The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve
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Simply stated, it was to come to an agreement on the structure and operation of a banking cartel. The goal, as is true with all cartels, was to maximize profits by minimizing competition between members, to make it difficult for new competitors to enter the field, and to utilize the police power of government to enforce the cartel agreement. In more specific terms, it was to create a blueprint for the Federal Reserve System.
Matthew Worley
Monetry monopoly. A monopoy of a naations entire output.
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Almost all banks in the 1880s were national banks, which means they were chartered by the federal government. Generally, they were located in the big cities, and were allowed by law to issue their own currency in the form of bank notes. Even as early as 1896, however, the number of non-national banks had grown to sixty-one per cent, and they already held fifty-four per cent of the country's total banking deposits.
Matthew Worley
Own currency redeemable within that network only
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That balance between debt and thrift was the result of a limited money supply. Banks could create loans in excess of their actual deposits, as we shall see, but there was a limit to that process. And that limit was ultimately determined by the supply of gold they held.
Matthew Worley
The cycle of debts and liabilities had to have an objective tether
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What the bankers wanted—and what many businessmen wanted also—was to intervene in the free market and tip the balance of interest rates downward, to favor debt over thrift. To accomplish this, the money supply simply had to be disconnected from gold and made more plentiful or, as they described it, more elastic.
Matthew Worley
!!!
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But if public confidence is shaken, and if more than a few per cent attempt to withdraw their funds, the scheme is finally exposed.
Matthew Worley
The fed is just a figurehead, a soothing influence to the public, oil in the capitaist machine
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Bankruptcy usually follows in due course.
Matthew Worley
Why is it that few companies stay relvant (ie profitable) for long swaths of time? What are the chrcteristics of companies "corporately selected" to evolve and succeed with longevity?
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But if the holder of the check took it to another bank, it was quickly passed back to the issuing bank and settlement was demanded between banks.
Matthew Worley
A check is a form of currency particular to a bank?
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This demand of money by other banks rather than by depositors is called a currency drain.
Matthew Worley
currency drain
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the same ratio to their reserves as other banks did, then, regardless of how small that ratio was, the amount of checks to be cleared between them would balance in the long run.
Matthew Worley
This fosters derivatives
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The banks did not fail because the system was weak. The system failed because the banks were weak.
Matthew Worley
Evolution
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By making it appear to be a problem of the national economy rather than of private banking practice, the door then could be opened for the use of tax money rather than their own funds for paying off the losses.
Matthew Worley
When did the system's fiscal weakness caused by greed become dependent on public subsidy?!?
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Incidentally, a few years later, the Reichsbank would create the massive hyperinflation in Germany which wiped out the middle class and the entire economy as well.
Matthew Worley
Yannis Varoufakis points to ECB as a cartel
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to serve private interests at the expense of the public.
Matthew Worley
!
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"Before the passage of this Act, the New York bankers could only dominate the reserves of New York. Now we are able to dominate the bank reserves of the entire country."
Matthew Worley
Was this conducive to innovation, or stunting?
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That incredible loss in value was quietly transferred to the federal government in the form of hidden taxation, and the Federal Reserve System was the mechanism by which it was accomplished.
Matthew Worley
Holy shit
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The Federal Reserve System is a legal private monopoly of the money supply operated for the benefit of the few under the guise of protecting and promoting the public interest.27
Matthew Worley
Succinct
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What emerged was a cartel agreement with five objectives: stop the growing competition from the nation's newer banks; obtain a franchise to create money out of nothing for the purpose of lending; get control of the reserves of all banks so that the more reckless ones would not be exposed to currency drains and bank runs; get the taxpayer to pick up the cartel's inevitable losses; and convince Congress that the purpose was to protect the public.
Matthew Worley
Chapter point
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unemployment and economic disruption. More
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It is important to remember that banks do not really want to have their loans repaid, except as evidence of the dependability of the borrower. They make a profit from interest on the loan, not repayment of the loan.
