June 28, 2011
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has told his fellow countrymen it is their patriotic duty to accept the austerity plan cooked up by the IMF and the EU. If not accepted, Greece will not get the fifth installment of an international bailout, he warned.
“I’m not asking you to listen to outside pressures, I ask that you listen to your soul and your internal patriotic conscience,” Papandreou said.
Greek opposition parties have rejected demands by EU leaders for national unity on the prospect of unemployment, a lower standard of living, and a massive giveaway of national resources.
“You cannot terrorize your MPs by referring to patriotism because if there is something we should be proud of today it’s that Greeks have risen up from their indifference and are defending, as is their duty, patriotism by the presence in the streets,” said Alexis Tsipras, leader of the leftist party SYRIZA.
Opinion polls indicate three quarters of Greeks oppose tax rises, spending cuts, globalist privatization, and the selling off of national treasures.
On Tuesday, Greek unions shut down government services, brought public transport to a standstill and grounded flights. Unions began their fourth general strike of the year at midnight.
Greece’s biggest union, the General Confederation of Greek Workers, has characterized the austerity measures as a “mafia-style rescue.”
“This proposed austerity package will only make things worse. It will mean we are pushed deeper into recession and will never pay back our debts,” Zoe Lanara, the union’s international relations secretary, told The Independent.
As former Wall Street economist Michael Hudson notes, the so-called bailout will not help the Greek people, it will enrich the banks at the expense of the people.
“The Greek economy will not end up with the proceeds of any ECB ’bailout.’ The banks will get the money. They would like to turn around and lend it out afresh to the buyers of the land, monopolies and other properties that Greece is being told to privatize,” he writes. “Is this not like military tribute? … The bankers are trying to get a windfall by using the debt hammer to achieve what warfare did in times past.”
Papandreou and the political elite expect the Greek people to acquiesce to what amount to a military attack on the country by the financial elite. Instead, unions and thousands of protesters will close down the country and continue to resist eurozone enslavement and the theft of their heritage by international finance.On Tuesday, Greek unions shut down government services, brought public transport to a standstill and grounded flights. Unions began their fourth general strike of the year at midnight.
Greece’s biggest union, the General Confederation of Greek Workers, has characterized the austerity measures as a “mafia-style rescue.”
“This proposed austerity package will only make things worse. It will mean we are pushed deeper into recession and will never pay back our debts,” Zoe Lanara, the union’s international relations secretary, told The Independent.
As former Wall Street economist Michael Hudson notes, the so-called bailout will not help the Greek people, it will enrich the banks at the expense of the people.
“The Greek economy will not end up with the proceeds of any ECB ’bailout.’ The banks will get the money. They would like to turn around and lend it out afresh to the buyers of the land, monopolies and other properties that Greece is being told to privatize,” he writes. “Is this not like military tribute? … The bankers are trying to get a windfall by using the debt hammer to achieve what warfare did in times past.”
Papandreou and the political elite expect the Greek people to acquiesce to what amount to a military attack on the country by the financial elite. Instead, unions and thousands of protesters will close down the country and continue to resist eurozone enslavement and the theft of their heritage by international finance.
Showing posts with label banks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label banks. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Europe pushes banks to share Greek bail-out pain
Jun 22, 2011
By Gernot Heller and Lionel Laurent
Reuters
Source: Yahoo News
BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) - European governments summoned banks and insurers to urgent meetings on Wednesday, pressing them to share the cost of a second Greek bailout with taxpayers and avoid a market meltdown.
Germany invited private creditors to a meeting, a letter seen by Reuters showed, to discuss their voluntary support for the debt-struck country. Other euro zone countries, including France and the Netherlands, held similar discussions.
"Bondholders should play a substantial role in averting a Greek insolvency ... we're inviting you to a meeting to discuss all options of a concrete contribution," the letter sent from the German Finance Ministry said.
The rollover of a bond at the time it matures is one possibility banks could agree to, the letter said.
