Logement Les sans abri épargnent de l'argent aux contribuables, selon une étude Les programmes de bien être social ont été parmi les plus grandes cibles des réductions budgétaires au cours des dernières années, les États cherchant à économiser de l'argent de toute façon. Mais la recherche suggère que tout le monde finit par payer pour la pauvreté, la faim et le sans abrisme, surtout quand il est laissé seul. La dernière preuve à l'appui de cette idée vient par le comté de Los Angeles, où les chercheurs ont juste terminé une évaluation du projet 50, une initiative d'une année pour abriter les membres de L. A.s chronique de la population sans abri. Le programme a coûté 3,045 millions à mettre en œuvre, selon le Los Angeles Times. Mais a abouti à 3,284 millions d'économies en réduisant l'incarcération et les coûts médicaux pour les personnes qui ont participé. C'est un gain net de 238 700, selon le LAT. De plus, 94 personnes sans abri, les trois quarts de tous ceux qui ont participé, ont maintenant un endroit où vivre. Son loin de la première fois les chercheurs ont trouvé des preuves que les problèmes sociaux étendus mettre un lourd coût pour les contribuables et que l'offre d'aide aux membres les plus vulnérables de la société peut avoir des avantages économiques aussi bien que humanitaires. Une étude de 2009 de l'Université de Californie du Sud a examiné les cas de quatre sans abri qui ont été mis dans un logement de soutien permanent et a constaté que pour chaque personne, le coût des services publics a chuté de plus de 20.000 pour chaque année, résidence. Et un programme de sensibilisation à Seattle, qui a trouvé des logements pour 95 personnes sans abri avec alcoolisme, a constaté que le groupe avait des coûts combinés de plus de 8 millions avant le début du programme y compris les coûts de l'incarcération, l'utilisation des abris, Mais les coûts combinés de seulement 4 millions après le programme avait été en cours pendant un an. En attendant, il ya des preuves que d'autres types de privation ont un coût social lourd aussi bien. On a montré que la pauvreté chez les enfants a une incidence sur les personnes qui gagnent du pouvoir plus tard dans la vie, au point où une étude du Centre for American Progress de 2007 a soutenu que les effets à long terme de la pauvreté des enfants coûtaient aux États Unis environ 500 milliards chaque année. Et le Center for American Progress a également fait valoir que la faim chronique, un problème qui afflige près d'un Américain sur six, a un prix national d'environ 167 milliards de dollars chaque année. Lorsque vous additionnez toutes les dépenses de soins de santé, les dépenses de bienfaisance et la perte de productivité sur le lieu de travail qui peuvent être attribuées à un manque de nourriture disponible. De nos partenairesTagged with cartel Crimes de la Banque Payer: Sous le pouce de la mafiocratie financière mondiale Par Andrew Gavin Marshall 27 novembre 2015 Publié le 13 novembre, le Bureau de la fraude grave de l'United Kingdoms a annoncé qu'il chargeait 10 banquiers individuels , Travaillant pour deux banques distinctes, Deutsche Bank et Barclays, avec des fraudes sur leur gréement des taux Euribor. La dernière annonce souligne encore une fois les scandales et le comportement criminel qui sont venus définir le monde de la banque mondiale. À ce jour, seules quelques unes des plus grandes banques mondiales ont fait l'objet d'enquêtes, d'accusations, d'amendes ou de règlements successifs relativement à une succession d'arnaques financières importantes, à commencer par la fraude hypothécaire et le scandale Libor en 2012, le scandale Euribor et le Forex Échange). Au cœur de ces scandales, qui impliquent la manipulation des taux d'intérêt sur des milliards de dollars de transactions, se trouvent une poignée de banques qui forment collectivement un cartel de contrôle des marchés financiers mondiaux et la source de crises économiques et financières mondiales. Des banques telles que HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, Bank of America, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland et UBS ancrent le pouvoir financier mondial que nous avons reconnu comme une fraude. Les deux, après tout, ne s'excluent pas mutuellement. En termes plus explicites, ce cartel des banques fonctionne comme un type de mafia financière mondiale, manipulant les marchés et fraudant les investisseurs, les consommateurs et les pays tout en exigeant leur livre de chair sous forme de paiements d'intérêts. Les banques obligent les pays à imposer des mesures d'austérité et des réformes structurelles sous la menace de couper le financement tandis qu'ils blanchissent la monnaie de la drogue pour d'autres cartels et des syndicats du crime organisé. Appelez les la mafiocratie mondiale. En mai, six grandes banques mondiales ont été condamnées à une amende de près de 6 milliards de dollars pour la manipulation du marché des changes, qui gère plus de 5 billions de transactions quotidiennes. Quatre des six banques ont plaidé coupable à des accusations de conspiration pour manipuler le prix des dollars américains et des euros échangés. Ces banques étaient Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays et Royal Bank of Scotland, tandis que deux autres banques, UBS et Bank of America, ont été condamnées à une amende, mais n'ont pas plaidé coupable aux accusations spécifiques. Les commerçants de forex au Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase et d'autres banques ont conspiré pour manipuler des prix de devise par les groupes de causerie qu'ils ont établis, où ils ont arrogamment employé des noms comme 8220The Mafia8221 et 8220The Cartel.8221 Le FBI a dit que les enquêtes et les poursuites contre les grandes banques ont révélé le comportement criminel sur Une échelle massive. La banque britannique Barclays a payé la plus grande amende individuelle à environ 2,3 milliards. Mais comme un commerçant à la banque a écrit dans une conversation de chat de retour en 2010, Si vous triche pas, vous ne cherchez pas. Les amendes totales, bien qu'elles soient numériquement importantes, n'étaient qu'une petite fraction de la capitalisation boursière globale de chaque banque, bien que l'amende de Barclays ait représenté quelque 3,4% de la capitalisation boursière des banques, soit le pourcentage le plus élevé du groupe. Malgré les accusations criminelles de conspiration couvrant les années 2007 à 2013, les banques et leurs hauts fonctionnaires continuent à mettre la faute carrément aux pieds des commerçants individuels. Axel Weber, ancien président de la Bundesbank allemande, qui est maintenant président de la plus grande banque suisse, UBS, a déclaré que la conduite d'un petit nombre d'employés était inacceptable et que nous avons pris des mesures disciplinaires appropriées. En regardant l'ampleur des amendes bancaires et de la fraude dans les huit ans écoulés depuis la crise financière mondiale, le nombre augmente considérablement. En plus d'un règlement de 2012 pour la fraude liée aux hypothèques dans le marché immobilier américain, qui s'élevait à environ 25 milliards, plusieurs grandes banques ont payé des amendes individuelles liées à la fraude hypothécaire et de forclusion, y compris une amende de 16 milliards pour Bank of America et 13 milliards pour JPMorgan Chase. À cela s'ajoutent les amendes liées au gréement du taux Libor (le taux d'intérêt auquel les banques se prêtent mutuellement), le gréement du Forex, le blanchiment d'argent, la violation des sanctions, la manipulation du prix de l'or, la manipulation du marché américain de l'électricité Et d'aider à l'évasion fiscale, entre autres crimes. Selon un rapport de recherche publié en juin, le coût total des litiges (amendes, pénalités, règlements, etc.) payés par 16 grandes banques mondiales depuis 2010 a atteint plus de 300 milliards. Bank of America a payé le plus, s'élevant à plus de 66 milliards de dollars, suivi par JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds, Citigroup, Barclays, RBS, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, BNP Paribas, Santander, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, UBS, National Australia Bank, Standard Chartered et Socit Gnrale. Presque toutes ces banques figurent également sur une liste de données, compilées en 2007, révélant qu'elles sont parmi les institutions financières les plus interconnectées et les plus puissantes au monde. Ce noyau de sociétés fait partie d'un réseau de 147 institutions financières que les scientifiques suisses se réfèrent à la super entité, qui, par leurs diverses participations, contrôlent collectivement et se possèdent et environ 40 des mondes 43.000 plus grandes sociétés transnationales. En d'autres termes, les grandes banques ainsi que les grandes compagnies d'assurance et les sociétés de gestion d'actifs ne se contentent pas d'agir comme cartels pour s'engager dans des activités criminelles, mais elles forment un réseau fonctionnellement interdépendant de contrôle financier et d'entreprise. De plus, les banques travaillent ensemble dans diverses associations industrielles et groupes de pression où elles représentent officiellement leurs intérêts collectifs. Les plus grandes banques et institutions financières européennes sont représentées par la Table ronde européenne des services financiers (EFR), dont les membres sont les PDG ou les présidents d'environ 25 des principales institutions financières sur le continent, y compris Deutsche Bank, AXA, HSBC, Allianz, RBS, ING, Barclays, BNP Paribas, UBS et Credit Suisse, entre autres. Aux États Unis, le Financial Services Forum (FSF) représente le plus grand groupe américain, ainsi que certaines banques et institutions financières européennes. Les membres du Forum se composent de moins de 20 dirigeants, y compris les PDG ou les présidents de sociétés telles que la Banque d'Amérique, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, UBS, HSBC, AIG, la Banque de New York Mellon, Deutsche Bank et Wells Fargo, entre autres. Et à l'échelle mondiale, il y a l'Institut des Finances Internationales (IIF), la première association mondiale représentant l'industrie financière, avec une adhésion de près de 500 institutions différentes de plus de 70 pays à travers le monde, y compris les banques, les compagnies d'assurance, Les sociétés de gestion d'actifs, les fonds souverains, les banques centrales, les agences de notation, les hedge funds et les banques de développement. En plus de ces divers groupes et associations, bon nombre des mêmes grandes banques et de leurs principaux dirigeants font aussi partie des membres, des dirigeants ou des participants dans des groupes et des forums beaucoup plus secrets, par exemple la Conférence monétaire internationale (CMI), une réunion annuelle de centaines Des plus grands banquiers mondiaux organisés par l'American Bankers Association, qui invite des politiciens sélectionnés, des banquiers centraux et des ministres des finances à assister à leurs discussions hors du dossier. En outre, il y a l'Institut International d8217Etudes Bancaires (IIEB), qui regroupe les hauts fonctionnaires de plusieurs grandes institutions financières européennes pour des discussions avec des banquiers centraux, des présidents et des premiers ministres à huis clos avec pratiquement aucun Dans les médias. Ces institutions financières sont les principaux propriétaires de la dette publique, ce qui leur donne un effet de levier encore plus important sur les politiques et les priorités des gouvernements. En exerçant ce pouvoir, ils exigent généralement la même chose: des mesures d'austérité et des réformes structurelles visant à faire progresser une économie de marché néolibérale qui profite en définitive à ces mêmes banques et sociétés. Les banques créent à leur tour les crises qui obligent les gouvernements à les renflouer, accumulant de grosses dettes que les banques se tournent vers d'autres crises, pressant les réformes économiques en échange de nouveaux prêts. Le cycle de la crise et du contrôle se poursuit et, pendant ce temps, les grandes banques et institutions financières se livrent à des complots criminels, à la fraude, à la manipulation et au blanchiment d'argent à grande échelle, notamment en tant que services financiers des plus grands cartels de la drogue. Terroristes. Bienvenue dans le monde gouverné par la mafiocratie financière mondiale car si vous n'êtes pas concerné, vous ne prêtez pas attention. C'est une carte visuelle que j'ai dessinée, qui décrit certaines des institutions et des liens dans le monde de la diplomatie financière mondiale et de la gouvernance. Je vise à lever 500 pour compléter et publier pour tous pour voir et lire un chapitre d'introduction d'exemple à mon livre sur la Mafiocracy Globale et l'Empire d'Économie. Le chapitre fournirait un échantillon de l'objet, du style et de l'approche pour discuter de ces questions complexes d'une manière compréhensible et accessible à un public aussi large que possible. L'exemple de chapitre sera terminé assez rapidement (dans la semaine ou les deux prochaines), tant que l'objectif de financement sera atteint pour que je puisse me permettre de mettre le temps de terminer le projet. Donc, quel est le sujet et l'objet du livre? 8211 Traduire le monde de l'économie et des finances dans l'anglais de base, démanteler la langue 8216technical8217 de 8216experts8217 dans une dialectique plus directe et honnête 8211 Une introduction à la mafiocratie mondiale: les banques, les entreprises, les actifs Des sociétés de gestion, des fonds de fortune souverains, des compagnies d'assurance et des sociétés de portefeuille qui possèdent collectivement les uns les autres et le réseau plus vaste d'institutions financières et d'entreprises mondiales. Ce cartel représente relativement peu de 150 grandes institutions financières dotées d'une puissance financière inégalée dans le monde moderne. Comment l'entente a t elle évolué Quelles institutions dominent elles en son sein Quels sont les individus et les groupes qui dirigent ces organisations Comment la richesse et le pouvoir de l'entente sont ils accumulés et exercés Quel rôle joue le cartel dans le monde de la finance, Les grandes entreprises et les institutions financières sont des individus et des familles, de plus petites unités de puissance concentrée qui détiennent les actions les plus importantes et dirigent les opérations du cartel mondial. Ces oligarches et dynasties individuelles 8211 des Rockefeller aux États Unis, aux Wallenberg en Suède, Agnellis en Italie, Desmarais8217 au Canada, à la Maison de Saoud en Arabie Saoudite, Oppenheimer en Afrique du Sud, entre autres contrôle et influence De vastes pourcentages de richesse au sein de leurs pays respectifs et dans le monde des réseaux financiers et d'entreprises mondialisés. Comment ces dynasties et oligarques ont ils émergé? Qu'ont ils possédé et contrôlé? Quelle est leur richesse et leur pouvoir organisés et exercés Quelles sont leurs idéologies, leurs croyances, leurs objectifs 8211 Empire et économie: Quand les gens pensent à l'empire, À l'Afrique, à l'Amérique latine et à l'Asie où ils occuperaient et coloniseraient militairement les terres, les régions et les peuples étrangers pour leur profit impérial. Alors que le colonialisme formel est en grande partie un anachronisme historique, injustifiable et de plus en plus insoutenable dans le monde moderne, l'Empire lui même n'a jamais disparu. Alors que les composantes militaires et ouvertement politiques de l'empire et de l'impérialisme demeurent pertinentes dans le monde moderne (pensez: l'armée américaine, la CIA, le Département d'Etat, l'OTAN, etc.), les moyens les plus efficaces et évolués de l'impérialisme dans le monde sont Sphères financières. Dans ces domaines, l'empire est plus efficace parce que son idéologie, ses objectifs, ses actions et ses effets se cachent derrière un langage vague et obscur, des économistes, des ministres des Finances, des banquiers centraux et d'autres technocrates qui se disent séparés de la politique et intéressés seulement par l'économie . L'Empire est plus évolué dans ces sphères parce qu'il est devenu l'avant garde de la mafiocratie mondiale et du système impérial, conduisant l'appareil politique et souvent militaire de l'empire, beaucoup plus institutionnalisé et avancé à l'échelle mondiale que tout parallèle dans les sphères politiques et militaires. 