Category Archives: The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? – Discuss

Great-est Depression???

This forecaster is saying something that I thought was just common sense and I mentioned a year ago or more. That is to say, without a vibrant middle class to effect the necessary 70 % consumption that represented the bulk … Continue reading

Posted in Back to the basics, Coup d'etat in America, Death of the Dollar, Let's Call What It Is - DEPRESSION, Our phony middle class, Patience is a virtue...Delusion is a vice, Small Business-Bedrock of America, TARP fruit loops, The American Financial Oligarchy, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Obama OMG magic factory, The Sorry State Of American Manufacturing, The Suffering Poor, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, US Trade Imbalance, USA Is the New Japan, Unemployment Catastrophe, Unintended Consequences, We Have Become Beggars To The World | Leave a comment

Inexcusable Delay-Another reason for a change in Washington

Senate Leaves Credit-Starved Small Biz Hanging – Los Angeles Times Small businesses desperate for government help getting loans will have to wait at least until September before Congress moves on long-awaited legislation to pay for higher loan guarantees, lower fees … Continue reading

Posted in A Shareholder-Not Just a "Stakeholder", A State of Distress, Small Business-Bedrock of America, The American Financial Oligarchy, The Arrogance of Power, The Democrats Blew It Again, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Judeo-Christian Political Coalition, The New American Socialism, The Obama OMG magic factory, The Sorry State Of American Manufacturing, The Suffering Poor, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Time For A New Third Party, US Trade Imbalance, Unemployment Catastrophe, We Have Become Beggars To The World, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do!, Who owns Congress-Still!, Why is the first Black President incompetent? | Leave a comment

The Committee to Defraud the World

To say now that ‘No one knew’ or ‘I was mistaken’ or ‘I was just doing as I was told’ is another in a series of lies and deceptions that have supported one of the greatest frauds in the history … Continue reading

Posted in A Moral Question - Not A Political One, A Shareholder-Not Just a "Stakeholder", A Time To Repent, AIG and all that....., Analysis & Commentary, Bilderbergers 1 USA 0, Collateral Damage, Coming Social Unrest, Consumption Ran the Old Economy, Coup d'etat in America, Death of the Dollar, Deflation-Inflation-Stagflation, Devaluation, Did they ever hear of GAAP?, Dismal Science-Ignorant Scientists?, Economic Analysis Isn't Science, Even the Terminator Can't Help California, Goldman: Underwriter or Undertaker?, Greenspan is kind of stupid, Insolvency, It Is Supposed to be a Republic!, Jacksonian Democracy, Let's Call What It Is - DEPRESSION, Moral Hazard, No Bank Is Indispensable, Obama's Hypocrisy, Our phony middle class, Patience is a virtue...Delusion is a vice, Small Business-Bedrock of America, Smaller Can Be Better, Social Security Time bomb, Socialism, TARP fruit loops, The American Financial Oligarchy, The Arrogance of Power, The Consequences of Greed, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Judeo-Christian Political Coalition, The New American Socialism, The Obama OMG magic factory, The Sorry State Of American Manufacturing, The Suffering Poor, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Those Quarky Accounting Rules, Time For A New Third Party, Truth In Charity, USA Is the New Japan, Unemployment Catastrophe, Unindicted Co-Conspiritors, Unintended Consequences, Wage Deflation, We Have Become Beggars To The World, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do!, Who owns Congress-Still!, Why is the first Black President incompetent? | 1 Comment

Bad Meat

MAD MEAT! How Securitized Lending Collapsed the Financial System, Eric Von Berg (a commercial property mortgage banker and was the President of the California Mortgage Bankers Association during the heat of the market who has been watching “Regulatory Reform” as … Continue reading

Posted in Secularized Lending, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Global Economy, The Habits of Hedge Funds, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Joy of Being A Bank, The Judeo-Christian Political Coalition, The New American Socialism, The Sorry State Of American Manufacturing, The Suffering Poor, The Summers Exit Watch, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Time For A New Third Party | Leave a comment

CBO Propaganda

I’ve seen some eye-poppin’, credulity-stretchin’ accounts in my time. The report “The Budgetary Impact and Subsidy Costs of the Federal Reserve’s Actions During the Financial Crisis,” just released by the Congressional Budget Office, ranks with the most extreme. It claims … Continue reading

Posted in THEY ARE ALL THE SAME, The American Financial Oligarchy, The Arrogance of Power, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The New American Socialism, The Sorry State Of American Manufacturing, The Suffering Poor, The Summers Exit Watch, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Time For A New Third Party, Truth In Charity, US Trade Imbalance, USA Is the New Japan, Unemployment Catastrophe, Unindicted Co-Conspiritors, Unintended Consequences, Wage Deflation, Want To Buy A Car?, We Are All Cooked, We Have Become Beggars To The World, We Need Open Derivative Models, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do!, Who owns Congress-Still!, Why is the first Black President incompetent? | Leave a comment

