Peak Oil is You
Donate Bitcoins ;-) or Paypal :-)
Page added on November 6, 2014
We Have Just Witnessed The Last Gasp Of The Global Economy
It is difficult to find the motivation to write about the state of the global economy these days, if only because there is not much left to say. I feel like I am composing multiple obituaries for the same long dead corpse. Most of the Liberty Movement and I suspect a small portion of the mainstream market understand that there is no tangible or legitimate recovery, let alone a stable fiscal ladder to rest our feet upon. There is literally nothing left to the financial system but rigged statistics, false promises, and ever expanding debt. In fact, the concept of debt creation is the only thing holding our facade of an economy together.
You and I probably find this rather strange. We come from a long forgotten school of economics, in which demand, supply, and savings actually mean something in terms of our fiscal health. I have come across many mainstream economic acolytes and cultists in recent months who disregard ALL logic and reason, forsaking the realities of demand based trade and immersing themselves in a grand delusion in which central bank generated debt and inflation are the real source of “prosperity”. I feel sorry for them in a way, because the truth is right in front of their faces, and yet, they will never see it, not until they are buried alive in it.
Nothing makes this problem more apparent than the behavior of equities in the past month.
Stocks are, of course, a sham of the highest magnitude, but they do still say something about the greater truth behind our financial condition. The fact that many market traders clearly KNOW that it’s all a farce, and are actually banking and betting on the scam, tells me exactly how close we are to the end of the line. The recent near 10% drop in the Dow at the beginning of Fall must have certainly been a shock for the day trading community as well as mainstream pundits. The assumption for the past few years has been that central bank stimulus guarantees a constantly growing bull market, and to experience a considerable decline in equities even while QE was still in action was at least a noticeable wake up call.
I suspect that this decline in markets was not necessarily planned by the central banks, and was a stumble in their scheme to keep stocks elevated until after the QE taper had settled. It was also a stumble I expected a little earlier, around the end of Summer to be exact. Since the drop, central banks and the mainstream media have reacted forcefully to manipulate public perception as well as investor optimism, but this cannot go on for much longer.
In almost every instance of market decline, financial news group Reuters has injected false rumors of more stimulus from the European Central Bank. This was also the case in October as markets began to crash. These rumors were later dashed by the Financial Times, but not before the mere mention of more fiat stimulus from any central bank sent stocks soaring yet again.
This also occurred when middle management Federal Reserve member John Williams hinted in interviews of the possibility of “QE4” if the economy began to show signs of regression. Williams, of course, has no say in the decision to reintroduce QE, but this did not matter to investors, who immediately latched onto the meaningless news like anxious children, and threw their money back into stocks again.
And, most recently, Japan’s central bank announced a sudden and surprising re-ignition of stimulus measures to the tune of 80 Trillion Yen a year. This announcement, once again, sent global stocks skyrocketing, even though it was a stark admission by Japan’s financial elite that all their inflationary printing efforts for the past several years have failed miserably. As I have warned in the past, when bad news becomes good news because bad news promises more central bank intervention, the economy is truly on the verge of a reckoning.
Hopefully, we can all see the trend taking place here. With the end of the Federal Reserve taper now complete, and questions circling as to when interest rates will be raised, a market volatility not seen since 2008-2009 is returning. The ONLY measure that has slowed the crash is the use of false news stories hinting at further stimulus, as well as futile efforts by other central banks to pick up where the Federal Reserve left off. This shows that the investment world is so thoroughly addicted to QE that even the mere hint of another small fix of their favorite drug is enough to get them out of bed and excited. They know that the entire system is rigged by central banks, and they don’t care. In fact, they revel in it. The only goal of your average day trader now is to profit on the scam for as long as humanly possible, even though the ultimate conclusion of the scam will mean the utter destruction of their profits and the end of their way of life.
I hate to use a cinema analogy for a very real threat, but investors today remind me of Joe Pantoliano’s character in ‘The Matrix’; the guy who is fully aware that the Matrix is an illusion, but wants to experience the pleasure of the illusion all the same. So much so that he doesn’t mind being exploited like a slave by the system, and is willing to sacrifice all measure of truth and even the future just to get a taste of the fantasy again.
But what is the reality that the central banks are trying to hide, and why? This I have written about in detail on literally hundreds of occasions, so I will only cover the very latest news briefly here, and why I think the overall dynamic is about to change for the worse.
