The US economy is literally on the ledge of a cliff.
Today, the Federal Government accounts for 35% of incomes and salaries in the US. That's over one third of all income in the US coming from the Government's ability to dole out funds.
What supports this largesse?
Money printing and our ongoing debt-orgy. And today, these are one and the same. The US Federal Reserve and Treasury have enacted policies so insane that the US Federal Reserve is now the single largest holder of US Debt with a balance sheet of $2.8 trillion.
Let's give that number some perspective. Germany, the world's FOURTH largest economy is only $3.3 trillion in size. At $2.8 trillion the Fed's balance sheet is larger than the economies of France, the UK, and Brazil.
Why is the Fed's balance sheet so huge? Because US Treasuries are so unattractive to foreign Governments that the Fed has had to pick up the slack and buy our debt (usually within a week or two of it being issued).
Let me rephrase that: the US Fed is now printing money so it can buy US Debt because other investors are no longer interested in buying it.
This is just one of the various schemes Washington is employing to maintain its fiscal insanity. Another is the active raiding of pension funds to buy new US Debt (YES, the Treasury is doing this).
So... the US Government is now paying over 1/3rd of US incomes... and it's financing this by having the Fed buy new debt from the Treasury.
Do you think this entire system might end up collapsing in a horrific manner?
And this is just ONE ASPECT of the nightmare that is the US Financial system. I'm not even detailing the $600 TRILLION in derivatives, the clear insolvency of the big banks (you know who I'm talking about), the FDIC running a deficit (are our deposits REALLY insured?), erupting inflation in food and energy prices, (Fed data CLAIMS prices FELL in the last four months) and the hundred other issues all of which will end very, VERY badly.
Regardless of how we look at the US's current situation, it is clear that 2008 will NOT go down in history as THE Financial Crisis for the US. No, 2008 will be considered the "warm-up."
The reason for this is simple. 2008 was primarily the collapse of the private banking system in the US. The Fed's response to this was to transfer the garbage debts that nearly took down the banks ONTO the US's balance sheet.
Put another way, the Fed allowed the systemic risk to spread from private bank balance sheets ONTO the US's public balance sheet... which means the next Crisis will involve not only Wall Street and the banks but the US as a whole.
I'm talking about a sovereign debt Crisis. The kind of collapse we're now seeing in Greece... only for the single largest economy in the world as well as its reserve currency.
So what happens when this Crisis hits and a partial if not complete Government shutdown occurs? What happens when that 35% of incomes and salaries stops being paid? What happens when prisons and other Government paid services run out of money? What happens when the next major banking run reveals that there is no WAY on earth the FDIC can truly insure all the deposits in the US (other than more money printing from the Fed)? What happens when the US defaults on its debts?
I know the mainstream media isn't talking about this... but these are the same folks that didn't see 2008 coming.
Consider the following:
The US Federal Reserve which has been the primary buyer of US debt since 2008 is about to stop buying...
At the same time, the US Treasury is now raiding pension funds to meet new debt issuance (China and other foreign governments are no longer buying enough to meet supply)...
With the US Government now accounting for 35% of incomes in the US. If we default on the debt and can't keep funding the economy, we'll see about more than one third of the money Americans take home disappearing overnight.
And that's just the start...
Across the pond, Greece is imploding with riots. Germany doesn't want to dole out more bailout funds. Italy is thinking of opting out of the Euro completely. Spain's banks are insolvent and teetering on the brink of collapse.
Small wonder then that interbank liquidity is drying up. European banks are no longer willing to lend to each other bringing interbank liquidity close to 2008 levels.
The Euro continues to rally despite the clear fact that the Eurozone is a disaster. It's strange than grown adults can actually be discussing another Greek bailout when the first one was just one year ago and accomplished nothing. Of course, if the world traded based on fundamentals or common sense, the Euro wouldn't even exist at this point.
At the heart of this entire situation is the key relationship that determines all economic policy: the relationship between banks and politicians. Most voters in developed countries continue to believe that their vote has some kind of influence in politicians' decisions. They believe that they somehow can effect change at the ballot box.