“Of Rats and Sinking Ships”

Larry Summers is reportedly leaving later this year, and Andrew Cockburn reports that Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s acutely verbal Chief of Staff is said to be looking for other employment, preferably a high paying job on Wall Street with little work … Continue reading

Posted in A Growing List Of One Term Presidents, A State of Distress, A Time To Repent, Analysis & Commentary, Obama Bingo, Obama's Hypocrisy, Our phony middle class, Political Chaos, Politicians, Prostitutes and Pimps All Rhyme, Ron Paul Stands Tall, Small Business-Bedrock of America, Stupid!, Sub-Prime anytime, TARP fruit loops, THEY ARE ALL THE SAME, The Arrogance of Power, The Democrats Blew It Again, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Judeo-Christian Political Coalition, The New American Socialism, The Sorry State Of American Manufacturing, The Suffering Poor, Time For A New Third Party, USA Is the New Japan, Wage Deflation, Want To Buy A Car?, We Are All Cooked, We Are All Guilty, We Have Become Beggars To The World, Why is the first Black President incompetent? | Leave a comment

Howdy, Neighbor!

When asked what advice he would give to residents of Ashtabula County Ohio because of cutbacks in official law enforcement budgets, Judge Alfred Mackey said they should: “arm themselves. Be very careful, be vigilant, get in touch with your neighbors, … Continue reading

Posted in A State of Distress, A Time To Repent, Collateral Damage, Coming Social Unrest, Coup d'etat in America, Greenspan is kind of stupid, Insolvency, Let's Call What It Is - DEPRESSION, Our phony middle class, Patience is a virtue...Delusion is a vice, Political Chaos, Ron Paul Stands Tall, Stress Test Mess, Subsidiarity, TARP fruit loops, The Austrian School of Economics, The Consequences of Greed, The Democrats Blew It Again, The Economics of Schumpeter, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The New American Socialism, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Those Quarky Accounting Rules, Unemployment Catastrophe, Unindicted Co-Conspiritors, We Are All Cooked, We Are All Guilty, We Have Become Beggars To The World, Who owns Congress-Still! | Leave a comment

The Independence of the Fed

There is a thesis that the banks are in control of the Fed and as a result have gained control over the issuance of the currency of the United States. This thesis is based on the fact that the shares … Continue reading

Posted in Political Chaos, Regulatory Failures, Ron Paul Stands Tall, Securitization, Small Business-Bedrock of America, Smaller Can Be Better, Stress Test Mess, TARP fruit loops, The Consequences of Greed, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The New American Socialism, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Time For A New Third Party, Unindicted Co-Conspiritors, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do!, Who owns Congress-Still! | Leave a comment

ECONed: Sic Transit Gloria Americanus

Richard Smith, a London-based capital markets information technology manager, was kind enough to provide an advance copy of his review for the book ECONned: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism by Yves Smith, the author of the … Continue reading

Posted in A Saturday Break, A State of Distress, Analysis & Commentary, Bilderbergers 1 USA 0, Book Reviews, Patience is a virtue...Delusion is a vice, The Consequences of Greed, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Global Economy, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Suffering Poor, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Unindicted Co-Conspiritors, We Are All Cooked, We Are All Guilty, We Have Become Beggars To The World, What Is An Investment Asset?, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do!, Who owns Congress-Still!, “the Greenspan doctrine” | Leave a comment

Why Obama is Now (finally) Getting Tough on Wall Street

Originally published at Robert Reich’s Blog For almost a year now, Democratic pollsters have been pointing out how much the public hates the bank bailout and despises Wall Street. But there was no reason for Democratic leaders in Congress or … Continue reading

Posted in The Arrogance of Power, The Consequences of Greed, The Democrats Blew It Again, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Joy of Being A Bank, The Judeo-Christian Political Coalition, The New American Socialism, The Sorry State Of American Manufacturing, The Suffering Poor, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Time For A New Third Party, US Trade Imbalance, USA Is the New Japan, We Have Become Beggars To The World, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do!, Who owns Congress-Still! | Leave a comment

Sic transit America?