Global exports, and thus consumer demand, are plunging. Germany, the only pillar left to prop up the failing European Union, has experienced a severe decline in exports not seen since 2009.
China, the largest exporter and importer in the world, and Chinese companies, have been caught in a number of instances using fraudulent invoices to artificially inflate their own export numbers, in some cases reporting 50% more exported goods than had actually existed.
China’s manufacturing has also declined for the past five months, exposing the nature of its inflated export stats and indicating a global slowdown.
The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of global shipping rates for raw goods, and thus a measure of demand for shipping, continues to drag along near historic lows.
The U.S. consumer (the only economic asset the U.S. has besides the dollar’s world reserve status), has seen declines in spending as well as wages.
In the meantime, long term jobless Americans continue to fall off welfare rolls by the millions, making unemployment numbers look good, but the overall future picture look terrible as participation rates dissolve into the ether of government statistics.
How is such poverty being hidden? Foodstamps. Plain and simple. Nearly 50 million Americans now subsist on food stamp programs today, and this number shows no signs of dropping. In states like Illinois, two people sign up for food assistance for every citizen that happens to find a job.
But this is all rudimentary. Most analysts in the Liberty Movement agree that our fiscal structure is on the edge of collapse; what they tend to bicker about is HOW and WHEN the structure will collapse.
Guessing market declines has been extremely difficult in the midst of a fiat soaked fiscal environment. Nothing is ever quite what it seems. My predictions of a 10% drop by the end of Summer were off by three weeks. Because of the nature of QE stimulus manipulation of the Dow, our only real guide has been the timeline of the Fed taper, and the fact that major banks have been relying on fed fiat to continually cycle capital into equities through the use of low interest loans to corporations and the stock buyback scam. Company buybacks have given steady boosts to the markets at least since 2008, and many corporations are using up to 50% of their “profits” just to continue buying their own stocks.
This strategy, however, is reaching a point of diminishing returns as many companies are issuing too much debt in the process. IBM is a perfect example of a company that has hit the ceiling on stock buybacks. This odd coordinated attempt by corporations and central banks to keep markets propped up even as companies sacrifice whatever debt stability they had left indicates a state of collusion between such institutions that goes far beyond the mere idea of “mutually assured greed”. Since at least 2008, there has indeed been a “conspiracy” amongst banks and international companies to generate a massive stock bubble designed to keep the masses calm and placated. However, these groups understand, better than many give them credit for, that such measures will have to end, or be revealed.
With the taper finished and QE money drying up, it is important to ask a few questions. For example, how are companies going to continue to accumulate capital to dump into their own stocks if fed money is becoming scarce and consumer spending is in decline? And, if they can’t continue stock buybacks because of a lack of funds or an overburden of debt, how are equities markets going to stay afloat?
And what about government debt? As it stands now, foreign interest in U.S. treasury bonds is waning. The vast majority of new bonds sold are short term. Until now, the Fed has been the primary buyer of long term debt, snapping up 10 year bonds from the market while other investors lose confidence in America’s ability to pay off liabilities in the future. Now that QE is over, who is going to buy the ever expanding U.S. government debt? I aimed this question recently at a Fed cultist and his response was “Well…obviously somebody will buy it…”, though he couldn’t specify.
The spike in short term debt purchases after the end of QE3 was also predictable, but it can only be sustained IF stocks begin to fall considerably yet again. Think about it; interest in U.S. debt has been on the decline for years, not just because foreign banks are shifting away from the dollar, but also because stocks have been a much more attractive investment with greater returns guaranteed by Fed QE. The taper announces a violent change in circumstances. The only way for interest in U.S. debt to be energized, even for a short time, is for stocks to crash, leaving bonds as the only safe haven left. I discussed this development in detail in my article ‘The Final Swindle Of Private American Wealth Has Begun’ at the beginning of this year. All other investment avenues seem to be in decline, from foreign markets and forex, to commodities like oil. Even gold and silver have taken a hit. For the average investor, if a route in stocks occurs, they will immediately jump into bonds. This plays into my theory on the coming financial end game, which I will be discussing in my next article.
Investor’s are counting on an eventual QE4, but I think this might also be wishful thinking.