And France also began talks with representatives from the financial industry about the plan, a source familiar with the situation said, adding that efforts were being coordinated on a pan-European level.
Euro zone governments are discussing a second bailout package for Greece that would run from 2011 to 2014 and could amount to 120 billion euros ($172 billion), including up to 30 billion euros from the private sector.
There is rising pressure in countries like Germany, Finland and the Netherlands for aggressive steps to force banks to share the burden of a new aid package, after taxpayers coughed up all of the money in the previous round.
"The process will be voluntary, but it is clear that all the financial institutions have an interest in the stability of the euro zone and Greece," a French government source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The Dutch Ministry of Finance was talking on Wednesday with the country's banks, insurers and pension funds about the extension of debt to Greece, a source familiar with the matter said. The source declined to give further details.
But any suggestion that governments are forcing the banks to pay could be viewed by credit rating agencies as effectively a Greek default or restructuring. That could trigger further catastrophic debt downgrades.
German chancellor Angela Merkel last week softened her tough position on the banks in a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and the two agreed that any private sector support should be purely voluntary.
SHADES OF VOLUNTARY
In exchange for their support, German lenders have now demanded "additional incentives" in the form of state guarantees, and the talks will in all likelihood focus on the details of how to make this work.
"It's a matter of semantics. What the EU finance ministers want to avoid is a mandatory rollover because of the implications that might have for Greece's ratings," said Simon Adamson, a senior analyst at Creditsights.
"It has to be voluntary, but there are different shades of voluntary," he said, adding that banks in many countries were in a weak position to negotiate after receiving billions of euros in state support at the peak of the credit crisis.
Private investors are estimated to hold some two-thirds of Greece's approximately 270 billion euros of sovereign bonds. Roughly 90 billion euros of that is held by insurance companies, pension funds and investors such as hedge funds.
Banks in Germany themselves have quantified their exposure at between 10 and 20 billion euros, while insurers estimate their holdings at 6 billion euros, just a fraction of their total invested assets.
Even if Greece defaulted, the impairment charges for banks might not be devastating, some analysts say. However, a Greek default would send markets into a tailspin and spark fears countries such as Spain and Italy are next in line.
Companies including the Gulf's Dubai World, which rescheduled its $25 billion debt pile last year, forced outliers to comply through a deal that applied to all if a certain threshold of creditors agreed to it.
But such tactics to coerce bondholders into agreeing a deal normally used in a debt restructuring cannot now be used. Under the current plans, bondholders will be asked to agree to renew any paper they hold when it expires.
And the terms have yet to be decided.
"There is still no proposal. It's a very tough evaluation to make," Corrado Passera, chief executive of Italy's biggest retail bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, told reporters.
($1=.6971 Euro)
(Additional reporting by Douwe Miedema and Sarah White in London, Gilbert Kreijger in Amsterdam, Ian Simpson in Milan and Jean-Baptiste Vey and Emmanuel Jarry in Paris; Writing by Douwe Miedema; Editing by Louise Heavens, Alexander Smith and Jon Loades-Carter)
By Gernot Heller and Lionel Laurent
Reuters
Source: Yahoo News
BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) - European governments summoned banks and insurers to urgent meetings on Wednesday, pressing them to share the cost of a second Greek bailout with taxpayers and avoid a market meltdown.
Germany invited private creditors to a meeting, a letter seen by Reuters showed, to discuss their voluntary support for the debt-struck country. Other euro zone countries, including France and the Netherlands, held similar discussions.
"Bondholders should play a substantial role in averting a Greek insolvency ... we're inviting you to a meeting to discuss all options of a concrete contribution," the letter sent from the German Finance Ministry said.
The rollover of a bond at the time it matures is one possibility banks could agree to, the letter said.
And France also began talks with representatives from the financial industry about the plan, a source familiar with the situation said, adding that efforts were being coordinated on a pan-European level.
Euro zone governments are discussing a second bailout package for Greece that would run from 2011 to 2014 and could amount to 120 billion euros ($172 billion), including up to 30 billion euros from the private sector.