8211 Global Financial Diplomacy and Governance: Quelles sont les institutions qui gèrent et façonnent l'ordre économique impérial Dans le monde de la diplomatie financière et de la gouvernance, les institutions qui exercent un pouvoir et une autorité incroyables (et de plus en plus en expansion) restent largement inconnues ou mal comprises au grand public . L'ouvrage examinera quelques unes des origines, de l'évolution et du caractère de bon nombre de ces institutions, notamment le Fonds monétaire international (FMI), la Banque mondiale, la Banque des règlements internationaux (BRI), l'Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques (OCDE) L'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC), les banques centrales et les ministères des finances, entre autres. Quels sont les rôles, les fonctions et les objectifs spécifiques de ces institutions? Comment exercent ils le pouvoir? Dans quel intérêt fonctionnent ils? Qui les dirige 8211 Pouvoir d'Etat: Les institutions qui composent le monde de la diplomatie financière et de la gouvernance s'appuient Politique. Qu'il s'agisse d'une banque centrale, d'un ministère des Finances, du FMI ou d'autres agences, le rôle des États nations puissants comme les États Unis et d'autres nations riches est essentiel au système et aux structures de l'Empire économique mondial. La centralité du pouvoir de l'État est d'autant plus évidente à travers l'examen des origines et de l'évolution des groupements moins formels de nations comme le Groupe des Sept (G7), le Groupe des Cinq (G5), le Groupe des Dix ) Et le Groupe des Vingt (G20), les principaux forums politiques pour le système de gouvernance mondiale et d'empire. Qui participe à ces forums Quelles institutions sont représentées Quelles sont les idéologies et les intérêts concurrents Quel effet ont ils? Quel est le rôle du marché 8217 de l'émergence 8217 nations de Chine, Russie, Brésil, Inde, Turquie et Afrique du Sud dans ce système 8211 The Global Financial Mafia : Quelle est la relation et l'interaction entre le pouvoir de l'État, les divers groupes de nations, les institutions internationales, les ministères des finances et les banques centrales avec le cartel mondial des banques et des sociétés et les oligarques et les dynasties familiales qui contrôlent le cartel? Qui dirigent ces différentes institutions interagissent, coopèrent, communiquent, socialisent et s'organisent. A différents think tanks, fondations, forums, conférences et événements sociaux mondiaux et nationaux, les politiciens, les ministres des Finances, les banquiers centraux et les technocrates supérieurs se rencontrent, souvent en secret, Des banques et des corporations, des patriarches et des matriarches de puissantes dynasties familiales et d'autres oligarques. Parmi ces manifestations et forums, citons le Groupe Bilderberg, la Conférence monétaire internationale (IMC), le Forum économique mondial (FEM), la Commission trilatérale, l'Institut des finances internationales (IIF) et le Groupe des 30, entre autres. Ces forums et manifestations fournissent aux dirigeants politiques et aux responsables d'institutions influentes un forum privé où ils peuvent avoir des discussions sur des questions importantes d'importance mondiale pour les populations de leurs pays respectifs et la planète en tant que entier. Collectivement, ce groupe et les institutions qui le dominent forment la Mafiocratie Globale: un système politique, social et économique mondial dominé par relativement peu de nations et d'institutions qui opèrent largement dans l'intérêt d'un petit cartel criminel de banques et de sociétés Mafia financière mondiale. 8211 Top Down: Ces institutions, individus et idéologies seront examinés et discutés non pas comme un compte historique sec, mais en termes de raconter une série d'histoires. Je veux essayer de présenter cette information et cette analyse de la même manière qu'elle me plaît le plus, un fantastique, intéressant, souvent horrible et choquant récit d'intrigue, d'empire, de politique de pouvoir, de petits tyrans, de combats, de domination, de destruction Et l'empire. Je veux que les personnes qui dirigent et participent à ce système deviennent aussi familières pour le lecteur que pour moi, de voir une image et de lire des histoires sur les personnalités et les complexités de ceux qui gouvernent et exercent le pouvoir. Ce qui émerge est une histoire ou une série d'histoires dignes de l'intrigue et de l'intérêt pour les récits historiques et fictifs de familles impériales et d'empires antiques, de mondes mythiques, de contes d'imagination et de sociétés de science fiction. Obtenez une vue de notre monde de haut en bas. 8211 Bottom Up: Parallèlement aux institutions, aux individus et aux idéologies qui dominent et façonnent notre monde du haut en bas, il ya aussi des processus, des personnes, des protestations et des mouvements de masse ou des révolutions qui façonnent et recréent et réinventent le Monde de bas en haut. Alors que les ministres des Finances de l'Europe se rencontrent en secret, hors des conversations record dans les châteaux lointains situés au Luxembourg, décidant du sort de l'Europe et de ses citoyens, des manifestations de masse et des manifestations et émeutes se déroulent dans les rues d'Athènes, Dans lequel les populations s'opposent et rejettent les décisions prises dans des régions éloignées par des technocrates largement non élus qui ne servent pas leurs intérêts. Quel rôle les protestations et les mouvements populaires ont ils dans la formation et le changement du monde moderne Comment les institutions et les individus dominants voient ils et réagissent ils à de tels événements et processus A t ils peur du potentiel du peuple Qu'est ce que ce potentiel? L'histoire, ses principaux acteurs, institutions et évolution est mieux comprise lorsqu'elle est racontée comme une histoire, avec des personnages que les lecteurs et les observateurs peuvent relier à, comprendre, trouver Un intérêt dans, d'être intrigué et même horrifié. Il semblerait que la meilleure façon d'expliquer le monde excessivement et inutilement compliqué de l'économie et de la finance est de l'expliquer non pas comme on lirait dans un manuel ou une publication industrielle, ni dans le reportage de la presse financière, ni dans la langue sèche et trompeusement terne Et la rhétorique de l'économie, des universitaires, des ministres des finances, des banquiers centraux, des technocrates et des politiciens. Non, c'est un monde mieux compris à travers les histoires, les personnages, les défis, les triomphes, les désastres et les guerres menées par les personnalités et les personnes qui ont façonné et changé ce monde. Un système de civilisation humaine est, après tout, en fin de compte un produit de l'homme, et est donc profondément irrégulier, complexe, conflictuel et intrigant comme le sont les contes les plus humains de la montée et de la chute des rois, des reines, des empereurs, Les triomphes et les tribulations de la personne commune, ceux qui sont dans les rues, dans les écoles, qui s'affairent autour des villes, des villes et dans les bidonvilles urbains. Les êtres humains comprennent les luttes humaines et les histoires humaines. Ainsi, ce livre n'est pas une histoire de l'économie et de la finance, c'est une histoire d'êtres humains, de lutte, de souffrance, de succès et de complexité. Bref, c'est une histoire comme les autres. J'ai besoin de votre aide pour écrire ces histoires et compléter ce livre, ce qui sera le premier d'une série. Pour l'instant, mon objectif est d'écrire un exemple de