Uploaded by PBS on Apr 6, 2009
http://www.pbs.org/billmoyers The financial industry brought the economy to its knees, but how did they get away with it? With the nation wondering how to hold the bankers accountable, Bill Moyers sits down with Bill Black, the former senior regulator who cracked down on banks during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s. Black offers his analysis of what went wrong and his critique of the bailout. This show aired April 3, 2009. Bill Moyers Journal airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). For more: http://www.pbs.org/billmoyers
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is ready to lend one billion EUROS a year to Egypt for reconstruction and “free-market reform”- even as Egypt’s Minister of Finance Samir Radwan has gone begging to the City of London bankers and the British Ministry of Trade and Investment for relief on debt payments that are about to throw Egypt into bankruptcy.
All this, as Egypt has been such a good boy with regards to privatization and austerity, measures which awarded Egypt its celebrated 7 percent growth rate- mostly in investments that will end up in international hands as ventures fail to pay out with ever diminishing Egyptian domestic purchasing power.
FRESH CYCLES OF DEBT
First EBRD will lend at interest and build what they want backed by Egyptian collateral and the value of the projects themselves. Then when it turns out they can’t make the debt payments because of all the interest we have sucked from them, we take over all of the assets we have developed. That’s freedom and EBRD is really going to give it to them. After all EBRD is experienced at this. In 1991 the EBRD was organized to financially lead Russia and Eastern Europe in their transition from paternalistic socialism to sustainable free-market economies open to international investment.
The U.S. is the EBRD’s largest shareholder, although the combined stakes of European Union nations give that bloc the greatest say in how it operates. EBRD President Thomas Mirow in a speech at Oxford University declared:
~pretty much sums it up from my point of view~jude
What’s in store for the world in 2011? Trends forecaster Gerald Celente of the Trends Research Institute provided his insights on the year ahead. Will the people of the world wake up to a dire economic reality? Will the US dollar or the value of gold prevail? Will hardship-driven crimes be committed across the socioeconomic spectrum by legions of the on-the-edge desperate? Will the “War on Terror” morph into the “War on Crime,” where all Americans are suspects until proven innocent? Will governments try to eliminate free access to the web and literally shut down computers and websites they consider a threat to national security? Will the seeds of revolution be sown? Celente argued that all of the above will take place in some shape or form. There will be a wakeup call on the economy, a crack down on the people and a loss of liberty, and also an increase in Journalism 2.0, alternative energy and a growth in cyber war tactics. “Look what’s happening now. You name the city,” he said. “The people are getting hit on at every level.” The banks and governments are robbing the people and will continue to do so, he argued. “What they are going to do, is they are going to make up the slack by going after the little people at every level; licensing fees, parking fees, you name it, they’re going to squeeze every dollar out of the people,” Celente commented. “If you go five miles over the speed limit there’s a cop waiting for you.” Gold will run high in 2010, as the federal resave continues to dump US currency into the system gold will rise much higher, possibly even double in value over the next year. In the name of terror the government will clamp down on the people, crime will rise as dissatisfaction with the economy and government policies rise. “Big Brother will be watching!” Celente said. “We even have Wal-Marts as a rat for the homeland security division to call them up and let them know if anything is untore that they should know about and they are talking now about expanding homeland terrorist security in hotels and shopping malls.” The US government will be watching every move every person makes. “They are going to clamp down more and more as people continue to complain more and more about the injustices that are happening, particularly on the economic front,” he explained. “When people lose everything, and they have nothing left to lose, they lose it! As people keep losing it, the government will crack down even tighter.” Looking forward, cyber warfare will grow further, becoming a new type of warfare for the 21st century. Those in cyber industry have a strong future, he added. “Were going to see more and more cyber attacks, just like we saw with WikiLeaks,” explained Celente. “We’re going to see worldwide cyber crime. In the end, the world will end in 2011 said Celente, but what that means exactly he wouldn’t say. More videos at RT America Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/RTAmerica.
The Federal Reserve releaseda stunning report showing the details of bailouts that occurred during the peak of the credit crisis. They won’t call it “bailouts” but giving money when others won’t is exactly that. What the report shows is that the Fed operated as a global pawnshop taking in practically anything the banks had for collateral. What is even more disturbing is that the Federal Reserve did not enact any punitive charges to these borrowers so you had banks like Goldman Sachs utilizing the crisis to siphon off cheap collateral. The Fed is quick to point out that “taxpayers were fully protected” but mention little of the destruction they have caused to the US dollar. This is a hidden cost to Americans and it also didn’t help that they were the fuel that set off the biggest global housing bubble ever witnessed by humanity. A total of $9 trillion in short-term loans were made to 18 financial institutions. Still think the banking bailout didn’t happen or cost us nothing? Let us first look at the explosion of assets on the Fed balance sheet.
The Fed is still carrying longer term debt on its books that shouldn’t be there:
Leaders of the world’s biggest economies papered over their differences at the G20 with agreement to develop new guidelines to prevent so-called “currency wars”.
The deal falls well short of the 4% limit on national trade deficits and surpluses proposed by US President Barack Obama, which was blocked by exporting countries China and Germany.
Washington and Britain have accused Beijing of keeping the value of its yuan currency artificially low to make its exports cheap, fuelling the massive trade imbalances which played a part in the 2008 crisis.
President Obama appeared to sharpen his criticism in the wake of the agreement, insisting that exchange rates “must reflect economic realities”.
