman as cover, despite the fact that Friedman was very weak on monetary policy, the piece, written by David Beckworth and William Ruger, states:
Yet, he was nowhere near the consistent thinker that Ludwig von Mises was. Friedman failed to ground his economics in proper methodology and clearly never understood Hayek's great book on methodology, The Counter Revolution of Science.
And he had no clue about the business cycle. This is clear because he would never have called for Fed money printing, ever, if he understood how such printing distorted the capital structure.
That Cato would allow such a piece to be printed, which hails Friedman's money printing advocacy, indicates that they themselves don't get the business cycle or there are other motives which are ranked higher than economic truth.
As Stephan Kinsella has pointed out, this habit of straying from fundamental libertarian principles is not a one time phenomena for Cato. He lists 17 other cases.
Bottom line: Any organization that is promoting money printing, especially at a time like the present when commodity prices are soaring, is far from a friend of liberty. Money printing pure and simple is theft and gives an edge to those who get the money first. It is most damaging to those on fixed income, like the elderly. Among the beneficiaries are the banking elite and those who hold vast quantities of commodities, such as oil. It's about the evil rich getting more rich and more evil. Beware those that are friends of inflation.
I kid you not.
Using Milton Friedman as cover, despite the fact that Friedman was very weak on monetary policy, the piece, written by David Beckworth and William Ruger, states:
Had he been alive, Friedman would have been shocked to see the Fed in late 2008 and early 2009 allow nominal income, as measured by nominal GDP, to experience its sharpest downturn since the Great Depression. He would also be amazed to learn that nominal GDP forecasts are once more headed down.Publishing this kind of regime nonsense makes one wonder just what the Koch funded Cato Institute is all about. Lew Rockwell appears to have nailed it:
Given these developments, Friedman would likely be calling on the Fed again to do a better job stabilizing nominal income...were Friedman alive today, he would balk at the notion that the Fed is out of ammunition. He would remind us that in the early-to-mid-1930s, when the economic environment was far worse and short-term interest rates were near the zero bound, monetary policy easily generated a recovery. Therefore, the Fed could do likewise today.
Friedman would likely make the case today for more aggressive monetary action. It is time for "Helicopter Ben" to earn his nickname.
This is yet another example of how the Koch Brothers operate. While their ideological institutions on public campuses or Capitol Hill operate under a veneer of libertarianism or even Austrian economics, the actual policies they push expand the State: massive money printing (for the big banks and big companies), school vouchers (to deliver private schools into the hands of government), the Ownership Society (every person a homeowner through Greenspan’s housing bubble), Social Security Privatization (a new layer of forced savings on top of the present SS taxes, to benefit Wall Street), etc. Is it any wonder that the Kochs have never, in 28 years, invited Ron Paul—the only public official for honest money—to their annual monetary conference, but instead invite and hail the central bankers who can do the plutocrats so much good?Let's get a few things straight about Milton Friedman, when it came to government licensing of businesses and individuals and when it came to price controls, Friedman could argue with the best of them.
Yet, he was nowhere near the consistent thinker that Ludwig von Mises was. Friedman failed to ground his economics in proper methodology and clearly never understood Hayek's great book on methodology, The Counter Revolution of Science.
And he had no clue about the business cycle. This is clear because he would never have called for Fed money printing, ever, if he understood how such printing distorted the capital structure.
That Cato would allow such a piece to be printed, which hails Friedman's money printing advocacy, indicates that they themselves don't get the business cycle or there are other motives which are ranked higher than economic truth.
As Stephan Kinsella has pointed out, this habit of straying from fundamental libertarian principles is not a one time phenomena for Cato. He lists 17 other cases.
Bottom line: Any organization that is promoting money printing, especially at a time like the present when commodity prices are soaring, is far from a friend of liberty. Money printing pure and simple is theft and gives an edge to those who get the money first. It is most damaging to those on fixed income, like the elderly. Among the beneficiaries are the banking elite and those who hold vast quantities of commodities, such as oil. It's about the evil rich getting more rich and more evil. Beware those that are friends of inflation.
Monday, October 25, 2010
The Great IMF Fire-Sale of the UK has Begun
The British Government is about to sell off over half of all UK Forests that are currently under the control of the Forestry Commission to private corporations as the asset-stripping of the UK is begun on behalf of the International Monetary Fund and the Big Six Beast Banks.
Caroline Spelman, the environment secretary, has just announced plans to sell around half of our forests to the mega-corporations – that is 150,000 hectares of prime woodland – as well as numerous other properties. The New Forest, Sherwood Forest, and the Forest of Dean could be targeted for sale.
