When the currency of great nations and unions sinks steadily in value — as we are seeing now with the once-mighty U.S. dollar and even the once-proud euro — one must step back from the day-to-day fray of financial markets and look at current events from a much broader, historical perspective.
What we see is a history littered with examples of horrendous crimes. But the biggest, the worst, and the most devastating have, almost without exception, been perpetrated in the name of the state.
It is this unmistakable conclusion that has led philosophers of freedom to adopt a healthy mistrust of government and its representatives.
Based on the most thorough analytical and empirical arguments, they see the government as the greatest threat to freedom, against which a society must protect itself at all costs, lest it degenerate into dictatorship.
The separation of powers is one such protective mechanism. But equally important is strict adherence to a currency that cannot be multiplied at will.
This is what forces governments to treat the nation’s finances in a responsible manner, while protecting the people from the greed of the politicians.
In principle, there are two ways freedom can be abolished and slavery introduced: Through revolution or evolution.
Investors are familiar with revolutions that have led to the rise of dictatorships. The communist revolutions, causing untold suffering and poverty across great swaths of the globe have, after all, only recently been consigned to history.
That is not the threat Western Civilization faces right now. Instead, the greater threat stems from an evolutionary process initiated long ago — a not-so-subtle, insidious progression in which the government spreads gradually like a cancerous tumor, increasingly limiting individual freedoms.
The decline in the U.S. dollar is the centerpiece of that trend. It not only threatens the freedom to spend. It also threatens a series of other freedoms.
Where did it begin? Many years and presidents ago.
For example, the administration of former president George W. Bush, despite all their rhetoric to the contrary, were, in fact, out-and-out Keynesians.
This is so obvious it should not even be worth mentioning. However, in the wake of the debt crisis, since the blame game and search for scapegoats is so ubiquitous, and since neoliberalism is first in the firing line, this observation is nonetheless necessary. It’s ironic that liberalism and free market philosophies are getting lynched, when the real culprit that deserves to stand trial is Keynesianism.
The key point here is not whether government intervention in the economy — including massive economic stimulus programs — are financed by deficits or not. We know that Keynes proposed that the government should accumulate reserves in good times so that it could afford to finance stimulus programs in bad times.
But because Keynes himself was, in large measure, a politician, it is inconceivable that even he considered the implementation of this proposal to be possible — let alone probable.
The interests of politicians who depend on votes are diametrically opposed to Keynes’s proposition of accumulating reserves in times of plenty. Voters almost invariably demand that surpluses be spent today — not in some elusive future.
To reveal a government’s hidden agenda — even behind its smokescreen of public relations — all that is typically required is to consider a few key variables: You can look at the trend in the government’s share of total economic activity, the amount of legislation passed or, more commonly, the level of national debt.
If each of these is expanding, you can be almost certain that the government is not pursuing a liberal agenda. It is immaterial what kind of rhetoric the government is deploying. Do not let them fool you. And don’t be hoodwinked by false critics, either. Judge both sides not by their words, but by their deeds.
Classical liberalism and the Austrian School of economics stand, as we do, for freedom of the individual — with no ifs or buts. Classical liberalism and the Austrian School are the offspring of unwavering philosophers of freedom.
And these are philosophers who think ideas through to their logical conclusion with inexorable consistency, even in circumstances in which others would prefer to take a more relaxed view — to further their career or to avoid established taboos.
It should therefore come as no surprise that thinkers of this provenance have no powerful friends. They are a thorn in the side of the powerful.
In The Denationalisation of Money, F.A. von Hayek sums it up as follows: “I fear that since ‘Keynesian’ propaganda has filtered through to the masses, has made inflation respectable and provided agitators with arguments which professional politicians are unable to refute, the only way to avoid being driven by continuing inflation into a controlled and directed economy, and [the only way to] ultimately save civilization, will be to deprive governments of their power over the supply of money.”
I agree. But some of the world’s most powerful men — controlling trillions of a nation’s money supply — do not. They run their money printing presses nonstop. They drive up the price of virtually every commodity under the sun. And they place their entire national economies at risk.
My advice: Extreme caution with U.S. dollar, long-term bonds. Look for opportunities to profit from the inevitable inflation.
Best wishes,
Claus
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Well said.
This is good, really good. I love how Mr. Vogt distinguishes between neoliberalism, i.e. progressivism and classical liberalism.
Thank you, Claus, for cutting to the cause of imbalance, It has been the constant money printing, particularly since 1960s that has brought us to this point, remember socialism would be impossible without a currency unrestrained by true market forces. We are now coming to a point where we will either return to real sound money and individual freedom, or more socialism inforced by the bayonet.
Ray, since the global business/banking elites run the world and control world governments and world banks, and they use fiat money to control the economy, why in the world would they want to move to sound money backed by something with intrinsic value?
If the Bush administration did not run surpluses in prosperous years it was not Keynsian.
Canada did.
In terms of “individual Freedom” the numbers matter. Put 10 people on a large island and they can all have individual freedom. Put a million people on that same island and rules of behavior have to be observed or fighting and/or a government emerges. The US had only about 2 million population when it was founded in 1776. Now it’s 300/350 million. And the amount of money needed to operate a large capitalistic country, to facilitate exchanges etc. is much more than the early, simple transactions of the past, even of the recent past. The problems we have now result from fraud and greed. If Greenspan had not tried to give Bush a prosperous looking economy in exchange for one more term as Fed. chief, the real estate frauds would not have been possible. Just my thoughts. Regards, PR
Agreed. When Alan Greenspan lowered rates to pump up the economy, and then raised them again mercilessly for 1 1/2 years due to the bogey man spectre of inflation to burst up the real estate bubble, detroy the US real estate market, ultimately the home builder business, the home renovation business, the mortgage backed securities, global portfolios and eventually international currencies and economies across the world, he foolishly sowed the seeds of the destruction of Western Civilization by stupidly constricting the money supply to the point that the economy lost its pulse and became a corpse poisoning the rest of the world along with it. Greenspan should be pulled limb from limb in the public square along with Bush, Cheney, Congress and the Fed. That might give Obama some incentive to succeed.
Actually what is clear is that, in good times and bad, the idea of a managed economy is totally flawed. Humans just can’t keep their hands off and are constantly driven to improve things. It usually turns out badly.
W. Meredith,
Interesting points, but I don’t think you quite understand how things work. Many, many, many people will say Alan Greenspan or Ben Bernanke are “clueless,dumb, incompetent etc. etc..” Ben and Al are NOT dumb at all. They know exactly what they are doing. They run a central bank that is owned and controlled by the Banking/Business Global Elites that are working to put inplace a frame work of a new one world order. Most of it is already inplace. One way you do this is to use fiat currency to control the world economic affairs. By doing so, you basically get the poor, lower/middle/upper middle classes to work for you. You need to get a book called “The Creature From Jekyll Island” and “The True Story of the Bilderberg Group” to get educated on how the world runs….
This is the biggest deception created since the “Federal Reserve Bank” came into existance. It was their ultimate goal to eventually kill the dollar, to win support for the one mighty and powerful ‘one world order’. According to the various materials I have came across, this is the ultimate plan from the begining.
