Showing posts with label world economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world economy. Show all posts

Thursday, June 23, 2016

CPT Prediction - UK vote on EU Brexit issue - To Remain or not to Remain

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Today the UK goes to the polls in one of the most polarizing elections in modern history (boy does that sound familiar.).  The voters must decide if the UK will remain part of the European Union.  The decision will impact on the world economy for many years to come.


UK Prime Minister David Cameron has bet his career in politics on persuading voters to remain in the EU. Pollsters show the outcome too close to call or predict.
  

As posted several days ago on LinkedIn, the Coltons Point Times predicts the UK will vote to remain in the EU on June 23.


The stock market will soar,


the Pound currency will strengthen,


and David Cameron of the UK will win election as Prime Minister again.


The Crown Jewels will be safe for another few decades.


Unfortunately, Member of Parliament and rising star Jo Cox was assassinated by a fanatic opposed to her stand in support of remaining in the EU.
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Saturday, July 06, 2013

The World's Only Superpower - What does it mean?

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Well, for a long time America has been the single super power in the world and how have we handled the responsibility?  It may take many years for historians to be able to fairly assess the performance of our government in terms of world affairs the past few decades.
 
As the financial engine that powers the world we have certainly helped the world economy but then our financial greed also led to the greatest collapse of housing, stock market values, treasury notes, and employment opportunity since our great depression in the 1930's.  Oh yes, because we are the last world super power we took down most of the world in our collapse.
 
 
Science and technology are also areas of great contributions in America weighed against equally great potential for harm.  Genetically altered seed developed in America made it possible for the USA to become the breadbasket for the world, often saving nation after nation faced with broken infrastructure, war, genocide or drought conditions.
 
Now we are discovering that there are dangers in the genetic manipulation as it may render much poorer results in the nutritional value of the crops produced, it can destroy the productivity of the land used to produce the crops, and may have a severe harmful effect on our immune system and it's ability to protect us from disease.
 
 
In terms of military muscle again the USA is dominate and we do have this desire to be the savior of the world.  In fact we love the world so much more than half of our military capacity is deployed around the world, not in the USA.
 
American presidents from Jefferson through Lincoln to Eisenhower have warned us of the dangers of the military-industrial complex in which our structure of civilian control of the military by having the president be commander in chief of all the armed forces, can be compromised.
 
As you can see from the following tables, Defense spending, according to President Obama's own office, now equals 17% of our total budget, and 57% of our new spending.  Sounds pretty substantial for a country winding down two wars.
 
 
 
One day someone in Washington will finally turn attention to why our defense spending as a percent of total federal spending keeps rising even when we stop fighting wars.  Perhaps then we will hear the dire warnings from presidents Jefferson, Lincoln and Eisenhower about the potential dangers ranging from national and international bankers to  defense contractors and arms dealers.
 
Until then Uncle Sam will remain the ever considerate Uncle Sugar to a host of bad people and bad ideas.
 
 
Warnings from Presidents
 
If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their  currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks…will deprive the people of  all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered…. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs. – Thomas Jefferson in the debate over the Re-charter of the Bank Bill (1809)
 
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.” – Thomas Jefferson
 
The modern theory of the perpetuation of debt has drenched the earth with blood, and crushed its inhabitants under burdens ever accumulating. -Thomas Jefferson
 
History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by  controlling money and its issuance. -James Madison
 
 
If congress has the right under the Constitution to issue paper money, it was  given them to use themselves, not to be delegated to individuals or corporations. -Andrew Jackson
 
The Government should create, issue, and circulate all the currency and  credits needed to satisfy the spending power of the Government and the buying power of  consumers. By the adoption of these principles, the taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest. Money will cease to be master and become the servant of humanity. -Abraham  Lincoln
 
Issue of currency should be lodged with the government and be protected from domination by Wall Street. We are opposed to…provisions [which] would place our currency and credit system in private hands. – Theodore Roosevelt
 
Despite these warnings, Woodrow Wilson signed the 1913 Federal Reserve Act. A few years later he wrote: I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of  credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most  completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a  Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men. -Woodrow  Wilson

Years later, reflecting on the major banks’ control in Washington, President Franklin Roosevelt paid this indirect praise to his distant predecessor President Andrew Jackson, who had “killed” the 2nd Bank of the US (an earlier type of the Federal Reserve System). After Jackson’s administration the bankers’ influence was gradually restored and increased, culminating in the passage of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Roosevelt knew this history.

The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial
element in the large centers has owned the government ever since
the days of Andrew Jackson… -Franklin D. Roosevelt
(in a letter to Colonel House, dated November 21, 1933)

[Next story to feature NSA, Cyber Security, Homeland Security, Edward Snowden and other fun stuff.]
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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

If politicians and news media took an oath of silence things might get fixed

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If politicians did not have to campaign all the time and if the news media did not have to sell advertising there would be a lot less tension in our nation. Then they would be free to tell us just the truth and we would have a far more honest and hopeful picture of America.


For example, the headlines scream of the battle over extending the Bush tax cuts. What disagreement? They will be extended for all Americans for probably two years. End of controversy. What about the new START treaty with Russia that has been stuck in the Senate? Today the headlines said the GOP Whip declared the treaty dead. Nonsense!