The reality is that elections are largely for show these days. Politicians openly sell out their constituents to corporate donors, particularly banks, whether it be by directly taking large donations/ bribes or by appointing ex-bankers and other financial stooges to key decision making positions.
After all, when was the last time some politician picked an engineer or doctor or someone who might actually know anything about... well anything to a position of power? Try never.
No, instead politicians surround themselves with run of the mill financial stooges. Take the US where we allow guys who have rendered entire institutions (and endowments) bankrupt to be key economic decision makers. Heck, we even allow these types to "regulate" their former employers.
The situation is no better in Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel tries to maintain the illusion that she somehow will do the right thing (tell Greek bond holders to shove it) but in the end she always buckles. Why? Because German banks are on the hook for $65 billion worth of Greece's debt. And whenever she comes close to telling them to take a hit, someone calls her up and tells her that if she does this the bank will implode.
It's a perfect circle of influence: banks back politicians who once in office dish out the goodies/ handouts. And if the banks screw up, they threaten to take down the financial system, thereby destroying the politician's chance at re-election.
All in all the banks have done leverage buyouts of Government. The leverage is political in nature ("screw us and we'll take you down"). The buyout is in the form of donations/ bribes.
However, the primary problem with this system (aside from the fact it's completely immoral) is that there are no consequences for bad decisions for the banks. Thus, they keep making bigger and bigger bets using more and more leverage thereby increasing systemic risk.
Consider the derivatives market which now stands north of $600 TRILLION in size. How do you think this was allowed to happen? The banks pushed the politicians into rolling back regulation, the banks then went nuts, and now the entire financial system is in jeopardy.
We've already had a taste of this in 2008 when the Credit Default Swap (CDS) market, which was $50-60 trillion in size, blew up. We're now rapidly heading towards an interest rate Crisis and the interest rate-based derivative market is four times as large roughly $200 TRILLION.
And underneath ALL of these disasters lurks the $600 TRILLION global derivatives market... which continues to be the #1 threat to taking down the financial system (why do you think Bernanke's terrified despite spending $ TRILLIONS?)
Then end may be closer than you think.
Comment:
Comrades, the above article was NOT written by a National Socialist, despite the fact that he is saying the same things that we have been saying for years. The author, Graham Summers is a well known stock analyst in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Now I have to ask our detractors who believe we are being nothing but alarmists a question. When a long time tool of Judeo-Capitalism like Mr. Summers has lost faith in the system, isn't it time we all became alarmed?
There are riots in Greece and Spain over the economic crisis. Now I admit these countries have never been leaders in European economics, but the fact is, they are falling apart, and according to Mr. Summers and other experts, the rest of Europe is not far behind. Then will come OUR turn.
Taking all this into consideration, I hope you are aware that yesterday, President Obama went before Congress to get funding extended for his wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and anywhere else he deems necessary until at least the year 2014.
That's three more years! Billions, perhaps Trillions of dollars more! Where is the money coming from? The United States has more or less maxed out its credit cards. The only thing left to do is get the Federal Reserve Banksters to print more money. More pieces of paper that are becoming more worthless with each new bill that is printed.
This means inflation, and probably hyper-inflation for the people of this country. Comrades, THIS MADNESS MUST END! Under National Socialism, we could bring our troops home, and deploy them along the borders. We could repatriate (deport) all illegals, and stop legal immigration for a time, to allow the ratio of immigrants to native borns to return to a proper balance. We could put an end to criminal government waste. We could create a stable economy, and through the rebuilding of this broken nation and the manufacture of our own goods on American soil provide jobs for virtually everyone.
Our detractors say it couldn't work. But it can. It worked in Hitler's Germany, and it works today in the tiny island nation of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. They will not call their system National Socialism, but it is patterned after it. They don't live in luxury, but they don't live in poverty either. I posted a story on Mauritius a few months ago. If you missed it, look it up. It's still among the older posts. If a tiny country that is smaller than Rhode Island can do it, so can we. Hail Victory!
