politics for the 99%

Published on Intrepid Report, by Ellen Brown, July 28, 2014.

One thing to be said for the women now heading the Federal Reserve and the IMF: compared to some of their predecessors, they are refreshingly honest … //

… Collapse or metamorphosis? … //

… About those derivatives:

How to kill the derivatives cancer without killing the patient? Without presuming to have more insight into that question than the head of the Fed or the IMF, I will just list some promising suggestions from a variety of experts in the field (explored in more depth in my earlier article here):

• Eliminate the superpriority granted to derivatives in the 2005 Bankruptcy Reform Act, the highly favorable protective legislation that has allowed the derivatives bubble to mushroom.
• Restore the Glass-Steagall Act separating depository banking from investment banking.
• Break up the giant derivatives banks.
• Alternatively, nationalize the too-big-to-fail banks.
• Make derivatives illegal and unwind them by netting them out, declaring them null and void.
• Impose a financial transactions tax on Wall Street trading.
• To protect the deposits of citizens and local governments, establish postal savings banks and state-owned banks on the model of the Bank of North Dakota, the only state to completely escape the 2008 banking crisis.

These alternatives are all viable possibilities. Our financial leaders, in conjunction with our political leaders, have continually re-created the web of money and credit that knits our economy together. But they have often taken only their own interests and those of the wealthiest citizens into account, not those of the general public. It is up to us to educate ourselves about money and banking, and to demand a system that is accountable to the people and serves our long-term interests.

(full text).

(Ellen Brown is an attorney, founder of the Public Banking Institute, and author of twelve books, including the best-selling Web of Debt. In The Public Bank Solution, her latest book, she explores successful public banking models historically and globally. Her 200+ blog articles are at EllenBrown.com).

Related Links:

• Why is Financial Stability Essential for Key Currencies in the International Monetary System? on naked capitalism, by Lambert Strether, July 29, 2014;
• Reaganism and Thatcherism were Intellectually Dishonest – Heiner Flassbeck on Reality Asserts Itself (1/5), 19.12 min, on The Real News Network TRNN, by Paul Jay, July 29, 2014: Mr. Flassbeck, former director of UNCTAD, discusses growing up in a US dominated Germany and his opposition to the birth of neoliberal economics …;
• U.S. derivatives regulator prepares for courtroom showdowns, on Reuters, by DOUWE MIEDEMA AND SARAH N. LYNCH, July 28, 2014;
• Mis-Selling Derivatives: Italy Seizes €104.5m from Nomura, on International Business Times, by Lianna Brinded, July 28, 2014;
• Ponzi scheme on en.wikipedia is a fraudulent investment operation where the operator, an individual or organization, pays returns to its investors from new capital paid to the operators by new investors, rather than from profit earned by the operator. Operators of Ponzi schemes usually entice new investors by offering higher returns than other investments, in the form of short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. The perpetuation of the high returns requires an ever-increasing flow of money from new investors to sustain the scheme …; See also; External Links;
• THE SHADOW BANKING SYSTEM – nobody can stop it, nobody can regulate it, it’s a ticking time bomb: Ready to go kablooey when the next panic comes around, on Sky Valley Cronicle, by Ellen Brown, July 27, 2014;

Other Links:

Whites to openly pack heat on ‘gun rights education’ march through a Houston black neighborhood, on Intrepid Report, by Walter Brasch, July 29, 2014;

Crisis in Ukraine: A Retrospective on Russia and the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, on Global Research.ca, by Vladislav Krasnov, July 28, 2014: … The Malaysian airplane tragedy show that injustice committed against a large group of people in one country can rebound anywhere in the world. The Kiev government failed to exercise control over Ukraine’s air space and warn all commercial airlines about the danger. By jumping with unproven allegations against the “separatists” and Russia, Kiev and Washington showed that they are more concerned with scoring political points than human lives …;

New Keynesianism as a Club, on Real-World Economics Review Blog, by Thomas Palley, July 28, 2014;

This one chart shows: Why the fear and loathing of the Clintons that some factions of the political class feel does not translate to normal human beings, on Corrente, by Lambert Strether, July 28, 2014: This 1 chart shows why the fear and loathing of the Clintons felt by some factions of the political class does not translate to normal human beings. The Clinton administration was the only administration since Nixon where take-home pay increased over a sustained period. The only one …;

Der türkische Ministerpräsident Erdogan betreibt Annäherung an Russland, Kopp-Verlag-Newsletter, von F. William Engdahl, 28. Juli 2014: Der türkische Ministerpräsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan ist ein echter politischer Überlebenskünstler. Er hat den jahrelangen Versuchen Washingtons widerstanden, ihn abzusetzen, weil er sich weigerte, die Türkei zum Aufmarschplatz für einen Krieg zu machen, der zum Sturz von Baschar al-Assad im benachbarten Syrien führen sollte. Nun schaut sich Erdogan, der Realpolitik wahrscheinlich noch intensiver studiert hat als den Koran, im Ausland nach neuen strategischen Verbündeten um …;

Deleted BBC Report – “Ukrainian Fighter Jet Shot Down MHI7?, Donetsk Eyewitnesses: The Catastrophe of #MH17: #BBC in the Search of the “#BUK” – The Video Report Deleted by @BBC, 4.17 min, on Global Research.ca, / slavyangrad.org, by Global Research News, July 27, 2014: The original BBC Video Report was published by BBC Russian Service on July 23, 2014. In a bitter irony, The BBC is censoring its own news productions. Why did BBC delete this report by Olga Ivshina? …;

Anything other than social media? State Dept’s MH17 evidence secret, on Russia Today RT, July 22, 2014 (uploaded also on YouTube by RT, July 22, 2014): State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf described Russia’s statements on MH17 plane crash as “misinformation” – but when reporters asked her whether Washington would be releasing their intelligence and satellite data, Harf only replied “may be.” So far the US has been backing its statements by social media and “common sense;”

explanation in german: Amerikanisches Außenministerium räumt ein: Beweise« stützen sich auf YouTube-Videos und soziale Medien, im Kopp-Verlag-Newsletter, von Paul Joseph Watson, 23. Juli 2014;

RT LIVE;

… and this:

Iceberg flipping over … , 1.38 min, uploaded by osibaruch, March 27, 2012.