Category Archives: Economics

Who is the Boss?

by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | January 1, 2015

Basel_-_Bank_für_internationalen_Zahlungsausgleich1

FSB & BIS building (shaped like a boot) in Basel, Switzerland.

In 2008, we bailed out the banks with GW Bush’s TARP. Now we are set to BAIL-IN the banks. What that means is that if the banks need the money in your checking or savings account, they can just take it. You are in effect a creditor loaning your money to the banks when you make a deposit into one of the too big to fail banks and they can just take it if they need it. And what is worse, you are not first in line as a creditor to get paid back when and if they have the money. They will first pay off their derivatives obligations and if there is any money left –unlikely–you can have that. But with $303 trillion in exposure on derivatives amongst these US too big to fail banks, there may be no money left to pay for the money they took from your bank account. This is a bail-in, not a bail-out. But on what legal authority?

Citigroup Wrote the US Spending Bill - side by side view

Citigroup Wrote the US Spending Bill – side by side view

Your Democrats and your Republicans hid this provision which was actually written by Citigroup not by Congress on page 615 of the 1,603 page spending bill they passed last month. Government Psyop: “We wouldn’t want another government shutdown now would we?”

So how did the Cyprus-style bail-in come to America? Here’s how it works… The FSB (Financial Stability Board) writes a white paper and takes it across the hall to the BIS (Bank for International Settlements) both located in the same building shaped like a boot in Basel, Switzerland. The BIS and the G20 then rubber stamp this recommendation and the vassal countries like the USA then pass it into law without consultation with you, the sovereign citizen. So if you want to know who’s boss, it ain’t you pally.

“If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.”

–George Orwell

Carroll Quigley in “Tragedy and Hope”…

“The Power of financial capitalism had a far reaching plan, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalistic fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the system was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world’s central banks, which were themselves private corporations.”

Letter to Col. Edward Mandell House (21 November 1933); as quoted in F.D.R.: His Personal Letters, 1928-1945, edited by Elliott Roosevelt (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1950), pg. 373:

“The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson — and I am not wholly excepting the Administration of W. W. The country is going through a repetition of Jackson’s fight with the Bank of the United States — only on a far bigger and broader basis.”

Additional Reading:

Interesting to note that Basel, Switzerland is also the home of Novartis AG, a Pharmaceutical company, but not just any pharmaceutical company: Novartis International AG is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland, ranking number one in sales among the world-wide industry in 2013.  According to Bloomberg, in 2009 “the CDC agreed to pay London-based Glaxo and Novartis, based in Basel, Switzerland, more than $415 million for adjuvants that could be added to the swine flu vaccines, according to a July 13 statement”.

The Times They Are A-Changin’

Now granted not all children are happy or even have the opportunity for happiness; and those that do are not happy all the time, but when I look back on my childhood, most of my memories are of happiness and joy about everything. I had no balance sheet or income statement. I owed no taxes or bills and was completely unaware of world-events or problems that might impact me. I was focused on my immediate emotional, physical and intellectual –as they were—transactions with my local environment. And now as a Grandfather, I can see this same joy in my grandkids and I just cannot find the words to express my gratitude, thankfulness and happiness just to get the opportunity to see them play and interact with their environment as I once did. This represents a profound renewal for me and a chance to remember my sweeter, more innocent times when all manner of things could bring me joy.

So today, we as a nation and we as a global village, will soon face –what will be in my opinion– the greatest threat to humanity since records have been written. There is no clear exit plan or strategy that can completely avoid this; even for those who have made and accumulated massive fortunes by corrupting the system we all depend on, have no guarantee of a prosperous or even tolerable future when the last feather is plucked from that golden-egg-laying goose. So this is Mother Nature’s way of saying she has had enough corruption and now it is time to slough off the dead and decaying to bring forth a new system. With few exceptions, history has taught us that new systems are rarely as good or kind as the old ones; it does provide a unique and short opportunity-window for positive change to make a better system; but the system we get is completely dependent on us, and we must learn from our mistakes. So get busy learning and thinking and working on the new system you want, because “The Times They Are A-Changin’” and “The chance won’t come again”.

