The financial system established in England after 1688, based on usurious lending to the state by private bankers, is reaching its final blowout in the form of a series of devastating bubbles and a massive bailout of the financiers with public money. But the issuance of money doesn’t have to be in the hands of a private consortium: another credit system is possible.
Posted by seumasach on July 30, 2008
21st January, 2008
Preface: I am truly sorry for the suffering of those Americans who will lose their home, their job, or their life savings as a result of the economic crash. This article focuses on one potential silver lining — an opportunity to promote truth and justice.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: financial collapse | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on July 30, 2008
Given the meltdown in the housing and financial sectors and the weakness in the U.S. economy, large investors figure that everyone has to eat, and so investing in food production is a sure thing.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: food speculation | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on July 30, 2008
Howl
Nicholas von Hoffman
23rd July, 2008
Our disfunctional financial system hit a new low last week when Citigroup, the hopeless wreck of Wall Street, announced it had lost $2.5 billion in the past three months–a cheer went up, and so did the Dow. Only $2.5 billion; people were afraid the losses would be much higher. Happy days are here again
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: financial collapse | Leave a Comment »
Posted by smeddum on July 29, 2008
By Mike Whitney
28/07/08 “ICH” — The Bush administration will be mailing out another batch of “stimulus” checks in the very near future. There’s no way around it. The Fed is in a pickle and can’t lower interest rates for fear that food and energy prices will shoot to stratosphere. At the same time, the economy is shrinking faster than anyone thought possible with no sign of a rebound. That leaves stimulus checks as the only way to “prime the pump” and keep consumer spending chugging along. Otherwise business activity will slow to a crawl and the economy will tank. There’s no other choice. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: inflation | 2 Comments »
Posted by seumasach on July 28, 2008
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LONDON (Thomson Financial) – OPEC member Venezuela agreed Friday to sell Spain 10,000 barrels of oil per day at $100 a barrel in exchange for medicine and other goods, a Spanish government source told AFP.
Posted in Financial crisis, Multipolar world | Tagged: Chavez | Leave a Comment »
Posted by smeddum on July 28, 2008
Asian Times
By Peter Schiff
With President George W Bush no longer threatening a veto, the subprime mortgage and Fannie and Freddie “bailout” bill was able to sail through the US Congress. In anticipation of its enactment, congress had the foresight to raise the national debt limit to US$10.6 trillion. Who says that politicians don’t plan ahead?
Once signed into law, the budget-busting legislation will hand the administration a blank check to prop up the ailing home lenders. The ultimate cost is anybody’s guess. I believe that the price tag will be higher than just about anyone imagines. Treasure Secretary Henry Paulson’s Bazooka will be locked and loaded with enough fire power to blow what’s left of the US economy into the dustbin of history. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by seumasach on July 26, 2008
In a July 19 Wall Street Journal article titled “Why No Outrage?”, James Grant quoted Mary Lease, a 19th century Populist who urged farmers to “raise less corn and more hell.” Grant notes that financial behavior that would have been met with outrage in the 19th century is now met with near-silence from a too-tolerant populace. For decades after the Civil War, monetary reform was a chief political issue, one around which whole political parties formed. Why is it hardly mentioned today? Grant suggests that the lack of outrage may be because the old 19th century Populists actually won:
“This is their financial system. They had demanded paper money, federally insured bank deposits and a heavy governmental hand in the distribution of credit, and now they have them. The Populist Party might have lost the elections in the hard times of the 1890s. But it won the future. . . . They got their government-controlled money (the Federal Reserve opened for business in 1914), and their government-directed credit [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac]. In 1971, they got their pure paper dollar. So today, the Fed can print all the dollars it deems expedient and the unwell federal mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, combine [to] dominate the business of mortgage origination . . . .”
Mr. Grant may have answered his own question, in another way than he intended. Most people, evidently including Mr. Grant, actually think that the Federal Reserve is a federal agency; and that paper dollars are issued by the government; and that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are federal mortgage giants.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: nationalize currency issue | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on July 25, 2008
By Myles Neligan and Jonathan Standing
LONDON/SYDNEY, July 25 (Reuters) – U.S. investment bank JP Morgan has held talks with potential partners about forming a consortium to break up British mortgage lender HBOS, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: J P Morgan HBOS takeover | Leave a Comment »
Posted by smeddum on July 23, 2008
Forbes
Miriam Marcus, 07.22.08, 8:41 PM ET
Washington Mutual is optimistic about its ability to weather the mortgage crisis, but some analysts warn it may be a bit too optimistic.
After the close Tuesday, Washington Mutual (nyse: WM – news – people ) reported a steep profit loss in the second quarter, far worse than had been expected, as it significantly increased its loan loss reserves in response to continued declines in housing prices nationwide. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: wamu | Leave a Comment »
Posted by smeddum on July 22, 2008
* Julia Kollewe
* guardian.co.uk,
* Monday July 21, 2008
Investors across the world are betting more than one trillion dollars on a collapse in stock prices.
More than $1.4tn of equities worldwide are now on loan, about a third more than at the start of 2007, according to Bloomberg. Almost all of that is being used to speculate that shares will fall. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: short-selling | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on July 21, 2008
“The Venezuelan president urged members of the recent PetroCaribe summit to set up IMF-independent financial institutions with such countries as Russia, Belarus, China, India and Iran.”
To begin with, Chavez just kept going back for more and more Kalashnikovs: now he’s flirting with the idea of a completely new financial architecture for the world.
21st July, 2008
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrives in Moscow with an official visit. The Venezuelans leader is going to discuss issues of arms shipments, the energy market cooperation, as well as questions regarding the establishment of a Russian-Venezuelan bank.
Posted in Financial crisis, Multipolar world | Tagged: Chavez-Russia | Leave a Comment »
In These New Times 