Over the past week or so, I’ve written several posts highlighting the dangers of “public-private” partnerships. This is the preferred term being used by savvy members of the status quo to provide cover for their relentless pursuit of economic fascism. It provides a good soundbite, but in reality is nothing more than a license to loot and pillage with government backing. Here’s how I described the scam in the post, Meet Cyber P3 – The U.S. Military’s Public-Private Partnership to Create Corporate/Government “Cyber Soldiers.”
It makes perfect sense if you think about it. If you’re a large corporation, there’s nothing better than guaranteed profits; and there’s no better way to guarantee profits than by going into business with the one entity that can do this: government. On the other hand, if you are an ambitious and greedy politician, what better way to earn a fortune while ostensibly engaging in “public service” than by lining the pockets of big corporations, which will then line your pockets in return in various opaque ways. Extraordinary fees for speeches is one preferred way of doing this, as is the classic revolving door that gives the person a cushy corporate job after leaving government.
Bankers are a lot of things, but the ones who reach the very top of their profession are not stupid. As such, it’s no surprise that they figured out the value of public-private schemes before most. Enter the Federal Reserve, a banking cartel partnership with government. Through the use of complicated jargon, and an incredibly successful propaganda campaign that has convinced many people it has the best interests of the economy in mind, the TBTF bankers have used the Fed to concentrate wealth and power so efficiently it is now at historically dangerous levels.
Despite the dog and pony show we sometimes see, Congress never dares challenge the Fed. The Fed does whatever it wants, and we saw the latest evidence of this recently when it failed to provide names Congress “requested” in a market intelligence probe. The Wall Street Journal reported:
The Federal Reserve has not replied to a lawmakers’ request that it identify the individuals who had contact with a private consulting firm that published a report on the central bank’s market-sensitive internal policy deliberations.
In October 2012, the day before the Fed released its minutes of its September 2012 policy meeting, Medley Global Advisors, sent a report to its clients with several sensitive details that subsequently appeared in the minutes. A central bank probe found a “few” Fed staffers had contact with Medley before the report, but did not identify them.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, sent a letter to Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen on April 15 asking the Fed to name them by 5 p.m. EDT April 22.
The deadline passed without any response by the Fed, a committee spokesman said Wednesday.
The central bank’s policy-making Federal Open Market Committee makes decisions on interest rates that can cause huge swings in global financial markets. Confidential information about its internal deliberations or advance information about the minutes of its meetings or possible future actions can be worth huge sums of money to traders around the world.
Now, if Jamie Dimon had asked for the names they’d be on his desk within 5 minutes.
The following cartoon is from Alfred Owen Crozier’s US Money Vs Corporation Currency, “Aldrich Plan,” Wall Street Confessions! Great Bank Combine, published in 1912, a year before the creation of the Federal Reserve. Was he wrong?
Must be nice to be above the law.
For related articles, see:
Will Senators Rand Paul and Elizabeth Warren Unite to Finally “Audit the Fed”?
Video of the Day – “End the Fed” Rallies are Exploding Throughout Germany
Video of the Day – Elizabeth Warren Torches Janet Yellen on TBTF
When Asked if the U.S. is a Capitalist Democracy or Oligarchy, Janet Yellen Can’t Answer…
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
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Time to send in Interpol to clean out this nest of vipers…
That’s cute. Interpol. Where do you think their HQ is ?
“Nest of thieves” is the way Jesus put it. But this question the Fed is refusing to answer is peanuts. The big question (and the big big secret) is WHO OWNS THE FED? (We already know who owns Congress.)
Loved the cartoon.
The Rehypothecation of Gold, and Why It Matters
Claiming to own X quantity of gold is one thing, and reporting how many times the gold has been pledged as collateral is another.
When correspondent Scott A. Batten offered to write an explanation of the rehypothecation of gold and why it matters, I quickly accepted. Like many others, I have breezed over the word rehypothecation with the basic understanding that it means assets pledged by counterparties (such as the infamous copper stored in Chinese warehouses) are reused as collateral/repledged–in effect, the same assets are pledged as collateral multiple times.