chapitre, en tirant des milliers de pages de recherches que j'ai faites ces derniers mois et années. Ce chapitre sera disponible en ligne pour que tous puissent lire, afin de mieux comprendre l'orientation, l'approche et les objectifs de ce livre. Pour ce faire, j'ai besoin de votre aide. Si c'est quelque chose que vous seriez intéressé par la lecture, s'il vous plaît envisager de faire un don ou de partager et de promouvoir cette via les médias sociaux et d'autres avenues. Mon objectif est d'augmenter 500 à court terme. Si cet objectif est atteint, le chapitre de l'échantillon sera complété (sous forme brute) et publié en ligne pour tous à lire en avril 2015. Merci beaucoup pour tout le soutien et l'encouragement. Andrew Gavin Marshall Le cartel mondial des services bancaires sur les super entités: le marché libre des capitaux financiers Par: Andrew Gavin Marshall Les banquiers HSBC témoignent devant le Sénat américain pour blanchir des milliards de dollars en argent de la drogue (photo courtoisie de The Economist, 21 juillet 2012) Produit de la recherche entreprise pour le premier volume du projet du livre People8217s. Faites une donation pour compléter le premier volume: une étude des institutions, des idées et des individus du pouvoir et de la résistance dans un instantané du monde d'aujourd'hui, en regardant la crise économique mondiale, la guerre et l'empire, la répression et la mondialisation Propagation des mouvements anti austérité et de résistance. Je voudrais vous présenter le lecteur à certaines réalités de notre système bancaire mondial, reposant sur la rhétorique des marchés libres, mais fonctionnant, en réalité, comme un cartel mondial, une super entité dans laquelle les grandes banques du monde sont toutes propriétaires Et de posséder les actions de contrôle dans les plus grandes multinationales du monde, influencer les gouvernements et la politique avec des politiciens dans leurs poches arrières, s'engager systématiquement dans la fraude et la corruption, et blanchir des centaines de milliards de dollars en argent de drogue, Financement. Ce sont les trop grands pour échouer et trop grands pour emprisonner les banques, le centre de notre économie mondiale, ce que nous appelons un marché libre, ce qui implique que les banques et les sociétés mondiales ont le règne libre de faire tout ce qu'ils veulent, Voler trillions de richesse qui est caché au large, et ne jamais obtenir plus d'une gifle sur le poignet. C'est le vrai marché libre, un cartel bancaire mondial très rentable, fonctionnant comme une mafia financière mondiale. La recherche scientifique prouve l'existence d'une super entité financière mondiale En octobre 2011, New Scientist a rapporté qu'une étude scientifique sur le système financier mondial a été entreprise par trois théoriciens de systèmes complexes à l'Institut fédéral suisse de technologie à Zurich. La conclusion de l'étude a révélé ce que de nombreux théoriciens et observateurs ont noté pendant des années, des décennies et même des siècles: Une analyse des relations entre 43 000 sociétés transnationales a identifié un groupe relativement restreint d'entreprises, principalement des banques, avec un pouvoir disproportionné sur les économie mondiale . Comme l'a déclaré un des chercheurs, la réalité est si complexe, nous devons nous éloigner du dogme, que ce soit ses théories de la conspiration ou le libre marché8230. Notre analyse est basée sur la réalité. À l'aide d'une base de données qui répertorie 37 millions d'entreprises et d'investisseurs dans le monde entier, les chercheurs ont étudié les 43 060 sociétés transnationales (STN), y compris les propriétaires d'actions qui les relient.1 La cartographie du pouvoir était par la construction d'un modèle montrant quelles sociétés contrôlaient quelles autres Par l'intermédiaire de participations. Le réseau de propriété a révélé un noyau de 1 318 entreprises ayant des liens avec deux ou plusieurs autres sociétés. On a constaté que ce noyau possédait environ 80 des recettes mondiales pour l'ensemble des 43 000 sociétés transnationales. Et puis est venu ce que les chercheurs ont appelé la super entité de 147 sociétés étroitement tricotées, qui possèdent tous les uns des autres, et collectivement possèdent 40 de la richesse totale dans l'ensemble du réseau. Un des chercheurs a noté, en effet, moins de 1 pour cent des entreprises ont été en mesure de contrôler 40 pour cent de l'ensemble du réseau. Ce réseau représente un énorme risque pour l'économie mondiale, car si une entreprise souffre de détresse, cela se propage. L'étude a été réalisée avec un ensemble de données établies avant la crise économique. Ainsi, la crise financière obligeant certaines banques à mourir (Lehman Bros.) et d'autres à fusionner, la super entité serait encore plus connectée, concentrée et (2), de FMR Corporation (3), d'AXA (4), d'une société de droit public, (6), UBS AG (9), Merrill Lynch amp Co Inc (10), Deutsche Bank (12), Credit Suisse Group (14), Banque de New York Mellon Corp. (16), Goldman Sachs Group (18), Morgan Stanley (21), Socit Gnrale (24), Bank of America Corporation (25), Lloyds TSB Group (26), Lehman Brothers Holdings Aux Etats Unis, cinq banques contrôlent la moitié de l'économie: JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo et Goldman Sachs Group collectivement Détenait 8,5 billions d'actifs à la fin de 2011, soit environ 56% de l'économie américaine. Ces données étaient selon les banquiers centraux de la Réserve fédérale. En 2007, les actifs des plus grandes banques représentaient 43% de l'économie américaine. Ainsi, la crise a rendu les banques plus grandes et plus puissantes que jamais. Parce que le gouvernement a invoqué trop grand pour échouer, ce qui signifie que les grandes banques seront sauvés parce qu'ils sont très importants, les grandes banques ont incitation à faire des risques continus et plus grands, car ils seront sauvés à la fin. Essentiellement, il s'agit d'une police d'assurance pour les comportements de risque criminel. L'ancien président de la Banque fédérale de réserve de Minneapolis a déclaré: Les participants au marché croient que rien n'a changé, que trop grand à échouer est entièrement intact. Rappelez vous, marché signifie le cartel bancaire (ou super entité si vous préférez). Ainsi, ils construisent de nouvelles bulles et achètent des obligations d'État (dette souveraine), rendant le système financier mondial de plus en plus incertain et menacé d'un effondrement plus important qu'en 2008.4 Lorsque les politiciens, les économistes et d'autres se réfèrent aux marchés financiers, Se référant à la super entité des institutions financières d'entreprise qui dominent, collectivement, l'économie mondiale. Par exemple, le rôle des marchés financiers dans la crise de la dette qui ravage l'Europe au cours des deux dernières années est souvent qualifié de discipline de marché, les marchés financiers spéculant contre la capacité des pays à rembourser leur dette ou intérêt, (Intérêts plus élevés sur la dette publique) et plonger le pays dans une crise, obligeant ainsi sa classe politique à imposer des mesures d'ajustement structurel et d'austérité afin de rétablir la confiance du marché. Ce processus s'appelle la discipline de marché, mais est plus précisément, le terrorisme financier ou la guerre de marché, avec le terme de marché se référant spécifiquement à la super entité. Autant que vous l'appelez, la discipline de marché est en fin de compte un euphémisme pour la guerre de classe.5 Le Supra gouvernement mondial et le marché libre En décembre 2011, Roger Altman, ancien secrétaire adjoint du Trésor sous l'administration Clinton, Les temps où il a expliqué que les marchés financiers agissaient comme un supra gouvernement global, en notant: Ils expulsent les régimes enracinés où les processus politiques normaux ne pourraient pas le faire. Ils forcent l'austérité, le sauvetage bancaire et d'autres changements majeurs de politique. Leur influence nuit aux institutions multilatérales