By driving the world economies into economic ruins, poverty and untold misery, the people will cry-out for help from anyone and from anywhere. The government will at that point-in-time, have tolat control of the every thing the we need to surrive and thrive. So to share in the goodies, the people will have to give the government their full support to change the laws and take away all our civil liberties, human rights and privellages.
Hence, their will be a great and mighty power given to one man and such shall be the nature of the beast. Greed, power and control would reign like history have never seen.
This is the biggest deception created since the “Federal Reserve Bank†came into existence. It was their ultimate goal to eventually kill the dollar, to win support for the one mighty and powerful ‘one world order’. According to the various materials I have came across, this is the ultimate plan from the beginning.
By driving the world economies into economic ruins, poverty and untold misery, the people will cry-out for help from anyone and from anywhere. The government will at that point-in-time, have total control of the every thing the we need to survive and thrive. So to share in the goodies, the people will have to give the government their full support to do what ever it wants; including changing the laws and take away all our civil liberties, human rights and privileges.
Hence, their will be a great and mighty power given to one man and such shall be the nature of the beast. Greed, power and control would reign like history have never seen. [- adjustment to the previous].
Yes, Claus, “The key point here is not whether government intervention in the economy — including massive economic stimulus programs — are financed by deficits or not. We know that Keynes proposed that the government should accumulate reserves in good times so that it could afford to finance stimulus programs in bad times.”
We elect candidates in hopes that they have some degree of wisdom to stand up for this principle and educate the public, not pander to them telling them “it is your money” and that the benefits of democracy do not have to be paid for from taxes. The Bush administration IS responsible for its profligacy, for giving greed a free hand, for leading to our present deep problems. To say they can’t be expected to do more than buy votes with promises of no new taxes is unconscionable.
To get out of this mess we need two things: sensible cost cutting that does not target the poor and middle class to pay for the crimes and sins of the financial community, and additional revenue, which could come from increasing business and increasing taxes.
If your family is facing bankruptcy it 1) cuts costs and 2) somebody gets another job or finds a way to bring in other revenue.
In the business I worked in, the president was smart enough to educate everyone to this simple approach, i.e. “We can stop buying pencils and paper and doing travel etc, and shrink ourselves down so small that we won’t be able to do business, or we can double sales.” Amazed, we did the latter, and it worked.
The mindless berate the government. We have more people. Government costs more. Duh.
We make sure we get hatchet jobs on our economy when we throw out the incumbents every election and bring in people less and less educated about what’s involved. Our people know nearly nothing about economics, but they run scared, and make things worse for everyone. They reject politicians who honestly tell people the truth and present an approach that makes sense.
Privatization and the belief that businesses know the answers is imbecilic. If we had privatized social security as Bush wanted, just think about where Social Security would be now. The idea that privatization of Medicare will bring costs down through competition is moronic. We already have competition, and costs continue rising.
Inflation is a threat. So is radical deflation should the interests of the rich get legislated in. How did the Egyptians like a government run by such a party?–They know first hand that it inevitably spawns cronyism, dishonesty, patronage, poverty, and injustice.
Agreed. I also question the deregulation policies since the 1970’s (or possible before), and the unchecked immigration into this country. If we are over-populated already, why continue to allow immigration? All the arguments to the contrary, analytical, empirical, and historical studies in the world cannot change the simplest of facts, that those who control the supply (and regulate) created the demand. And not the other way around. The doors to the bank vault were opened and the fraudsters, greed-mongers, and fools rushed in – like children left alone in a candy factory. The question remains – why?
When the oil fields of great nations and unions sinks steadily in production — as we are seeing now with the once-mighty U.S. oil fields and even the once-huge European North Sea oil field, it becomes extremely difficult to economically make up for the depleting largess produced by these depleting one mighty oil fields. For a while, the US made up with semi-conductor production. But unlike oil fields which cannot be cloned, semi-conductor manufacturing can easily cloned by other countries. Renewable energy cannot be depleted, but it takes very hard work to implement, and the vestige oil cartel is fighting the conversion to renewable energy to keep people addicted to oil. There is a depletion of honest business and governmental people to fight the powerful oil cartel. Addicts of oil have no choice other than printing money to pay for imported oil. Oil barons of depleted oil fields have to general wealth for themselves with tax cuts for the rich, which is funded with deficits (aka printing money.)
I like the term neoliberlism. Bush and McCain were democrats on fiscal issues. Barrack, however, is a socialist. All three, given enough time, would have or will destroy this great country. Barrack will just us there sooner.
Jim
Do you really know the meaning of socialism? If you think it means giving billions to banks so that they can maintain the lifestyle that they have become accustomed too and if you think it means capitulating to right wing demands for continuing tax cuts for the the already too rich, then yes I guess Obama is a socialist.
I find it laughable that so many here, including our adviser gurus, keep touting the Chinese economy as the one to invest in, while at the same time dismissing socialism. Now there is uber socialism, aka communism.
I really have the feeling that many of you so-called “investors” have no moral basis to your investing and only look for ways to “play” the markets with little regard for who loses and what social impact all your high stakes gambling, aka “investing” brings with it.
Point #1: fiat currency, including the U.S. dollar, will not support Austrian economics. Only real money, i.e., gold, silver, copper will sustain the principles upon which economic “freedom” and property rights exist.
Point #2: To change the system, it will be necessary to first change the media of monetary exchange; then government will by necessity change to accomodate the “real” supply of money.
WTF. THIS IS COMPLICATING THE SIMPLICITY OF THE U.S GOVERNMENT’S TOTAL INEPTITUDE OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT.
JUST VOTE THE DUDES OUT OF OFFICE, AND BRING IN A BUSINESS MAN TO RUN THE SHOW, LIKE THE DONALD.
OBAMA-YOU’RE FIRED.
Animal, hold up a minute here…..remember who controls the worlds affairs. It is NOT the government global elites. It is the Business global elites. Go do some homework and get 2 books. “The True Story of the Bilderberg Group” and ” The Creature From Jekyll Island” and you will clearly see two things: 1) the gov’t is NOT inept at financial management and 2) the business man is ALREADY running the show…. good luck….
show me the business men who are printing the billions of greenbacks, devaluing it constantly, making a mockery of the u.s. with inflation ripping the living hearts of all and sundry soon.show me the mo’s who are initiating the QE programs, and,bailing out all the failed banks, and, show me the business elite who are moving their money out of u.s denominated currency investments to safer havens [ helicopter??!!] and then i’ll buy the books-otherwise i can’t see ben, obama, paul or any other politician /governmental bureaucrat being labelled a business man. i otherwise love the work claus-you are inspirational.
Animal, the printing is done by the Gov’t Global Elites for the Business Global Elites..Ben Bernanke was a Princeton Professor…..I urge you to do your homework and get those books..at the least, google Bilderberg and at least start their….. good luck….
animal
The Fed is printing the money. The Fed is not government it is private business.