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin’
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’.

Dishonest Money – Book Review

by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | December 10, 2014

CLEARNFO Rating: 5 / 5 Stars
Dishonest Money: Financing the Road to Ruin
by Joseph Plummer (December 19, 2008)
Note: there is an updated third edition dated 2011
Paperback: 175 pages
Available at Amazon and other book resellers

The information contained in ‘Dishonest Money’ is critical to any accurate understanding of money and banking, period. Having studied these topics for years, I am familiar with most of what Mr. Plummer discusses, but I have yet to see all the disparate pieces of this –sometimes confusing—puzzle come together so nicely in one easy to read and easy to understand book. It is easy andDishonest Mondy understandable because Mr. Plummer takes you step by step in a very thoughtful process meant to communicate not impress. ‘Dishonest Money’ will surly help even the expert clear out a few cobwebs and misunderstandings while being extremely approachable to the novice.

In my view, ‘Dishonest Money’ should be a vital part of any standard curriculum in public / private schools and universities interested in educating their students.   With this knowledge in the hands or rather the minds of the public, the Central bankers would likely never have another restful night’s sleep and would be looking over their shoulders with every step they take.

Other Plummer Books I recommend:

  • Tragedy and Hope 101
  • Leaving the Illusion

Editorial Reviews of ‘Dishonest Money’ …

“An excellent job of condensing a large and complicated topic.”
-G. Edward Griffin, author of The Creature from Jekyll Island

“A great book on the private Federal Reserve…you can’t put it down.”
-Alex Jones, InfoWars.com

“A well-researched, well-written, user-friendly guidebook to how billions of people are being exploited and what we need to do about it. This is a major contribution to what is needed, highly recommended.”
-Foster Gamble, creator of THRIVE

“Understanding the Federal Reserve System has never been easier. A must read!”
-George Shepherd, Republic Magazine

“If someone is new to the subject and wants to get up to speed quickly on the Federal Reserve, Joe Plummer’s book is a great place to start, because he’s made the complicated both clear and concise.”
-Jim Babka, President of Downsize DC

“This could be the most important book you read in your lifetime! Succinct and illuminating, after reading this, you will possess the knowledge of history’s greatest scam. Read this book. Get your family to read this book. I can’t over emphasize this book’s import.”
-Mark Edge, host of Free Talk Live

After reading ‘Dishonest Money’, a good follow on would be G. Edward Griffin’s ‘The Creature from Jekyll Island’

The Creature from Jekyll Island

Below is a video of Mr. Griffin discussing ‘The Creature from Jekyll Island’.

Joe Plummer’s ‘Dishonest Money’ – Now in German (Deutsch)

SUPERCLASS – Book Review

ClearNFO Rating: 2 / 5 Stars
SUPERCLASS: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making
by David Rothkopf  (March 3, 2009
)
Paperback 361 pages
Available at Amazon and other book resellers

Superclass by David Rothkoph On this review, I venture into the world of the establishment to read about the SUPERCLASS in the hope of uncovering some heretofore unknown pearl of wisdom or unexplored fact.  So …  how establishment is Mr. Rothkopf anyway?  Very, with favorable reviews from the likes of Time, The Economist and Joseph E. Stiglitz you can bet Rothkopf is a ‘made-man’ and would be invited to Davos and other elite gatherings.  He is part of the establishment for sure and it is unseemly  important to him that you understand this simple fact ad nauseam.  But more to the point, he is a member of the CFR (Council on Foreign Relations), ex-managing director of Henry A. Kissinger’s Kissinger Associates and was part of the Clinton Administration in 1993 as Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Policy and Development.