telles que le Fonds monétaire international. En effet, en laissant de côté les armes nucléaires inutilisables, elles sont devenues la force la plus puissante sur terre6. Altman a continué en expliquant que lorsque le pouvoir de ce supra gouvernement global est fléchi, l'impact immédiat sur la société peut être un chômage plus douloureux, Souvent des résultats et les gouvernements échouent. Mais bien sûr, étant un ancien haut fonctionnaire du département du Trésor, il a continué à endosser le supra gouvernement global, écrit, les effets à plus long terme peut être souvent transformatrice et positive. Sincèrement, Altman a conclu: Si ce pouvoir est sain ou non est hors sujet. Il est permanent et il n'y a pas d'arrêt du nouveau rôle de police des marchés financiers7. En d'autres termes, le supra gouvernement mondial des super entités exerce une extorsion financière, renverse les gouvernements et appauvrit les populations, mais c'est finalement positif Et permanente, du moins de l'avis d'un ancien fonctionnaire du Trésor. Du point de vue de ceux qui sont appauvris, les populations réelles, positive n'est pas nécessairement le mot qui vient à l'esprit. À l'ère de la mondialisation, l'argent ou le capital circulent facilement à travers les frontières, les banques, les hedge funds et d'autres institutions financières agissant comme les avant gardes d'un nouvel ordre international de gouvernance mondiale. Where finance goes, corporations follow where corporations venture, powerful states stand guard of their interests. Our global system is one of state capitalism, where the state and corporate interests are interdependent and mutually beneficial, at least for those in power. Today, financial institutions with banks at the helm have reached unprecedented power and influence in state capitalist societies. The banks are bigger than ever before in history, guarded by an insurance policy that we call too big to fail, which means that despite their criminal and reckless behaviour, the government will step in to bail them out, as it always has. Financial markets also include credit ratings agencies, which determine the supposed credit worthiness of other banks, corporations, and entire nations. The lower the credit rating, the riskier the investment, and thus, the higher the interest is for that entity to borrow money. Countries that do not follow the dictates of the financial market are punished with lower credit ratings, higher interest, speculative attacks, and in the cases of Greece and Italy in November of 2011, their democratically elected governments are simply removed and replaced with technocratic administrations made up of bankers and economists who then push through austerity and adjustment policies that impoverish and exploit their populations. In the age of the super entity global supra government, there is no time to rattle around with the pesky process of formal liberal democracy they mean business, and if your elected governments do not succumb to market discipline, they will be removed and replaced in what under any other circumstances is referred to as a coup. Banks and financial institutions provide the liquidity or funds for what we call free markets. Free markets in principle would allow for free competition between companies and countries, each producing their own comparative advantage producing what they are best at and trading with others in the international market, so that all parties rise in living standards and wealth together. The free market is, of course, pure mythology. In practice, what we call free markets are actually highly protectionist, regimented, regulated, and designed to undermine competition and enforce monopolization. The free markets serve this purpose for the benefit of large multinational corporations and banks. When we use the term free markets we are generally referring to the real economy, legitimate and legal. When it comes to illegitimate markets, for example, the global drug trade, we do not tend to refer to them as free markets but rather, illegal and run by cartels. Cartels, like corporations, are hierarchically organized totalitarian institutions, where decisions and power and exercised from the top down, with essentially no input going from the bottom up. Large multinational corporations, like large international cartels, seek to control their particular market throughout entire nations, regions, and beyond. Often, co operation between corporations allow them to function in an oligopolistic manner, where the collectively dominate the entire market, carving it up between them. Major oil companies, agro industrial firms, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, military contractors and water management corporations are well known for these types of activities. Cartels have often been known to engage in a similar practice, though typically they are more competitive with each other. When interests are threatened which is defined as when a corporation or cartel is at risk of losing its total dominance of its market in a particular region conflict arises, and often violently so, with the potential for coups, assassinations, terror campaigns, and war. This is when the state intervenes to protect the market for the cartel or corporate interests. Thus, a market like the global drug trade functions relatively similar to those of the legitimate economy, pharmaceuticals, energy, technology, etc. The illicit trade in drugs is as much a free market as is the trade in automobiles or oil. And of course, the money ends up in the same place: the global supra government of financial markets. Banking Cartel or Drug Cartel8230 or Whats the Difference In 2009, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that billions of dollars in drug money saved the major banks during the financial crisis, providing much needed liquidity. Antonio Maria Costa, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime stated that drug money was the only liquid investment capital available to banks on the brink of collapse, with roughly 325 billion in drug money absorbed by the financial system. Without identifying specific countries or banks, Costa stated that, Inter bank loans were funded by money that originated from the drugs trade and other illegal activities8230 There were signs that some banks were rescued that way.8 In 2010, Wachovia Bank (now owned by Wells Fargo) settled the largest action ever under the U. S. bank secrecy act, paying a fine of 50 million plus forfeiting 110 million of drug money, of which the bank laundered roughly 378.4 billion out of Mexico. The federal prosecutor in the case stated, Wachovias blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations. The fine that the bank paid for laundering hundreds of billions of dollars in drug money was less than 2 of the banks 2009 profit, and on the same week of the settlement, Wells Fargos stock actually went up. The bank admitted in a statement of settlement that, As early as 2004, Wachovia understood the risk of holding such an account, but despite these warnings, Wachovia remained in the business. The leading investigator into the money laundering operations, Martin Woods, based out of London, had discovered that Wachovia had received roughly six or seven thousand subpoenas for information about its Mexican operation from the federal government, of which Woods commented: An absurd number. So at what point does someone at the highest level not get the feeling that something is very, very wrong Woods had been hired by Wachovias London branch as a senior anti money laundering officer in 2005, and when in 2007 an official investigation was opened into Wachovias Mexican operations, Woods was informed by the bank that he failed to perform at an acceptable standard. In other words, he was actually doing his job. In regards to the settlement, Woods stated: The regulatory authorities do not have to spend any more time on it, and they dont have to push it as far as a criminal