The rich private citizens who run the Federal Reserve, ran the country into bubbles endorsed by Alan Greenspan to enrich the rich. The result was the collapse of our rich individuals and the banks and investment firms they run. They were allowed to perpetrate these financial crimes through the mistaken ethos of financial de-regulation and ” individual freedom”. The bailouts and QE 1 and QE 2, are the rich attempting to bail the rich out from the collapse the rich engineered. Don’t blame government Claus, blame the rich who are the government. Individual freedom is robbed from all of us when the rich have a stranglehold on the levers of government and are markets are not governed by rules,i.e regulation. The rich need not more but less “individual freedom” to run amok, as they have been to the world’s financial detriment these past thirty years, Claus, Your “IndividualFreedom” is cover for the rich to rob the rest of us blind.
Harry, right on…Its all about the wealthy global elites moving the world to a one world order. It is happening as we speak and has been for decades. I urge you the get a copy of “The True Story of the Bildeberg Group” and “The Creature from Jekyll Island”. The global middle class is being boiled slowly like a frog until its totally under control and they dont even know it….
That’s all we need is another billionaire oligarch to run the show.
David X, yes for sure….the real question is: how Donald is perceived by the global business power brokers…
The super rich of this country totally control the slimy politicians that make the laws. The rich want total submission by the poor and their current manipulation of the economy to inflate their wealth and bankrupt the poor is a typical example of how disgusting these people can be.
Richard, you mostly got it…..I would replace “Super Rich of This Country” with “Super Rich of This World”….get the Bilderberg Book…Good Luck….
Bravo, Herr Vogt. Your market insights are always eagerly anticipated…however today was a surprise as you step back and remind me as an American that the most important paper asset I “own” is the US Constitution.
This is very accurate – he talks of liberalism in a different context than what we normally hear (we are constantly told how evil liberalism is because to us, liberals are those who hand out money to lazy poor people). That is just a smokescreen for what the real evil is – the devaluation of OUR money so that the rich corporate devils who control the government can pay their debts (govt. bonds, Social Security that we paid in taxes, etc.) to YOU and I with worthless dollars. This has happened throughout history and those who are affected are like boiling frogs, complacent until it is too late. We who are called liberals are actually the old-fashioned true conservatives who believe in small government, individual freedom, and a commodity-based money supply that is tied to real hard-earned wealth rather than a printing press.
Fiat currency has value only while it is perceived to. It is based on the issuers (govt/bank) ability to tax the populace. Value is lost when people openly will not or cannot pay taxes to support the currency. Value then shifts to tangible goods and assets, which are perceived more fundamental to living. However, as long as the illusion that things are getting better is maintained, people are willing to pay taxes.
If you want to be rich, you need others to work for you. If that can’t be done through legitimate incentive then you should become a politician, or better yet, control the politicians, so you can force others to pay you through their taxes (or debts). Then you can comfortably run any ponzi scheme, knowing the tax payer will ultimately foot the bill.
IMHO, the US is probably the world master of illusion. I suspect other nations will unravel sooner.
Dave, you got it all right…if you don’t already have, get the books called: “The True Story of The Bilderberg Group” and the “Creature From Jeckyll Island”……
In the end individual freedom correlates very closely to economic freedom, which most governments through excess regulation and protectionism have for centurys been the diabolically opposed. The question is when will the people in the developed countries realize that the government can’t provide or fix everything much less solve most problems. It is tragic that in a pure democracy most of the un-educated or informed voters will believe that they can vote themselves prosperity, which has more to do with working smater than government regulation. Eventually once they have a stake in the economy they will recognize that in almost all situations, governments and government rugulation are negative to personal wealth and efficient production of goods and services.
There already exists off the shelf technologies which can alleviate a good portion of our wasteful energy usage without un-due economic hardship, but the tax codes are weighted in the favor of existing methods of production. This whole problem is a result of government regulation run amuck.
I think that part of our problems arise from the “farming out” of our manufacturing to the cheapest workforce they can find. The politicians should have anticipated a reduced tax base when workers are displaced with foreign workers who rightly pay no US income tax. When this first started several years ago the government should have enacted a fairly large import tax to discourage companies from leaving and creating a level playing field for the patriotic companies that value our country more than making extra money. It’s gotten to a point that they have to go overseas with their company to remain competitive.
I also think the government should have done much more to keep out illegal immigrants who also work on jobs here but don’t pay taxes.
Again we must be careful to not get lost in the forest of consequenses of deviating from the constitution , which was the law for government, restraining it form doing what it ought not do, that it now has the power to pick winners and loosers, whose business it protects and whose it destroys, all come form having power that should have been restrained by the constitution, Also” Congress should have the power to COIN money, ” If it did not have unlimited money to buy voters, to repay supporters, If this govt lived on what it can take in, it would only be 60% of what it is. The other 40% will be confiscated from all of you, by either inflation, taxation, or outright confiscation. Ray
It is a double whammy when corporations move their manufacturing out of the U.S. They avoid paying what little income tax they were paying and the loss of jobs for U.S. residents cuts the tax base from individual taxes.
Joe, once you understand that the global government elites “work for” the global business elites, you will understand how the world really works…get a copy of the “True Story of the Bilderberg Group” and this will answer ALL of your concerns…
Clause, I agree with all that you say except for one important issue. Most of the world’s central banks were NOT set up to server the needs and the interests of the Gov’t Global Elite Bureaucrats, they were set up to serve the needs and requirements of the Business Global Elites. Check out the book “The Creature From Jeckyll Island” for more insight on this. The power was and is never with the gov.t global bureaucrates.
The two elite groups collaborate and depend on one another.
David X, yes that’s true…but make no mistake, only one side is in real “control”
Many won’t understand the difference between liberalism as it’s understood today (socialism) and classical liberalism (individual rights and limited government.) Such a misunderstanding will make your point unclear.
Spot on.
Mr. Vogt,
That the masses find inflation”respectable” is folly. The elite cause and benifit from it. The masses suffer it. Your reference to president Bush as causal to our economic situation is ludicrious. “Progresivism” originated politically
with president Willson and the “League”, and accelerated with president Roosvelts socialist policys. It has been
slowly downhill ever since. Your thesis and perspective of time are both laughable!
The dollar will be purposefully crashed in order to establish a New World Order currency. Soros is now busy pushing that idea at Bretton Wood II. Ever notice that when Soros get involved in anything, he makes a fortune and everyone else gets screwed. Soros reports directly to the Rothschilds. Money for these people is all about power. Money is only a cheap way of keeping score of ones power. It’s not about security or planning for their childrens college education or a second house in the country.
Robert, it certainly looks that way. BTW, if you have not already done so….do some google research into bilderberg group, trialateral commission and council on foreign affairs …good luck..
This is just more of the same anti-state rhetoric that has, to a very large degree, created the mess we’re in today. What authors like Vogt (and most ‘defenders of freedom’) must face up to is the fact that their own ideological stance–with its ongoing advocacy of financial deregulation and ‘free markets’–has played right into the hands of Wall Street and the City. The ‘denationalisation’ of money is *not* the solution. And anyone who thinks that a return to a ‘gold-backed’ currency will preclude abuse is naive.