All the politicians know reducing nuclear arms with Russia is a good thing, duh. Insiders also know our nuclear weapons are older than our Space Shuttles which have now flown their last mission because they are obsolete. Our current nuclear weapons need to be replaced with modern weapons using the most advanced technology. Add some money to modernize some of our weapons and the treaty will pass, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will be a hero, and Prime Minister and soon to be President again Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin will have to wait to become the super-hero of the super-power.


So what about the bitter battle between alternative energy advocates and conventional energy advocates and their demands for a green future and energy independence? The truth is we have to become energy independent from foreign oil producers who manipulate the prices and supply and threaten our national security. We also need to make the most of green activities to reduce waste and reduce dependence on non-renewal energy like oil.

Forget the political fighting and special interest civil war. Forget the doom and gloom forecasts, special reports and movies by the news media of the destruction and chaos from an energy crisis. One day the president and congress will come to their senses and realize both things must happen.


We can have energy independence from the bad guys by exploiting natural gas, from America, and using it to replace 40-50% of our energy demand. At the same time more domestic oil from the Gulf, Alaska and offshore is needed. One goal of natural gas should be to use it in all semi-trailer trucks to replace diesel fuel currently in use. Diesel is from oil so this could reduce total domestic oil consumption by half.

It is true we are the biggest oil consumer in the world using 22 million barrels a year but Canada and Saudi Arabia use more oil per capita. Saudi Arabia uses 33 barrels per capita, Canada 24, the US 22, South Korea 16, Japan 13, Germany and France 11, the UK and Italy 10, and far down the list are China at 2 and India at less than 1 barrel per year per capita.


Imagine that, the two fastest growing and feared economies in the world, China and India, use a fraction of the oil per person as we do. Of course that is not from good energy conservation, it is a result of their much poorer standard of living, minimum wages and lack of commercial choices in much of these two emerging nations. As they evolve their oil consumption will sky rocket and soon enough they will be like us.

Alternative energy can help a little in the areas of electric cars, solar energy and improved conservation materials but contrary to popular myth, neither will help reduce energy use much. Oil savings must be offset by the high cost of electric generation and maintenance of the alternative. Wind turbines will most likely have even higher operating costs.


If global warming was truly a human created environmental disaster these alternatives might help. But then so does natural gas replacing oil reduce carbon emissions since it is much more efficient. However, since there have been at least four previous periods of global warming followed by ice ages, and we are yet to find evidence of gas stations, automobiles, or hair dryers in any of these previous ages, in fact there weren't even any carbon spewing humans alive back then, then we can assume with or without us Mother Nature will have her global warming and cooling cycles to purify the planet.

So, as for the debate over energy policy, combine aggressive energy independence through expanded natural gas use, oil drilling and alternative techniques combined with an energy compact with our neighbors Mexico and Canada, and we can have the best attack on energy independence and alternative energy possible.


The same thing is true with the economy and our entitlement programs which give politicians and news media a real chance to scare us. I mean without a strong economy and protected entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare neither we when we retire or our kids yet to be born will be safe in the future. Right now if we have a job we wonder for how long and if we don't things don't seem inclined to change any time soon.

Both the media and the politicians are having a field day with scary stories written to make you afraid of the future. Think about it for a minute before embracing their fear tactics. Is there really any Republican or Democrat in congress who is going to get rid of your pension or earned health benefits? Do they really want you to have worse health care? What nonsense!


Whatever it takes to reduce the deficit from 20% of gnp to 3% of gnp will happen. The super rich should pay more by making certain they don't benefit more than the middle class in tax benefits. Today Warren Buffett, one of the richest billionaires in the world, said he was in the highest tax bracket yet only paid 17% taxes because of tax deductions, a lower percent than his secretaries and office workers who paid up to 34%. Warren said there should be a minimum tax paid by the rich and even with the all deductions they should never pay a lower tax rate than the middle class.

So we have a minimum high tax rate for the rich so they pay their fair share. We extend Social Security retirement a couple of years, make all Medicare and Medicaid recipients use alternative health care like traditional Chinese or Native American for annual maintenance and natural treatment. Instead of rewarding you to be sick by giving you more tests, prescription drugs, doctor and hospital visits, you will be rewarded to be well and use preventive maintenance. This is the only way to reduce health care costs while improving results.


Things may be tough, but they are far from bad. We are still the most powerful economic force on Earth with a gross national income of $9.8 trillion a year, while China is at $1.2 trillion and India is less than one half a trillion. Our old friends and allies of Japan $4.5 trillion, Germany $1.9, UK $1.4 and France $1.3 all are bigger than China or India.

There is only one nation on earth too big to fail because the future of every other country on earth is dependent on the United States for their own economic survival. Love us or hate us they still can't survive without us. So cheer up folks, in due time all will be well again. We are the United States of America, the people not the politicians, the industry not the government, the small business not the entitlements, and no one is going to take that away!
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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

A Trillionaires Delight - The 21st Century of Rothschild, Morgan and Rockefeller

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Somewhere in the trillionaires room of Heaven three old codgers are sitting around a table smoking cigars and chuckling over the J. P Morgan Chase & Company buyout of Bear Stearns for a paltry $2.00 a share. Not so much because the price had been over $130 a share a few weeks earlier but because the Federal Reserve Board put up $30 billion of the government’s money to guarantee the sale.