Dan 88!
Today, the Federal Government accounts for 35% of incomes and salaries in the US. That's over one third of all income in the US coming from the Government's ability to dole out funds.
What supports this largesse?
Money printing and our ongoing debt-orgy. And today, these are one and the same. The US Federal Reserve and Treasury have enacted policies so insane that the US Federal Reserve is now the single largest holder of US Debt with a balance sheet of $2.8 trillion.
Let's give that number some perspective. Germany, the world's FOURTH largest economy is only $3.3 trillion in size. At $2.8 trillion the Fed's balance sheet is larger than the economies of France, the UK, and Brazil.
Why is the Fed's balance sheet so huge? Because US Treasuries are so unattractive to foreign Governments that the Fed has had to pick up the slack and buy our debt (usually within a week or two of it being issued).
Let me rephrase that: the US Fed is now printing money so it can buy US Debt because other investors are no longer interested in buying it.
This is just one of the various schemes Washington is employing to maintain its fiscal insanity. Another is the active raiding of pension funds to buy new US Debt (YES, the Treasury is doing this).
So... the US Government is now paying over 1/3rd of US incomes... and it's financing this by having the Fed buy new debt from the Treasury.
Do you think this entire system might end up collapsing in a horrific manner?
And this is just ONE ASPECT of the nightmare that is the US Financial system. I'm not even detailing the $600 TRILLION in derivatives, the clear insolvency of the big banks (you know who I'm talking about), the FDIC running a deficit (are our deposits REALLY insured?), erupting inflation in food and energy prices, (Fed data CLAIMS prices FELL in the last four months) and the hundred other issues all of which will end very, VERY badly.
Regardless of how we look at the US's current situation, it is clear that 2008 will NOT go down in history as THE Financial Crisis for the US. No, 2008 will be considered the "warm-up."
The reason for this is simple. 2008 was primarily the collapse of the private banking system in the US. The Fed's response to this was to transfer the garbage debts that nearly took down the banks ONTO the US's balance sheet.
Put another way, the Fed allowed the systemic risk to spread from private bank balance sheets ONTO the US's public balance sheet... which means the next Crisis will involve not only Wall Street and the banks but the US as a whole.
I'm talking about a sovereign debt Crisis. The kind of collapse we're now seeing in Greece... only for the single largest economy in the world as well as its reserve currency.
So what happens when this Crisis hits and a partial if not complete Government shutdown occurs? What happens when that 35% of incomes and salaries stops being paid? What happens when prisons and other Government paid services run out of money? What happens when the next major banking run reveals that there is no WAY on earth the FDIC can truly insure all the deposits in the US (other than more money printing from the Fed)? What happens when the US defaults on its debts?
I know the mainstream media isn't talking about this... but these are the same folks that didn't see 2008 coming.
Consider the following:
The US Federal Reserve which has been the primary buyer of US debt since 2008 is about to stop buying...
At the same time, the US Treasury is now raiding pension funds to meet new debt issuance (China and other foreign governments are no longer buying enough to meet supply)...
With the US Government now accounting for 35% of incomes in the US. If we default on the debt and can't keep funding the economy, we'll see about more than one third of the money Americans take home disappearing overnight.
And that's just the start...
Across the pond, Greece is imploding with riots. Germany doesn't want to dole out more bailout funds. Italy is thinking of opting out of the Euro completely. Spain's banks are insolvent and teetering on the brink of collapse.
Small wonder then that interbank liquidity is drying up. European banks are no longer willing to lend to each other bringing interbank liquidity close to 2008 levels.
The Euro continues to rally despite the clear fact that the Eurozone is a disaster. It's strange than grown adults can actually be discussing another Greek bailout when the first one was just one year ago and accomplished nothing. Of course, if the world traded based on fundamentals or common sense, the Euro wouldn't even exist at this point.
At the heart of this entire situation is the key relationship that determines all economic policy: the relationship between banks and politicians. Most voters in developed countries continue to believe that their vote has some kind of influence in politicians' decisions. They believe that they somehow can effect change at the ballot box.