Matthew Worley
Incredibly important
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The reason given is that this is in the interest of the public, the spectators who are having such a wonderful time and who will be sad to see the game ended. They request also that, while the spectators are in the stadium enjoying themselves, the parking-lot attendants be ordered to quietly remove the hub caps from every car. These can be sold to provide money for additional salaries for all the players, including the referee and, of course, the Commissioner himself.
Matthew Worley
Hub caps, thats excellent
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So it responds by creating out of nothing an amount of brand new money equal to the I.O.U.s and, through the magic of central banking, the FDIC is finally funded. This new money gushes into the banks where it is used to pay off the depositors. From there it floods through the economy diluting the value of all money and causing prices to rise. The old paycheck doesn't buy as much any more, so we learn to get along with a little bit less. But, see? The bank's doors are open again, and all the depositors are happy—until they return to their cars and discover the missing hub caps!
Matthew Worley
2008
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there were not enough other banks in the city to absorb its operation without creating an unhealthy concentration of banking power in the hands of a few.
Matthew Worley
A member of a cartel pleading with the "reps of the people" to lower their standard of living too avoid a localized monopoly
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The bank was so large, they said, if it were allowed to fall, it would act as the first domino leading to an international financial crisis.
Matthew Worley
Too Big To Fail began in 1980 with First Penn
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Since 1984, while hundreds of small banks have been forced out of business, the average size of the banks that remain has more than doubled.
Matthew Worley
The Fed tried to let Lehman go down to force this to a head. Did it work? Was the pain a long term gain?
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The new business model for America is clearly recognizable. Its dominant feature is the merger of government, real estate, and commerce into a single structure, tightly controlled at the top. It is the same model used in Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Communist China.
Matthew Worley
!!!
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Money for future bailouts in other countries will be created by the Federal Reserve at the expense of American citizens (without their knowledge or consent) and moved to the central banks of those countries to be distributed to their commercial banks.
Matthew Worley
The facade of fiscal freedom
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This was a deliberate national policy to favor the home industry at the expense of other industries that were competing for the same investment dollars. It may not have been good for the economy as a whole but it was good politics.
Matthew Worley
Always buy what the Queen is selling. Deliberate national policy is a cash cow. Is this because its the highest form of trust???
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The reality of government disruption of the free market cannot be overemphasized, for it is at the heart of our present and future crisis.
Matthew Worley
Adam Smith???
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1980, they were paying 15.8% interest on their money-market certificates.
Matthew Worley
High yield is high risk. SO many failed. What is the sweet spot of risk-adjusted yield?
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"You will not be the victim of others' mistakes. We will see—guarantee—that your insured deposits are secure."84
Matthew Worley
Be wary of gurantees
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The FSLIC permits the S&L which sold the mortgage to take the loss over a 40-year period. Most companies selling an asset at a loss must take the loss immediately: only S&Ls can engage in this patent fraud.
Matthew Worley
After 40 years of inflation thats 1/4 of value loss
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Argentina then signed an agreement with 350 creditor banks to stretch out payments on nearly a fourth of its $13.4 billion debt, and the banks agreed to lend an extra $4.2 billion to cover interest payments and political incentives.
Matthew Worley
Politicl incentives
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Does it not seem strange that Communism fell without a struggle? Is it not curious that the system which was born out of class conflict and revolution and which maintained itself by force and violence for almost a century just went away on its own?
Matthew Worley
!!!
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The ex-Soviet states are now meeting only 30 percent of their interest payments (and almost no principal) on debts to the West of $70 billion.... Various forms of Western aid to the ex-Soviet states totaled about $50 billion in the last 20 months, and the money has virtually disappeared without a trace or a dent on the economic picture.137
Matthew Worley
The arresting dichotomy between the consumers perception of debt and the banks' goal for it is remarkably frightening.
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Leslie Gelb has been a member of the CFR since 1973.
Matthew Worley
And almost assuredly a communist to boot
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In 1999, it was discovered that Russian officials had "laun-dered" (stolen) about $20 billion of this funding. The IMF publicly expressed shock and dismay; but soon resumed negotiations to issue new loans.