At the end of 2013, I predicted the Fed would indeed follow through with the taper of QE3, and that they would drastically reduce stimulus measures. I believe this is in preparation for a major implosion of U.S. markets in particular. The whole point of the taper is to support the illusion that the U.S. economy has recovered, and that the Fed has “accomplished its mission”. When a crash does take place, I think it will be ALLOWED to move freely and that new QE intervention will not be taken. I have no doubt this crash will be blamed on an outside force or act of fate (the ebola outbreak, which is doubling in cases every three weeks, is a perfect possible catalyst), and that banks will be absolved of all blame in the mainstream.
A coming crash is not only my personal view. It is important to note that behind the background noise of the recovery party, international bankers are sending a very different message about economic health.
On the same day as the Federal Reserve announced the end of QE3, former chairman Alan Greenspan gave a speech to the Council On Foreign Relations in which he lamented that the QE unwind would be painful, that stimulus measures had not achieved their goals in the past, and that gold might be a good investment today.
The International Monetary Fund and the ECB also released statements warning that “accommodative stimulus policies” could contribute to economic volatility. That is to say, stimulus might be setting the stage for fiscal instability. The IMF claims that “bold action” is required to “reset” the global system.
And, the ever present overlords at the Bank Of International Settlements have posted a stark warning about our financial future, predicting a “violent reversal” in markets. The last time the BIS made such a prediction was in the summer of 2007, just before the derivatives crash. But this is the M.O. of the central banks, to warn of coming calamity just before the event, but not long enough before the event to make any difference. They present themselves as prognosticators of economic future, but in reality, they are the instigators of every disaster they predict.
I do not know how the markets will react to the likely landslide “victory” by Republicans in mid-term elections (can one ever be “victorious” in a rigged contest?), but what I do know is that a Republican majority offers an even greater opportunity for further collapse. Negative movements in markets that have been obstructed through manipulation can now be unleashed and then blamed on “government gridlock”, or the inability of conservatives to “compromise” fiscally. A Republican shift in government only offers more cover for a collapse that is slated to occur regardless.
I believe that the admissions of financial danger by internationalists, the sharp drop in stocks at the beginning of fall, the reversal of the political theater, and the fact that mainstream investors now recognize the illegitimacy of the markets yet continue with the scam anyway, signals the last gasp of the global economy. I expect increasing market instability from this point on, as well as numerous geopolitical distractions which will be blamed for the fiscal chaos. I have left out my explanation of the final end game so that I can cover it more fully in my next article. Needless to say, the coming storm is a deliberately engineered one, meant to achieve very specific goals, including a fearful and panicked populace, easy to manipulate as the system goes off the rails for the last time.
24 Comments on "We Have Just Witnessed The Last Gasp Of The Global Economy"
Northwest Resident on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 10:02 am
This article makes some very powerful points, I think.
A couple (at least) of the points made in this article are going to no doubt get labeled as conspiratorial. Specifically, for example, “the coming storm is a deliberately engineered one”, which would tend to indicate that there is a “master mind” or at least a central decision-making committee that is “in control”.
I believe in the “Deep State”, and it seems OBVIOUS to me that there is a single unifying thread of decision-making that runs through so much of what seems to many just random chaos. I believe that behind the curtain, unseen, there are very powerful individuals who are controlling events — stock market manipulation, precious metals price manipulation, propaganda “themes”, for example.
Loony conspiracy theory? Not to me. It is what makes sense to me.
Here’s something to check out that supports my “theory”:
The American Deep State: Wall Street, Big Oil, and the Attack on U.S. Democracy
“This provocative book makes a compelling case for a hidden “deep state” that influences and often opposes official U.S. policies. Prominent political analyst Peter Dale Scott begins by tracing America’s increasing militarization, restrictions on constitutional rights, and income disparity since the Vietnam War. He argues that a significant role in this historic reversal was the intervention of a series of structural deep events, ranging from the assassination of President Kennedy to 9/11. He does not attempt to resolve the controversies surrounding these events, but he shows their significant points in common, ranging from overlapping personnel and modes of operation to shared sources of funding. Behind all of these commonalities is what Scott calls the deep state: a second order of government, behind the public or constitutional state, that has grown considerably stronger since World War II. He marshals convincing evidence that the deep state is partly institutionalized in non-accountable intelligence agencies like the CIA and NSA, but it also includes private corporations like Booz Allen Hamilton and SAIC, to which 70 percent of intelligence budgets are outsourced. Behind these public and private institutions is the traditional influence of Wall Street bankers and lawyers, allied with international oil companies beyond the reach of domestic law. With the importance of Gulf states like Saudi Arabia to oil markets, American defense companies, and Wall Street itself, this essential book shows that there is now a supranational deep state, sometimes demonstrably opposed to both White House policies and the American public interest.