There is rising pressure in countries like Germany, Finland and the Netherlands for aggressive steps to force banks to share the burden of a new aid package, after taxpayers coughed up all of the money in the previous round.
"The process will be voluntary, but it is clear that all the financial institutions have an interest in the stability of the euro zone and Greece," a French government source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The Dutch Ministry of Finance was talking on Wednesday with the country's banks, insurers and pension funds about the extension of debt to Greece, a source familiar with the matter said. The source declined to give further details.
But any suggestion that governments are forcing the banks to pay could be viewed by credit rating agencies as effectively a Greek default or restructuring. That could trigger further catastrophic debt downgrades.
German chancellor Angela Merkel last week softened her tough position on the banks in a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and the two agreed that any private sector support should be purely voluntary.
SHADES OF VOLUNTARY
In exchange for their support, German lenders have now demanded "additional incentives" in the form of state guarantees, and the talks will in all likelihood focus on the details of how to make this work.
"It's a matter of semantics. What the EU finance ministers want to avoid is a mandatory rollover because of the implications that might have for Greece's ratings," said Simon Adamson, a senior analyst at Creditsights.
"It has to be voluntary, but there are different shades of voluntary," he said, adding that banks in many countries were in a weak position to negotiate after receiving billions of euros in state support at the peak of the credit crisis.
Private investors are estimated to hold some two-thirds of Greece's approximately 270 billion euros of sovereign bonds. Roughly 90 billion euros of that is held by insurance companies, pension funds and investors such as hedge funds.
Banks in Germany themselves have quantified their exposure at between 10 and 20 billion euros, while insurers estimate their holdings at 6 billion euros, just a fraction of their total invested assets.
Even if Greece defaulted, the impairment charges for banks might not be devastating, some analysts say. However, a Greek default would send markets into a tailspin and spark fears countries such as Spain and Italy are next in line.
Companies including the Gulf's Dubai World, which rescheduled its $25 billion debt pile last year, forced outliers to comply through a deal that applied to all if a certain threshold of creditors agreed to it.
But such tactics to coerce bondholders into agreeing a deal normally used in a debt restructuring cannot now be used. Under the current plans, bondholders will be asked to agree to renew any paper they hold when it expires.
And the terms have yet to be decided.
"There is still no proposal. It's a very tough evaluation to make," Corrado Passera, chief executive of Italy's biggest retail bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, told reporters.
($1=.6971 Euro)
(Additional reporting by Douwe Miedema and Sarah White in London, Gilbert Kreijger in Amsterdam, Ian Simpson in Milan and Jean-Baptiste Vey and Emmanuel Jarry in Paris; Writing by Douwe Miedema; Editing by Louise Heavens, Alexander Smith and Jon Loades-Carter)
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Facts About The History Of Central Banks In The US That Our Children Are No Longer Taught In School
End of The American Dream
Today, most American students don’t even understand what a central bank is, much less that the battle over central banks is one of the most important themes in U.S. history. The truth is that our nation was birthed in the midst of a conflict over taxation and the control of our money. Central banking has played a key role in nearly all of the wars that America has fought. Presidents that resisted the central bankers were shot, while others shamefully caved in to their demands. Our current central bank is called the Federal Reserve and it is about as “federal” as Federal Express is. The truth is that it is a privately-owned financial institution that is designed to ensnare the U.S. government in an endlessly expanding spiral of debt from which there is no escape. The Federal Reserve caused the Great Depression and the Federal Reserve is at the core of our current economic crisis. None of these things is taught to students in America’s schools today.
In 2010, young Americans are taught a sanitized version of American history that doesn’t even make any sense. As with so many things, if you want to know what really happened just follow the money.
The following are 41 facts about the history of central banks in the United States that every American should know….
#1 As a result of the Seven Years War with France, King George III of England was deeply in debt to the central bankers of England.
#2 In an attempt to raise revenue, King George tried to heavily tax the colonies in America.
