Middle Class Dismissed

1,000 bank workers march on Cyprus’ presidential palace to protest bank restructuring

"At least 1,000 bank workers fearing for their jobs staged a march on the Cyprus presidency on Saturday ahead of a planned protest outside parliament which is to debate a bailout to save the island from bankruptcy. The workers marched from union headquarters towards the presidential compound where they held a brief rally at the gates before heading towards the finance ministry. The marchers held placards that read: 'Hands off provident funds' and 'No to the bankruptcy of Cyprus' as well as 'Let us dream.' Police initially blocked the protesters from nearing the presidential palace before then letting them through." Continue reading →

Continue Reading1,000 bank workers march on Cyprus’ presidential palace to protest bank restructuring

US Infrastructure’s Disastrous Solution

"It is a US scandal that the country's infrastructure is not just degrading but seriously degraded. While this is not a regular topic for mainstream reporting, every now and then it rises to the surface. Of course, the real issue is seldom dealt with, which is how the combined US government can spend trillions and more trillions while the country's infrastructure continues to collapse. There are accidents big and small as the result of this evolving condition, often never reported unless they rise to the level of serious injury or even death." Continue reading →

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Read This Blog or the Puppy and Kitten Get It

"If your city faces a shortfall of tax revenues, the first response of overpaid bureaucrats in City Hall frantic to keep their jobs, pensions and perks will be to slash the hours the library is open. A 2% reduction in the Federal budget, we're told, will push orphans onto the frigid streets, send our troops into battle without ammo, and generally shut down every service the public cares about. The alternative you will never hear about is a reduction in the multiple layers of overpaid bureaucrats in City Hall, the White House staff, the Pentagon, the local school district, etc., or any reduction in funding the parasitic cartels that have captured the machinery of governance." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRead This Blog or the Puppy and Kitten Get It

Gerald Celente: The Financial System Is Collapsing Before Our Eyes

"All Cyprus is, it’s (similar to) a division of the Grand Cayman Island, it’s just a different group of people washing and money laundering. But this is about much more than Cyprus, bank runs, and stealing money from the depositors. What we are looking at, Eric, on another level is an alliance, an alliance leading to wars. Look, they just appointed a new President in China, Xi. Where is the first place he went to visit? Moscow. Putin. Then there is Iran. So you can see the alliances already forming: It’s China, Russia, and Iran, against the United States, the Arab League, and Nato. And then you look at where the United States is now moving its military - Asia." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGerald Celente: The Financial System Is Collapsing Before Our Eyes

Cypriot president ‘warned his friends to move money abroad’ before financial crisis hit

"Cypriot president Nikos Anastasiades 'warned' close friends of the financial crisis about to engulf his country so they could move their money abroad, it was claimed on Friday. The respected Cypriot newspaper Filelftheros made the allegation which was picked up eagerly by German media. The Cyprus newspaper did not say how much money was moved abroad but quoted sources saying the president 'knew about the possible closure of the banks' and tipped off close friends who were able to move vast sums abroad." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCypriot president ‘warned his friends to move money abroad’ before financial crisis hit

Pictures From A Cyprus ATM Line

"For a few days, the people of Cyprus were calm, quietly and orderly accepting the unreality of the levy being imposed upon them - incredulous that it was even possible. As we reach the 4th day of bank closures, amid rolling rumors and ECB threats, it appears the people have reached a tipping point as this series of images from Cyprus ATM lines indicates - the bank-jog has arrived. When will it become a full blown sprint? It appears the catalyst for this latest move is the ECB threat and EU concerns over the future of the two biggest insolvent banks: As AFP reports: EU calls on Cyprus to set capital controls and merge 2 biggest banks Laiki and Bank of Cyprus." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPictures From A Cyprus ATM Line

Jim Rickards: Forget Cyprus, Nobody Is Stealing from Depositors More than Bernanke

"'At this stage of a recovery normalized interest rates should be around 2-3%,' says Rickards. 'Apply that 2-3%…to the entire multi-trillion-dollar deposit base of the United States of America and that’s a $400-billion per year wealth transfer from savers to bankers so they can pay themselves bigger bonuses or make crazy bets.' Over time, Rickards says, that wealth transfer could reach $1 trillion. Rickards says zero interest rates are just one way the Fed is fleecing depositors. Others include increasing inflation, which Bernanke is trying to do, and taxing deposits like Cyprus is pushing for." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJim Rickards: Forget Cyprus, Nobody Is Stealing from Depositors More than Bernanke

The Ever-Growing Insanity of Venezuelan Exchange Controls

"With soaring import demand due to double-digit inflation, collapsing local production of almost everything other than the ever-flowing black gold, and increasing regime uncertainty ever since the Comandante’s passing, there seems to be no end in sight for the bizarre efforts with which the Venezuelan government is trying to sustain foreign exchange controls. If you want to get a good grasp of the whole shenanigan, make sure to read this, this and this, by Francisco Toro and Emiliana Duarte at Caracas Chronicles." Continue reading →

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Argentina Turns To Gold As Inflation Tops 26%

"In the country Paul Krugman hailed as a Keynesian success story, the people are fleeing the government's currency. Banco de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina’s only bank offering gold bullion coins and bars to investors and savers is negotiating with mining companies to purchase gold direct as surging demand depletes the scrap supply. The bank began marketing gold to clients after Argentina tightened currency controls in October 2011. Banco Ciudad is the only bank left that trades in gold after Fernandez banned the purchase of certified 99.99% pure gold for savings in July. The bank sells it at 99.96% purity." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArgentina Turns To Gold As Inflation Tops 26%

When Governments Take Your Money, Bitcoin Looks Really Good

"The tiny island of Cyprus became the center of the financial universe over the weekend, after its leaders, facing financial collapse and pressure from EU authorities, announced a plan that would let the government withdraw money directly from citizens' savings accounts in order to fund a massive bailout. That's the sound of Pandora's Box being opened. European officials are now proposing directly picking the pockets of their citizens by going straight for their banking deposits, a move that Reuters says has 'potentially severe consequences for the rest of the troubled euro zone.' Incidentally, it's also turning furious (and fearful) Europeans to Bitcoin." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhen Governments Take Your Money, Bitcoin Looks Really Good