Pope Proposes New Financial Order

According to the Associated Press, Pope Benedict XVI has called for a new world financial order guided by ethics, dignity and the search for the common good in the third encyclical of his pontificate.

Jobs and Inflation: Bernanke Kisses Up

“…the Federal Reserve aims for maximum employment and price stability. To achieve those goals, we must formulate policy based on our best assessment of where the economy is heading. Clearly, the timeliness and reliability of your labor market and price reports are critical to us. Besides those monthly indicators, our analysis and forecasting of inflation and real activity require a number of BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics)  inputs. We need to understand productivity because it is a key element in determining how fast the economy can expand without generating inflation. And we need to factor in trends in wages and benefits, in consumer spending, and in how U.S. wage, price, and productivity trends compare with those abroad. Indeed, the analysis, research, and forecasting that forms the foundation for our policymaking must be grounded in solid economic information, such as the BLS provides.” ~ Chairman Ben S. Bernanke at the Bureau of Labor Statistics 125th Anniversary Celebration in Washington, D.C.

Recovery: New Technology and Financial Literacy With a Glimmer of Hope

There are signs that the rapid decline in economic activity of the past few quarters is slowing. Per the observation by the Federal Reserve, stabilization or improvement will begin from very low levels compared with those the levels of previous recoveries. This recovery is likely to be painfully slow and “the economy unusually vulnerable to new shocks. The news remains bad in two areas of direct importance to American families: Unemployment continues to rise and housing prices continue to decline.”

“Government-provided liquidity and guarantees remain as necessary supports in many areas. Because the collapse of these same markets set off the present crisis and the serious recession that has followed, the case for far-reaching reform appears a strong one.”

The Federal Reserve admits the fact that banks are highly leveraged, presumably due to the fractional reserve backlash in this crisis and compounded by creative banking instruments that have brought the system to its’ knees. Many bankers have been highly creative in protecting themselves from public or government scrutiny on an ongoing basis.

The Fed readily admits:

“that a malfunction in the financial industry can immediately and profoundly harm the entire economy…As we have seen to our dismay in the last year, even where such support is forthcoming, the resulting damage inflicted on the real economy by the financial sector can still be extensive, and the potential costs to taxpayers can still be high.”

For some time, the Federal Reserve has heralded the idea of financial literacy as if it were some ‘new technology’. Now the Fed has realized its’ own training regarding the need for a new financial literacy. The Fed now admits “that systemic risk was very much built into our financial system,” spotlighting the too-big-to-fail phenomenon as one of the most problematic systemic risks in the financial system.

Many members of the Fed now admit that we much apply ‘new technology’ to financial literacy and systemic risk in an effort to overcome the greed syndrome that has wracked U.S. and global banking for the last several decades. The problem remains that central bankers, like the Federal Reserve, are now in charge of implementing policy that can pad and perpetuate their own bottom line and purpose for existence since all central bankers are, in reality, a closed brotherhood or society devoted to their own corporate and global power in the financial system as they tap profits from their own system to benefit the global system and the shareholders of the global corporate central banking system. ~ E. Manning

Financial Racketeering: Send Corrupt Bankers to Prison

Buy your own t-shirt and tell the world you want justice!

As a protective corporate reaction to the economic and fiscal banking crisis that corrupt bankers have brought upon the nation and the world, bankers have sought to hide the true nature and scope of the toxic assets that they hold. The government has been frustrated in its attempts to truly grasp or know the true situation because of corporate trickery and subterfuge on the part of many banking institutions as bankers often continue to operate their own protection racket. Yet, once bankers have been bailed out by the federal government for their short-sided thinking and the development of corrupt speculative banking instruments, some have sought to pay the debt back with the hopes of continuing the banking gravy train for themselves including unsupervised and virtually unlimited pay perks. From the reaction of the Federal Reserve, accounting standards appear to be lacking as bankers continue the attempt to operate their own private corporate racketeering.

With the expectation of countermanding this continued rebellion by bankers, the Federal Reserve has issued new accounting rules which will have a material effect on banking organizations’ accounting for off-balance sheet vehicles. The legislation will take hold in 2010 to address weaknesses in accounting and disclosure standards for off-balance banking instruments.

The Fed is also reviewing regulatory capital standards for bankers based on their experience in the banking bailout which they expect to apply to banking institutions, further cramping the style of many bankers. As a result of the review of new banking capital standards for bankers, the U.S. government is not eager to immediately accept paybacks of bailout money. The U.S. government apparently believes that the bailout has functioned as a fairly reasonable control lever in temporarily reigning in the ongoing greed within the banking community. ~ E. Manning

Fed Puzzled by Stats: Are We In Danger?

All interest rates are not equal when it comes to any given investment product. The rates on bonds of different maturities behave independently of each other. Short-term rates vs. long-term rates can move in opposite directions simultaneously. The gods of finance say that what is important is the overall pattern of interest-rate movement: a direct reflection of the future of the economy and Wall Street confidence.

The Fed is not certain what is driving the sharp rise in long-dated bond yields and has noticed a widening gap between short and long term yields. What does it all mean? Is someone like the Chinese manipulating the market?

A steepening yield curve could mean that investors are worried about the deterioration in the U.S. economic outlook… or the possibility for a collapse in the U.S. dollar as the Federal Reserve continues to load the world with newly minted currency as part of its recent program.

