Bank of England & Carney: This Doesn’t Sound Good

"'The [UK] Treasury opened the door to a more aggressive monetary policy on Wednesday, as aides to the chancellor welcomed the next Bank of England governor’s radical views on stimulus measure for flagging economies. In a speech on Monday, Mark Carney suggested setting targets for the overall size of the economy, or nominal gross domestic product, rather than inflation.' [...] Does it worry anyone besides me just a teensy bit that this guy hasn’t even figured out where the BoE coffee pot is, and his people are already lying for him? Far be it from me to distrust an ex-Goldman Sachs banker, but still…" Continue reading

Continue ReadingBank of England & Carney: This Doesn’t Sound Good

Jim DeMint is a Conservative Hero

While some simply see Jim DeMint as one of the most right-wing members of the U.S. Senate and a Republican leader of the conservative movement, I believe DeMint could be leading the GOP and the movement on the path to redemption. American conservatism has taken a wrong turn. It is true we have elected plenty [...]

Continue ReadingJim DeMint is a Conservative Hero

Bernanke to Double Down on Money Printing

"Mad money printer Ben Bernanke, in addition to continuing his current $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities, is going to also purchase longer-term Treasury securities at the tune of $45 billon per month. This is very serious money printing, especially given that banks appear to be adding this money to the system rather than putting the funds in excess reserves. Prepare for strong 2013 price inflation." Continue reading

Continue ReadingBernanke to Double Down on Money Printing

Treasury Exempts Foreign Exchange Swaps from Definition of “Swap”

"More government regulations are always a bad idea, however, it should be noted when banksters get special privileges around regs. Dodd-Frank calls for regulation of swaps. The Treasury just announced that its final determination is that foreign exchange swaps are exempted from the definition of 'swap' and are not to be regulated under Dodd-Frank. What's particularly noteworthy about this is that the Federal Reserve did a lot of its propping up of foreign banks during the financial crisis via foreign exchange swap lines." Continue reading

Continue ReadingTreasury Exempts Foreign Exchange Swaps from Definition of “Swap”

The MIT-Central Bank Connection

"Every two months, more than a dozen bankers meet here on Sunday evenings to talk and dine on the 18th floor of a cylindrical building looking out on the Rhine. The dinner discussions on money and economics are more than academic. At the table are the chiefs of the world's biggest central banks, representing countries that annually produce more than $51 trillion of gross domestic product, three-quarters of the world's economic output. Their monetary strategy isn't found in standard textbooks. The central bankers are, in effect, conducting a high-stakes experiment." Continue reading

Continue ReadingThe MIT-Central Bank Connection

Bankster-Government Revolving Door (Mortgage Division)

"Bob Ryan, who served as a top housing adviser in the Obama administration, will leave for a senior mortgage-banking position at Wells Fargo next month. Ryan is currently a senior advisor to Shaun Donovan, the secretary for Housing and Urban Development. Ryan played a key role shepherding the $25 billion mortgage-foreclosure settlement between five of the nation’s largest lenders, including Wells Fargo, and 49 state attorneys general and federal regulators this past March. Wells faces a separate lawsuit over FHA-backed loans that was filed by federal prosecutors in October." Continue reading

Continue ReadingBankster-Government Revolving Door (Mortgage Division)

Bankster-Treasury Revolving Door

"Former senior U.S. Treasury official Tim Adams will succeed Charles Dallara as the head of the Institute of International Finance, a bank lobbying group that represents more than 470 of the world’s largest financial companies. Adams will take over the helm during a major rewrite of financial regulations across the globe and amid the continuing debt and banking crises in Europe. Adams served as Treasury undersecretary for international affairs in the administration of President George W. Bush." Continue reading

Continue ReadingBankster-Treasury Revolving Door

Europeans outraged over the US using Patriot Act for worldwide spying

"Researchers from the University of Amsterdam’s Institute for Information Law say that legislation enacted to allegedly protect the security of US citizens has in the process eroded privacy protections on a global scale. As more and more companies and individuals across the world begin relying on cloud computing to store information digitally on remote servers, the Dutch researchers warn that the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allow for those files to be fed into the US intelligence community, disregarding privacy safeguards in place for others around the globe." Continue reading

Continue ReadingEuropeans outraged over the US using Patriot Act for worldwide spying

Detlev Schlichter: What is wrong about the euro, and what is not

"Merkel is desperately trying to pretend that these governments are not bankrupt, that the debt will be repaid, and in so doing she throws good money – that of the German taxpayer – after bad. Most of the governments in Europe, plus the US, the UK and Japan, are unlikely to ever repay their debt, and the big risk is that, once the 40-year fiat money boom that facilitated this bizarre debt extravaganza has ended for good, a lot of that debt will have to be restructured, which means it will be defaulted on. That is not the end of the world, albeit the end of the type of government largesse that has defined politics in the West for generations." Continue reading

Continue ReadingDetlev Schlichter: What is wrong about the euro, and what is not