Debt
Sacrilegious suggestion
“What horrifies me is that you’ve got a financial system designed by neoclassical economists.”
Numerous “proper” economists have attacked the sacrilegious suggestion that it would be possible to reverse the money creation flow by bailing out the debtors first, – not the banks. No wonder the (Swedish) central bank(s) stole into the prestigious Nobel price to reward the subservient economic priesthood.
However, doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results is the definition of “proper” economists, – or was it insanity?
Reading Debunking Economics – The Naked Emperor Dethroned? should be a pleasurable experience for everyone, except for hypnotized chickens of course.
Debunking Economics
System dynamics
Humpty Dumpty
Debtwatch
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Debt: The First 5,000 Years
The Lost Science of Money
Economic Hit Man
Debt: The First 5,000 Years
“Every economics textbook says the same thing: Money was invented to replace onerous and complicated barter system–to relieve ancient people from having to haul their goods to market. The problem with this version of history? There’s not a shred of evidence to support it.”
“Interest rates spiked and the indebted became slaves. And the system perpetuated itself with tremendously violent consequences, with only the rare intervention of kings and churches keeping the system from spiraling out of control.”
Chomsky describes this out of control spiral here and concludes, – ”By shredding the remnants of political democracy, the financial institutions lay the basis for carrying the lethal process forward — as long as their victims are willing to suffer in silence.”
As we saw from “The Lost Science of Money” most economists steadfastly refuse to learn anything from history, – which is all the more peculiar for a “discipline” claiming to be “scientific” and on the outlook for the optimal truth and not a cult worship.
David Graeber.
Debt The First 5,000 Years
Mad Max
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9,3% between deposit and lending rates (IMF)
kiva
P2P lending
Financial suicide?
“What is the rational of Iceland and other debtor countries paying, especially at this time? The proposed agreements would give Britain and Holland more than EU directives would. Iceland has a strong legal case. Social Democratic warnings about the EU seem so overblown that one wonders whether the Althing members are simply hoping to avoid an investigation as to what actually happened to Landsbanki’s Icesave deposits. Britain’s Serous Fraud Office recently became more serious in investigating what happened to the money, and has begun to arrest former directors. So this is a strange time indeed for Iceland’s government to agree to take bad bank debts onto its own balance sheet.” ~ Michael Hudson
To ask (threaten) us to pay for an un-investigated crime scene only shows the psychopathic mentality of the financial terrorists, which by the way are living in luxury under the protection of the “claimants”.
After a 60% No-brainer vote, we might ponder the unholy alliance between bankers and governments, and the simple fact as some blogger pointed out, that, “most Icelandic people hadn’t heard of Icesave until they were supposed to pay it all.”
Austerity for Whom?
In our case, it has been heartwarming to see how the political class selflessly withdrew their investments from the failing banks in the days leading up to the meltdown
Although they do not deny having superior knowledge, in no way did they use their insights to their own advantage.
Governments everywhere are Of, By, and For their People.
The Cost of Economic Hubris
Central Bank’s “Technical” Bankruptcy 175
Landsbanki 122
Arion (Kaupþing) 46
Icesave 35
Íslandsbanki 28
Total: 530 miljarðar ~ $ 4.4 billion ~ € 3? billion
Somehow these numbers do not reflect the priorities propagated by the powerful and moneyed interests.
same o’ same o’
ARVE Error: need id and provider
Revisionist History
CONFIDENTIAL (get involved?)
CONFIDENTIAL (billion usd loan)
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN (coalition saved?)
CONFIDENTIAL (energy tax)
Most Censored 2009-2010
The free and hard-hitting western press, the forth estate and all that B.S., has totally “missed” this: Global Plans to Replace the Dollar.
“The cycle supporting a permanent US war economy appears to be almost over. Once the dollar cannot flood central banks and no one buys US treasury bonds, the American global military empire collapses. The impact on daily living for the US population could be severe.”
“The United States tells debtor economies to sell off their public utilities and natural resources, raise their interest rates and increase taxes while gutting their social safety nets to squeeze out money to pay creditors. ”
“When Mr. Geithner put on his serious face and told an audience at Peking University in early June that he believed in a “strong dollar” and China’s US investments therefore were safe and sound, he was greeted with derisive laughter.”
It may be helpful if “Geithner can show us some arithmetic,” said Yu. “We need to know how the U.S. government can achieve this objective.”
