Michael Krieger

My name is Michael Krieger, and I am the creator and editor of Liberty Blitzkrieg. I'm originally from New York City.

As far as my academic and professional background, I attended college at Duke University where I earned a double major in Economics and Spanish. After completing my studies in 2000, I took a job at Lehman Brothers where I worked with the Oil analyst in the Equity Research Department.  In 2005, I joined Sanford C. Bernstein where I served as the Commodities Analyst on the trading floor. About halfway through my time there, I started to branch out and write opinions on bigger picture "macro" topics that no one else at the firm was covering. These opinion pieces were extremely popular throughout the global investment community, and I traveled around providing advice to some of the largest mutual funds, pension funds and hedge funds in the world.

I loved my job, but as time passed I started to educate myself about how the monetary and financial system functions and what I discovered disgusted me. I no longer felt satisfied working within the industry, and I resigned in January 2010.  At that point, I started a family investment office and continued to write macro pieces on economic, social and geopolitical topics. That summer, I drove cross country for six weeks and ultimately decided to leave the crowded streets of Manhattan for the open spaces of Boulder, Colorado, where I currently reside.

In the years that followed, I gradually recognized that my true passion centers upon writing on issues of significant societal importance given the extremely challenging times we live in. This realization culminated with me losing interest in financial markets and eventually launching this website in early 2012.

If you are interested in a more detailed description, replete with colorful anecdotes, of how I ended up making this bizarre professional transition, take the time to watch the video below.

https//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/DcqMN-FXCIE?rel=0

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

Flashback to May: UN Official Claimed Rebels May Have Used Chemical Weapons

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The Syria story just keeps getting weirder and weirder. So who knew that back in May, 2013 Carla Del Ponte, a member of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria, stated that she believed the rebels had been engaged in chemical weapons attacks. Specifically, she told Swiss-Italian television:

I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated…This was used on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities.

Interesting indeed. So earlier this year there emerged evidence that the rebels used chemicals weapons, but for some reason I don’t recall President Obama yelling about red lines and cruise missile strikes back then. Do you? No, of course not, because it doesn’t fit into the U.S. agenda, which is regime change in Syria.

So let’s look at this from all angles. First, let’s assume the rebels did use chemical weapons earlier this year. If that is that case, and then Assad used them months later, we have absolutely no reason to become involved as both sides are guilty. We should do nothing, at least nothing militarily.

Second, lets assume the rebels did not use chemical weapons earlier this year. Why would Assad use them knowing the U.S. would then get involved (which is clearly our desire), particularly since he is not in a desperate situation at the moment by any means. It makes no sense. If we take a step back and examine this logically, the most logical conclusion is that someone who wanted the U.S. to get involved used the weapons. That could be a lot of different parties, least likely of which is Assad.

Finally, why would we believe the current claims any more than the prior claims, especially since there appears to be no evidence that Assad was behind the latest attacks? The truth is we really can’t know what happened, which is precisely why we should stay out.

From the UK Telegraph (May, 2013):

I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated,”

A United Nations inquiry into human rights abuses in Syria has found evidence that rebel forces may have used chemical weapons, its lead investigator has revealed.

Carla Del Ponte, a member of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said that testimony gathered from casualties and medical staff indicated that the nerve agent sarin was used by rebel fighters.

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New Survey: Federal Reserve Employees are “Demoralized,” “Distrustful” and “Afraid to Speak Out”

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“We’re supposed to oversee a sprawling and complicated financial system and huge banks — all the while making sure we don’t implement policy that hurts the economy — and we can’t even properly manage ourselves,” said one Fed official who helps develop regulatory policy. “How can we be trusted to supervise the system when the Fed can barely supervise its own staff?”

– From the Huffington Post article: Federal Reserve Employees Afraid To Speak Put Financial System At Risk

My readers know that not only do I not trust the Federal Reserve, but I think it is one of the most dangerous and immoral institutions operating in America today. It’s not about particular individuals that I think need to be replaced (although Larry Summers will be an absolute nightmare), it is that I do not think any institution should ever have the power to credit unlimited currency and credit and distribute it at will to whoever they want with very little oversight. While I don’t write about the Fed as much as I used to, I suggest you go back and reread my 2011 article:  Why Fiat Money is Immoral.

