Fiat-based, fractional-reserve banking system in slow motion collapse
London-New York Financial Nexus Takes Predatory Capitalism To A New Level
Preface by Pam Barker | TLB staff writer
Before we get to Paul Craig Roberts’ interview, the first of three, with Greg Hunter of USA Watchdog.com, a brief introduction is in order. An article has been inserted into the PCR piece as background reading in order to better understand Roberts’ remarks on the financial system and the big banks. In an open letter entitled An Ex-MBA Student Reveals the Secrets of Business Academia from September, 2015, the SOTN editor, himself a former financial analyst and investment broker, makes the following points.
There are only manipulated markets, there never have been free ones
As a former MBA student, the writer attended the UofChicago back in the 70s, the institution that Milton Freedman made his base, who famously extolled the virtues of an entirely free market economic system with an absolute minimum of intervention.
The ruling ideology on these courses, among mainstream professional economists as well as academicians, is simple: to maximize shareholder profits, optimize stockholder dividends, and increase stakeholder wealth. This, he argues, is the voracious, overwhelming influence of Corporate America, the make-profit-at-all-costs-and-disregard-everything-else-as-unimportant value system.
But overwhelming corporate greed with moral bankruptcy is not the take-away point here.
What is is the Hidden Hand that has been operating across all the markets (equity, bond, currency, commodity, real estate, insurance, etc.) for decades, the Hidden Hand being the manipulating 24/7 influence of the big financial players such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, etc.
In other words, despite Friedman’s erudition and belief in a free market system, it has never ever existed. Instead, we have a completely rigged system in favor of Wall St. and against the average citizen:
When Morgan Stanley wants to artificially depress the price of gold, they simply pull the right levers to do so. When Goldman Sachs wants to crash a company’s stock price, they know exactly what buttons to press.
But the long-term rigging is now putting in jeopardy the whole of the global economy to an absolutely staggering extent, now to the point where catastrophic global financial collapse is deemed a certainty. And most mainstream economists have become part of the game without really understanding what is going on (emphasis mine):
The true state of the US economy is quite abysmal. The fundamentals have been grossly misrepresented for many years, especially since the stock market crash of 2008. All the accurate technical data reflects a monetary system on nonstop life support. The continual justification of the $18 trillion plus national debt by professional economists is shocking by any standard.
…
By their [mainstream economists] incessant exuberance for ‘free market’ predatory capitalism these economists empowered politicians and government officials, corporate CEO and presidents everywhere to continue their plundering and pillaging of the planet. They knew all the while that the markets were only free for those very few at the top who actually controlled them by covert means from the very beginning. Insider trading, you see, is and has always been endemic throughout the GE&FS.
Below is the video interview of Paul Craig Roberts by Greg Hunter. The link to the article is here, which contains a transcript.
Roberts talks about:
The deregulated financial system, which presents a much bigger threat than terrorism.
The five big banks, which government policy exclusively serves to the severe detriment of citizens and industry.
Powerful private interest groups, or oligarchs, who control both major political parties and seek to pursue a neoconservative agenda at home and internationally. They have privatized government in their own interests.
Neoconservatism, which seeks global military and economic domination, even over world powers such as Russia and China. It is making the threat of nuclear war much more likely, and even more so with Hillary Clinton in charge.
Europe, which is being used as a vassal for Washington neocon foreign policy. Antagonism with Russia is not in their interests, and neither is mass migration from US wars, which is creating the rise of extremist parties.
BRICS and several Latin American countries, whose current problems are the creation of Washington.
The United States, which is no longer a democracy with the rule of law. Criminal elites get a free pass while those who try to help get sent to prison.
Enjoy the interview.
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TLB recommends other articles by State of the Nation 2012 and Paul Craig Roberts
About Paul Craig Roberts
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts is an American economist, journalist, blogger and former civil servant, serving as Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy under the Reagan administration. He can be found at www.paulcraigroberts.org
About the contributor
Pam Barker is a TLB staff writer/analyst. She has an extensive background in the educational system of several countries at the college and university level as a teacher and administrator
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