#3 In 1763, Benjamin Franklin was asked by the Bank of England why the colonies were so prosperous, and this was his response….
“That is simple. In the colonies we issue our own money. It is called Colonial Script. We issue it in proper proportion to the demands of trade and industry to make the products pass easily from the producers to the consumers.
In this manner, creating for ourselves our own paper money, we control its purchasing power, and we have no interest to pay to no one.”
#4 The Currency Act of 1764 ordered the American Colonists to stop printing their own money. Colonial script (the money the colonists were using at the time) was to be exchanged at a two-to-one ratio for “notes” from the Bank of England.
#5 Later, in his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin explained the impact that this currency change had on the colonies….
“In one year, the conditions were so reversed that the era of prosperity ended, and a depression set in, to such an extent that the streets of the Colonies were filled with unemployed.”
#6 In fact, Benjamin Franklin stated unequivocally in his autobiography that the power to issue currency was the primary reason for the Revolutionary War….
“The colonies would gladly have borne the little tax on tea and other matters had it not been that England took away from the colonies their money, which created unemployment and dissatisfaction. The inability of the colonists to get power to issue their own money permanently out of the hands of George III and the international bankers was the prime reason for the Revolutionary War.”
#7 Gouverneur Morris, one of the authors of the U.S. Constitution, solemnly warned us in 1787 that we must not allow the bankers to enslave us….
“The rich will strive to establish their dominion and enslave the rest. They always did. They always will… They will have the same effect here as elsewhere, if we do not, by (the power of) government, keep them in their proper spheres.”
#8 Unfortunately, those warning us about the dangers of a central bank did not prevail. After an aborted attempt to establish a central bank in the 1780s, the First Bank of the United States was established in 1791. Alexander Hamilton (who had close ties to the Rothschild banking family) cut a deal under which he would support the move of the nation’s capital to Washington D.C. in exchange for southern support for the establishment of a central bank.
#9 George Washington signed the bill creating the First Bank of the United States on April 25, 1791. It was given a 20 year charter.
#10 In the first five years of the First Bank of the United States, the U.S. government borrowed 8.2 million dollars and prices rose by 72 percent.
#11 The opponents of central banking were not pleased. In 1798, Thomas Jefferson said the following….
“I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution – taking from the federal government their power of borrowing.”
#12 In 1811, the charter of the First Bank of the United States was not renewed.
#13 One year later, the War of 1812 erupted. The British and the Americans were at war once again.
#14 In 1814, the British captured and burned Washington D.C., but the Americans subsequently experienced key victories at New York and at New Orleans.
#15 The Treaty of Ghent, officially ending the war, was ratified by the U.S. Senate on February 16th, 1815 and was ratified by the British on February 18th, 1815.
#16 In 1816, another central bank was created. The Second Bank of the United States was established and was given a 20 year charter.
#17 Andrew Jackson, who became president in 1828, was determined to end the power of the central bankers over the United States.
#18 In fact, in 1832, Andrew Jackson’s re-election slogan was “JACKSON and NO BANK!”
#19 On July 10th, 1832 President Jackson said the following about the danger of a central bank….
“It is not our own citizens only who are to receive the bounty of our government. More than eight millions of the stock of this bank are held by foreigners… is there no danger to our liberty and independence in a bank that in its nature has so little to bind it to our country? … Controlling our currency, receiving our public moneys, and holding thousands of our citizens in dependence… would be more formidable and dangerous than a military power of the enemy.”
#20 In 1835, President Jackson completely paid off the U.S. national debt. He is the only U.S. president that has ever been able to accomplish this.
#21 President Jackson vetoed the attempt to renew the charter of the Second Bank of the United States in 1836.
#22 Richard Lawrence attempted to shoot Andrew Jackson, but he survived. It is alleged that Lawrence said that “wealthy people in Europe” had put him up to it.