The Huffington Post article highlighted here is full of disturbing survey results, which without question demonstrate that the most powerful institution in the U.S. is completely dysfunctional. There are some other hidden nuggets in there as well. Such as this:

The Fed refused to make public a broader set of survey results that would allow for a comparison between the policy unit and other sections inside the banking supervision and regulation division.

Stier, whose group doesn’t have access to the Fed’s survey results because the law that calls for government employee surveys doesn’t apply to the Fed, said he was disappointed in the survey results. He praised the Fed for conducting the survey. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” he said.

Wait a minute. Why does the law the applies to government employee surveys not apply to the Fed? It is because the Federal Reserve is not a government agency but rather a private bank? You’d think the Huff Post would’ve dug into that bizarre angle a little deeper. Kind of important.

Or what about this:

Several top regulators at the Fed’s headquarters in Washington who helped combat the financial crisis have since left, many for lucrative positions either at leading banks or at consultancies that work for banks. Current regulators fear experienced staffers will continue to leave the Fed for the financial services industry, depriving the regulator of key experience as it finalizes several post-crisis measures and sets about gauging banks’ compliance with new rules.

Hey guys, thanks for all the bailouts, now come work for us. Shameless, disgusting, unacceptable.

More from the Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON — Regulators overseeing the nation’s largest financial institutions are distrustful of their bosses, afraid to speak out, and feeling isolated, according to a confidential survey this year of Federal Reserve employees.

The findings from the April survey of roughly 400 employees, presented to Fed staff during multiple meetings in June and July and obtained by The Huffington Post, show a workforce that is demoralized, and an institution where teamwork is nonexistent, innovation and creativity are discouraged and employees feel underutilized.

An overwhelming majority of Fed regulators are proud to work at the central bank and believe in its mission of supervising the financial system and ensuring stability. They also trust and have good relationships with their immediate supervisors. But most say that top leaders are failing the organization, in part by not communicating honestly, and that employees are in the wrong jobs, or are poorly managed.

About a third of workers surveyed in the policy unit agreed that it was “safe to speak up and constructively challenge things around here,” documents show.

“That tells me you don’t have the culture of debate and engagement that you need so that questions are asked,” said Angelides.

About a third of workers surveyed in the policy unit agreed that it was “safe to speak up and constructively challenge things around here,” documents show.

“That tells me you don’t have the culture of debate and engagement that you need so that questions are asked,” said Angelides.

Just about half, or 51 percent, of policy employees agreed with the statement: “I trust the senior leaders of this organization.” Fifty-six percent of the entire banking supervision and regulation division felt the same way.

Less than half of workers in the Fed policy unit agreed that the unit’s senior leaders “act in alignment with our organization’s core values or guiding principles.” Fewer than 40 percent said they are encouraged to be creative and innovative.

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Here’s What Candidate Obama Said About Military Intervention in 2007

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Q. In what circumstances, if any, would the president have constitutional authority to bomb Iran without seeking a use-of-force authorization from Congress? (Specifically, what about the strategic bombing of suspected nuclear sites — a situation that does not involve stopping an IMMINENT threat?) Obama:  The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize … Read more

How a $1 Bag of Salt Water Becomes a $546 Bill at Hospitals

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Much like every other aspect of the U.S. ponzi economy, the healthcare system is one gigantic centralized oligopolistic racket. The New York Times has done some excellent coverage on this topic as of late, most recently in an article I highlighted earlier this month about how Americans are now finding themselves forced to travel overseas for surgery.

That article demonstrated how the medical industry is simply one huge convoluted racket, in which contracts are secret and no one has any clue about anything except for a small group of players involved. In fact, it reminds me of an incredible article from 1982 that explains how diamonds are actually basically worthless, and that the whole market is a gigantic con. You take something that is essentially free, and then charge a fortune for it through middleman markups.

