Category Archives: Economics

Book Review: Tragedy and Hope 101

Tragedy and Hope 101: The Illusion of Justice, Freedom, and Democracy by Joseph Plummer, Introduction by G. Edward Griffin (Apr 24, 2014)

T and Hope 101 front-RCLEARNFO Rating: 5 / 5 Stars
203 Pages (Paperback)
Available at Amazon and other book re-sellers
Also available at no charge from Mr. Plumber’s web site HERE

Don’t have time to read 1,300 pages?  Joseph Plummer’s ‘Tragedy & Hope 101’ is for you.

There is no question in my mind that one of the seminal books that authoritatively exposes the predominant power structure’s manipulation of world events is Carrol Quiqley’s ‘Tragedy & Hope’; but it is over 1,300 pages of incredible detail, which most of us don’t have time to read.  This is why ‘Tragedy & Hope 101’ is such an important book.

Without an understanding of statecraft, it’s nearly impossible to make sense of the chaos in our world. Carroll Quiqley’s books are the on-ramp to this understanding.

To give you a taste of what you can expect from Plummer’s new book, here is a short excerpt from the Introduction to ‘Tragedy & Hope 101’ by G. Edward Griffin . . .

“Knowledge of who Carroll Quigley was and the deceptions that he revealed is essential for understanding the real world of today. His close relationship with the Network and his approval of its aims made it possible to provide an insider’s analysis of the minds and methods of the global elite. Without this knowledge, the actions of those who dominate the U.S. government and the Western world do not make sense. With it, everything falls into place.

Be forewarned. The journey you are about to begin is not for the faint hearted. If you are comfortable with the illusions that currently pass for political reality, this book is not for you because, once you discover how the deceivers perform their magic, the comfort of ignorance is no longer possible. Once the bell is rung, it cannot be unrung.

The bell starts ringing on the next page.”

ClearNFO gives ‘Tragedy & Hope 101’ 5 out of 5 stars for a well researched, written and organized book that does more than summarize Quigley’s ‘Tragedy and Hope’; it makes this important knowledge accessible to the average person.  ClearNFO recommends this book as a primer for Quigley’s T&H and perhaps more importantly as a companion for Quigley’s ‘Ango-American Establishment’.

As a Bonus Mr. Plummer is offering a 90 percent reduced “excerpts” version of ‘The Anglo-American Establishment’ and ‘Tragedy and Hope’, where you can find a few hundred pages from the two books here: Tragedy & Hope 101 – Bonus Material

Additional Information on this topic:
The Quigley Formula – G. Edward Griffin lecture

From The Naked Capitalist, Skousen’s review of Carroll Quigley’s Tragedy and Hope:

“Power from any source tends to create an appetite for additional power… It was almost inevitable that the super-rich would one day aspire to control not only their own wealth, but the wealth of the whole world.” “As I see it, the great contribution which Dr. Carroll Quigley unintentionally made[…]was to help the ordinary American people realize the utter contempt which the network leaders have for ordinary people. Human beings are treated en masse as helpless puppets on an international chess board where giants of economic and political power subject them to wars, revolution, civil strife, confiscation, subversion, indoctrination, manipulation and outright deception as it suits their fancy and their concocted schemes for world domination.”

MORE NFO: Excellent commentary and summary of Carroll Quigley’s Tragedy & Hope can be found at the link below. T&H is perhaps the most important book of the 20th Century. Don”t neglect Quigley’s ‘Anglo-American Establishment’. Excellent reading list below in the show notes including critical books by Antony C Sutton. An understanding of the contents of these books will make current national and geopolitics crystal clear. All these books are sourced and based on documented fact that today’s educational systems have been rigged to obfuscate.

Peace Revolution episode 018: (Podcast)

A History of the World in Our Time / Origins of Tragedy and Hope  (Duration: 1:09:40)

Financial Uncertainty & Tyranny

by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | August 30, 2014

arrow-15589_640Now I can prove to you that according to GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), the US is bankrupt: see link below. Of course technically, a country like the US whose currency is the world’s reserve can’t go bankrupt, we just print more money; but the seriousness of our financial condition is nonetheless just as critical and no one has a plan to fix it.   We are in uncharted territory and we are numb with uncertainty.   Our government and financial institutions continue to get what they can while they can before this whole charade collapses. No one knows when or how, but there is a general dread amongst most here in the US when the day of reckoning finally knocks on our front door. In the meantime, we scurry about trying to get as much socked away as possible with no long-term proactive plan to mitigate or fix what I would term the worst financial crisis in the history of the world. This feeling of dread beneath the celebration of the recent stock market highs insinuates itself into every sinew and tissue of our society; and the result, is a society who has forgotten its virtue and its values and has chosen rather to render for processing what cattle are left as soon as possible. I would postulate that this is the proximate cause of our willingness to tolerate the criminal activities of our Federal government and the endless wars it has started; thinking –of course– what matter does it make at this point anyway since it will all be falling down around our heads at some time uncertain.  We will get the tyranny we tolerate.