#23 The Civil War was another opportunity for the central bankers of Europe to get their hooks into America. In fact, it is claimed that Abraham Lincoln actually contacted Rothschild banking interests in Europe in an attempt to finance the war effort. Reportedly, the Rothschilds were demanding very high interest rates and Lincoln balked at paying them.
#24 Instead, Lincoln pushed through the Legal Tender Act of 1862. Under that act, the U.S. government issued $449,338,902 of debt-free money.
#25 This debt-free money was known as “Greenbacks” because of the green ink that was used.
#26 The central bankers of Europe were not pleased. The following quote appeared in the London Times in 1865….
“If this mischievous financial policy, which has its origin in North America, shall become endurated down to a fixture, then that Government will furnish its own money without cost. It will pay off debts and be without debt. It will have all the money necessary to carry on its commerce. It will become prosperous without precedent in the history of the world. The brains, and wealth of all countries will go to North America. That country must be destroyed or it will destroy every monarchy on the globe.”
#27 Abraham Lincoln was shot dead by John Wilkes Booth on April 14th, 1865.
#28 After the Civil War, all money in the United States was created by bankers buying U.S. government bonds in exchange for bank notes.
#29 James A. Garfield became president in 1881, and he was a staunch opponent of the banking powers. In 1881 he said the following….
“Whoever controls the volume of money in our country is absolute master of all industry and commerce…and when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate.”
#30 President Garfield was shot about two weeks later by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2nd, 1881. He died from medical complications on September 19th, 1881.
#31 In 1906, the U.S. stock market was setting all kinds of records. However, in March 1907 the U.S. stock market absolutely crashed. It is alleged that elite New York bankers were responsible.
#32 In addition, in 1907 J.P. Morgan circulated rumors that a major New York bank had gone bankrupt. This caused a massive run on the banks. In turn, the banks started recalling all of their loans. The panic of 1907 resulted in a congressional investigation that ended up concluding that a central bank was “necessary” so that these kinds of panics would never happen again.
#33 It took a few years, but the international bankers finally got their central bank in 1913.
#34 Congress voted on the Federal Reserve Act on December 22nd, 1913 between the hours of 1:30 AM and 4:30 AM.
#35 A significant portion of Congress was either sleeping at the time or was already at home with their families celebrating the holidays.
#36 The president that signed the law that created the Federal Reserve, Woodrow Wilson, later sounded like he very much regretted the decision when he wrote the following….
“A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men … [W]e 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 the duress of small groups of dominant men.”
#37 Between 1921 and 1929 the Federal Reserve increased the U.S. money supply by 62 percent. This was the time known as “The Roaring 20s”.
#38 In addition, highly leveraged “margin loans” became very common during this time period.
#39 In October 1929, the New York bankers started calling in these margin loans on a massive scale. This created the initial crash that launched the Great Depression.
#40 Rather than expand the money supply in response to this crisis, the Federal Reserve really tightened it up.
#41 In fact, it was reported that the U.S. money supply contracted by eight billion dollars between 1929 and 1933. That was an extraordinary amount of money in those days. Over one-third of all U.S. banks went bankrupt. The New York bankers were able to buy up other banks and all kinds of other assets for pennies on the dollar.
But are American students being taught any of this today?
Of course not.
In fact, it is a rare student that can even adequately explain what a central bank is.
We have lost so much of what is important about our history.
And you know what they say – those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
It is absolutely critical that we educate as many Americans as possible about what is really going on in our financial system and about why we need to make some truly fundamental changes.
Today, most American students don’t even understand what a central bank is, much less that the battle over central banks is one of the most important themes in U.S. history. The truth is that our nation was birthed in the midst of a conflict over taxation and the control of our money. Central banking has played a key role in nearly all of the wars that America has fought. Presidents that resisted the central bankers were shot, while others shamefully caved in to their demands. Our current central bank is called the Federal Reserve and it is about as “federal” as Federal Express is. The truth is that it is a privately-owned financial institution that is designed to ensnare the U.S. government in an endlessly expanding spiral of debt from which there is no escape. The Federal Reserve caused the Great Depression and the Federal Reserve is at the core of our current economic crisis. None of these things is taught to students in America’s schools today.