The Sunday Telegraph provided a map of which forests are owned by the state through the Forestry Commission:
The vast majority of these forests are in Wales, West Scotland and the North East of England.
Most of these forests will be sold off to housing developers, timber merchants,power generators and Centre-Parcs Ltd for golf courses and holiday camps. Our right of access to these forests will be severely curtailed, and we will have lost a great natural resource that can never be bought back for the People.
As we have already stated, this selling off of prime forestry land is part of the mass looting that will occur by the IMF on behalf of the Big Six Beast Banks and Mega-Corporations.
During the IMF Riots in Greece, the Greek government was busy selling off several islands to the same bankers who deliberatelybankrupted Greece in the first place, so it comes as no surprise that similar things are being done here. What does come as a surprise is that this IMF Fire-Sale is occurring even before the British people have had their IMF Austerity Riots.
Then there is the issue of the UN’s Agenda 21 – how they plan to push the vast majority of people into big cities and out of the countryside so that the people will be far easier to control as the One World Government takes over. Once crushed within cities, living standards will go down remarkably and access to land for us will be at a premium. We will become more and more reliant on mega-corporations to supply our food and other resources, which puts us in danger of manufactured scarcity and mass starvation, because we will not have independent means of growing our own food as more and more public land within the cities will be sold off for dormitory-style housing projects under Agenda 21.
In the United States they are already trying to make it illegal to grow your own food through S510, and it is only a matter of time before the Communitarian European Union Dictatorship follows suit. This is to be done through Codex Alimentarius under the World Trade Organisation.
Meanwhile, rioting in the streets will not do any good for us as the IMF, World Bank, and United Nations are hell-bent on bankrupting the people so that we will not be able to effectively resist the One World Government being put in place for the benefit of the Globalist Elites and the Mega-Corporations. The government wants us to riot so that they can crack down hard on us and then use the riots as an excuse to implement even more of the New World Order Control Grid around us.
Targeted peaceful protests are the only means to fight against the IMF Fire-Sale of our forests, which means all us old anti-bypass protesters and Tree-Pixies (tree-squatters) are going to have to come out of retirement to show the younger ones how it is done, while we have the means of peaceful protest still available to us. This is not just about preventing our criminal government from selling the national silver, this is also about our civil liberties as the deliberate economic collapse gathers pace in order to put people into poverty and under more government control. This is a fight against neo-feudalism, a fight for our very lives.
Caroline Spelman, the environment secretary, has just announced plans to sell around half of our forests to the mega-corporations – that is 150,000 hectares of prime woodland – as well as numerous other properties. The New Forest, Sherwood Forest, and the Forest of Dean could be targeted for sale.
The Sunday Telegraph provided a map of which forests are owned by the state through the Forestry Commission:
The vast majority of these forests are in Wales, West Scotland and the North East of England.
Most of these forests will be sold off to housing developers, timber merchants,
As we have already stated, this selling off of prime forestry land is part of the mass looting that will occur by the IMF on behalf of the Big Six Beast Banks and Mega-Corporations.
During the IMF Riots in Greece, the Greek government was busy selling off several islands to the same bankers who deliberately
Then there is the issue of the UN’s Agenda 21 – how they plan to push the vast majority of people into big cities and out of the countryside so that the people will be far easier to control as the One World Government takes over. Once crushed within cities, living standards will go down remarkably and access to land for us will be at a premium. We will become more and more reliant on mega-corporations to supply our food and other resources, which puts us in danger of manufactured scarcity and mass starvation, because we will not have independent means of growing our own food as more and more public land within the cities will be sold off for dormitory-style housing projects under Agenda 21.
In the United States they are already trying to make it illegal to grow your own food through S510, and it is only a matter of time before the Communitarian European Union Dictatorship follows suit. This is to be done through Codex Alimentarius under the World Trade Organisation.
Meanwhile, rioting in the streets will not do any good for us as the IMF, World Bank, and United Nations are hell-bent on bankrupting the people so that we will not be able to effectively resist the One World Government being put in place for the benefit of the Globalist Elites and the Mega-Corporations. The government wants us to riot so that they can crack down hard on us and then use the riots as an excuse to implement even more of the New World Order Control Grid around us.
Targeted peaceful protests are the only means to fight against the IMF Fire-Sale of our forests, which means all us old anti-bypass protesters and Tree-Pixies (tree-squatters) are going to have to come out of retirement to show the younger ones how it is done, while we have the means of peaceful protest still available to us. This is not just about preventing our criminal government from selling the national silver, this is also about our civil liberties as the deliberate economic collapse gathers pace in order to put people into poverty and under more government control. This is a fight against neo-feudalism, a fight for our very lives.
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