Bryd, We do not have a “free market”, We have a lobby ran economy. If your company doesn’t have a strongly represented lobby, you stand a chance of losing out to those that do. The so called deregulation crowd were not about deregulation as such but positioning larger companies and banks in a way to defraud the public. These people want nothing to do with free markets. Though they talk the talk, they never walk the walk. They despise the whole idea of free markets and competition. Old man Henry Ford hated free markets and said so, often. Don’t confuse free markets with what we have today. The proper definition of fascism is when government and business work hand in glove. That dreaded word fascism, explains where we Americans are today. The FED, the half dozen banks that control the FED and the Military/Security/Industrial Complex that populate the power structure of America. That is not a free market. Good luck.
Robert, Absolutely well said!!! You are absolutely correct!!!Get a copy of the True Story of the Bilderberg Group if you dont already have as well as Creature from Jekyll Island……
Great Article!
This was artfully written building a case against our corrupt governement without saying it directly.
David, I would not stop at just “our corrupt government”. Do yourself a favor and get a copy of “The Creature From Jekyll Island” and “The True Story of the Bilderberg Group”….
Von Claus, you are not fair in evaluating the U.S. problems, that is, the causes of our problems. There is no mention in your article the impact of our Defense budget on our National Debt, or the most salient fact that ever since Nixon went to China to play ping-pong with Mao, we had a steady, and ever increasing exodus of our jobs to China, in addition to the export of the jobs to other countries.
There is no mention that the tax cuts given to the rich, and the super rich had a tremendous impact on the deficits. Incidentally, the treasury should be allowed to print the amount of new currency to the value of the surplus value generated by the manufacturing. This does not cause inflation, economics course 101. Another little omission, while putting down communism, you neglected to mention fascism, is it because Hitler was born in Austria?
Very well written article by Mr Vogt. However, we are flooded with many fine people that are excellet at defining the problem. What we have a shortage of is articles that defines what needs to be done to fix the problem. Here is a few examples.
The public at large does not realize that inflation is a way that greedy politicians steal and transfer wealth from one group of people to another. The lobby industry has stripped the American citizen of any real authority in the government. We the people have no control over our representatives once they are elected. We need to pass state laws that forbid our congressmen from even talking to a lobby firm. We need pass state laws that forbid pur congressmen from taking money from anyone for any reason. We need laws passed that criminalize the lobby industry. The bottleneck committie system in congress needs to be destroyed. That is a good start.
If The govt didnt have the power or the money, we would not need lobyist, but if you dont lobby, they will crush you, again we need to look to the source of the problem,if the taxes and regulations were an encouragment to business they would be here, those who have stayed have learned to play the lobby game, those who could not either moved or went out of business.
Bob, you are almost right..but, its really NOT the greedy politicians it IS the greedy global business elites. And with this model inplace, nothing will change EXCEPT the global middle class being controlled or destroyed or both. Get the book The True Story of The Bilderberg Group”
I don’t get it. I’d like a good explanation of why, if inflation is expected to take off, investors are not swarming into the housing market. Prices are low, and housing is a good hedge against inflation. The fact that housing prices continue to decline tells me that the inflation hawks are either full of hot air, or are way ahead of the rest of us. I suppose time will tell….
Broomy,
Have you noticed the economic coincidences of the “Boomer” generation? You know the population bubble
born from the mid 1940’s- mid 1960’s. There numbers alone gave great increases in tax & social security
revenues. But our opportunistic government went and drove social security taxes up to the present maximum
on top of that. They were “juiced” all there working lives. Now, to bail out government mis-management, $ billions
even $ trillions are “disappearing ‘ from their lives labor. Equity investments, retirement funds, home values, inflation. All at the same time,. Cioncidence? Or Epic corruption? Whats next- reneging on social security?
Sehr geehrter Herr Vogt,
fuer Ihre wahrhaftige Woerter bin ich sehr dankbar. Die Gedanken sind frei! Lassen uns hoffen die Menschen frei bleiben koennen.
Alle Bestens
Paul Camp Lane
I can only add to what Bob Dowell has expressed here. The intellect is brilliant at definitions, explication, examples, and well short term profiteering, but as we see with the nuclear disaster of Japan, little is being done to correct or protect the people, who as you say Mr. Dowell, have not a clue about what is really running America and the world at the moment…a lobbying to the sick level. We repealed the little steps made to correct the matter with elections. So now we are in a free fall. I believe we have a growing crisis on our front lines caused from within. Perhaps we had better start envisioning more honesty and balance and talk less until there is enough silence to hear some real solutions. Prayer is not beneath us.
Louisa, good points, but you need to understand how the world works. It is controlled by a global business elite that is moving the world to a one world order. Get the book “The True Story of The Bilderberg Group” this is a great book that factually describes what is going on here. Any yes, praying for devine intervention is a very good thing because the consequences are not good…good luck…
From my perspective, Tony’s comment is right on the money. The FED — and its super banker(ster) owners — are at the heart of our monetary problems. Virtually nobody gives them a second thought.
For those who don’t have time to read you can listen to G. Edward Griffin (author of “The Creature from Jekyll Island”) speech discussing the main tenants of the book.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8484911570371055528#
To fully understand what the FED and the central bankers have done to the developed nations I recommend reading the following article by Egon von Greyerz (August 16th, 2010) from Matterhorn Asset Management. It is a very chilling explanation of where the banksters are taking the world economy. Most people are going to be overwhelmed by the economic devastation that awaits the world.
http://matterhornassetmanagement.com/2010/08/16/there-will-be-no-double-dip/
Lest we forget (and most people have), Thomas Jefferson had this to say about central banks:
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.â€
We are seeing the fulfillment of his prophecy in our lifetimes, and we ain’t see nuttin’ yet!
Joe, thanks and Bingo…you get it…and more are getting it…but Lord knows (and he does know) it takes time for the middleclass to put the pieces of the puzzle together …get a copy of the “True Story of the Bilderberg Group” if you dont already have it…
Dear Mr Vogt,
I am a customer of yours in Germany – Sicheres Geld. While I hold you and Martin Weiss in high regard for your prescient analysis of the pending and now ongoing economic and financial crisis, I completely disagree with your historical and philosophical views. Von Hayek, an adherent of the Conservative Revolution, inspired in part by the ideas of Nietsche, preached the doctrine of the free market – first expounded by Adam Smith and the Satanist Bernand Mandeville, which reduces man to a creature ruled by pleasure and pain, fear and greed – what a despicable vision – who if simply allowed to pursue these bestial instincts will bring about a prosperous society! Economics is about improving the general welfare by raising productivity through technological and scientific advancement and developing social capital in the form of infrastructure – transportation, communications, water management, power generation, improved machine-tools along with education and medical care and so on. The economic progress made thanks to the rail system in the United States with the help of Mathew Carey and Friedrich List and large government sponsorship had very little to do with the free market. Post-war German economic recovery also owes much to the policy of government-directed funding of key industries by KfW. Similarly, the success of Jaques Rueff in France was due to so-called indicative economic development under the direction of government. Deregulating the financial markets was a major cause of the present crisis. Free trade is a British ideology conceived to enable the British East India Company to plunder its colonies. Monetarism, to which you obviously subscribe is based on a misconception of wealth. Fiat money has no intrinsic worth, but nor does gold. Money should be a function of economic prosperity not a measure of it.
well said.