Yes, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, J. P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller, patriarchs of three of the most powerful family fortunes in history have waited nearly two centuries to see their dreams fulfilled. Perhaps such patience is why their families have remained successful by steadfastly maintaining the rules of the game as set down by their founders.



It was 248 years ago, in 1760 that Mayer Amschel Rothschild created the House of Rothschild that was to pave the way for international banking and control of the world’s resources on a scale unparalleled and somewhat mysterious to this date. He disbursed his five sons to set up banking operations throughout Europe and the various European empires.



"Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes the laws."
Mayer Amschel Rothschild


In time the House of Rothschild was able to take control of the Bank of France and Bank of England and relentlessly pursued an effort over two centuries to control a national bank in the USA. By 1850 it was said the Rothschild family was worth over $6billion and owned one half of the world’s wealth.



From oil (Shell) to diamonds (DeBeers) to gold (from 1919 until 2004 a Rothschild was permanent Chairman of the London Gold Fixing committee which met twice a day in the Rothschild offices in London) the Rothschild’s quietly accumulated a foothold in critical industries and commodities throughout the world.

A master at building impenetrable walls around his family assets the current value of the Rothschild holdings are estimated to be between $100 and $300 trillion, yes that is trillion dollars! Now for a point of reference the current United States National Debt is $11 trillion.

J. P. Morgan began as the New York agent for his father’s business in London in 1860 and by 1877 was floating $260 million in US Bonds to save the government from an economic collapse. In 1890 he inherited the business and in 1895 bought $200 million in US Bonds with gold to again save the US economy.



“If you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it.”
J. P. Morgan


By 1912 he controlled $22 billion and had started companies such as US Steel and General Electric while he owned several railroads. Morgan was also an American agent for the House of Rothschild in London and used the Rothschild resources to help people like John D. Rockefeller.



Rockefeller, who started Standard Oil in 1863 with the help of Morgan, grew his company into the largest oil company in the world and by 1916 Rockefeller was the first billionaire in American history. In 1909 he had set up the Rockefeller Foundation with $225 million and donated nearly a billion more dollars to various causes. The Rockefeller family fortune is estimated to be around $11 trillion today.



“The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets.”
John D. Rockefeller


So what did they have in common these extraordinary capitalists? They all were dedicated to owning a national bank in America so they could determine the fiscal policies of the nation and earn interest on the debt of the nation.

Rothschild agents in 1791 formed the First Bank of the United States but intense opposition to foreign ownership by President Jefferson and others helped kill it by 1811. A Second Bank of the United States was formed in 1816 once again by Rothschild agents and this time they secured a 20-year charter. However, President Andrew Jackson was also opposed to foreign ownership and withdrew the federal deposits in 1832 as part of his plan to kill the bank charter in 1836.

An attempt to assassinate Jackson in 1834 left him wounded but more determined than ever to stop the central bank. Thirty years later President Lincoln refused to pay international bankers extremely high interest rates during the Civil War and ordered the printing of government bonds. With the help of Russian Czar Alexander II who also blocked a similar national bank from being set up in Russia by the international bankers they were able to survive the economic squeeze.

Lincoln said, "The money powers prey upon the nation in times of peace and conspire against it in times of adversity. The banking powers are more despotic than a monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy. They denounce as public enemies all who question their methods or throw light upon their crimes. I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me and the bankers in the rear. Of the two, the one at my rear is my greatest foe. Corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow. The money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in the hands of a few, and the Republic is destroyed."



Both Lincoln and Alexander II were assassinated. In 1881 James Garfield became president and he was dedicated to restoring the right of the federal government to issue money like Lincoln did in the Civil War and he was also assassinated.

Finally along came 1913 and the US was again suffering from a weak economy and there was a threat of another costly war, a world war this time, and business tycoons J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller and E.H. Harriman were part of a group that got Woodrow Wilson to sign into law the Federal Reserve Act creating a network of 12 privately owned banks as part of a new Federal Reserve network.



One of the largest stockholders in the new Federal Reserve was the House of Rothschild through their direct and indirect holdings. A few years later it was disclosed that the Rothschilds also owned about 20% of J. P. Morgan. In time Morgan would merge with the Chase Manhattan Bank of the Rockefellers.

Years later John F. Kennedy opposed a private national bank and was assassinated in 1963 and Ronald Reagan opposed a private national bank and in 1981 an attempt was made to assassinate him. Coincidence or not the opposition to a privately owned national bank was a common characteristic to all these successful assassinations and assassination attempts.

Which brings us full circle to the present bailout of Bear Stearns by J.P. Morgan Chase & Company and we find the Rothschild, Morgan and Rockefeller families are all conveniently part of the same group benefiting from the bailout and the $30 billion guarantee by the Federal Reserve. This is the third time the J. P. Morgan Company has come to the rescue of the American banking system and economy.

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