trial. They just issue criminal proceedings, and settle. The law enforcement people do what they are supposed to do, but whats the point All those people dealing with all that money from drug trafficking and murder, and no one goes to jail9 As the former UN Office of Drugs and Crime czar Antonio Maria Costa said, The connection between organized crime and financial institutions started in the late 1970s, early 1980s8230 when the mafia became globalized, just like other major markets. Martin Woods added that, These are the proceeds of murder and misery in Mexico, and of drugs sold around the world, yet no one went to jail, asking, What does the settlement do to fight the cartels Nothing it doesnt make the job of law enforcement easier and it encourages the cartels and anyone who wants to make money by laundering their blood dollars. Wheres the risk There is none. He added: Is it in the interest of the American people to encourage both the drug cartels and the banks in this way Is it in the interest of the Mexican people Its simple: if you dont see the correlation between the money laundering by banks and the 30,000 people killed in Mexico, youre missing the point. Woods, who now runs his own consultancy, told the Observer in 2011 that, New York and London8230 have become the worlds two biggest laundries of criminal and drug money, and offshore tax havens. Not the Cayman Islands, not the Isle of Man or Jersey. The big laundering is right through the City of London and Wall Street.10 Just as the too big to fail program acts as an insurance policy for the big banks to engage in constant criminal activity, taking ever larger financial risks with the guarantee that they will be bailed out, the settlements and lack of criminal prosecutions for banks laundering drug money provides the incentive to continue laundering hundreds of billions in drug money, because so long as the fine is smaller than the profit accrued from such a practice, it comes down to a simple cost benefit analysis: if the cost of laundering drug money is less than the benefit, continue with the policy. The same cost benefit analysis goes for all forms of criminal activity by banks and corporations, whether bribery, fraud, or violating environmental, labour and other regulations. So long as the penalty is less than the profit, the problem continues. An article in the Observer from July of 2012 referred to global banks as the financial services wing of the drug cartels, noting that HSBC, Britains biggest bank, had been called before the U. S. Senate to testify about laundering drug money from Mexican cartels, holding one suspicious account for four years on behalf of the largest drug cartel in the world, the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico.11 In fact, a multi year investigation into HSBC revealed that the bank was not only a major international drug money laundering conduit, but also laundered money for clients with ties to terrorism. In July of 2012, as the Senate was publicly investigating HSBC, Antonio Maria Costa stated, Today I cannot think of one bank in the world that has not been penetrated by mafia money. The global drug trade is estimated to be worth roughly 380 billion annually, with most of the money made in the consumer markets of North America and Europe. Using the example of the 35 billion per year cocaine market in the United States, only about 1.5 of these profits make their way to the coca leaf producers (mostly poor peasants) in South America (who became the target of our bombing and chemical warfare campaigns in the war on drugs), while the international traffickers get roughly 13 of the profits, with the remaining 85 earned by the distributors in the U. S. HSBC was accused of laundering the profits of the distributors.12 The U. S. Senate report concluded that HSBC had exposed the U. S. financial system to a wide array of money laundering, drug trafficking, and terrorist financing, including billions in proceeds from illegal drug sales in the United States. HSBC acknowledged, in an official statement, that, in the past, we have sometimes failed to meet the standards that regulators and customers expect. Among those standards that HSBC sometimes failed to meet, according to the Senate investigation, were financing provided to banks in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh which were tied to terrorist organizations, while the banks regulator failed to take a single enforcement action against HSBC.13 Among the terrorist organizations which potentially received financial assistance from HSBC through Saudi banks was al Qaeda. HSBC put aside 700 million to cover any potential fines for such activities, which is not uncommon for banks to do. Banks like ABN Amro, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Lloyds and ING had all reached major settlements for admitting to facilitating transactions and engaging in money laundering for clients in Cuba, Iran, Libya, Myanmar and Sudan.14 As executives from HSBC appeared in the U. S. Senate, the banks head of compliance since 2002, David Bagley, resigned as he testified before the committee, commenting, Despite the best efforts and intentions of many dedicated professionals, HSBC has fallen short of our own expectations and the expectations of our regulators.15 As Ed Vulliamy reported in the Observer . in May of 2012, a poor black man named Edward Dorsey Sr. was convicted of peddling 5.5 grams of crack cocaine in Washington D. C. and was given 10 years in jail. Meanwhile, just across the river from where Dorsey had committed his crime, executives from HSBC admitted before the U. S. Senate that they laundered billions in drug money, just as Wachovia had admitted to the previous year, with no one going to prison.16 The lesson from this is clear: if you are poor, black, and are caught with a couple grams of crack cocaine, you can expect to go to prison for several years (or in this case, a decade) but if you are rich, white, own a bank, and are caught laundering billions of dollars (or hundreds of billions of dollars) in drug money, you will be fined (but not enough to make such practices unprofitable), and may have to resign. Too big to fail is simply another way of saying too big to jail. Of course, its not fair to put all the blame for international drug money laundering on the shoulders of HSBC and Wachovia, as Bloomberg reported, Mexican drug cartels also funneled money through the Bank of America and even the banking branch of American Express, Banco Santander, and Citigroup.17 Even the FBI has accused Bank of America of laundering Mexican drug cartel funds.18 But its not just drug money that banks launder all sorts of illicit funds are laundered through major banks, many of which have been fined or are now being investigated for their criminal activities, including JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, Credit Suisse, Lloyds, Barclays, ING, and the Royal Bank of Scotland, among others.19 Another major Swiss bank, UBS, has been very consistent in committing fraud and engaging in various conspiracies, a great deal of which was committed against Americans, though the bank was given conditional immunity from the U. S. Department of Justice.20 Financial Fraud and the Get Out of Jail Free Card The major banks of the world have been caught in conspiracies of ripping off small towns and cities across the United States, which allowed banks like JPMorgan Chase, GE Capital, UBS, Bank of America, Lehman Brothers, Wachovia, Bear Stearns, and others, to steal billions of dollars from schools, hospitals, libraries, and nursing homes from virtually every state, district and territory in the United States, according to a court settlement on the issue. The theft was done through the manipulation of the public bidding process, something that the Mafia has become experts in with regards to garbage and construction industry contracts. In short, the banking system actually functions like a Mafia cartel system, not