Flagging: a US sailor stands on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington If a week is a long time in politics, a decade is starting to look like an age in geopolitics. Comparing the America that … Continue reading

Posted in A Growing List Of One Term Presidents, A State of Distress, A Time To Repent, AIG and all that....., Back to the basics, Collateral Damage, Coming Social Unrest, Commercial Real Estate Bust, Consumption Ran the Old Economy, Coup d'etat in America, Death of the Dollar, Deflation-Inflation-Stagflation, Devaluation, Dismal Science-Ignorant Scientists?, Even the Terminator Can't Help California, Federal Reserve-Discussion, Figures don't lie but Liars can figure, IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER AND MONEY, Integrity and Responsibility, Is The Market Rally Real?, It Is Nice To Be Part of the Elite!, It starts with a foundation, Monetary Policy - Discussion, Our phony middle class, Patience is a virtue...Delusion is a vice, Political Chaos, Politicians, Prostitutes and Pimps All Rhyme, Small Business-Bedrock of America, Sub-Prime anytime, TARP fruit loops, The Arrogance of Power, The Consequences of Greed, The Democrats Blew It Again, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Global Economy, The Habits of Hedge Funds, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Judeo-Christian Political Coalition, The New American Socialism, The Sorry State Of American Manufacturing, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Time For A New Third Party, Truth In Charity, US Trade Imbalance, USA Is the New Japan, Unemployment Catastrophe, We Are All Cooked, We Are All Guilty, We Have Become Beggars To The World, “the Greenspan doctrine” | Leave a comment

Bernanke Versus the Austrians

My essay in today’s American Spectator Online looks at why Ben Bernanke should not be confirmed to a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve: Two planks in Bernanke’s recovery strategy: Expand the money supply like a banana republic … Continue reading

Posted in The Arrogance of Power, The Austrian School of Economics, The Consequences of Greed, The Economics of Schumpeter, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Global Economy, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The New American Socialism, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke | Leave a comment

Obama’s Big Sellout

Barack Obama ran for president as a man of the people, standing up to Wall Street as the global economy melted down in that fateful fall of 2008. He pushed a tax plan to soak the rich, ripped NAFTA for … Continue reading

Posted in A Growing List Of One Term Presidents, A State of Distress, A Time To Repent, AIG and all that....., Analysis & Commentary, Bilderbergers 1 USA 0, Coming Social Unrest, Consumption Ran the Old Economy, Deflation-Inflation-Stagflation, Devaluation, IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER AND MONEY, Insolvency, Is Goldman Sachs Evil?, It starts with a foundation, Political Chaos, Small Business-Bedrock of America, Small Cap Stocks, Smaller Can Be Better, Socialism, TARP fruit loops, The Arrogance of Power, The Consequences of Greed, The Democrats Blew It Again, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Joy of Being A Bank, The Judeo-Christian Political Coalition, The New American Socialism, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Time For A New Third Party, USA Is the New Japan, Unemployment Catastrophe, We Are All Cooked, We Are All Guilty, We Have Become Beggars To The World, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do!, Who owns Congress-Still! | Leave a comment

The Apparatchiks

Posted in A Growing List Of One Term Presidents, A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words, A State of Distress, AIG and all that....., Back to the basics, Bilderbergers 1 USA 0, Jacksonian Democracy, Libertarianism - the Debate, Monetary Policy - Discussion, No Bank Is Indispensable, Obama's Hypocrisy, Our phony middle class, Politicians, Ron Paul Stands Tall, Socialism, TARP fruit loops, THEY ARE ALL THE SAME, The Arrogance of Power, The Consequences of Greed, The Democrats Blew It Again, The Economics of Schumpeter, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Judeo-Christian Political Coalition, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Time For A New Third Party, Unemployment Catastrophe, Unindicted Co-Conspiritors, Wage Deflation, We Are All Cooked, We Are All Guilty, We Have Become Beggars To The World, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do!, Who owns Congress-Still! | Leave a comment

The Big Government Boss isn’t going away

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing,” said Timothy W. Long, the chief bank examiner for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. “At the height of the economic boom, to take an aggressive supervisory approach and tell people to stop … Continue reading

Posted in A Growing List Of One Term Presidents, A Shareholder-Not Just a "Stakeholder", A State of Distress, AIG and all that....., Analysis & Commentary, Coming Social Unrest, Commercial Real Estate Bust, Deflation-Inflation-Stagflation, IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER AND MONEY, Is Goldman Sachs Evil?, It starts with a foundation, No Bank Is Indispensable, Obama's Hypocrisy, Our phony middle class, Political Chaos, Regulatory Failures, Small Business-Bedrock of America, Smaller Can Be Better, Socialism, TARP fruit loops, The Arrogance of Power, The Consequences of Greed, The Democrats Blew It Again, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Habits of Hedge Funds, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Joy of Being A Bank, The New American Socialism, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Unemployment Catastrophe, Unindicted Co-Conspiritors, Wage Deflation, We Have Become Beggars To The World, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do!, Who owns Congress-Still!, “the Greenspan doctrine” | Leave a comment

Break for Companies in Bailout’s Fine Print

One of the federal government’s most opaque methods for bailing out the banking system allowed a handful of giant institutions to save up to $25 billion on their borrowing costs, a Congressional panel estimated on Friday. Seven companies received about … Continue reading