In 2010, young Americans are taught a sanitized version of American history that doesn’t even make any sense. As with so many things, if you want to know what really happened just follow the money.
The following are 41 facts about the history of central banks in the United States that every American should know….
#1 As a result of the Seven Years War with France, King George III of England was deeply in debt to the central bankers of England.
#2 In an attempt to raise revenue, King George tried to heavily tax the colonies in America.
#3 In 1763, Benjamin Franklin was asked by the Bank of England why the colonies were so prosperous, and this was his response….
“That is simple. In the colonies we issue our own money. It is called Colonial Script. We issue it in proper proportion to the demands of trade and industry to make the products pass easily from the producers to the consumers.
In this manner, creating for ourselves our own paper money, we control its purchasing power, and we have no interest to pay to no one.”
#4 The Currency Act of 1764 ordered the American Colonists to stop printing their own money. Colonial script (the money the colonists were using at the time) was to be exchanged at a two-to-one ratio for “notes” from the Bank of England.
#5 Later, in his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin explained the impact that this currency change had on the colonies….
“In one year, the conditions were so reversed that the era of prosperity ended, and a depression set in, to such an extent that the streets of the Colonies were filled with unemployed.”
#6 In fact, Benjamin Franklin stated unequivocally in his autobiography that the power to issue currency was the primary reason for the Revolutionary War….
“The colonies would gladly have borne the little tax on tea and other matters had it not been that England took away from the colonies their money, which created unemployment and dissatisfaction. The inability of the colonists to get power to issue their own money permanently out of the hands of George III and the international bankers was the prime reason for the Revolutionary War.”
#7 Gouverneur Morris, one of the authors of the U.S. Constitution, solemnly warned us in 1787 that we must not allow the bankers to enslave us….
“The rich will strive to establish their dominion and enslave the rest. They always did. They always will… They will have the same effect here as elsewhere, if we do not, by (the power of) government, keep them in their proper spheres.”
#8 Unfortunately, those warning us about the dangers of a central bank did not prevail. After an aborted attempt to establish a central bank in the 1780s, the First Bank of the United States was established in 1791. Alexander Hamilton (who had close ties to the Rothschild banking family) cut a deal under which he would support the move of the nation’s capital to Washington D.C. in exchange for southern support for the establishment of a central bank.
#9 George Washington signed the bill creating the First Bank of the United States on April 25, 1791. It was given a 20 year charter.
#10 In the first five years of the First Bank of the United States, the U.S. government borrowed 8.2 million dollars and prices rose by 72 percent.
#11 The opponents of central banking were not pleased. In 1798, Thomas Jefferson said the following….
“I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution – taking from the federal government their power of borrowing.”
#12 In 1811, the charter of the First Bank of the United States was not renewed.
#13 One year later, the War of 1812 erupted. The British and the Americans were at war once again.
#14 In 1814, the British captured and burned Washington D.C., but the Americans subsequently experienced key victories at New York and at New Orleans.
#15 The Treaty of Ghent, officially ending the war, was ratified by the U.S. Senate on February 16th, 1815 and was ratified by the British on February 18th, 1815.
#16 In 1816, another central bank was created. The Second Bank of the United States was established and was given a 20 year charter.
#17 Andrew Jackson, who became president in 1828, was determined to end the power of the central bankers over the United States.
#18 In fact, in 1832, Andrew Jackson’s re-election slogan was “JACKSON and NO BANK!”
#19 On July 10th, 1832 President Jackson said the following about the danger of a central bank….
“It is not our own citizens only who are to receive the bounty of our government. More than eight millions of the stock of this bank are held by foreigners… is there no danger to our liberty and independence in a bank that in its nature has so little to bind it to our country? … Controlling our currency, receiving our public moneys, and holding thousands of our citizens in dependence… would be more formidable and dangerous than a military power of the enemy.”