The reality is that elections are largely for show these days. Politicians openly sell out their constituents to corporate donors, particularly banks, whether it be by directly taking large donations/ bribes or by appointing ex-bankers and other financial stooges to key decision making positions.
After all, when was the last time some politician picked an engineer or doctor or someone who might actually know anything about... well anything to a position of power? Try never.
No, instead politicians surround themselves with run of the mill financial stooges. Take the US where we allow guys who have rendered entire institutions (and endowments) bankrupt to be key economic decision makers. Heck, we even allow these types to "regulate" their former employers.
The situation is no better in Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel tries to maintain the illusion that she somehow will do the right thing (tell Greek bond holders to shove it) but in the end she always buckles. Why? Because German banks are on the hook for $65 billion worth of Greece's debt. And whenever she comes close to telling them to take a hit, someone calls her up and tells her that if she does this the bank will implode.
It's a perfect circle of influence: banks back politicians who once in office dish out the goodies/ handouts. And if the banks screw up, they threaten to take down the financial system, thereby destroying the politician's chance at re-election.
All in all the banks have done leverage buyouts of Government. The leverage is political in nature ("screw us and we'll take you down"). The buyout is in the form of donations/ bribes.
However, the primary problem with this system (aside from the fact it's completely immoral) is that there are no consequences for bad decisions for the banks. Thus, they keep making bigger and bigger bets using more and more leverage thereby increasing systemic risk.
Consider the derivatives market which now stands north of $600 TRILLION in size. How do you think this was allowed to happen? The banks pushed the politicians into rolling back regulation, the banks then went nuts, and now the entire financial system is in jeopardy.
We've already had a taste of this in 2008 when the Credit Default Swap (CDS) market, which was $50-60 trillion in size, blew up. We're now rapidly heading towards an interest rate Crisis and the interest rate-based derivative market is four times as large roughly $200 TRILLION.
And underneath ALL of these disasters lurks the $600 TRILLION global derivatives market... which continues to be the #1 threat to taking down the financial system (why do you think Bernanke's terrified despite spending $ TRILLIONS?)
Then end may be closer than you think.
Comment:
Comrades, the above article was NOT written by a National Socialist, despite the fact that he is saying the same things that we have been saying for years. The author, Graham Summers is a well known stock analyst in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Now I have to ask our detractors who believe we are being nothing but alarmists a question. When a long time tool of Judeo-Capitalism like Mr. Summers has lost faith in the system, isn't it time we all became alarmed?
There are riots in Greece and Spain over the economic crisis. Now I admit these countries have never been leaders in European economics, but the fact is, they are falling apart, and according to Mr. Summers and other experts, the rest of Europe is not far behind. Then will come OUR turn.
Taking all this into consideration, I hope you are aware that yesterday, President Obama went before Congress to get funding extended for his wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and anywhere else he deems necessary until at least the year 2014.
That's three more years! Billions, perhaps Trillions of dollars more! Where is the money coming from? The United States has more or less maxed out its credit cards. The only thing left to do is get the Federal Reserve Banksters to print more money. More pieces of paper that are becoming more worthless with each new bill that is printed.
This means inflation, and probably hyper-inflation for the people of this country. Comrades, THIS MADNESS MUST END! Under National Socialism, we could bring our troops home, and deploy them along the borders. We could repatriate (deport) all illegals, and stop legal immigration for a time, to allow the ratio of immigrants to native borns to return to a proper balance. We could put an end to criminal government waste. We could create a stable economy, and through the rebuilding of this broken nation and the manufacture of our own goods on American soil provide jobs for virtually everyone.
Our detractors say it couldn't work. But it can. It worked in Hitler's Germany, and it works today in the tiny island nation of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. They will not call their system National Socialism, but it is patterned after it. They don't live in luxury, but they don't live in poverty either. I posted a story on Mauritius a few months ago. If you missed it, look it up. It's still among the older posts. If a tiny country that is smaller than Rhode Island can do it, so can we. Hail Victory!
Dan 88!
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