It is very sickening to see Cameron, Osborne and Johnson dressing up their opposition to a financial transaction tax as a defence of the UK against Europeans. Reducing the attraction of multiple financial speculative transactions is an obvious step in reforming the crazed world of fantasy finance. If it did reduce the concentration of speculative centres in the City of London that would in the long term be good thing – our economy is over-dependent on servicing a system which cannot last anyway.
The Tories see Britain as the world capital of spivs, with unlimited free amounts of cash raining down on their friends and family in the city who devise ever more elaborate financial speculations on every one of which they take a margin. Free lolly forever. Hooray!
But it is probably too late anyway. The establishment seems oblivious to the extent to which the system is unravelling. Almost all European governments face increasing demands for real interest on the money they borrow from banks and financial institutions – increased bond yields – but that only increases debt, which countries largely service by new borrowing in this never-never land. Banks demand higher interest because they fear the risk of not being repaid, and the higher interest makes it more and more certain they won’t be repaid. It is only one of a number of ways the logic of the system has collapsed.
So the Tories posture while the system sinks deeper and deeper, and meantime people around the world have noticed that the elite are screwing them. These really are the most interesting times of my lifetime.
Craig, you really need to stop filing all your blogs under ‘Uncategorized’. It’s seriously f***king chaotic for people trying to find something!
TFS wrote: “just when you thought the financial crisis couldnt get any worse http://www.zerohedge.com/news/entire-system-has-been-utterly-destroyed-mf-global-collapse-presenting-first-mf-global-casualty”
Interesting, but the author claims that Obama is a Marxist. WTF? Obama is just as big a front man for Big Corporations as Bush. Even the so-called health care reforms only benefitted the ‘Health’ Insurance industry. His re-election warchest is heavily based on Wall Street contributions. He is just Bush redux.
The author appears to blame the whole financial collapse on Obama, yet states the leveraging problem is endemic across all firms. She also appears to be a raving Xtian Islamophobe – burning the Koran on youtube and seeking cash donations. I suspect there is more to her story than meets the eye.
‘José Manuel Barroso, the Commission President, has criticised Mrs Merkel for not taking on opponents to the euro bailouts.
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“Until now Germany has been one of the big winners from the euro. More politicians in Germany should say that clearly,” he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. “It was not Greece, Ireland or Spain who invented the euro. It was a German-French project.”
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The President of the European Council, the body that brings together EU leaders in summits, also confessed that the euro had been flawed from the moment of its creation in 1992, a situation that had not been made clear to voters.
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“We are clearly confronted with a tension within the system, the ill-famous dilemma of being a monetary union and not a full-fledged economic and political union,” he said. “This tension has been there since the single currency was created. However, the general public was not really made aware of it.” ‘
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Written in May 2010.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/currency/7767898/Ordinary-people-were-misled-over-impact-of-the-euro-says-Herman-Van-Rompuy.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8530150.stm this old piece of journalism (it’s a moot point if the BBC is a bastion of journalism now, post Hutton when it metamorphosised into the noodles led by doodles organisation it is today) covers the then ownership of UK Inc. debt.
However there has been an awful lot of printing since then… (both money & lies) by the Kleptocrats masquerading as our representatives in Parliament. Arise Sir Printalot, prince of men, King of the Bank, Lord of mediocrity “independently” failing to meet any and all KPI (Key Performance Indicators) of the BOE…but he deserves a knighthood, for chutzpah if nothing else.
Goldman Sachs controls Europe.
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http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article6264098.ece/ALTERNATES/w620/Pg-12-eurozone-graphic.jpg
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Don’t know why Spain, Portugal and some other countries are not included in the round up.
Derek:
“It is indeed perplexing why our banking system operates in a way that has the Government borrowing money from the banks to finance expenditure, and for the banks to create the money they lend to the government out of thin air. Why not have the Bank of England create the money instead?”
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Because that leads immediately to hyperinflation. So does borrowing, in the long term, but as long as governments can pay off their debt by taking out more debt, no one worries about it.
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The problem occurs when confidence in future ability to pay off ever-mounting debt finally collapses. It’s no coincidence that this collapse in confidence has occurred simultaneously with the peaking of oil production – oil being the main driver of the world economy.
“I’ve never met an enthusiastic Christian, however.”
I have. Mostly Billy Graham converts who were previously fairly sane. They’re evil.
Tom Welsh:
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‘I keep asking, in various quarters, “Why do governments borrow money in the first place?”
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But I never get an answer.’
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A: Because their expenditure hugely exceeds their income.
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No modern government could function without debt: it couldn’t pay its employees.