All those individuals that rule us, at all levals should get the same amount of money& media at Election
time.
Also , a correctly functioning RECAL should be installed at all levals.
Dennis
Quite an “academic” article, for the Weiss group, and even more “political” than Weiss reports usually are, as well. And very well written too. Economic and social policy experts, however, have and always will find very good reasons to disagree.
As to application of “the Austrian school” to our notions of “individual freedom”, Claus is beating an old tom-tom that has long been made obsolete by the band. The old precepts of individual freedom and the place of government in our economic and social policy, are now a joke; made laughably quaint by the proliferation of the power of multi-national corporations and other such “NGOs”, both for profit and otherwise.
Nature abhors a vacuum, and in the absence of government that vacuum will be filled. At least we have some influence over our government, however dwindling after Citizens United. It is either government or anarchy, we can’t have it both ways.
Hanrod, yes, a joke for sure…you hit the nail on the head. Thus, as you no doubt already know, it makes absolutely no difference whether Democrats or Republicans or Torries or whoever is in power..they control ALL the key parties worldwide….
Hanrod,
A good thought. We hear a lot these days about how bad and inefficient the gov’t is or can be, but reducing gov’t creates a vacuum. But the result is not anarchy, at least not yet, but corporate power filling that vacuum. The vacuum created by financial degregulation created, in a very short time, the finacial mess we are still in. We also created a vacuum by reducing the restrictions on coprorate donations for political purposes. That provides corporations with way too much influence. If they get what they want–as seems to be the case–we’re really in big trouble. Given a choice between gov’t and corporations, I’d much prefer gov’t, so long as it’s not a gov’t of the corporations.
Broomy, well said. I would also add to your point that the corporations put a ton of money into foundations and institutions and think tanks to back up their agenda. Unfortunately we have very welded together global business and global government infrastructure. Get the book called “The True Story Behind the Bilderberg Group” if you don already have it….
The essential change we need is to free the democratic process from its dependency on non governmental capital support; thus liberating governance to serve the people and not be corrupted.
James, this is very hard to do when the business global elites and government global elites are totally entwined and integrated…..
As you had mentioned in articles before that cash on the sidelines is about 3%, what will inflate the stock market now? Will it go through a sharp correction before growing again?
I do not agree with this nonsense of “individual freedom” and the government atsour enemy. The robber barons of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan , etc. are the enemy to be feared.
The CEO who makes millions in bonuses while cutting benefits and salaries of the company’s employees are the enemies of individual freedom.
Shirley, you are right on!! Get the “True Story of the Bilderberg Group” that will back up everything you say…..
I understand your financial advice and am glad to see your affirmation of the classical liberal philoslphy and the Austrian School of Economics. I am dissmayed by the general intelectual level of the replies I have read, which if put into the context of a constitutional convention for a new government, would be depressing. Obviously, there is no hope of electing such a group as were T’homas Jefferson and James Madison, in today’s Democracy, let alone electing a group capable of devising effective control of the power of such a government or relising its absolute necessity!
The problem is the creation of government power over it’s citizens and that government’s ability to dispense portions of that power to designated goups. The power to tax is ultimately destructive because it drains the economy of the capitol necessary to finance business expansion and developement. (All taxes are ultimatly paid by consumers – arguments of business’ not being fairly taxed are enjoyed by the tax collectors as favoring more tax revenue.)
When paper legal tender reaches it’s ultimate value, those stuck with it will pay tbe ultimate tax.
.
Calvin, understand that the creation of government power is just an extension from the global business elites, which have the ultimate power. Remember, in the present day world, the government serves the needs of business first, not the people….get “The True Story of the Bilderberg Group” book…
“The interests of politicians who depend on votes are diametrically opposed to Keynes’s proposition of accumulating reserves in times of plenty ”
Not too far in the 90s, the US government was paying off some of its dept with the surplus. So it did happen, does happen and can happen again if we stop our government from spending money on endless wars wasteful spending.
This guy is putting Keynesianism on trial based on faulty hypothesis.
I expect better from Weiss Research to whom I’m subscriber
Party Agnostic, I don’t think you understand how things work….Keynsian economics essentially allows the central banks, which are privately controlled, to print money to help make the global business elites rich on the backs of the poor, the lower middle, middle middle and upper middle classes. Removing the gold standard puts the icing on this cake. This has been going on for decades and in the US, a lot of it started with the creation of the Federal Reserve. Do yourself a very, very big favor and get the following books “Creature from Jekyll Island” and “The True Story of the Bilderberg Group”
Mr. Vogt’s article is spot on and was very much appreciated. Unfortunately we are only in the beginning phase of this horrendous undoing of Western Civilization by its leaders for personal gain.
Readers of this article might find the book “An Act Of Self Defense”, by Erne Lewis, a worthwhile and complimentary read.
David, I would also suggest to you and readers the book “The True Story Behind the Bilderberg Group” by Daniel Estulin. Also the book “The Creature From Jekyll Island”
It looks like It came the time to change the US Constitution to the US Corptitution, since many years the second is the real one and the first became just to a lyric ideal.
Victor, you summed it up nicely….”Corptitution”
Excellent article Mr. Vogt! However, let us face it; Ron Paul is correct! The FED must be totally abolished and then the US can go back to a precious metal backed currency. I truly believe that the metal of choice ,at this time, is silver as it is plentiful, and still widely respected as a precious commodity. Later on, we possibly could phase in gold as well. But, fist abolish the FED and all “legal tender” compulsory laws. Let the “free” market determine the free exchange of goods and services. I would also love to see criminal charges brought against the FED and all its management and owners for MASSIVE long term counterfitting!
William, all excellent points. But just how does the FED get abolished? Much, Much easier said than done…since the Fed is owned by the global banking elites, who run the world AND it was created as a a private entity…
i am a simple old man. can anybody tell me the difference between bribery and lobbiest ?
Savings Accounts, Less government, caution to the long-term, even admitting the long term exists…………………………good things!!! Savings institutions should be encourging savers by offering better rates, then we can start having more of that solid feeling of old again!!!
There is no doubt that there is only one view of economics that pervades our universities and society. It is called Keynesianism but I think that is a misnomer. Whatever Keynes was his views have transmogrified into something call mathematical modeling. The trouble with that is that it always leaves out a few hundred factors that may trash the model. That happens in astonomy. In weather forecasting and in spades with economics. I don’t think that this is the end of civilization. What we are up against is the effort to reduce the deficit from 25% of GDP to perhaps less than 20% of GDP. The trouble is that the best way to do that is to open the way for the GDP to expand. I don’t see that happening for the moment. It would be wrong to count on raising taxes to eliminate the deficit. The government has been making that promise for over fifty years. That would make an interesting paper for some economist. What the government does is spend the money. If President Obama raises taxes on the “rich” he will only spend that money. Milton Friedman wrote an interesting article in 1988 entitled The Twin Deficits- A Blessing in the (I think) August 1988 op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal. In any case the effort to raise money to balance the budget is wrong. The budget is always balanced: the money comes out of the private sector or from abroad. If it comes out of the private sector by tax, print or borrow or mandate expenses it is not good for the private sector. If the money is borrowed from abroad it bad for the dollar as a reserve currency. What we need is a stable currency and the lifting of all sorts of restrictions on industry.
