Author: The Freedom Watch Staff

This author has written 11091 articles

New York Fed Agreed To Testify For Bank Of America In Exchange For $43 Million

"The previously confidential agreement spells out the terms of a deal in which the New York Fed received $43 million from Bank of America’s Countrywide unit. The money changed hands to settle a narrow dispute involving cash flows on several mortgage securities held by an investment vehicle, known as Maiden Lane II. That vehicle was created by the New York Fed as part of the rescue of A.I.G., which had held the Countrywide securities. But in exchange for that $43 million, the New York Fed did something else for Bank of America. It agreed to testify on behalf of the bank in its legal battle against A.I.G. over fraud claims." Continue reading →

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Boycott Bitcoin!

"Well, Fellow Reckoner, it’s been something of a sad week for proponents of Bitcoin… Would-be buyers of the fringy cyber experiment have had to watch as the price of their beloved currency shot to within (as of this writing) a few cents shy of $35 per coin. No buyer wants to see that kind of action…unless they are also an 'already boughter.'" Continue reading →

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Bitcoin Ready To Go Mainstream With First U.S. Exchange

"Recently armed with $500,000 in seed funding and a partnership with Silicon Valley Bank, Coinlab, a startup based out of Seattle, is bringing its innovative Bitcoin project closer to the U.S. market. The deal brings over the North America-based book of Mt. Gox, one of the largest and most widely used bitcoin to currency exchanges. According to Coinlab CEO, Peter Vessenes, the book is worth nearly $500 million in annualized trade volumes, which he expects to grow nearly ten times over the next year. Silicon Valley Bank, a company that provides financial services to emerging growth companies, will be holding deposits of bitcoin and dollars for Coinlab." Continue reading →

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Economic Fascism and the Power Elite

"The state—the organization of the political means—is the institution that allows an idle, unproductive class of parasites to live at the expense of ordinary, working people, whose means are industrious activity and consensual exchange in the marketplace. We ought not assume, however, that the indigent segment of society, those who receive social welfare aid from the state, are necessarily foremost among the parasites of the political means. Rather, free-market libertarians have demonstrated that in the statist economy of theft and wealth redistribution, it is the elite—powerful, entrenched commercial players—who most benefit." Continue reading →

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Google Says the FBI Is Secretly Spying on Some of Its Customers

"It is unlawful for any record-keeper to disclose it has received a so-called National Security Letter. But under a deal brokered with the President Barack Obama administration, Google on Tuesday published a 'range' of times it received National Security Letters demanding it divulge account information to the authorities without warrants. It was the first time a company has ever released data chronicling the volume of National Security Letter requests. National Security Letters allow the government to get detailed information on Americans’ finances and communications without oversight from a judge. The FBI has issued hundreds of thousands of NSLs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle Says the FBI Is Secretly Spying on Some of Its Customers

Riot Alert: Look Out Argentina, South Africa, Turkey and India

"If history teaches us anything, it is that inflation usually ends in violence. The Johannesburg-based economic research house ETM Analytics (www.etmstrategy.com), which has a strong Austrian bias, puts out a monthly 'riot alert' based on the speed with which countries are debasing their currencies. It has been scarily accurate in predicting where trouble is most likely to erupt. For all the press acreage given to the political causes of violence in countries like Syria and Egypt, it is difficult to side-step the obvious common denominator: inflation. A 10% rise in food prices can transform a hungry man into an angry man." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRiot Alert: Look Out Argentina, South Africa, Turkey and India

Hundreds of thousands march against austerity in Portugal

"Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Lisbon and other Portuguese cities Saturday to protest against the government's austerity measures. The rallies were organised by a non-political movement which claimed 500,000 marched in the country's capital and another 400,000 in the main northern city of Porto. But the mood of the crowd was clearly political, calling for new elections with banners declaring 'Portugal to the polls!' and 'If you fall asleep in a democracy, you wake up in a dictatorship'. Another banner showed a picture of centre-right Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho with the caption: 'Today I am in the street, tomorrow it will be you.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHundreds of thousands march against austerity in Portugal

Italian newcomer Grillo predicts collapse in six months

"Italy's comedian turned protest politician, Beppe Grillo, has told German news magazine 'Focus' that he believes the country's political system could crumble within the year. 'I'd give the old parties another six months - then it will be all over here,' Grillo said in excerpts of the interview released on Saturday ahead of Focus' publication. 'Then they won't be able to cover pension payments or public sector salaries anymore.' Grillo, a populist who pledged a referendum on Italy withdrawing from the euro during the country's recent election campaign, said that Italy's national debt was becoming unsustainable and that its terms had to be renegotiated." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingItalian newcomer Grillo predicts collapse in six months

Paul Craig Roberts: The Missing Recovery

"The recovery exists only in the official measure of real GDP, which is deflated by an understated measure of inflation, and in the U.3 measure of the unemployment rate, which is declining because it does not count discouraged job seekers who have given up looking for a job. No other data series indicates an economic recovery. Neither real retail sales nor housing starts, consumer confidence, payroll employment, or average weekly earnings indicate economic recovery. Neither does the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy. The Fed’s expansive monetary policy of bond purchases to maintain negative real interest rates continues 3.5 years into the recovery." Continue reading →

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Peter Schiff: The Fed’s Tightening Pipe Dream

"The Fed Chairman has been talking about tightening for some time. In 2010, he said, 'As the expansion matures, the Federal Reserve will need to begin to tighten monetary conditions to prevent the development of inflationary pressures.' Back then, the same mainstream analysts were predicting recovery and a reversal of quantitative easing (QE). Instead, we have subsequently seen QE2, Operation Twist, and now QE3 to eternity. While these mainstream commentators are at best guessing as to why or when the Fed might reverse course, I understand that it is extremely unlikely to do so for the foreseeable future. In fact, I've bet my net worth on it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeter Schiff: The Fed’s Tightening Pipe Dream