Posted in A Growing List Of One Term Presidents, A Shareholder-Not Just a "Stakeholder", A State of Distress, IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER AND MONEY, Is Goldman Sachs Evil?, It Is Nice To Be Part of the Elite!, It starts with a foundation, Obama's Hypocrisy, Political Implications, Prostitutes and Pimps All Rhyme, Socialism, THEY ARE ALL THE SAME, The Arrogance of Power, The Democrats Blew It Again, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The New American Socialism, Unindicted Co-Conspiritors, We Are All Cooked, We Are All Guilty, We Have Become Beggars To The World, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do!, Who owns Congress-Still! | Leave a comment

Entrepreneurs: The Real “Peace Prize” Winners

We live in ludicrous times of rewarding good appearance for evil action. President Obama is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while his war efforts intensify. But those who are true promoters of peace need attention, for they will never likely … Continue reading

Posted in Small Business-Bedrock of America, Small Cap Stocks, Smaller Can Be Better, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The New American Socialism | Leave a comment

Did “Smart Guys” Destroy Wall Street?

I think Calvin Trillin–or at least his bar-room companion–is really on to something here: “The financial system nearly collapsed,” he said, “because smart guys had started working on Wall Street.” … I reflected on my own college class, of roughly the same … Continue reading

Posted in IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER AND MONEY, It Is Nice To Be Part of the Elite!, Risk Management Strategies, THEY ARE ALL THE SAME, The Consequences of Greed, The Danger of Volume Trading, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, Time For A New Third Party, Unindicted Co-Conspiritors, We Are All Cooked, We Are All Guilty, We Have Become Beggars To The World, What Is An Investment Asset?, Who owns Congress-Still! | Leave a comment

Thinking through central bank independence

I have a column in Financial Express today on the rationale for independence of the central bank, and how this is operationalised in democracies. The rationale for central bank independence The starting point of modern thinking on monetary policy is … Continue reading

Posted in Federal Reserve-Discussion, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Habits of Hedge Funds, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Joy of Being A Bank, The New American Socialism, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke | Leave a comment

A Short Question For Senior Officials Of The New York Fed

At the height of the financial panic last fall Goldman Sachs became a bank holding company, which enabled it to borrow directly from the Federal Reserve.  It also became subject to supervision by the Federal Reserve Board (with the NY Fed on point) – … Continue reading

Posted in Jacksonian Democracy, Let's Call What It Is - DEPRESSION, Monetary Policy - Discussion, Negative Cash Flow, Obama's Hypocrisy, Our phony middle class, Political Implications, Regulatory Failures, Small Business-Bedrock of America, The Arrogance of Power, The Democrats Blew It Again, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Joy of Being A Bank, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Truth In Charity, Unindicted Co-Conspiritors, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do! | Leave a comment

Operation Rollback: Wal-Mart’s World of Business

The expansion of international “supply chains” from Asian factories to American consumers has certainly created global trade imbalances and international currency flows that are not necessarily sustainable over the long run. A readjustment of the world economy, not a slackening … Continue reading

Posted in A Shareholder-Not Just a "Stakeholder", A State of Distress, Back to the basics, Book Reviews, Important Skills - No Apprentice Programs, Market Strategies, Our phony middle class, Patience is a virtue...Delusion is a vice, Strategizing Suppy Chain Links, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Sorry State Of American Manufacturing, US Trade Imbalance, Unemployment Catastrophe, Unindicted Co-Conspiritors, Wage Deflation, Watch The China Market, We Are All Cooked, We Have Become Beggars To The World | 1 Comment

Did Bernanke Prevent a Great Depression?

The recession is probably over. So said Ben Bernanke this week. His timing is exquisite. President Obama has reappointed him to be Fed chairman, and he can now head into his Senate confirmation hearings this fall with the reputation that … Continue reading

Posted in The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke | Leave a comment

“the short period of American triumphalism, where we dominated the global scene. That period is over”.

Stiglitz Says U.S. Economic Recovery May Not Be ‘Sustainable’ By Michael McKee Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. economy faces a “significant chance” of contracting again after emerging from its worst recession since the 1930s, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz … Continue reading

Posted in A Growing List Of One Term Presidents, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The New American Socialism, The Sorry State Of American Manufacturing, Time For A New Third Party, US Trade Imbalance, Unemployment Catastrophe, We Are All Cooked, We Have Become Beggars To The World, Who owns Congress-Still! | Comments Off

Food for Thought

From the Mises Institute: Obama and the Economy by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. What Is the Proper Way to Study Man? by Murray N. Rothbard Why the Current Policy Prescriptions Cannot Possibly Work by Thorsten Polleit

Posted in The Arrogance of Power, The Austrian School of Economics, The Economics of Schumpeter, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The New American Socialism | Leave a comment