Daniel McAdams: The US Is the World Government
"Daniel McAdams talks to Lew Rockwell about working for Ron Paul against the Empire." Continue reading →
Treasury Gets a Citibanker
"There was a time when you had to be successful on Wall Street to become secretary of the Treasury. Now along comes presidential nominee Jack Lew, whose only business credential is a stint at the most troubled too-big-to-fail bank. During the darkest days of the financial crisis Mr. Lew served as the chief operating officer of Citigroup's Alternative Investments unit (CAI). CAI no longer exists. At the end of Mr. Lew's first quarter on the job, the unit reported a $358 million loss. Things got much worse after that but Citi stopped breaking out CAI results in its earnings releases. The unit was eventually shuttered and many of its assets were sold." Continue reading →
At Bank of England, Carney to put growth at top of list
"The new Governor of the Bank of England has signalled that he will put growth at the heart of his approach to the job and is willing to see higher inflation for longer in order to support the economy. Using the US as an example, Mr Carney said economies needed to be allowed to reach an 'escape velocity' in which they were out of danger of slipping back into recession. That would suggest keeping interest rates lower for longer while considering further quantitative easing, indirect provision of monetary stimulus via the financial system." Continue reading →
Mark Carney Leaves Canada With ‘Stealth QE’ Rising At Fastest Pace Since 2009
"As Mark Carney steps aside from his role at the Bank of Canada to undertake all manner of easy money in the UK, we thought a reflection on the 'stealth' QE that he has been engaged with, very much under the radar, in the US' neighbor-to-the-north was worthwhile. It seems quietly and with little aplomb, Carney's BoC has grown its balance sheet by over 21% YoY - the most since 2009. If that was not enough to make someone nervous, the quantity of Canadian government bonds on the BoC's balance sheet has grown at a remarkable 46% YoY! With Canada's CAD267bn debt due in 2013, we suspect this 'stealth' QE will continue to rise." Continue reading →
Japan welfare payments to be slashed ¥74 billion to root out the comfortably poor
"Welfare benefits will be slashed by ¥74 billion over a three-year period starting from fiscal 2013, after a government panel found that some people are making more on the dole than the average low-income person who is not spends on living costs, it was learned Sunday. The decision to lower standard benefit payments by 6.5 percent was made by welfare minister Norihisa Tamura and Finance Minister Taro Aso. The reduction will hit in August." Continue reading →
Senators Demand that Banks Be Punished – but Not the Fed
"Bring these banksters to justice. But not the good, gray men of central banking. We are not surprised. The power elites are deathly frightened, in our view, that their control over central banks is in jeopardy. They will sacrifice the entire financial infrastructure to make sure central banks are not attacked. They are trying to do this any way they can. They are trying to set up neo-Pecora hearings to focus on Wall Street and the securities industry in general. There will be similar attacks in Europe and Britain. Maybe in China and Japan too, who knows?" Continue reading →
Massive security hole lets hackers control millions of cameras, printers and routers
“A newly discovered exploit in a technology standard known as ‘universal plug and play’ (UPnP) is big enough that hackers on the Internet could remotely access and control ‘millions’ of compatible devices like cameras, printers and routers, security researchers said … Continue reading →
Why Your Town Is Going Broke
"Cook County’s Treasurer has created a website where citizens can find out how far in the hole their governments are. They are all so far in debt that future taxpayers will lose their homes, she says: 'In May, 2012, the collective debt reported by the local primary taxing agencies in Cook County was more than $140 billion! To put that in context, the total debt-per-household in the City of Chicago was $87,720, and $35,774 in the suburbs. Homeowners might be able to give their homes to their children, but that future generation won’t be able to afford to keep them because of the property taxes, which have doubled over a 10-year period.'" Continue reading →
Illinois’ credit rating downgraded; state drops to worst in the nation
"A warning came Saturday morning from state treasurer Dan Rutherford (R) IL State Treasurer. The Standard and Poor’s downgrade from A to A-minus puts Illinois last on the list– and means a higher cost to borrow money. On Wednesday, the state will issue $500 million in new bonds to pay for roads and other transportation projects. Rutherford says the credit downgrade will cost taxpayers an additional $95 million in interest, when compared to a perfect triple-A bond rating enjoyed by other 11 states including neighboring Indiana, Iowa and Missouri." Continue reading →
Italian tax dodgers uncovered by the Redditometro
"The Italian authorities have been accused of resorting to police state-style tactics with the introduction of a new weapon to hunt down the nation's many tax dodgers. The new procedure makes it possible to scrutinise any family's spending pattern, and compare this with what it says it earns. But some commentators have been outraged by this month's launch of what is called the Redditometro - the Income Meter. It has been described as unacceptably intrusive, the sort of thing that East Germany's secret police might have dreamt up." Continue reading →