to mention, taking money from the Mafia and cartels themselves.21 Banks like JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs engaged in bribery, fraud, and conspiracies which resulted in the bankruptcy of counties all across the United States.22 Still, they continue to be respected by the political class which refuses to punish them for their criminal activity, and instead, rewards them with bailouts and follows their instructions for policy. Over the summer of 2012, another major banking scandal hit the headlines, regarding the manipulation of the London inter bank lending rate known as the Libor. The Libor rate, explained the Economist . determines the prices that people and corporations around the world pay for loans or receive for their savings, as it is used as a benchmark for establishing payments on an 800 trillion derivatives market, covering everything from interest rate derivatives to mortgages. Essentially, the Libor is the interest rate at which banks lend to each other on the short term, and is established through an honour system of where 18 major banks report their daily rates, from which an average is calculated. That average becomes the Libor rate, and reverberates throughout the entire global economy, setting a benchmark for a massive amount of transactions in the global derivatives market. Whereas the derivatives market is a massive casino of unregulated speculation, the Libor scandal revealed the cartel that owns the casino. The scandal began with Barclays, a 300 year old bank in Britain, revealing that several employees had been involved in rigging the Libor to suit their own needs. More banks quickly became implemented, and countries all over the world began opening investigations into this scandal and the role their own banks may have played in it. By early July, as many as 20 major banks were named in various investigations or lawsuits related to the rigging of the Libor.23 Among the major global banks which are being investigated by U. S. prosecutors are Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, UBS, Bank of America, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, Credit Suisse, Lloyds Banking Group, Rabobank, Royal Bank of Canada, Socit Gnrale, and others. Prosecutors in the U. S. U. K. Canada and Japan were investigating collusion between the major banks on the manipulation of the Libor. In June of 2012, Barclays paid a fine to US and UK authorities, admitting its culpability in the rigging with a 450 million settlement.24 With information and documents pouring out, implicating further banks and institutions in the scandal, a general consensus was emerging that the Libor had been manipulated since at least 2005, though, as one former Morgan Stanley trader wrote in the Financial Times . the rigging had began as early as 1991, if not before. The British Bankers Association was responsible for setting the Libor rate by polling roughly 18 major banks on their highest and lowest rates daily. Thus, rigging by one bank would require the co operating of at least nine other banks in purposely manipulating their rates in order to have any effect upon the Libor. Douglas Keenan, the former Morgan Stanley trader, wrote that, it seems the misreporting of Libor rates may have been common practice since at least 1991.25 Rolf Majcen, the head of a hedge fund called FTC Capital told Der Spiegel that, the Libor manipulation is presumably the biggest financial scandal ever. As regulators were using words like organized fraud and banksters to describe the growing scandal, it was becoming common to refer to the major banks as functioning like a cartel or mafia.26 The CEO of Barclays, Bob Diamond, resigned in disgrace, as did Marcus Agius, the Chairman of Barclays (who also serves as a director on the board of BBC, and is married into the Rothschild banking dynasty). The cartel manipulated the Libor for a great number of reasons, among them, to appear to be in better health by rigging their credit ratings upwards.27 The Business Insider referred to the Libor rigging as a criminal conspiracy from the start, essentially designed to promote manipulation as the Libor was determined by an honor system for banks to properly report their rates.28 Imagine giving a pile of credit cards to a group of credit card fraud convicts and establishing an honour system. Could one truly be surprised if it didnt work out Well, the Libor scandal is effectively based upon the same logic, except that the repercussions are global in scope. Traders at the Royal Bank of Scotland referenced, in internal emails, to their participation in operating a cartel that made amazing amounts of money through the manipulation of interest rates, with a former senior trader at RBS writing that managers at the bank had condoned collusion. The same trader, who was later hung out to dry by RBS as a scapegoat, wrote in an email to a trader at Deutsche Bank that, It is a cartel now in London, where the Libor is established.29 The cartel, however, did not simply include the major banks, but also required the cooperation or at least negligence of regulators and central banks. Documents released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Bank of England show correspondence between then President of the NY Fed Timothy Geithner (who is now Obamas Treasury Secretary) and Bank of England Governor Mervyn King discussing how Barclays was manipulating the Libor rates during the 2008 financial crisis. While the NY Fed corresponded with both the Bank of England and Barclays itself on the acknowledgment of interest rate manipulation, it never told the bank to stop the rigging practice. An official at Barclays even informed the NYFed in 2008 that the bank was under reporting the rate at which it could borrow from other banks so that Barclays could avoid the stigma of appearing to be weaker than its peers, adding that other participating banks were also under reporting their Libor submissions.30 A Barclays employee told the New York Fed in an April 2008 phone call that, We know that were not posting um, an honest Libor8230 and yet we are doing it, because, um, if we didnt do it, it draws, um, unwanted attention on ourselves. The New York Fed official replied: You have to accept it8230 I understand. Despite its against what you would like to do. I understand completely. Several months later, a Barclays employee told a New York Fed official that the Libor rates were still absolute rubbish.31 While the New York Fed expressed sympathy for the poor and helpless global banks need to engage in fraud and interest rate manipulation in order to lie and appear to be healthier than it was, the Bank of England went a step further, when Paul Tucker, the head of markets at the BoE wrote a note to Barclays CEO Bob Diamond in 2008 suggesting that Barclays lower its Libor rate, thus encouraging the rigging itself, instead of just expressing sympathy for the need to commit fraud.32 The main British banking lobby group, the British Bankers Association (BBA), which was responsible for overseeing the Libor rate process (no conflict of interest there, right), was, in late September of 2012, stripped of its right to oversee the Libor, to be replaced with a formal regulator. The BBAs oversight of Libor dates back to 1984, when the City of London (Britains Wall Street) had begun an experiment to establish a new way of setting interest rates, asking the banking lobby group to set the rate in 1986 when the Libor began.33 The BBAs Foreign Exchange and Money Markets Committee is responsible for setting the Libor, and they meet every two months to review the process in secret without any minutes being published, and even the membership of the Committee is kept a secret. Spokespersons at Credit Suisse, Royal Bank of Scotland, and UBS refused to comment on whether they had any representatives on the committee, while Barclays, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Bank of America and Citigroup didnt even respond