http://www.amazon.com/The-American-Deep-State-Democracy/dp/1442214244
Perk Earl on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 10:25 am
To your article posted last evening NWR on QE around the world, and this article, looks like the EU is going all in with another trillion dollars to “revive” their euro zone economy.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/06/us-markets-global-idUSKBN0IQ02N20141106
Euro hits two-year low as Draghi wins balance sheet battle
“The euro slumped to a two-year low and shares jumped on Thursday after ECB chief Mario Draghi fended off complaints about his leadership style and firmed up a promise of 1 trillion euros to revive the struggling euro zone economy.”
I think it’s safe to say that since the beginning of the great recession every desperate fiscal effort has been done to keep BAU, but it is failing due to a sharp decline in net energy. Quite clear the world economy is headed for a debt bubble bursting catastrophe. I mean to have to throw yet another trillion at the Euro zone economy at this point is paramount to a white flag of defeat. How long the charade can continue is the big question. How long can the US go without heating up the currency printing presses is an open question as well, as it is probably baked in at this point considering the problems of Japan, the Euro and emerging economies that rely on oil exports.
J-Gav on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 10:47 am
NWR – I agree, there are many aspects of P.D. Scott’s analysis which merit close attention. Unfortunately, most people will never read it though.
Why?: 1 – because they’re too busy trying to make ends meet; 2 – because they’re put off by the daunting wealth of details (names, dates, places they’ve never heard of, etc); and 3 – because they don’t really give a shit since they read an article somewhere which denounced it as ‘conspiracy theory.’ I could go on but I’ll leave it there. Don’t expect it to get onto any best-seller lists …
Northwest Resident on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 10:55 am
Fed ends QE. Same day, Greenspan warns of painful unwind and telegraphs that only by bringing down the economy can the global financial bubble be fixed. Not long after (next day), Japan announces a new round of their own QE. Now, Europe is doing the same.
No coordination going on here, none at all. It is all just coincidence that these events are all falling in the order and within the timeframe that they are.
“Bank Of International Settlements have posted a stark warning about our financial future, predicting a “violent reversal” in markets.”
“How long the charade can continue is the big question.”
My answer: Until “they” are ready to end it, which, based on the new Japanese and European “QE” announcements, would indicate “not quite yet”. But you’re right Perk — by these actions both Japan and the EU are raising the white flag. They are the last final act of desperation — the final “f*ck you!” before reality descends to destroy the grand illusion.
I’m sure they’ll let us enjoy one last final Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holiday season. 2014 — The last good year. Enjoy it, folks. Get ready for 2015.
ghung on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 11:23 am
Yeah, Earl, it’s clear that Japan and the EU are in a race to the bottom:
Kuroda Has Draghi in a Bind as Euro Soars Against Yen
“Mario Draghi has something new to worry about as he prepares for tomorrow’s European Central Bank policy meeting: the euro-yen exchange rate.
The yen approached a six-year low versus the shared European currency after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda surprised investors late last week by extending his record stimulus program. Kuroda’s actions jeopardize the weaker euro that analysts say Draghi needs to reflate the economy, heaping pressure on him to come up with a policy response.
Of course, this will put US exports in a bind; things like coal and heavy machinery… and what’s the point in ramping up US exports of oil that no one can afford much of?
ghung on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 11:27 am
Link to the quote I posted, above:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-05/kuroda-has-draghi-in-a-bind-as-euro-soars-against-yen.html
Davy on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 11:33 am
NR said – I’m sure they’ll let us enjoy one last final Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holiday season. 2014 — The last good year. Enjoy it, folks. Get ready for 2015.
NR, a big “what if” is what will the degree and duration of a contraction be if it is in 2015? We have to all agree we have had an aggregate disguised contraction since 2008. We must forget the official manipulated numbers and statistics let’s talk the reality numbers and statistics. This was primarily with everyone but the global 1%ers which actually profited handsomely. By all the real indicators thrown around here and on other alternative sites there has been a real contraction. This contraction has been modest so that many of us have not really even noticed it.