Sobering Numbers

CFR: Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault

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CFR Headquarters located in the former Harold Pratt House in New York City

The Liberal Delusions That Provoked Putin

Excellent article from the CFR below with great detail and timeline. However, a few ugly facts were glossed over or omitted. Obama is currently planning another overt attack on Syria. Obviously, Obama and team didn’t learn the first time Putin pulled their chestnuts out of the fire. US/NATO used tried and true operation Gladio techniques to destabilize Ukraine’s democratically elected government. The US gave Russia assurances –which it broke– that they would not move NATO one more inch to the east after the fall of the USSR. There is NO spreading of democracy by the USA or NATO. This is a geopolitical move to isolate and marginalize Russia according to the Brzezinski Doctrine not to spread democracy. The IMF will use the debt to asset strip Ukraine and the threat of withholding additional funds to completely control Ukraine. Also, I read from certain whistle-blowers that it was the US/NATO who provided the snipers who shot both the Ukraine authorities and the protestors killing many to foment the civil war. Kiev is currently indiscriminately bombing innocent civilian populations of mostly Russian speaking people in East Ukraine.

CFR: Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault

Additional NFO:

Asset-Stripping Ukraine

Crisis in Ukraine

Can Ukraine Escape IMF trap?

 

What Capitalism is not

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by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | August 22, 2014

Just a reminder … capitalism is NOT crony capitalism or corporatism. Crony capitalism and corporatism are in fact a form of fascism not capitalism.  For capitalism to operate effectively, there must be free markets. When corporations cozy up to the government to get special favors or pass laws to limit their competition, you have a merger of corporations and the state which is fascism. Even though central banks are corporations and privately held, they have achieved the ultimate merger with the state. They have inserted a straw directly into the blood of their host and can drink freely engorging themselves while the body suffers.

Asset-Stripping Ukraine

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by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | August 20, 2014

Let the ass-raping begin … anyone who has studied the history of the IMF fully realizes and can easily recognize the IMF’s tried and true method of operation when they see it. BTW, the IMF is a tool of the ‘Predominant Power Structure’ which controls the US State Department, Geopolitics and media. Our friendly bankers at the IMF come bearing false gifts of good tidings & money to help needy countries; only to load them up with massive debts that they can never, ever repay. Once they can’t pay back the first traunch, the fun begins. To get more money to help them out of an even more desperate situation, the host country –in this case Ukraine– must then turn over the control of their country to their new money masters at the IMF. History shows that a large portion of the funds go to the private Swiss bank accounts of the heads of state of the host country and rarely to the stated purpose: people or infrastructure. Bottom line is that the bankers create money out of nothing and then use this money as a tool to take control and then asset-strip third-world countries across the globe. This my friends is how the sausage of US Foreign policy is really made. If you don’t have a clue, get a clue. If you can’t afford a clue rent one from me. Do your homework and quit falling for every 10 second headline spewing from the mouths of the gatekeeper press.

Additional Information  …

Who the International Aid Agencies Serve
BFP Exclusive- “The EU and IMF Rape of Ukraine Agriculture”

William Engdahl | August 20, 2014 Ukraine’s rogue regime lifts the ban on sale of farm land and to open its rich agriculture to Monsanto, DuPont & the GMO agribusiness cartel.
Ukraine Crisis Continues — Paul Craig Roberts | August 20, 2014
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (Book) — December 27, 2005 by John Perkins


John Perkins “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”Extended Interview 2008

 

Crisis in Ukraine

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by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | August 17, 2014

Who created the crisis in Ukraine? The US Government did by pushing $5 billion of your tax dollars into US Government backed NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) whose purpose was to covertly infiltrate and destabilize the democratically elected government in Ukraine; by supporting the Neo-Nazis in Ukraine as our proxy army (terrorist group). See Operation Gladio; by providing snipers who shot both the Ukrainian government police force and the protestors to continue to foment civil unrest; by installing our own puppet government into Ukraine.   After the collapse of the USSR, the US promised Russia that we would not move NATO one inch further east. We, of course, have broken this guarantee to Russia. What are our plans? To continue the encirclement of Russia by NATO and to asset-strip Ukraine using IMF loans that Ukraine can never pay back.