If you are looking for facts and new information on the truly elite, your time would be better spent with Carroll Quigley’s The Anglo-American Establishment or one of Anthony C. Sutton’s books than with Rothkopf’s ‘SUPERCLASS’. ‘SUPERCLASS’ in my view is akin to a pleasant vacation with Robin Leach of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.  David Rothkopf is a brilliant writer and very knowledgeable about rich and powerful  but unfortunately, he confuses the wealthy and powerful technocrats who are minding the garden, with the truly elite who control the technocrats.  How this is accomplished is brilliantly exposed in Quigley’s ‘Anglo-American Establishment’.

Lifestyles_of_the_Rich_&_FamousDespite Rothkopf’s obvious intelligence and his establishment credentials, it is clear to me that he has never had the benefit of reading any of Carroll Quigley’s excellent work documenting the real power brokers Quigley called the ‘network’; or if he has, has chosen not to communicate the real sources and methods of the network of control; rather, he seems dazzled by the rich and powerful CEOs and the kings, queens and dictators of the world, not realizing that Quigley’s network need neither money nor title to exert its power and influence as demonstrated by the Milner group, now almost extinct. So what we have with this book is a book not about the ‘Super-duper’ Superclass but a book about their technocrats who manage the estate for the real superclass.

I found this reader-review from Palo Alto on Amazon particularly insightful and common.  Because of Roghkopf’s need to belong to the power-elite, he seems to have missed the very point of his own book:

This book takes a LOT of time to say very little. In summary, here’s what the author takes several hundred pages to tell us:

a) The world is ruled by an informal group of about 6,000 people;
b) I [the author] am one of them! Aren’t I special?
c) I know who the others are—but I’m not going to tell you!
d) They all get together once each year in Davos;
e) Davos is quaint, and has good restaurants, but inadequate lodging; and,
f) Oh, did I forget to tell you? I’M one of the Davos world elite! I AM special!

Had I not read Quigley’s ‘Anglo-America Establishment’, I would likely be subject to the same limited view that we find in SUPERCLASS; that is, I would be without the ability to see past the CEO or Monarch into the real power structure they serve. I call this limited view, the Walled-Garden of History and Politics where the establishment players and the unwashed masses are allowed to play within the walls surrounding the garden as long as there is a tacit agreement to certain unexamined assumptions. The Walled-Garden’s walls are mostly invisible but retain their structure and are created from the assumptions we take for granted as well-established facts and thus most of us including David Rothkopf never take the time to reexamine these assumptions for consistency against Empirical evidence.  For example, there are many misstatements of fact:  J.P. Morgan and Jamie Diamond did not help rescue the financial markets in their day; rather they were both part of the problem and in J.P. Morgan’s case created the problem that he later received credit for solving; and the IMF is not about helping the poor and underdeveloped countries as Rothkopf would have us believe.   And to rescue the SUPERCLASS from all the conspiracy theorists, Rothkopf digs up the discredited Jewish straw man conspiracy by ridiculing the tin foil hat wearers for thinking that the Jews are responsible for the secret societies and hidden groups who really control the world. After all –Rothkopf reasons– Hitler exterminated quite a few of the Jews how silly is it to say then that the Jews are behind this hidden conspiracy? Of course I have never thought the Jews were behind Quigley’s network and no serious open –source investigator has either; so Rothkopf scores an empty point for the establishment. Though many in the original Milner network were Jews, not all were and their Jewishness had nothing to do with their position of power.  A better use of Rothkopf’s time and energy and his great facility with the English language would be to discover the real source and methods used by the ‘Anglo-American Establishment’ and then provide an update on their current intellectual progeny.

BACKCOVER: Each of them is one in a million. They number six thousand on a planet of six billion. They run our governments, our largest corporations, the powerhouses of international finance, the media, world religions, and, from the shadows, the world’s most dangerous criminal and terrorist organizations. They are the global superclass, and they are shaping the history of our time.

Today’s superclass has achieved unprecedented levels of wealth and power. They have globalized more rapidly than any other group. But do they have more in common with one another than with their own countrymen, as nationalist critics have argued? They control globalization more than anyone else. But has their influence fed the growing economic and social inequity that divides the world? What happens behind closeddoor meetings in Davos or aboard corporate jets at 41,000 feet? Conspiracy or collaboration? Deal-making or idle self-indulgence? What does the rise of Asia and Latin America mean for the conventional wisdom that shapes our destinies? Who sets the rules for a group that operates beyond national laws?