I doubt TPTB can stop descent at this point but I feel they can still delay it or soften it. IOW let’s say we are in a new normal and heading into a new normal recession. New normal denotes continued financial repression or centralized monetary control. I am thinking TPTB can keep a contraction from being a crash for a period of a few years. They may increasingly do this by more direct interventions in the markets and political arena under the guise of emergency measures.
My point is let’s admit from here on out starting 2015 the recession starts. This recession is the beginning of the descent or a paradigm shift to contraction instead of growth. Will this recession spiral out of control into a collapse maybe but I am thinking TPTB still have tricks and measures to yet apply to soften the severity.
This is important because this just might be the crisis that can be employed to get some much needed attitude and lifestyle changes introduced. This 2015 recession could be drawn out a few years before the tricks and measures wear out and the liquid fuel issues become critical. I am just thinking out my ass now. Maybe we could call this brain farting “wishful dooming”.
I really would like to see some bad but not painful “breaking bad”. We all depend on the global and if it self-destructs too quick “Katy bar the door” is all I can say. Degree and duration is critical for mitigation strategies. We know “this sucker is going down” as Dubya was fond of saying but how quick and how hard is the critical question.
herrmeier on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 11:42 am
>>> 2014 — The last good year
hahaha.
I remember the predictions about Christmas 2008. The last happy Christmas they said.
I think the saddest part of all this is, that doomers never learn, even though lessons are beaten into them, they just never learn.
Davy on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 11:48 am
Herr corns never change and that’s why they will have their heads handed to them in a few years. If there were anything to be optimistic about in the macro environment I would crow about it believe me. You need a cold shower friend.
GregT on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 11:55 am
Guys,
If it wasn’t for the central banks creating money out of thin air, with interest attached, there would be no need for exponential growth. A steady state economy would be possible, and the people would be in control of the state, rather than the people and the state being controlled by central bank policy. This has been discussed at length throughout the years in congress, and I have provided many quotes in the past that I am sure many of you are quite familiar with.
In 2000 there were seven countries without an internationalist controlled Central Bank. They were Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Cuba, North Korea, Syria and Iran. Today there are only four remaining, Cuba, North Korea, Syria and Iran. The Axes of evil, coincidentally.
From wikipedia:
Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, it has been reported that Syria’s gold reserves have been cut in half from the pre-civil war amount of around $17 billion, due to the Syrian government resorting to selling off its reserves as a way of coping with international sanctions.
The US, Canada, EU, Arab League and Turkey all imposed Sanctions on the central bank because of Syrian civil war. In the case of the US sanctions had already been in place against the Central Bank of Syria as a result of Section 311 of the Patriot Act, which accused the Bank of money laundering.
Assad is not playing by the CBs rules. This will not be tolerated, and he will be taken out. Iran is the next on the list of central banks to be taken over. The game is almost up. Enter the New World Order.
Northwest Resident on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 11:59 am
Yeah, Davy, I do not doubt but that TPTB could stretch this out for another year or two, even three or four perhaps.
But just trying to think “out of the box”, I don’t see any reason why they would want to do that, and plenty of reasons to just get it over and done with.
Global warming/climate change is real and it must be dealt with. The only realistic way to deal with it, sadly is to dramatically reduce the global population. That’s hard and cold and sad and tragic. But I believe it is the truth. Assuming TPTB want to hand off a world that’s still fit to live in to their descendants, they must know that they need to take dramatic action, and soon. Every day that BAU continues, even in a wind-down mode, just heaps insult onto injury when it comes to global warming and environmental degradation. The pressure is on to act now.
Second big reason: A world without easily/financially accessible oil would be a very grim reality for TPTB to accept. They of course have every intention of maintaining their privileged position in the human hierarchy, but they need oil/energy to do it. Every day that BAU continues even in wind-down mode consumes vast amounts of good oil — wastes it in the most ignorant and godawful ways imaginable. TPTB can’t just go on with this wastage — they must preserve enough of the “good oil” to last a much reduced population well into the future, to allow for technological development and space exploration and new inventions. They must continue to educate the youth — who knows where that next “Einstein” will come from that will introduce whole new theories to the scientific world that open up previously unimaginable potential for technological advancement. TPTB MUST preserve enough oil to enable a reboot of technology-based civilization, with about six or seven billion fewer mouths to feed.