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Supplemental NFO (3/26/2023)

Capitalism

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by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | August 17, 2014

There is nothing wrong with free market capitalism –capitalism is after all, an unstoppable force of nature– but when the markets are monopolized and controlled by large corporations with the help of the government, you no longer have free market capitalism; you have crony capitalism, which is a problem. We can witness crony capitalism at work on Wall Street, in Central Banking, Big Pharma, the Military-Industrial Complex and in other segments of the US economy … if we care to look.

“Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.” — Benito Mussolini

Opus 009: The Financial Rabbit-Hole…

by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com |Original date: December 27, 2012

Debbie Downer (Debbie Reynolds)

Debbie Downer (Debbie Reynolds)

Not trying to be Debbie Downer here but a friend is someone who will tell you if your house is on fire and it is.  The question is do you want the red pill or the blue pill?

“You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.  You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. Remember — all I am offering is the truth, nothing more.”

If you took the red pill, here’s your updated Joe Friday moment…”Just the facts ma’am…”

The US National debt is what is usually reported in the news media but this is just the tip of the financial iceberg that lurks beneath the churning financial sea upon which 313 million Americans bet their futures.  Everyone has an uneasy feeling about an impending financial Armageddon rather than facing fact and reality we choose to believe in magic…that someone has a magic bullet or a solution that will save the day.  But there is no magic.  We are on uncharted waters and unfortunately the news is much worse than is reported.  Let’s take a look beneath the churning waters to take measure of what awaits us and why.

First a few sobering facts the news media are hesitant to report:

Balance Sheet (11/26/13):

  • -US National Debt:  $17 trillion
  • -US Unfunded Liabilities: $127 trillion
  • -Total Liabilities: $144 trillion
  • -Total National Assets: $106 trillion

Net Worth: Negative $38 Trillion

Income Statement (11/26/13):

  • -US Federal Tax Revenue: $2.8 Trillion
  • -US Federal Spending: $3.5 Trillion

Annual Net Income (deficit): Negative $ 0.7 Trillion

Insolvency is the inability of a debtor to pay their debt…

  1. Cash flow insolvency involves a lack of liquidity to pay debts as they fall due.
  2. Balance sheet insolvency involves having negative net assets—where liabilities exceed assets. Insolvency is not a synonym for bankruptcy, which is a determination of insolvency made by a court of law with resulting legal orders intended to resolve the insolvency.

The Net Worth of the US is actually much worse than the figures above when the debt of the state, local, personal, banks are added into the mix.  To fund all the excessive spending and promising, the Federal Reserve continues to create more debt to keep this financial fantasy going just a few days more having no real solution at hand.  In the meantime, the US Dollar is losing its place as the world’s reserve currency which is estimated to reduce the living standard of the US by 40% once this trend completes.

At this point, you might say that things can’t get much worse but they do.  The World-Wide derivatives bubble is currently sitting at an estimated $1.5 Quadrillion or $1,500 Trillion and 80% of these are interest rate swaps.  World-wide GDP is only about $70 trillion.  Why is the interest rate swap so important?  Because as the interest rates go up the bonds go down and most of the major banks would be insolvent if the bonds they hold lost value.  This is the real reason that the Fed is keeping the interest rates low.

In the economy of the 60s – 80s we would have let troubled banks go bust but we have allowed them to get “too big to fail”.  They are too big to fail because if they did fail, it would bring down the entire world economy.   How did they get so big?  It is a direct result of the repeal of the Glass–Steagall Act in 1999.  The Glass-Steagall Act was enacted in 1933 to limit commercial bank securities activities and affiliations between commercial banks and securities firms.  In short it was a wall of separation between commercial and investment banking.  The 1999 repeal permitted Wall Street investment banking firms to gamble with their depositors’ money that was held in affiliated commercial banks.

And it gets worse.  The recent Libor interest rate rigging scandal is being called the biggest financial fraud in history and will have major ramifications to the world economy.   This scandal impacted an estimated $800 trillion in transactions and is just getting started.  Karl Denninger of Market-ticker.org calls this, “the largest organized theft ever committed in human history.”

If the banks are responsible for just 1/10 of one percent of the $800 trillion in Libor transactions, it would represent $800 billion in liability to the banks.  The total cost will be much higher, and some banks will go under as a result of litigation and loss of reputation.  Ron Hera of Hera Research  said “Truth is, if you take back more than 1% of what the banks have stolen, they’re busted.”

Then we have the sovereign bond market bubble sitting at a 300 year high, just waiting to burst.

So you can see that it is not a question of if but when one of these bubbles will burst and the whole house of cards come tumbling down.