#20 In 1835, President Jackson completely paid off the U.S. national debt. He is the only U.S. president that has ever been able to accomplish this.
#21 President Jackson vetoed the attempt to renew the charter of the Second Bank of the United States in 1836.
#22 Richard Lawrence attempted to shoot Andrew Jackson, but he survived. It is alleged that Lawrence said that “wealthy people in Europe” had put him up to it.
#23 The Civil War was another opportunity for the central bankers of Europe to get their hooks into America. In fact, it is claimed that Abraham Lincoln actually contacted Rothschild banking interests in Europe in an attempt to finance the war effort. Reportedly, the Rothschilds were demanding very high interest rates and Lincoln balked at paying them.
#24 Instead, Lincoln pushed through the Legal Tender Act of 1862. Under that act, the U.S. government issued $449,338,902 of debt-free money.
#25 This debt-free money was known as “Greenbacks” because of the green ink that was used.
#26 The central bankers of Europe were not pleased. The following quote appeared in the London Times in 1865….
“If this mischievous financial policy, which has its origin in North America, shall become endurated down to a fixture, then that Government will furnish its own money without cost. It will pay off debts and be without debt. It will have all the money necessary to carry on its commerce. It will become prosperous without precedent in the history of the world. The brains, and wealth of all countries will go to North America. That country must be destroyed or it will destroy every monarchy on the globe.”
#27 Abraham Lincoln was shot dead by John Wilkes Booth on April 14th, 1865.
#28 After the Civil War, all money in the United States was created by bankers buying U.S. government bonds in exchange for bank notes.
#29 James A. Garfield became president in 1881, and he was a staunch opponent of the banking powers. In 1881 he said the following….
“Whoever controls the volume of money in our country is absolute master of all industry and commerce…and when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate.”
#30 President Garfield was shot about two weeks later by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2nd, 1881. He died from medical complications on September 19th, 1881.
#31 In 1906, the U.S. stock market was setting all kinds of records. However, in March 1907 the U.S. stock market absolutely crashed. It is alleged that elite New York bankers were responsible.
#32 In addition, in 1907 J.P. Morgan circulated rumors that a major New York bank had gone bankrupt. This caused a massive run on the banks. In turn, the banks started recalling all of their loans. The panic of 1907 resulted in a congressional investigation that ended up concluding that a central bank was “necessary” so that these kinds of panics would never happen again.
#33 It took a few years, but the international bankers finally got their central bank in 1913.
#34 Congress voted on the Federal Reserve Act on December 22nd, 1913 between the hours of 1:30 AM and 4:30 AM.
#35 A significant portion of Congress was either sleeping at the time or was already at home with their families celebrating the holidays.
#36 The president that signed the law that created the Federal Reserve, Woodrow Wilson, later sounded like he very much regretted the decision when he wrote the following….
“A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men … [W]e 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 the duress of small groups of dominant men.”
#37 Between 1921 and 1929 the Federal Reserve increased the U.S. money supply by 62 percent. This was the time known as “The Roaring 20s”.
#38 In addition, highly leveraged “margin loans” became very common during this time period.
#39 In October 1929, the New York bankers started calling in these margin loans on a massive scale. This created the initial crash that launched the Great Depression.
#40 Rather than expand the money supply in response to this crisis, the Federal Reserve really tightened it up.
#41 In fact, it was reported that the U.S. money supply contracted by eight billion dollars between 1929 and 1933. That was an extraordinary amount of money in those days. Over one-third of all U.S. banks went bankrupt. The New York bankers were able to buy up other banks and all kinds of other assets for pennies on the dollar.
But are American students being taught any of this today?
Of course not.
In fact, it is a rare student that can even adequately explain what a central bank is.
We have lost so much of what is important about our history.
And you know what they say – those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
It is absolutely critical that we educate as many Americans as possible about what is really going on in our financial system and about why we need to make some truly fundamental changes.
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