21 Dec 2011

E.U. Crisis: Pick of the Best 2011: Out of Control


A reflective view about the financial crisis sweeping the western world throughout 2011.

Don’t blame us for the crisis say the Wall Street elites. We only follow fundamentals and the money.
But as much these modern highwaymen utilise rampant capitalism to their gain the more they shed light on their rise as a financial mafia style phenomenon.
The crisis is revealing the existence of a beast allowed to grow unchecked over past decades and which is producing a deep sense of despair in our society. This despair has been articulated by the lack of serious control over these financial markets and the fact that the well-being of entire countries and their citizens comes down to a betting system.          
How did it ever get to a situation where a small group of financial entrepreneurs acquired so much power and wealth. How did they gained influence over the lives of millions without ever winning a single vote.
For some time,  investment bankers have believed that they and not politicians, are better leaders for our society.   
At the infamous June 5, 1991, Bilderberger meeting in Baden Baden, Germany, David Rockefeller said in a speech:

‘We are grateful to The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine, and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the lights of publicity during those years. ... The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries.”




 Al Capone gives up his throne as the greatest of them all to a new breed of smart Banksters.

Back in the good old days if you can remember that far back, local banking was about growing locals to flourish financially and socially. Not anymore. The primary function of today’s financial markets is to provide the rich with ways to get richer.
A sinister fringe event is simultaneously diluting democracy to the political sidelines.  In fact some now see this market force as a direct challenge to existentialist freedom.
 Since establishing the Chicago futures market in 1972 Wall Street has under gone a series of evolutionary steps to secure its independence from regulators and the prying eyes of public servants charged with protecting the interests of society at large.

Using money and the usual favours, the financial Dons of Wall Street were able to manipulate those in Washington to either look the other way or pass bills giving advantage to themselves. The Market grew throughout the 1970’s and 80’s. The effects of the Big Bang deregulation in 1986 were dramatic. It decisively strengthened financial capitals to reach the point where they are today.   
Over this time period  financial supervision was virtually eliminated. Political failure to control it had unleashed  a destructive force on society. By 1999 the task for power was nearly complete. Under President Clinton a law dictating strict separation between commercial and investment banks was repealed. This major barrier once removed, enabled institutions to grow into financial giants. Many banks became so large and powerful that they became too big to fail. Vast sums of virtual money amounting up to $60 Trillion were being traded on the market. The rule became simple:
The markets demanded More. Those who do not meet their expectations are punished with declines in the price of their stock and higher borrowing costs. Bankers got paid immense bonuses during the good times while in crisis they got bailed out by the tax payer. Other companies are  forced to keep wages down and their workforces at a minimum.

In 2004 five Wall Street investment bankers  won a ruling which required them to keep less of their own capital in reserve to offset risks. It was a classic coup de grace. From that moment on they  were able to expand their businesses unchecked.  Banks and brokerage firms were swallowed up in the process as the biggest players set the tone.  Hedge funds and private equity firms became known as the Shadow Banks.
Large numbers of financial players went to Washington directly from this Wall Street club.  Former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson became treasury secretary under then President George W. Bush in 2006.  
When the crash came in 2008, Paulson oversaw the biggest bailout to his old cronies in the history of corporate America.  An  economist described the direct involvement of these financial players in the inner workings of  the American government as a "quiet coup."

Life grew to be grand for the City Boys Gang living in the lap of luxury while whole sections of society faced social unrest coupled alongside decades of financial austerity.  And they, (Banksters) can't believe that their luck that the industry is still getting away with a system which allows investors to bet on the bankruptcies of entire countries.
Their arrogance and disrespect for the poor and the protester was openly displayed by members of the industry when they flicked champagne over an Occupy Wall Street demonstration as it passed below their balconies.
"This type of crisis cannot be allowed to repeat itself in the foreseeable future," Merkel said, "otherwise it will be extremely difficult to guarantee political stability, and not only in Germany." This  is the real challenge. 
However it is known the industry is opposed to reform.
For the financial industry, new regulations are often little more than a sporting challenge to  circumvent rules. In their confrontation with politicians and regulatory agencies, banks and hedge funds have a clear advantage: They hire the brightest minds and pay them millions to find new tricks. The public-sector regulators can hardly compete which is why people who have been involved in the financial world for decades assumes they will strike again.......

... 21 Dec 2011 Guardian.... http://tinyurl.com/7fptwo4   By year end the mood in the UK was changing “Bankers don't speak for Britain and the coalition will not put their interests above the rest of the country...these markets are a source of systemic instability, unfettered greed and industrial-scale tax dodging. No sensible government and few bankers, believe that the freewheeling days of the past can continue."
We shall see.........