Maybe a third reason. There must be a mass die-off. It is baked into the cake. Every day that BAU continues, millions more babies are born into a world that they have about zero percent chance of growing up in. Preventing the births of hundreds of millions of new lives is better than allowing them to be born knowing their misery and death is certain.
I don’t know everything, in fact I don’t know much of anything, all things considered. TPTB could be thinking along completely different lines than these. BAU could be drawn out for a year or two or more, definitely. But from my point of view, what a waste that would be for this world and for humanity, and what a crime against nature it would be. From my point of view, it is just about time to cut bait — and I probably am projecting my own thoughts onto those mystical powers that be.
ghung on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 12:02 pm
“I think the saddest part of all this is… that the optimists and cornucopians never see it coming at all. Everything they’ve ever invested in depends on the masses not knowing,,, until the sky falls on all of us.
As for “the predictions about Christmas 2008” thing, I’ll submit that the doomers were more right than wrong. Since then, global markets and systems have been leveraged to astronomical levels. Any chance of a ‘softer’ landing has been squandered to benefit the few. 2008 was the next big step down. QE, etc., is like hovering in mid air as the bottom drops further out of sight. At least it bought some of us time to gain a firmer hand-hold, as tenuous as that may turn out to be.
Party on, herrmy. The doomer predictions may have been misguided or premature, but I’m convinced that predictions like yours will end up being in a whole different category of dead wrong.
Davy on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 12:43 pm
NR, if TPTB have a plan going then yes you may be right it is baked into the plan for a die off. If this conspiracy of TPTB is not the case then it is possible a economic parachute of sorts will be deployed.
I am not sure TPTB will benefit from a collapse no matter how prepared or planned for but that scenario is entirely possible.
It is fair to say we have two roads here of possibilities: One depending on a TPTB golden parachute with mass die off for their benefit and another a temporary economic parachute in desperation for a coming collapse with no winners.
GregT on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 12:56 pm
“Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure — one world, if you will. If that is the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.”
-David Rockefeller
“Today the path of total dictatorship in the United States can be laid by strictly legal means, unseen and unheard by the Congress, the President, or the people. Outwardly we have a Constitutional government. We have operating within our government and political system, another body representing another form of government – a bureaucratic elite.”
-Senator William Jenner, 1954
“The United Nations, he told an audience at Harvard University, ‘has not been able–nor can it be able–to shape a new world order which events so compellingly demand.’ … The new world order that will answer economic, military, and political problems, he said, ‘urgently requires, I believe, that the United States take the leadership among all free peoples to make the underlying concepts and aspirations of national sovereignty truly meaningful through the federal approach.”
-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller of New York, in an article entitled “Rockefeller Bids Free Lands Unite: Calls at Harvard for Drive to Build New World Order” — The New York Times (February 1962)
“The case for government by elites is irrefutable.”
-Senator William Fulbright, Former chairman of the US Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, stated at a 1963 symposium
“The Trilateral Commission is intended to be the vehicle for multinational consolidation of the commercial and banking interests by seizing control of the political government of the United States. The Trilateral Commission represents a skillful, coordinated effort to seize control and consolidate the four centers of power political, monetary, intellectual and ecclesiastical. What the Trilateral Commission intends is to create a worldwide economic power superior to the political governments of the nationstates involved. As managers and creators of the system, they will rule the future.”
-U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater in his l964 book: With No Apologies.
“Today, America would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow they will be grateful! This is especially true if they were told that there were an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-being granted to them by the World Government.”
-Dr. Henry Kissinger, Bilderberger Conference, Evians, France, 1991
“In the next century, nations as we know it will be obsolete; all states will recognize a single, global authority. National sovereignty wasn’t such a great idea after all.”
-Strobe Talbot, President Clinton’s Deputy Secretary of State, as quoted in Time, July 20th, l992.
“The truth of the matter is that you do have those standby provisions, and the statutory emergency plans are there whereby you could, in the name of stopping terrorism, apprehend, invoke the military, and arrest Americans and hold them in detention camps.”
-U.S. Representative Henry Gonzalez, August 29, 1994
“Rarely have Americans lived through so much change, in so many ways, in so short a time. Quietly, but with gathering force, the ground has shifted beneath our feet as we have moved into an Information Age, a global economy, a truly new world.”
-President William Clinton State of the Union Address 1998
“The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of “liberalism” they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.”
-Norman Thomas
“We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.”