And don’t think Obamacare is going to help you either, we all know it was written by lobbyists and special interests, just like every other piece of legislation from crony Congress. From the New York Times:

It is one of the most common components of emergency medicine: an intravenous bag of sterile saltwater.

Luckily for anyone who has ever needed an IV bag to replenish lost fluids or to receive medication, it is also one of the least expensive. The average manufacturer’s price, according to government data, has fluctuated in recent years from 44 cents to $1.

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Video of the Day: Bill Hicks on the Iraq War

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You know during the Persian Gulf War, those intelligence reports would come out: “Iraq has incredible weapons, incredible weapons.”  “How do you know that?” “Well…uh, we looked at the receipts.” – Bill Hicks Enjoy the war serfs. Like this post? Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G Follow me on Twitter.

Foreign Policy: CIA Documents Show the U.S. Helped Saddam Hussein Use Chemical Weapons

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But the CIA documents, which sat almost entirely unnoticed in a trove of declassified material at the National Archives in College Park, Md., combined with exclusive interviews with former intelligence officials, reveal new details about the depth of the United States’ knowledge of how and when Iraq employed the deadly agents. They show that senior U.S. officials were being regularly informed about the scale of the nerve gas attacks. They are tantamount to an official American admission of complicity in some of the most gruesome chemical weapons attacks ever launched.

– From Foreign Policy’s excellent article: CIA Files Prove America Helped Saddam as He Gassed Iran

Remember all of the propaganda ahead of the USA’s “democracy unleashing” invasion of Iraq in 2003. It went something like this: “We have evidence that Saddam Hussein has stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, and even worse he has a histroy of using them, even against his own people!”

Well unsurprisingly, Mr. Hussein had a little help from his friends. The United States of America. Let’s bear this in mind as our Noble Peace Prize winning President attempts to involve us in another unconstitutional war based on the fact that chemical weapons have been used.

Let’s be adults here and recognize that every single thing we have been told about Syria has been a lie. Let’s also admit that the “rebels” that we are allies with have al-Qaeda elements to them, and that Saddam Hussein was a close ally in the 1980’s before we decided he was the most evil dictator on the planet 20 years later for engaging in chemical attacks we were actually a party to.

Please spread this far and wide, since I believe we can avoid this useless war if enough people get the joke. From Foreign Policy:

The U.S. government may be considering military action in response to chemical strikes near Damascus. But a generation ago, America’s military and intelligence communities knew about and did nothing to stop a series of nerve gas attacks far more devastating than anything Syria has seen, Foreign Policy has learned.

Next you’re going to tell me Santa Claus isn’t real.

The Iraqis used mustard gas and sarin prior to four major offensives in early 1988 that relied on U.S. satellite imagery, maps, and other intelligence. These attacks helped to tilt the war in Iraq’s favor and bring Iran to the negotiating table, and they ensured that the Reagan administration’s long-standing policy of securing an Iraqi victory would succeed. But they were also the last in a series of chemical strikes stretching back several years that the Reagan administration knew about and didn’t disclose.

U.S. officials have long denied acquiescing to Iraqi chemical attacks, insisting that Hussein’s government never announced he was going to use the weapons. But retired Air Force Col. Rick Francona, who was a military attaché in Baghdad during the 1988 strikes, paints a different picture.

“The Iraqis never told us that they intended to use nerve gas. They didn’t have to. We already knew,” he told Foreign Policy.

According to recently declassified CIA documents and interviews with former intelligence officials like Francona, the U.S. had firm evidence of Iraqi chemical attacks beginning in 1983. At the time, Iran was publicly alleging that illegal chemical attacks were carried out on its forces, and was building a case to present to the United Nations. But it lacked the evidence implicating Iraq, much of which was contained in top secret reports and memoranda sent to the most senior intelligence officials in the U.S. government. The CIA declined to comment for this story.

War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength and Not Commenting is Transparency.

In contrast to today’s wrenching debate over whether the United States should intervene to stop alleged chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian government, the United States applied a cold calculus three decades ago to Hussein’s widespread use of chemical weapons against his enemies and his own people. The Reagan administration decided that it was better to let the attacks continue if they might turn the tide of the war. And even if they were discovered, the CIA wagered that international outrage and condemnation would be muted.

