it can’t happen here

Former ‘Plunge Protection Team’ Official: Expect More Government Theft

"Look, we are in a world where every major industrialized government doesn’t have the funds to deliver on the promises they’ve made to the public. So they are going to reach for the public’s cash in different ways....Some of it is through higher taxes. Some of it is what I would call ‘expropriation,’ although taxation and even inflation are a version of that. I think what we saw in Cyprus, a really overt expropriation, we are going to see that come in lots of different forms (going forward). Some of it will be obvious like Cyprus. Some of it will be subtle like Portugal, but what’s sure is that it’s happening.” Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer ‘Plunge Protection Team’ Official: Expect More Government Theft

Schoolboys told to imagine themselves as future prime minister justifying martial law

"A question on a paper sat by 12-year-old pupils in 2011 gives a telling glimpse into how Eton fosters ambition in its students from an early age, by asking them to imagine they are running the country. It appeared on the 2011 King's Scholarship Examination paper, which can be viewed on the school's website, and asked students to consider whether 'it is better to be loved than feared'. 'You are the Prime Minister,' the paper says, before instructing the young Etonians to draft the script for a speech to be broadcast to the nation explaining why deploying the Army was 'both necessary and moral'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSchoolboys told to imagine themselves as future prime minister justifying martial law

The reality is Americans aren’t that concerned about drones

"Support for the drone program varies across demographic and political groups about like you’d expect. Across pretty much all polling, Republicans, by about 10pts, are more likely to support drone use in general than Democrats, though majorities of both parties support it. Men are more likely to favor it than women, by anywhere from 7pts to 20pts. Again, however, more women favor the drone program in general than oppose it. Why are Democrats and women more likely to oppose drone usage? It’s not because of the program’s murky legality. Americans’ number one worry is that the program endangers civilian lives." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe reality is Americans aren’t that concerned about drones

Invest Like a Euro Zone Refugee

"The world is now witnessing a new refugee movement … but it’s not happening where you might think. These new refugees are not fleeing a war-torn province, or trying to escape from under the boot of a tyrant. They don’t need government aid. And they aren’t physically leaving their homes… Rather, these refugees are Italians, and they are fleeing their banks and their economy. Valter Badariotti, a banker with two small children, is one of the euro zone refugees. So is filmmaker Franco Fracassi. Both are worried about Italy’s economic deterioration and political morass. Sound familiar? It should … because it’s not far from what’s happening in the U.S." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInvest Like a Euro Zone Refugee

Rumors Of Social Security Collapse Spark Bank Run, Break-Ins in Brazil

"Rumors that Brazil's social security fund called Bolsa Familia was to be cancelled led thousands of people to rush to withdraw money from a Brazilian bank over the weekend. Customers lined up at ATMs at dozens of bank branches of Caixa Economica Federal, a government-owned bank, which pays the social security subsidy on Saturday and Sunday. Brazilian newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo reported that at five branches in the northeastern city of Sao Luiz and four others in the state of Maranhao, depositors broke into branches." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRumors Of Social Security Collapse Spark Bank Run, Break-Ins in Brazil

A Real Life Thelma and Louise: the US and the EU

"To be sure, there have been many warning signs along the road to indicate that to exit the car might have been a good idea, but, for whatever reasons, they did not. Now, it is becoming increasingly apparent to a larger number of people that the joy ride is soon to end, and end rather badly. As such, it would be understandable if we were to see the passengers in the back of the car request that they be let out. As Europe has some 740,000,000 inhabitants and the US has a further 310,000,000, even if only one percent chose to make an exit at some time in the next few years, this would mean an exodus which would be unprecedented in world history." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Real Life Thelma and Louise: the US and the EU

Cuba’s Past Could Be Your Future

"If the reader lives in a country where laws are being written to limit his ability to expatriate a portion of his wealth, or, worse, to repatriate it if it has already been internationalised, he would do well to examine which of his freedoms will be the next to be lost. There is little discussion at present over whether it may soon be necessary in some counties that are part of what was once called the 'free' world, to apply for an exit visa in order to travel outside that country.Yet, historically, declining countries commonly impose such restrictions to assure that their citizens do not seek greener pastures." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCuba’s Past Could Be Your Future

CEO of World’s Biggest Bond Fund: Government Has Rigged the Game Against Investors

"Investors are being haircutted by at least 200 basis points judged by historical standards, which in the past offered no QE and priced Fed Funds close to the level of inflation. Large holders of U.S. government bonds, including China and Japan, will be repaid, but in the interim they will be implicitly defaulted on or haircutted via negative real interest rates. . . . Future haircuts might even include a wealth tax. Are gold and/or AA+ sovereign bonds good as money? Usually, but capital controls can clip you if you’re not careful." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCEO of World’s Biggest Bond Fund: Government Has Rigged the Game Against Investors

President Obama: Reject Warnings of Tyranny

"This is a startling video clip because in it US President Barack Obama bluntly confronts the reality of the current US conversation in which up to 30 percent (according to one recent poll) believe armed rebellion will be a necessity in the near future. Here at The Daily Bell, of course, we try to focus on dominant social themes from an economic and civil society standpoint. Surely the growing anger in the US – and throughout the West – must be a concern for those who have helped shape the current society ... even though you rarely hear a leader address these concerns so bluntly." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPresident Obama: Reject Warnings of Tyranny

Obama To College Grads: Reject Voices That Warn About Government Tyranny

"Unfortunately, you've grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that's at the root of all our problems. Some of these same voices also do their best to gum up the works. They'll warn that tyranny always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave, and creative, and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can't be trusted." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama To College Grads: Reject Voices That Warn About Government Tyranny