Matthew Worley
How's that AML going?
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"Threats and Secret Promises: Bank of America's Merger with Merrill Lynch,"by Mack Sperling, Business Litigation Report (Net), April 24, 2009.
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This attitude is not accidental, nor was it always so. There was a time in the fairly recent past when the humble voter—even without formal education—was well informed on money matters and vitally concerned about their political implementation.
Matthew Worley
Incredibly important. The rise of cryptos coincides with the millennial characteristic of being interested about learning about finance from a young age.
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It has been in the interest of the money mandarins, however, to convince the public that, now, these issues are too complicated for novices.
Matthew Worley
Banks have made us trust them, even while stealimg our money, lyimg to the public, and committing overt fraud.
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The phrases "...will pay to the bearer on demand" and "... is redeemable in lawful money" were deleted from our currency altogether in 1964.
Matthew Worley
Cash me in '63, howbohdah?!
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If Santa Claus were to visit everyone on Earth next Christmas and leave in our stockings an amount of money exactly equal to the amount we already had, there is no doubt that many would rejoice over the sudden increase in wealth. By New Year's day, however, prices would have doubled for everything, and the net result on the world's standard of living would be exactly zero.4 The reason so many people fall for the appealing argument that the economy needs a larger money supply is that they zero in only on the need to increase their supply.
Matthew Worley
Saving with no yield gets killed by inflation
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If Santa Claus were to visit everyone on Earth next Christmas and leave in our stockings an amount of money exactly equal to the amount we already had, there is no doubt that many would rejoice over the sudden increase in wealth. By New Year's day, however, prices would have doubled for everything, and the net result on the world's standard of living would be exactly zero.4 The reason so many people fall for the appealing argument that the economy needs a larger money supply is that they zero in only on the need to increase their supply.
Matthew Worley
How can the developed world ever resume inflation when the demand for goods gets overcome by debt obligtions? What happens whenn trust in America as lender of last resort fails???
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the holders of the currency, more than likely, would smoke some of it rather than spend it. The supply would diminish and the value would return to its previous equilibrium. That is not theory, it actually happened.
Matthew Worley
Crypto burn
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For example, in 1913, the year the Federal Reserve was enacted into law, the average annual wage in America was $633. The exchange value of gold that year was $20.67. That means that the average worker earned the equivalent of 30.6 ounces of gold per year. In 1990, the average annual wage had risen to $20,468. That is a whopping increase of 3,233 per cent, an average rise of 42 per cent each year for 77years. But the exchange value of gold in 1990 had also risen. It was at $386.90 per ounce. The average worker, therefore, was earning the equivalent of52.9 ounces of gold per year. That is an ...more
Matthew Worley
Note this. 1% average annual for the consumer. Where does the rest of wealth go?
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It is entirely possible, of course, that something other than gold would be better as the basis for money. It's just that, in over two thousand years, no one has been able to find it.
Matthew Worley
;)
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The final move in this game of legal plunder was for the government to fix prices so that, even if everyone is using only junk as money, they can no longer compensate for the continually expanding supply of it. Now the people were caught. They had no escape except to become criminals, which most of them, incidentally, chose to do. The history of artificially expanding money is the history of great dissatisfaction with government, much lawlessness, and massive underground economy.
Matthew Worley
And no wonder
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This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the "hidden" confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights.8
Matthew Worley
Greenspan is woke af...odd to see that from someone so instrumentl in consolidating Fed power.
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For all practical purposes, money became extinct, and the Roman Empire was no more.
Matthew Worley
Money stages form parllels to historical trends.
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Unfortunately, the present situation is not unique to our history.
Matthew Worley
What happens to civilization when one fallss? Is there a book the History of money??
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direct manifestations of the expansion and contraction of fiat money which no longer was governed by the laws of supply and demand.19 By this time,
Matthew Worley
Why do governments make pms worth a fixed amoumt($5 for exmple)
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