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Obama Picks Cass Sunstein, America’s Joseph Goebbels, to Serve on the NSA Oversight Panel

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“It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion.” “We shall go down in history as the greatest statesmen of all time, or as the greatest criminals”  – Joseph Goebbels, Head of Hitler’s Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Only under the Obama Presidency, in which every appointment, minor or major, … Read more

Introducing 2 Liberty Focused Businesses: Perpetual Assets and Second Arrow Silver

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As I mentioned at the time, one of the most rewarding parts of being a presenter at the Liberty Mastermind Conference was the opportunity to meet all the interesting people that attended. Some of those folks are the guys behind the newly launched Perpetual Assets as well as Second Arrow Silver. The products they offer are in line with my financial as well as social and political philosophy, and so I’m very excited to introduce them to you. Let’s start with Perpetual Assets.

From their site:

Founded in 2013 Perpetual Assets was started with the mission of getting a client to “trust yourself”. In these uncertain times of counterparty risk derived from monetary policy, fiscal policy, geopolitics, war, energy, sovereign debt, and malinvestment it is Perpetual Assets goal to assist clients in mitigating risk.

Our goal isn’t to predict inflation, deflation, taxation, margin increases, regulation, or any other economic or financial event. Our goal is to acknowledge any and all possible scenarios and to advise our clients on how to prepare for them. We firmly believe that no one is better suited to preserve your wealth better then you are. Our backgrounds in economics, finance, metals, IRAs, and consulting simply assist in analyzing and quantifying all the variables.

One of their main retirement strategies has to do with the concept of an LLC IRA, which provides you with more control and options within your IRA. For more, click on the banner below:

Now for Second Arrow Silver. Simply put, they create kick-ass artistic silver coins, and I have not seen designs anywhere else that I like nearly as much as these. Below are three of their current designs. The Bradley Manning, the Game of Drones and the Creature from Jekyl Island coin. It’s a bit pricey for one coin, but if you buy 25 or more, the price drops down to a comparable level to other metals dealers. The coins are perfect for gifts and to spread the message of liberty.

I also sat down a did a couple of interviews with these folks. First with Gus Demos of Perpetual Assets and also with Trey Stinnett of Second Arrow Silver. Enjoy!

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Hacked! Colorado Highway Sign Changed to Read “Snowden is a Hero”

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Ok, this is pretty much awesome. When I first saw it on Twitter I was a little skeptical, but today I looked into it further and it appears to be completely true. It happened around Telluride, Colorado, a place that has special meaning to me after experiencing the incredible bluegrass festival there earlier this summer. … Read more

Powerful Op-Ed: “As a Democrat, I am Disgusted with President Obama”

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What are you thinking, Mr President?

Is this really the legacy you want for yourself: the chief executive who trampled rights, destroyed privacy, heightened secrecy, ruined trust, and worst of all, did not defend but instead detoured around so many of the fundamental principles on which this country is founded?

And I voted for you. I’ll confess you were a second choice. I supported Hillary Clinton first. I said at the time that your rhetoric about change was empty and that I feared you would be another Jimmy Carter: aggressively ineffectual.

Never did I imagine that you would instead become another Richard Nixon: imperial, secretive, vindictive, untrustworthy, inexplicable.

– Jeff Jarvis in the Guardian

Jeff Jarvis is a journalist, a professor and a self-proclaimed Democrat. While my readers know all too well what I think about these fraudulent political mafias, I mean parties, the older generation still has an archaic attachment to them. I suspect this emanates from some long forgotten time when there was actually a meaningful difference between the two.

Personally, I am quite pleased that pretty much nobody I know from my generation or below identifies with such silly notions as being a “Republican” or “Democrat.” However, I recognize that it does still retain meaning to a majority within the older generations, so when one of of them who identifies with a particular party becomes so disgusted that they turn on their tribal affiliation’s leadership, it can present a significant moment. I believe that Jeff Jarvis has created one of those moments and I strongly suggest you read his op-ed. From The Guardian:

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