But beyond this, I have not had a clear understanding of how the rehypothecation of gold reserves threatens the whole shaky edifice of Infinite Greed, oops, I mean neoliberal capital markets.
Here is Scott’s commentary:
Welcome to the games bankers play to make money. Now that this simple format is in place, let’s move to where the serious dangers lie.
Precious Metals:
China is getting ready to release their gold reserves. That is, they will do like the Fed and say how much they have. We cannot call them on their real reserves, because then they can do the same to us. Now, if all the gold is still in Fort Knox and the Federal Reserve, then the US can call for a real accounting and show ours as well.
However, if we don’t and China does, and calls for the US to do the same, then a lot of fear enters the market. There is a reason that people say “never own paper metals.” This is that reason. You might get the value of that gold, but it will be in fiat currency and if things are crumbling then fiat promises become flat losses.
It’s a funny thing about financial games; whatever the Mainstream Financial Media mocks as conspiracy theories often later turn out to be accurate.
http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-rehypothecation-of-gold-and-why-it.html
Hmmm
Oh come now people lets cut the crap here. This issue could be resolved in a matter of minutes………..after “chairwomen” has had time to reflect life behind bars in a maximum security prison would be like. In fact the entire senior staff of the FED should be arrested and held without bail for contempt.
This isn’t rocket science and there IS NOTHING IN CONSTITUTION WHICH ALLOWS CONGRESS TO PLACE THE FED ABOVE IT!
Then again is anyone surprised given that 2 dual citizen israelis are the Chair and Vice Chair and the FED has been in the grip of dual citizens for decades?
Who are the dual citizens that have run the Fed for decades?
Hmmm
Lets start with the most glaring example Stanley Fischer. He literally got off an airplane from Israel to take the job as Vice Chair of the FED. His previous job? Governor of the Bank of Israel. Janet Yellen Jewish, her predecessor Jewish, His predecessor also Jewish etc, etc. etc. Lest the reader forget under Israeli law all these people having been born of Jewish mothers are automatically Israeli citizens.
You didn’t answer my question. We all know about Stanley Fischer, and I agree there is debate to be had about dual citizens being on the Federal Reserve.
You made a claim that “dual citizens” have run the Fed for two decades, an outright lie intended to inflame hatred against Jews, which goes against the spirit of this site and rules I have for the comment section.
Then your reply shows what really bothers you. That they are Jewish. My father is Jewish, and I don’t take kindly to any sort of ignorant bigotry. It’s obvious you are a Muslim and anti-Semitic. I know this by monitoring your comments over the years. As someone who is constantly deleting anti-Muslim comments from my site as unproductive bigotry, your behavior to me is shameful.
This is a forum for discussing ideas on a high level, not resorting to bigotry. This is your last warning.
In addition, your second comment above is another lie. Jews are not automatically Israeli citizens:
Israeli law distinguishes between the Law of Return, which allows for Jews and their descendants to immigrate to Israel, and Israel’s nationality law, which formally grants Israeli citizenship. In other words, the Law of Return does not itself determine Israeli citizenship; it merely allows for Jews and their eligible descendants to permanently live in Israel. Israel does, however, grant citizenship to those who immigrated under the Law of Return if the applicant so desires.
A non-Israeli Jew or an eligible descendant of a non-Israeli Jew needs to request approval to immigrate to Israel, a request which can be denied for a variety of reasons including (but not limited to) possession of a criminal record, currently infected with a contagious disease, or otherwise viewed as a threat to Israeli society. Eligible applicants under the Law of Return have no claim to any of the rights or privileges of an Israeli citizen until they are formally granted Israeli citizenship. This is possible after three months of residency in Israel. New arrivals are issued an Israeli Travel Document during this period, after which they are granted citizenship.