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Having used up most of their tangible tradable resources, Western nations have had no choice but to use other countries’ resources and to pay for them in ultimately valueless currencies derived from debt.
Does this show the great financial Ponzi scheme?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15748696
Franz, are we then at some point going to have to reinstate money controls and stiff commodity trading regulation to try and stop money draining out of the country? It seems to me that it is the intertwining of our economy with the mad global casino (complete with high frequency trading) which is dragging us down into the pit.
Dave says
BREAKING NEWS:All the institutions of the eurozone have to stand behind and support the currency – Cameron
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Right. So what happens next Dave?
Wether we like it or not finacial sercives currently make up a large part of our GDP. Whilst I would love to see a massive investment in manufacturing and non finacial service sectors it would be stupid to allow a tax that will drive money out of the UK, epecially at a time when we need the income. We need to rebalance our GDP sectors over the long term ( it cant happen in the short term because of the time it take to set up a manufacturing operation / base) Lets kill the financial sector when we have something real to replace it with.
Knee jerk policys are supposed to be for our knee jerk politians. Lets me a bit cleaverer than them.
I feel totaly vidicated in this position and post as I run a manufacturing company that is now the global market leader….. we can make things in this country, and we can make them well, we just need some investment and some brave souls to take up the challange.
John K,Jon, Komodo: As I’ve posted before – the world needs more Quakers. Yes, religious but not complicit in ANY wars. They strive to live by the testimonies of Peace, Equality, Sipmplicity and Truth. Go check them out. They are very active in all areas of injustice. Turn up at their meeting for silent worship at OccupyLSX, sundays 3pm. They will be there as long as the camp is.
Whether we like it or not financial services currently make up a large part of our GDP.
I’m not convinced on this argument, didn’t the financial services industry just tank the global economy, and put us all on hock ad infinitum. No changes have been made to the operation of the financial services. Thievery from suits is now common law.
Now with Northern Rock, what was the exact debts we keep after the sale, £46b?
How much of this is:
USA toxic mortgage loans? sue the American Banks for fraud.
UK toxic mortgage loans? cancel the debt, and have millions of people owning their own homes, putting their spare cash into the economy, and get the housing market moving. Side effect of this is watching the bankers jumping out of the windows 🙂
With loans to other countries, cancel out reciprocal debts, as highlighted on an earlier comment.
Take ownership of the Bank of England, kick out the banker controllers, they kinda of played there game in their own self interest, and allow UK to raise money from BoE at zero charge for capital projects.
Take civil servants and the bankers to court over the state sponsored PFI fraud.
Kick the EU into touch its current form as it is undemocratic.
Give Goldman Sacchs a very big slap
regards
TFS
Pee
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I have great affinity for most of the aims of the Society of Friends and if I believed in a God would certainly gravitate to them, for the reasons you enumerate and others: I share their abhorrence of gambling, for example.
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But as I don’t believe there is a God who created us or watches our every move, I can’t in conscience do other than admire their principles while disagreeing with the though processes that led them there.
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As I see it, an imaginary friend is still an imaginary friend, no matter how benign you imagine it to be…
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But I do exclude them from the criticisms of the so-called Great World Religions.
The financial transaction tax would make orgs more responsible, but the likes of Cameron would prefer to pocket money from financial instits. by letting them off. So in the world of Cameron, he prefers that money paid into political parties coffers as bribes than as a tax for the national good.
If the industry is as big as they say, why would they be any different from industries such as retail, insurance etc?
A Global finance tax is a good idea.. a european one ie one on the UK is a bad idea. I hate what is happening in our financial sector, I hate what they have done to us, but lets make sure we have something to replace the income stream before we shoot them all dead !
I dont like Cameron, I dont like his policys, I dont like his politics, but he is right on this one. Its a global tax or no tax.
Thanks for a ruefully entertaining piece
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Allow me a brief observation qualified by a modicum of speculation.
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Your characterisation of the establishment as oblivious to the unravelling equates, shall we say, to those up to about the 20th or so degree of Royal Arch Masonry and its affiliated European/US Brethern. I would include the public personas of practically all the think-tanks, institutes, foundations etc up to mid-ranking level at least, in the category.
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My guess is that the largely dynastic masonic-type operatives above that level are pulling the strings of their juniors:-)) – It’s what they do. They do it in this case because the debacle and concommitant war-mongering that we are witnessing is all their own work. There is very careful planning and orchestration involved and they need cover
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Think Le Cercle and related gatherings.
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We live in interesting and deeply unsettling times indeed.
@Tom Welsh
‘I keep asking, in various quarters, “Why do governments borrow money in the first place?”