– David Rockefeller
Jerry McManus on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 1:32 pm
I, for one, welcome our new overlords and wish them the best of luck in the herculean task of reducing the excess population in the most orderly way possible.
louis wu on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 1:59 pm
“I remember the predictions about Christmas 2008. The last happy Christmas they said.”
For a lot of regular people it was and has only gotten worse.
Perk Earl on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 2:19 pm
“I am thinking TPTB can keep a contraction from being a crash for a period of a few years. They may increasingly do this by more direct interventions in the markets and political arena under the guise of emergency measures.”
Agreed, Davy. I think TPTB are as of what Japan and the EU are now doing is proof positive of that, but the further they push things without an underpinning of cheap energy to support real growth, (as we are aware) the steeper the descent will be from the cliff’s edge. A graphed shark fin on steroids.
I just hate to see such an obvious set of tactics taking place in spite of evidence of this energy predicament, in which every effort should be undertaken to live within a steady contraction.
In a sense it comes down to two choices. Go all out to extend and pretend with QE and all the other desperate fiscal tactics and fall into a quagmire off a sharp incline, OR live within the net energy envelope available. It’s kind of like having a bum knee, and deciding whether to run with it as an NFL player until the thing gives out and is probably not as good for the remainder of his life, or admit it isn’t good enough to put that much pressure on it and retire but walk better for many more years. In that vein, it’s time to retire BAU and work towards localization. Not everybody will make it through, but it’s better than a debt bubble collapse catastrophe.
Perk Earl on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 2:57 pm
http://peakoilbarrel.com/debt-oil-price-bakken-red-queen/#more-5012
At Ron Patterson’s site he has a new guest post by Rune Likvern – see graph 9 which draws a connection between easy money and the price of oil. Look at the recent, last part as both trail down together.
J-Gav on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 3:04 pm
GregT – Good reminder. As you know, that’s a subject which motivates me and some of my writing. I’m talking about money creation from nothing (by banks with Fed and Govt blessing) and the credit conditions attending such an unjust and seigniorial state of affairs.
There is much talk about a coming reversion to feudalism but in some respects we’re already there.
GregT on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 3:42 pm
J-Gav,
In many respects we never really left feudalism. We just happened to find a cheap excess energy source to replace manual human labor. The people still work for the betterment of the oligarchs, just like in the days of old. They still have their castles, their riches, their armies, and their control over the masses. They just happen to be hidden from view, for the most part.
I agree completely with other’s views here, TPTB can see that BAU is coming to an end. The limits to growth have been met. What people seem to be missing however, is that QE is nothing more than a transfer of weath from the lower classes to TPTB. The debtor is always enslaved by the creditor.
jmb on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 6:00 pm
“I doubt TPTB can stop descent at this point but I feel they can still delay it or soften it.”
I can agree with that, over the short to medium term. I also think the US can emerge from this period stronger than before, maybe with permanently(more or less)lower oil prices, and I say this being a former doomer.
Over the longer term, however, I am less optimistic. I think in the 2030’s will come the real squeeze, say around 2035. But, of course, in the long term we’re all dead.
Davy on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 6:20 pm
Perk, on board with your comments. I will read Ron’s post.
GregT on Thu, 6th Nov 2014 7:07 pm
“I doubt TPTB can stop descent at this point but I feel they can still delay it or soften it.”
TPTB are not stopping, or softening the descent. Every year that it is delayed, will only make the end result that much worse.
John on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 1:36 pm
This article started out nice, for the first few sentences, and then devolved into more useless gibberish and economist stupidity.
More growth is NOT GOOD. Growth is the product of connedsumption and greed, but leads to environmental degradation and collapse. Growth fuels population expansion, which fuels more growth.
All of this is bad – very, very bad. A massive reduction in population and human occupation (industry, business, activity) is extremely essential now. Contraction and decline therefore is GOOD.
Virtually ANY other discussion that refuses to accept these points is greed-based and completely misses the point of survivability (a habitable planet for all creatures to live on).
Only total destruction now will suffice. Anything other then this will lead to the exact same problems we now have (politics, debt, expansion, depletion, inequality, virtually “everything”).
The sooner we totally collapse, the better it will be, permitting some life to continue to survive. But probably not humans.
There is virtually no reason to even try to sustain the disaster we have unleashed upon this world. What is wrong is ALL our fault and we are the ones that need to go.