Drawn from scores of exclusive interviews and extensive original reporting, Superclass answers all of these questions and more. It draws back the curtain on a privileged society that most of us know little about, even though it profoundly affects our everyday lives. It is the first in-depth examination of the connections between the global communities of leaders who are at the helm of every major enterprise on the planet and control its greatest wealth. And it is an unprecedented examination of the trends within the superclass, which are likely to alter our politics, our institutions, and the shape of the world in which we live.

Who the International Aid Agencies Serve

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

How International Aid Agencies really work 

  1. Country “X” is identified as being financially weak, yet has valuable assets like natural resources or has geopolitical value
  2. Country “X” is then targeted by the USAID, IMF & World Bank for loans.
  3. Representatives are sent into Country “X” to do studies to prove up (by exaggerated estimates) what this or that infrastructure will do for the economy of Country “X”.
  4. This inflated estimate for money is then included as part of a loan request to the bank.  This is the cover.
  5. Loan is committed
  6. Heads of State of Country “X” siphon off much of the money to private bank accounts
  7. Most of the work for the infrastructure improvements goes to well-connected multinational corporations not to local companies.
  8. Country “X” cannot pay loan back
  9. Bank offers additional money to help Country “X” if they will implement “austerity measures” which effectively puts the bankers in charge of running the country.
  10. Country “X”, still cannot make payments on loan.
  11. Bank takes control of assets and natural resources of Country “X”
  12. Bank sells assets, natural resources of Country “X” or provides monopolies to multinational corporations at pennies on the dollar, which still does not satisfy the debt.

NOTE: Much of this is coordinated with the help of the US, CIA, NATO and the EU.  If Country “X” will not go along with the loan, then Operation Gladio is implemented with the aid of NGOs such as NED (National Endowment for Democracy) to destabilize Country “X” for regime change.

STATED GOALS OF IMF, WORLD BANK & USAID:

The IMF is a self-described “organization of 188 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.”

The World Bank’s official goal is the reduction of poverty. According to its Articles of Agreement, all its decisions must be guided by a commitment to the promotion of foreign investment and international trade and to the facilitation of capital investment.

USAID has adopted as its mission statement “to partner to end extreme poverty and to promote resilient, democratic societies while advancing the security and prosperity of the United States.” USAID operates in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.

Read more here:

Confessions of a Monopolist by Frederic C. Howe

by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | November 18, 2014
“Competition is a sin.”  — John D. Rockefeller

Portrait of Frederic C. Howe.

Portrait of Frederic C. Howe.

Through this I learned the explanation of the growth of monopoly in recent years. It is done in this way. The savings of the people, running into the millions, are deposited in the banks, savings institutions and trust companies. The latter enjoy immense powers under their charters. They can do almost anything. Thus entrusted with the people’s money, they are able to use their savings as they wish. The bank is controlled by its directors. They desire to build a railroad, street railway, or consolidate some industries or coal mines. They organize a syndicate among themselves. They secure options on the property. They then arrange to secure a loan on mortgage. On this they issue bonds. These the bank or trust company, which the syndicate really controls, agrees to underwrite, or take off the syndicate’s hands at par, or something below par. On these bonds money is advanced to buy the properties. Then the trust company sells the bonds to its depositors or customers at an advance, while the capital stock of the railroad, street railway, trust or coal monopoly, for which it has paid nothing, is retained by the syndicate. The bank has advanced all of the money used. And this money was earned by the people, the depositors. Then the people, and in many instances the depositors, buy back the bonds for an investment, leaving the cream of the deal in the hands of the syndicate, which is in fact but the officers of the bank who have borrowed from themselves and kept the stock for themselves. The next step is to make the stock valuable. This is done by putting up railroad rates, the price of commodities, of coal, or whatever else the syndicate is operating in. Thus the circle is completed. The people’s money is used to buy properties which are taken in the name of the syndicate, who are really the directors of the bank. Then the properties are consolidated and a lot of water in the form of stock added to the purchase price. Then the people pay again to their own trustees a big profit, by being compelled to pay monopoly prices for the things they consume.