Economists are involved in open combat over what is driving the signs and even worse, what the cause or the solution really is. Some Fed officials believe that a recent glimmer-of-hope in economic data is encouraging investors to believe there is less need for ’safer government bonds’. Richard Fisher in the Dallas Fed contends that the steepening yield curve is generally a sign of a recovery, but huge debt may dampen that perception.

What is certain is that the U.S. Treasury is being forced to sell more bonds to cover the unprecented U.S. debt and falling tax revenues as a result of the recession. What does appear to be certain is that the relentless dumping of dollars on the market will ultimately result in inflation that could easily get out of hand. Is it recovery from investor confidence, investor manipulation, worried investors or defective monetary policy driven by central bankers? Not even the gods of finance know the answer. The gods of finance do not know right or wrong. They know theory and are now in uncharted territory.

Wall Street Giddy with High Times to Come

We live in exciting times. The stock market is up 100 points… or who knows what goodness corporate investors are blessed with today. Wall Street mavens and financial wizards are feeling giddy with delight. They want good times so badly that they are already deluding themselves that the recession is over and that runaway prosperity is in the wings. It’s time to start making money all over again the way “we” used to. After all, nothing has changed beyond massive cast infusions to hold up the system. Multitudes of banks, corporate mongers, financial wizards and wishful investors are convinced that we are about to relive heady good times without an ounce of reform or correction in the system that jack built. They may be right.

The longer reform takes, the less likely reform is to happen, at least if financial and corporate simple simons have their way. It’s time to stop pretending that the Wall Street economy is the same as the real economy that everyone lives in. Wall Street hasn’t met with total and final meltdown because the Wall Street economy has been rescued. They have lived to see another day because of government bailout, presumably at taxpayer expense. Yep, Wall Street seems to be showing signs of life along with the giddiness that goes along with having a future without any reform or consequences. A real party is set to ensue at the expense of all. The real economy that the rest of America lives is another matter altogether.

What is truly important where the economy is concerned is whether real Americans can find work. If Americans can’t find work or create work that they use to survive, the country is in trouble, pure and simple. 539,000 Americans lost their jobs last month after many months of ongoing successive unemployment disaster. Since the recession officially began in December 2007, 5.7 million jobs have been given the write off by government employment statistics. The reality is actually even worse.

Still, there has been plenty of impressive talk about the new world of reform that America will enjoy, but little has been done beyond the talk. Regulatory reform is dying on the government vine of important projects.

Geithner has quipped, “We are being dramatically more aggressive than I believe any serious government has ever been, certainly in generations, in responding to financial crises. So if you look at the scale of action, look at the quality of initiative we’ve taken, I think it dramatically exceeds even the best-managed crises we’ve seen before.” Ple-e-ze. The system continues just as before, but without any reform or any real ideas for reform that hold any substance. The Masters of the Economy can’t seem to wrap their minds around the banking deluge that has brought us to our knees, much less figure out a way to reform it. They just don’t want to rock the boat of monetary largess. Geithner told Congress that fixing the system would be accomplished not by “modest repairs”, but by “new rules of the game.” I agree that what is playing out between government, corporate bankers and central bankers is a game. That much is obvious.

People are watching. Are you? ~ E. Manning

Economic Lies that the System Promotes

Yeah. Yeah. You’ve heard it all and everybody is trying to sell you something. The snake oil salesmen are all around. Washington is no different. The lie continues to spread that investing your money in banks or the latest government bonds are safe and sound investing. Think again.

The problem is that we have a ‘dumbing down’ of the American economic system as foreign investors pile on to invest their otherwise worthless American greenbacks and you are the one that will suffer through devaluation and hyperinflation because you base your life on money and monetary acquisition that central bankers run. Your economic livelihood and future is at stake if you have piles of money or owe piles of money. That applies to most Americans. Your investment is an illusion, the same as the thin air that central bankers and banks have created.

The fact remains that there is little monetary defense or value in trying to tell the average American that they can somehow defend their monetary wealth when the central bankers continue to erode that wealth into nothing in a hopelessly compromised financial system. Central bankers are riding the dark horse as they plow the dollar into non-existence so that they can rebuild a new monetary system from the ashes they have created. Naturally, this is to their advantage. The sad thing is that Washington politicians are hopelessly compliant and cooperative in an effort to create a new system from the ashes of your financial lives and years of servitude to their system. We are the fools and most Americans will undoubtedly foolishly listen the advice of the financial sages. What is Washington D.C. up to? CONTROL.  What are central bankers up to? CONTROL. Never forget that what you are being told by mainstream politicians and financial media is designed to secure the system over your life or means of livelihood at your expense.

Gold? Unless you hold the nuggets of goodness in your meaty little hand, don’t buy the snake oil. Gold investment certificates aren’t worth a thunder mug full of waste. Remember the old proverb that possession is nine-tenths of the law. In this case, physical possession is your safest bet, but far from perfect. Your stuff is only as secure as you are. The little guy can easily be pulled from his stuff during a crisis.

I am linking to this electroblurb because it is the right thing to do overall. I do not advocate the sales of the product or the conclusion reached. I ask you to read the facts and forget about buying anything that involves a significant portion of your money, devalued or otherwise, because the money you earn represents your life.