But I never get an answer.’
Perhaps it is time to re-visit the Tally System. It did work for (700+?) years. The books were always balanced at the end of each financial year.
The current system is functioning exactly as it was designed. It is designed to fail, and my god, fail it surely will.
Come on guys, these scoundrels did not bankroll the “elected leaders”, so that their gravy train could be slighted! One percent you ask for? What is the world coming to? Might as well call it communism and be over and done with it!
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Franz,
Blow it out of your elbow, anyone whom knows a little about money, and banking, will also know a governmentally owned central bank issuing money does not lead to Hyperinflation! Further given the current rash of QE (printing money to pay the bankers for their worthless speculations gone wrong) creates Hyperinflation.
Thanks, Pee. Roughly what John K said. I do recognise and endorse their position re. the world. It’s the other stuff I can’t engage with. And I’m not really a joiner anyway…can’t do carpentry either, before you ask.
(I’ve only been in one Quaker meeting house. The one where the Boston Tea Party kicked off, in Boston. Never quite reconciled that with the Quakers!)
Alert! There’s a right wing sympathizer posting links here to this persons article at zerohedge.com:
From Ann Barnhardt’s blog: http://barnhardt.biz/
“Dear Rush Limbaugh . . .
Posted by Ann Barnhardt – November 17, AD 2011 12:59 PM MST
Apparently Rush just read my “Going Galt” shutting-down-the-brokerage letter.
I am humbled. Wow. And he thinks I’m a dude. 🙂
Thanks to ZeroHedge.com for posting it.
……”
Don’t know what you guys are worried about. The financial system is destroying itself. All you need to do is help it. Could be painful, sure, but ultimately worthwhile.
Stop buying stuff, including houses. Act as if the apocalypse is here, and inflation is running at German ’30’s levels. Hoard the stuff you do need, like food. Get your money out of criminally profiteering institutions and into ethical ones – if you’ve got any. Refuse to borrow. Pass it on.
Ingo –
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/16/mop_on_the_spirit_at_last/
They may be stealthy, but they’re not invisible. Ask yourself how they are permitted to operate in controlled airspace at night if they do not use flashing strobes. Albeit discreet ones….
Jonathon: “We live in interesting times” a chinese curse, and we sure do
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I believe that the “curse” was more chilling than that. Something like, “May you live in interesting times. May you gain the attention of powerful people…”
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Presumably the idea is that it could be a very good lifestyle to live in interesting times and have the attention of powerful people but equally it could be awful.
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Furthermore I think that these days the Chinese origin of the proverb has been discredited but don’t ask me by whom.
Passerby: I don’t really understand the way you write, but if my guess is correct, you’re disagreeing with me.
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Printing money always leads, /sooner or later/, to hyperinflation. There is only so long you can go on pretending something created out of thin air has value. We’ve managed it for 4 decades, which is pretty good going really, but we won’t manage it for much longer.
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As Max Keiser pointed on his show this week, there has never, in history, been a fiat currency which didn’t end up collapsing.
This is one for Vronsky. I thought I would link this to him because he seems like a nice guy and I don’t want to behave too much like a donkey at the ballet. I wonder what he thinks of my choice:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxIriexb-Bc
Okay, this is good:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72oQy_M7h4Q
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Franz,
Probably you won’t understand this too;
Fiat currencies as in US $ and Euro, as well as UK £, are based on shell games played by the banks, whom generate the money by lending it!
In other words the borrower has to borrow first for the money to appear!
WRT Max, I agree with lots of what he says, but going back to Gold is not exactly the solution either.
However, if a government run central bank were to start issuing currency based on the assets owned by the state, then we can start the recovery from the cleptocracy that has been masquerading as our banksters, and all the ills thereof. We all ought to wish for the end of the theft from the workers, who generate the wealth, by the parasites whom feast on the said generated wealth, and have little in the way of generating it other than speculating and stealing even more.
Talking about Chinese proverbs – Man who run western bank on hill – him not on level.
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Very true considering western banks pay 35% of their earnings in bonuses according to Max Keiser. Chinese banks are now allowing their customers to bank in gold or silver. Trust in Western banks is reaching an all time low – Bravo! Remember this:
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“To pay for the debt, ultimately they[bankers] have to impose more austerity measures. So more austerity measures, more debt, more fees for bankers, more financial terrorism.”
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And as we witness in Mary’s diagram the high priests, the ‘terrorists’ of banking[Goldman Sachs advisers]run Europe’s banks.
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Moral of the story – Hey! if yuz got dosh, buy gold, silver or any precious metal now.