Referring to the Federal Reserve “as the world’s biggest junk investor,” and to Chairman Ben S. Bernanke as “helicopter Ben,” Yu said the Fed has dropped “tons of money from the sky since the subprime crisis.”
If the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO are but drawers in the US Treasury, what does that mean for an Icelandic Finance Minister of the left freaking kind who pusses their neocon economic theories (confirmed by a typewriter) culminating the absurdity by speaking at Goldman Sachs meat. Are we insane or just simple farm-folks.
Chris Hedges, The American Empire Is Bankrupt
Michael Hudson, De-Dollarization: The Yekaterinburg Turning Point
Fred Weir, Iran and Russia Nip at US Global Dominance
Lyubov Pronina, Medvedev Shows Off Sample Coin of New ‘World Currency’ at G-8
Edmund Conway, UN Wants New Global Currency to Replace Dollar
Jose Arturo Cardenas, Latin American Leftists Tackle Dollar with New Currency
Björk’s Open Letter to the Members of Parliament
” MEMBERS OF THE PARLIAMENT! WE ICELANDERS ASK YOU FOR A
TRANSPARENT, OPEN DISCUSSION AND RECONSIDERATION
CONCERNING THE SELLING OF THE ACCESS TO OUR NATURAL
RESOURCES !
In two weeks Magma Energy Sweden AB could become the biggest shareholder of HS Orka. The company would then have access to some of our most important natural resources for the next 65 years, with an optional extension for another 65 years. 130 years! Is this in accordance with the laws that state only the Icelandic government should have the right to harness and govern the natural resources of Iceland?
Shouldn’t we ask for an investigation of this deal and get a report on the business exchange concerning our resources, as we got a report on the banks?
Shouldn’t the nation be able to decide for itself if it is willing to sell off it’s natural resources, by means of a law change to enable a national referendum?
One of the IMF’s suggestions is that Iceland should open up access to it’s natural resources to foreigners. According to the letter of intent signed by the government last April, it seems that those suggestions will be followed. Are we thus going to use our nature in this way to pay off the Icesave-debts of those few Icelandic venture capitalists?
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Allegedly the Magma deal is about the benefits of foreign investment. How does that compute with the fact that 70% of the purchase price is financed with a local bullet-loan with collateral in the shares?
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Is there anything that guarantees jobs will be created in Iceland through this deal?
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In the future, water will probably be the most valuable resource in the world. Will the deal with Magma Energy possibly set a legal precedent, and be used in the future to enforce the sale of more natural resources?
What will our grandchildren think of the deals we’re making now? “
Open Letter to the Members of Parliament (full text)
Petition to the Government
” I urge the authorities to stop the sale of HS Orka and for Alþingi to hold a national referendum on the ownership and the utilisation of our energy resources. ”
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It’s Oh (Not) So Quiet. More than 16,000 people have already signed.
Mapping this onto the UK and US census, this would mean more than 3.3 and 16 million signatures respectively.
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Denial-of-service attack?
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Public Services International -Privatisation in the energy sector (pdf)
Freedom of establishment for companies and abuse of rights in EU/EEA law – Energy policy
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Oh my God, the holy trinity of “free” market economics: growth, (foreign) investment and job creation (lol) is at risk!
By the way, we are living and paying for a disgraced profession (one of many), bought and payed for by the likes of the current vulture.
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What we are seeing now is an “operation” of suppressing the truth and splitting hairs.
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” Who owns Magma Energy? Have MPs and Ministers seen and studied the list of shareholders? If not – how dare they sell valuable assets and rights of usage of the Nations natural resources to complete strangers, men without any reference at all? ” – Lara Hanna
Vulture Capitalism
After a successful spell of Shock Doctrine, the Vultures flock to our shores in all shapes, forms and disguises.
Our own Vultures either attack or welcome them according to their own Vulture interests. Foreign investment in a “free” market system is paramount. To hell with the fact that we can’t pay “our” current debt, lets borrow some more money. We can’t save our selfs without more, without more “stuff” we suffer from irritability, insomnia, depression, anorexia, you name it.
What can we sell, how can we prostitute our selfs, we must satisfy our addiction for more, more, yes for the golden sustainable and endless growth.
Yes, our next fix will come from: casinos, money laundering, destroying our natural resources, and inviting “Blackwater” to use our airspace to prepare for the next war. Sure, our daughters could do with some money.
Vulture Capitalism
Keiser Report:
No.23 Greg Palast @gregpalast.com
No.28 Helen Skopis @Athens International