Bernie, not sure that the global banking elites would agree with you re: stable dollar. If a stable dollar implies a strong US dollar, then, it is very very hard to increase credit (aka debt)on to the masses, thus, it is then hard to make money on them. Think., the reason we have a “keynsian based” “fiat based” central banking system is NOT for the benefit of the people, it is for the benefit of the controlling banking/business elites. It is much, much easier to have cheap paper currency to lubricate the world economy than strong currency with intrinsic value (ie. gold for example) That is why the elites met at “Bretton Woods” to get the US dollar off the gold standard. You should get a book called: “The Creature from Jekyll Island” also pick up a copy of “The True Story of the Bilderberg Group” while your at it..
Excellent article & correct about how they usurped Lord Keynes economic principals. As you correctly point out, he was for surpluses & balanced budgets over time. Politicians have used his principals only to further their power & to hell with the people & their society. Milton Friedman said it more cogently:
The only way to stop politicians from spending more is to reduce the money given to them.
Bill, all interesting points, but you are way off on something here. It is NOT about the power of the politician, it is about the power of the global banking/business elites…Many many many people today say, “Government does not server the people, the people serve the Government” That is not quite true. What really happens is this: “People server the Government who THEN serves the business/banking ruling elites and ,of course, people serve the business elites directly”
So many want to see more deregulation, a reduction of income taxes and services to our citizens, and an increased militery presence around the world. Can some of the wise posters here give an example of a large Western society where this is working, or has worked in the past?
It looks like conservatives are pushing the country towards a new experimental society with no precedent. It appears to me the most successful Western economies, presently, are the Scandinavian Euro-socialist countries. Please correct me if I’m wrong. I got my economics degree way back in the ’60s but worked as an engineer using a second degree, so am probably confused by this debate.
Martin N, its not about conseratives doing this or liberals doing that, what IT IS all about is the perpetuation of the super wealth of the ruling business/banking global elites and exploitation of the masses to acheive that objective. Please do your self a very, very big favor and get a copy of “The True Story of the Bilderberg Group” and a copy of “The Creature From Jekyll Island” and ALL, I mean All of your “economic confusion” will go away…
We should be as concerned about large corporations buying elections, tracking all of our purchases and our whereabouts along with orchestrating one of the largest wealth transfer schemes from the bottom to the top in U.S. history. When the average Fortune 500 CEO is making 300 times what the average employee in that company is making, we have a serious problem. Don’t ask us workers to make anymore sacrificies until the executive ruling class does the same.
Leo, YOU ABSOLUTELY GET IT!!!!!!!! BTW, it is not 300 times more, it is more like over 500 times more. My understanding is it was only like 25-50 times more in the 1950’s….THIS IS THE STATISTIC OF ALL STATISICS! including anything you can make statistics about….You should get the book “The True Story of the Bilderbergs” and “Creature From Jekyll Island” if you dont already have…
Adjusting ones portfolio is important but the deeper issues of who’s behind the curtain and pulling the strings are rarely discussed here….or anywhere. I find that a half-measure and a mistake. If this rotten economy comes fully apart, then you can bet that there was some design behind the scenes. I’m not talking religion here. I’m saying there is one hell of lot money(power) to be gained. Look to the Globalist Bankers, as they are pulling all the strings. For them everything is going just fine. They will tell you it could not have been avoided. Globalist bankers owe no allegiance to any one country. Weak countries offer opportunities for new debtor nations. Ameica will lose it’s reserve currency status because that’s what the Globalist banker want. Welcome to the fall of the US dollar. Welcome to your third world status.
Robert raises some interesting thoughts, as does Tony (again). No doubt the globalists (read “New
World Order”) are at the center of the current demise of the once great world power — the US, the fall of the Eurozone, Japan and the rest of the G-20.
Bilderbergs, Council on Foreign Affairs, Tri-lateral Commission, and all the other instruments of the globalists strategy are designed to do one thing: give them power over everyone else.
This is actually quite easy to do when you virtually control the world’s media, use misinformation and disinformation and any other red herring available to confuse people and have them at each others necks.
The people the globalists “allow” to run for office, whether it is democrat, republican, tea or any other party simply end up as puppets (whether they intended to or not when they originally ran) of the globalists. The puppet masters get these “representatives” fighting with each other as if they were the Hatfields and McCoys. It is absolutely ridiculous and nothing EVER gets accomplished.
The interesting thing about this entire situation is it has been in the works for hundreds of years. Its origins can be traced all the way back to the Medici of Florence, Italy. More recently to the Rothschilds and their control of the Bank of England and finally The Federal Reserve System. When you have a LONG term plan (and lots of lucre) almost ANYTHING can be accomplished.
One last thought, Ric is on to something. . .”Food Gold.” However, I think each of us needs to create a garden and grow our own food before it is too late.
Joe EMMET, ..YOU AND ROBERT, THAT YOU ADDRESS , ABSOLUTELY GET IT!!!!! ONE WORLD COMPANY(S), ONE WORLD BANK, ONE WORLD ARMY (AKA NATO?), ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT…..THE END……
Robert, Bingo..You Get It!! Get “The True Story of the Bilderbergs” and “Creature from Jekyll Island “if you dont already have
Once, while the US still has all its little tapped natural resources, its free enterprise system (aka free markets) worked extremely well. The US free enterprise system worked better than the systems in other parts of the America’s. It worked better than the Royal commonwealth system of Canada, and it worked better than the dictatorial systems in South America. So, free enterprise (free markets) did worked very well. However, the huge foundation of untapped natural resources was a necessary foundation for the US free enterprise system. If the US was a barren desert without any natural resources, no system would have make it great.
Today, much of US natural resources have been steadily depleted. Once huge gold fields in the US are gone. Once huge easy oil fields are gone. The days of anybody with a strong back without any education can strike it rich in gold and oil fields are essentially gone. Gold backed dollars are gone, as there are little gold fields left in the US to back its dollars with gold. Dollars supported with backing of black gold are also gone, as there is little cheap oil left in the US to “back” its dollars with oil. Today, the US instead of being a major oil exporter, the US is a major oil importer of seventy percent of its oil use.
Yet, not all US natural resources are gone. The US still is a major food producer, but food is relative cheap, so that huge food production does not produce huge exporting revenues. Some have suggested the formation of an “OPEC” of food like the OPEC of oil. Not long ago, there were too much oil in the Middle East and other producing areas. OPEC was formed to control and to limit supply by the oil producers in order to jack up the price of oil to the oil users. In the same way an “food OPEC” can jack up the price of food to importers. It is not ethical to limit food supple to jack up price, but it is also not ethical to limit oil to jack up price, as oil is almost as essential as food with much oil is used to produce food. With an “food OPEC”, major food producers like the US and some others can become extremely wealthy with the dollar becoming extremely strong with the backing of “food gold.”