— Confessions of a Monopolist by Frederic C. Howe

Chapter 6, pages 77 – 79
I Enter the Coal Business, Become a Railway Magnate, and Discover the Secret of Monopoly
Approximate date of this writing is 1895

Full Text Here.
 

Wall Street and FDR

Wall Stree and FDRWall Street and FDR by Antony C. Sutton

Franklin D. Roosevelt is frequently described as one of the greatest presidents in American history, remembered for his leadership during the Great Depression and Second World War. Antony Sutton challenges this received wisdom, presenting a controversial but convincing analysis. Based on an extensive study of original documents, he concludes that: * FDR was an elitist who influenced public policy in order to benefit special interests, including his own. * FDR and his Wall Street colleagues were ‘corporate socialists’, who believed in making society work for their own benefit. * FDR believed in business but not free market economics. Sutton describes the genesis of ‘corporate socialism’ – acquiring monopolies by means of political influence – which he characterizes as ‘making society work for the few’. He traces the historical links of the Delano and Roosevelt families to Wall Street, as well as FDR’s own political networks developed during his early career as a financial speculator and bond dealer. The New Deal almost destroyed free enterprise in America, but didn’t adversely affect FDR’s circle of old friends ensconced in select financial institutions and federal regulatory agencies. Together with their corporate allies, this elite group profited from the decrees and programs generated by their old pal in the White House, whilst thousands of small businesses suffered and millions were unemployed. Wall Street and FDR is much more than a fascinating historical and political study. Many contemporary parallels can be drawn to Sutton’s powerful presentation given the recent banking crises and worldwide governments’ bolstering of private institutions via the public purse.

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The Creature from Jekyll Island

I‘ve seen G Edward Griffin’s lecture on the Federal Reserve called the ‘Creature from Jekyll Island’ when he was much older than in the  video below.  This video is about twice as long as the one Ive seen so may contain some additional detail. I’ve posted it here just in case you are not aware of this very important information on how the Federal Reserve was conceived.  He has other great videos and books if you are interested.  Enjoy.

The Creature from Jekyll Island

War is Big Business

by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | November 09, 2014

money-bag-400301_150War is big business for the military-industrial complex and the bankers. The USA is the world’s largest arms manufacturer and exporter.

Below is a list of major conflicts from the October Revolution in 1917 –which was financed by U.S. Bankers– to 2014.   After a small group of private bankers hit the jackpot and were granted a monopoly over the U.S. money supply in 1913, they wasted no time financing both sides of the Bolshevik Revolution, WWI, WWII, the Vietnam war and others.   Yes, your tax dollars and American bankers funded the weapons used to kill your sons and daughters.   When will enough be enough?

US Military Spending

US Military Spending

Business is good and the war machine has been busy, see below …

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Coincidence?

by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | November 03, 2014

In 1913, both the 16th Amendment was adopted and the Federal Reserve act was enacted under a Progressive President.  Coincidence?

The Sixteenth Amendment  to the United States Constitution allows the Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states or basing it on the United States Census.

The Federal Reserve Act (ch. 6, 38 Stat. 251, enacted December 23, 1913, 12 U.S.C. ch. 3) is an Act of Congress that created and set up the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States of America, and granted it the legal authority to issue Federal Reserve Notes (now commonly known as the U.S. Dollar) and Federal Reserve Bank Notes as legal tender.

Woodrow Wilson was president of the United States from 1913 to 1921 and leader of the Progressive Movement.

President_Woodrow_Wilson_portrait_December_2_1912

“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.” -Woodrow Wilson, after signing the Federal Reserve into existence”

— Woodrow Wilson