“Food Gold” can become stronger than “black gold” (aka oil) as humans cannot do without food, while human can conceivably do without oil. Let’s say the US government gives out a hundred million Chevy Volt cars for free to its citizens, which will need the government to print four trillion dollars at forty thousand dollars per Chevy Volt car, the need for expensive oil will be eliminated overnight. The Chevy Volt can run on electricity when oil is expensive, run on gasoline when oil is cheap, and run on alternative fuels. Thus, oil is not a necessity in actually, except that the US oil interests have placed numerous oil state governors and oil businessmen into the Presidency and into the Congress to keep its citizens addicted to oil by obstructing the migration to none oil alternatives.
Having lived in many areas of the world, it can be assured that it is a lot better to living in a country such as the US that can produce a huge amount of food than living in countries that struggle to produce enough food. Be thankful for that. By this measure, the US is still extremely strong if it can get off its stiffly addiction to imported oil like Brazil did.
All goverments Federal State and Local were first formed to look after the people and their well being. The local councils were set up for the same reason unfortunately nobody in these governing bodies has the experience or expertiese to do there job in the manner required to protect us. For most of our polys and councils members it was after they were elected it was the first time they had to make big decisions in their lives and they do this without previous experience. If any of them were smart enough to employ a smart business man or woman that has had something to do with planning ,financials and follow up they would have saved us the people millions.
Instead now we dont plan past 3 years and if they do the next party changes the plan so there lies the first problem.
When we are in trouble or can not manage our utitities we either sell them off or privatise them and this bring me back to the beginning about NO experience .
Brian.
Brian, like many other have said in these comments, you have to know how things are run in this world. Its NOT that politicians dont have the skills, experence or know how. They DO have all of this, the issue is that they are politicians and politicians have to play politics, which is to say they have to be into power, prestige, honor, ego, control, money etc. etc. which causes them to make what otherwise, would be sound, rational decisions. Now, if they like this game and play it well, they will either run to be elected again or, better yet, run for higher office!!!. They can do this rising to higher levels until they get noticed by the Global Government and Global Business Elites. Then, depending on how they do, they can play at a much,much higher level. But, what many of these politicians, especially at the local, county, state levels do not know is at this global elite level, it is a very very controlled game by which the government politician is really working for the global business/bankiing elites,but this is all properly accepted at this level. It is absolutely not about lack of experience or knowledge or skills. Believe me, the Rothchilds and Rockefellers have all the skills, experience and know how they need….
It was the fault of both paties than (Dems and Repubs) and today. But we as AMERCANS must abolish the Federal Reserve and give the power to create money back to Congress as The Constitution tells us to do.
Stephen, good points, but tell me. How does one abolish an entity which is privately owned by the most powerful people on the planet?
Considering the population of China, I wouldn’t call Communism a failure.
btw, off topic.. do any of the men where you work wear their rings? I’ve been noticing that naked looking hand of yours ;)
Solutions: Implement renewable energy. A surface of some 10,000 square miles used for solar energy would provide more than 100% of all daily required electricity for the entire U.S. Triple this size of area, and we could provide enough electricity for the cars too. Build more public transportation, not private cars, raise the efficiency standard for all machines, homes and alike. Outlaw lobbyists, tax the trans-national corporations and close the loop holes. Implement socialized medicine like the western European countries did, close all private insurance companies. Put all banks under the government ownership, they have demonstrated to be working against the people’s interests. Stop exodus of jobs; impose high tariffs on all imports. Reduce the so called “Defense†budget by 50% since this is a greatest incentive to squander our hard earned money.
To make it all possible, amend the Construction with the following BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS:
FOOD AND SHELTER
MEDICAL
EDUCATION
JOBS
FREE SPEECH
RIGHT TO LIFE…NO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
Well, and how would you enforce that, that sounds like a Totalitarian solution if I ever heard one. Weve seen the greatest example of that in the last century, Could you see all banks under Govt ownership, they are almost there now, a good reason not to trust them, If food and shelter medical education is guareenteed, why work?, I guareentee in such a system work will be done at the point of a bayonet, and we will have come full circle back to a fuedal system or worse.
Ray,
You are TOO cynical about our human nature, willingness to work. To work is imbeded in our psyche, we suffer when we are denied this RIGHT, right to a job. People will work, and work hard given an opportunity, and an incentive. So, what is wrong having the medical coverage? We are no different from any machine, we need repairs from time to time.
Bodizar, way too many points for me to comment on. But, one thing you have absolutely backward is “putting the banks under government ownership” it is the total opposite, the government is under the control of the banks!!. You need to get a book called “The Creature from Jekyll Island” and fast!
The FRB (Federal Reserve Bank) is not under Gov’t ownership. Greenspan said that Hedge Funds do not need regulation nor transparency, when Greenspan was the chairman of the FRB. This lack of transparency and regulation allow the Hedge Funds and the investment banks to rip-off the economy by any means including means which are very harmful to the nation. Only the rich are allowed to join hedge funds. Instead of investing in Mutual Funds, the rich took a lot of their tax cuts for the rich money and invested in hedge funds, which do a lot of shorting, as well as other underhanded schemes. Hedge funds used to be small, but after tax cuts for the rich, hedge funds grew big, as hedge fund become funded by the government printing press money (aka tax cuts for the rich money.) When the nation is shorted by the extremely powerful government money printing presses via the tax cuts for the rich deficit program, it is a wonder the economy blew up?
Ric, you get it too….get the book “The True Story of the Bildeberg Group” and the “Creature From Jekyll Island” if you dont already own…
As long as the U.S. is a Democracy with govt having unlimited powers and controlled by voters who are ignorant,envious of success,vote their short term greed,don’t know or care about the long term,the future for the U.S. isn’t good.I think Ron Paul is advocating returning to the time when the U.S. was a Republic,with a limited govt, and it’s ignorant/greedy voters didn’t have the power to screw up the country,like today.Would you buy stock in a company run by people with the knowledge/intentions of the typical American voter?The Dollar is than the common stock of the U.S. govt,which is operating in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
JRJ, I am afraid you are a little off base here. The average world wide middle class person (aka working stiff) , say making between $40K US and say $400K US, is trying to be a good, hardworking, honest, law abiding person. They have brains and ability and , I might add, they are the ones who make most of this world work smoothly. They are your good parents, good teachers, good doctors, good lawyers, good scientists good engineers, athletes, entertainers etc. etc..The problem are the minority middle class and global elites who are about power, greed, money, control, ego, pomp, prestige, deception and deceit. It is this latter group who is in control on a world wide basis, but only for the present time….Dont worry, with some devine intervention, this will change….
Thank you, Claus, for a good article, and thank you all the people who sent in all the comments at this site. Claus’ article and the comments from the many all have value and many worthwhile opinions are offered. However, nobody seems to grasp the true underlying problem and to offer a solution. I certainly am not qualified to offer the solution, but I have accidentally found a website that may offer a real concrete diagnosis of the problem, and provided the solution……and I think it should be opened to the public debate. That website is: perfecteconomy.com which is authored by a guy who is very smart (was doing calculus in Jr. High). The website is long and the language is exalted and somewhat difficult to follow at times, but worth your time to explore. Many of the comments at this site have approached the subject, but have not quite crossed over the line into solution.
The author of the website, Mike Montagne, blames interest (on money loaned) as being the main problem. Yes, the site discusses in detail the corrupt banks, the central banking system, the Constitution, etc. but the real thrust is interest being the cause of inflation, deflation, political corruption, the loss of our manufacturing base, etc.
So what is his solution? A new currency not based on debt with interest. It is a currency issued by a special agency that will keep its value based on the true production costs of goods and services without the parasitic insertion of the banks who make money by doing nothing except drawing up a contract and charging interest on money they created out of thin air. This typically causes any long-term loan to be 2 or 3 times what the original principle cost of a house (or whatever) costs. Thus, a new house costing $200,000 may end up costing the buyer $600,000 in a typical 30 year loan. He proposes that the payments on a loan should be based on the rate of consumption or depreciation of the asset purchased. In other words, a house purchased for $200,000 would have a monthly payment of about $167.00 based upon the life expectancy of the house (about 100 years or 1200 months for a house). The same would apply to everything whether it be a corporation needing to build a new factory, a group of doctors who want to build a new hospital wing, or to government itself which should not have to pay interest to a banking system that creates the money almost for free, and then creates gov’t bonds so that the government has to pay interest. Our government’s interest costs are now about $500,000,000,000 annually. Why? Think about it. Also, think of all the productive capacity that could be unleashed if the burden of interest was eliminated. Please visit the website mentioned above. Prepare to camp there awhile.
I do not understand why is everybody ignoring the dispropertionate amount used by our the “Defense” budget? It is equal to all the world countriesdefense budgets combined. Second, actual GDP value is faulty, and over estimated. Since the FED is the owner of the actual data used to calculate GDP, we have limited capabilities to challenge the “GDP” validity, and its guide as to how much additional money can be printed by the Federal Reserve. What is the justification for the astronomical “Defense” budget? Third, I claimed that if the six Basic Human Rights were legalized, and the Government was forced to protect these Rights, there would be no export of jobs overseas, no need for huge outlay of money to pay for the unemployment, the cost of health care woould drop significantly since there would be no gangsters called insurance companies. If we mandated implementation of the renewable energy, we could slash our energy imports to less than 10% since we have a lot of desert land area to do that. Creating jobs is easy, our whole infra structure is in need for rewamping, railways, bridges, dams, sewer systems water filtration, and dozens of other areas that could employ millions of the unemployed without any problems. If we can spend $1.2 BILLION dollars for a single “stealth” bomber, I can see no reason as to why we could not spend on replacing our museum pieces of raiways and the rest. Western european countries spend a fraction of the money for their citizen’s health, and their citizens are getting more for much less cost. There are so many areas where we could save money, but for the power of the vested interest groups, and the whole political system being totally corrupt by the lobbyst system.
Do not forget that we should trim, or aboilsh our EMPIRE, AND RETREAT TO OUR ACTUAL BORDES. It costs a lot to maintain 1750 military bases world-wide, this is where the money goes. My money, and your money to protect the interests of the 1% of the super rich here.
Could you imagine a world ,if loaning money at interest was illegal and insurance illegal, Wouldnt we then see a true market economy, without the possibilites of bubbles , busts, We would see the true price of healthcare, real estate etc. Just a thought,
Lets all just cut through the political dribble. We can learn from our studies of Bees and Ants that the drones and workers exist only to support there rulling masters to the death. We are only evolving to the level that has already proven to have lasted far longer than mankind. Can’t fight Darwin now, can we?
As I read this today, April 15th, I am reminded that non of the above would help much without a Federal Tax change [not a revamp]. I believe the Fair Tax gets rid of the mystery and lets everyone participate in funding our Government. Only then will we see the Will of “The People” to become interested in how our Government is run.
There is an old saying: What the world needs is a benign dictator.Well the dictator behind the scenes we’ve got already a long time ago however it’s not a BENIGN dictatorship in the making.
How did Hitler come to power, why did the German people give him the absolute power, because he promised to all JOBS, WORK.
Good work. Buy gold and commodities.
Claus is right on target, for the most part. We’d have to discuss his definition, “Liberalism, “before I sign on.
When Nixon took us off the Gold Standard in 1971, the slow evolutionary demise began. We just had to print money because greedy Bankers and the Wall Street Crowd weren’t makng money fast enough. Previously, one couldn’t print money without gold to back it up. What a novel idea!
Skeptics would do well to review the accumulated national debt chart for the period 1950 – 2010. Reagan’s loosing
of regulations had unintended consequences – – or NOT! It permitted the new breed of Robber Barrons, to leverage to the hilt, concock new debt instruments to soak anyone they could lure in. While it was Clinton who signed the legislation that permitted sub-prime loans, it was under Bush’s watch that the Robber Barons ran wild.
To make matters worse, Bush started two wars, with no means to pay for same; gave the Country the largest tax reduction in history; and, put through an unaffordable Drug Progam; again, with no way to pay for it.
Unfortunately too, it was Bush who was responsible for the TARP Bailout Bill. Paulson was not the worse Secretary of the Treasury we’ve ever had; but. he is clearly in second place. (I have the right to be critical of Nixon, Reagan, and Bush, as I voted for all three men.)
Up, until about five years ago, I was like so many, many people. I didn’t know, that I didn’t know; and nobody could tell me any different. However, once I discovered that, “I know that I don’t know,” what’s really been going on, it became my mission to do the research. The skeptics need to do it also, and tone down the emotional slogans that have no basis in fact, and do nothing to solving our problems.
It’s no longer about the, “ISM’S” as the Raw, Unregulated Capitalists would have us believe. It IS about the Economic Survival of this Country. The super rich are betting AGAINST the Dollar, (shorting the Dollar); just to enrich themselves, and drive up the price of all commodities, including the precious metals. To make matters worse, the rest of the World is dumping their Dollar reserves, and are piling on by shorting the dollar as well.
In the meantime, anyone have a clue what this means for 90% of the American People? Better find out before you lose everything!
Dandy don
I’m not that unhappy with Obama yet.
Calvin again, and to Tony. What I am finding in your comments and others are basically conspiracy theory, coupled with undefined concepts such as “Socialism, Democracy, “Capitalists” etc, etc. I doubt if anyone is actually in communication here! I have managed to save some money over the years, and am one of those “horrible capitalists” who by viirtue of investing in shares of business dedicated to selling goods and services to people who value those goods and services and can buy them, pay dividends from their profits.
Admitedly these businesses / corporations pay taxes, serve as unpaid tax collectors for the IRS, and must employ large numbers of Lawyers, Tax Experts, and clerks to deal with U.S. Federal Tax rulings, and detailed reporting of their financing etc., to stock holders and in compliance with SEC rulings, then by an insidious process pass on these business costs to the very people who buy their services and products.
I think the point that Claus is making is that if one has money to invest, one would do well to look at the state of the U.S. Government, it’s money, and the economy, and that you could find his guidance useful.
Those persons who have private or public (government) pension accounts should hope that those fund mangers are listening to Claus! At this point in our USA, the problems created by our politicians are not worth casual discussion as to how, when, and who did it, but preparation for financial survival is!