to emailed inquiries about their involvement with the committee, as Bloomberg reported. A British regulator, in the understatement of the century, stated, There is an apparent lack of transparency, adding that the BBAs committee doesnt appear to be sufficiently open and transparent to provide the necessary degree of accountability to firms and markets with a direct interest in being assured of the integrity of Libor.34 When the fox guards the henhouse, it takes a great deal of stupidity to be surprised when some hens go missing. In an April 2008 meeting with officials at the Bank of England, Angela Knight, the head of the British Bankers Association, suggested that the BBA perhaps should no longer be responsible for oversight of the worlds most important number, which had become too big for the BBA to manage. No one at the meeting cared enough to do anything about it, however, and so nothing changed.35 Where was the incentive to change the system, after all Yes, massive fraud was taking place, and this was well understood by the banks committing it, as well as the regulators and central banks overseeing it. But on the plus side, everyone was getting away with it. So indeed, there was no incentive to change the system. From the point of view of those managing it, the Libor was functioning as it should. A cartel was established because a cartel was desired. The fact that it was all highly illegal, fraudulent, and immoral was and is beside the point. Mexican drug cartels do not worry about the legality of their operations because they are, by definition, illegal . They worry simply about getting away with their illegal operations. The same can be said for the global banking cartel. So long as they get away with criminal cartel operations, there is no incentive to change the system, and instead, there is only an incentive to expand and further entrench the cartels operations. Canadas antitrust regulator began an investigation into the international cartel of banks rigging the Libor, focusing on the role played by banks such as JP Morgan Chase, Royal bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and Citigroup, among others. A law professor at the University of Toronto who was hired by the regulator to study the case commented that, international cartels are of a significant concern for the Canadian economy.36 We have truly reached an impressive circumstance when the actual regulators of the banks refer to the banking system as an international cartel. A lawsuit was being filed by several homeowners in the U. S. who were attempting to sue some of the worlds largest banks for fraud, as the Libor manipulation sparked increases on their mortgages, resulting in illegal profits for banks. The class action lawsuit filed in New York in October of 2012 accused banks such as Bank of America, Citigroup, Barclays, UBS, JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and others of fraud over a period of ten years.37 For U. S. states and municipalities that bought interest rate swaps before the financial crisis, the Libor rigging was poised to more than double their losses. Banks had sold roughly 500 billion of interest rate swaps (in the derivatives market) to municipalities before the financial crisis, with roughly 200 billion of those swaps tied to the Libor. As one legal expert who studies derivatives told Bloomberg . Almost all interest rate swaps begin with Libor. This prompted several states in the U. S. to begin their own investigations into how the Libor rigging may have negatively affected them.38 Punishing the Worlds Population into Poverty: Life Under the Global Cartel While the global cartel of criminal banks rig rates, launder drug money, fund terrorists, engage in bribery, fraud and demand multi trillion dollar bailouts from our governments (effectively selling their bad debts to the public), and then give themselves massive bonuses, they are also demanding through what is called market discipline that our governments deal with our debts by undertaking policies of austerity and structural reform, which are euphemisms for impoverishment and exploitation. Thus, after the cartel helped create a massive financial crisis, and after our governments rewarded them for their criminal activity, the cartel now demands that our governments punish their populations into poverty and open their economies, resources and labour up for cheap and easy exploitation by banks and multinational corporations. This is referred to as the solution for getting out of the Great Recession, and which is sure to great a Great Depression. Greece is now two and a half years into its austerity and adjustment reforms, with its debt growing as a result, poverty exploding, misery spreading, health, education, welfare rapidly declining, suicide rates and hunger increasing, as the Greek people are subjected to a program of social genocide. Market discipline demands austerity and adjustment, or in other words, class warfare creates poverty and exploitation.39 Countries that refuse to implement programs of austerity and adjustment are subjected to financial terrorism by the international cartel, as financial markets engage in market discipline by using the derivatives market to speculate against that particular countrys ability to pay its interest or debt, thus making its credit ratings decrease and borrowing rates increase, plunging the country into a deeper crisis. In any other scenario, this is called terrorism or in the very least, extortion: do what I say or I will punish you and destroy you. This is what former U. S. Treasury official Roger Altman referred to in the Financial Times as the new global supra government who can force austerity, banking bail outs and other major policy changes, and thus, have become the most powerful force on earth.40 Countries, regional, and international organizations all bow down to the dictates of the international cartel of the global supra government, and so countries like Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy, and Portugal, organizations like the European Union, European Central Bank, powerful states like Germany, France, Britain, and the U. S. and other international organizations like the IMF, Bank for International Settlements, and the OECD all demand and implement austerity measures and structural reforms. Either they follow the orders of the cartel which we commonly refer to as the invisible hand of the free market or they directly challenge the most powerful force on earth. In the global economy, a small country like Greece standing up to the global supra government is much like a small Greek restaurant trying to stand up to the city Mafia. In the U. S. states that were defrauded in the billions of dollars by the cartel, and took on major debts as a result, are now the harbingers of austerity in America. Beginning in 2010, roughly 20 states across the U. S. began implementing austerity measures, and have been doing much worse economically as a result (the predicted effect of austerity). Even the institutions which are the most militant in demanding austerity measures, such as the European Union and the IMF, have acknowledged in recent reports that countries which pursue austerity to supposedly reduce their debts end up getting much larger debts as a result, and that such measures are actually extremely damaging to economies. This is not news, of course, since there is a rather large sample of data from the past 30 years of forced austerity and adjustment measures across Africa, Asia, and Latin America (at the behest of the IMF, World Bank, western governments, and of course, the cartel), which show quite clearly the effect that austerity and adjustment have in rapidly expanding poverty and facilitating exploitation. As austerity is hitting several U. S. states, jobs are lost and poverty increases with debt, standards of living decline and the recession deepens into a depression. The population is essentially punished for the crimes of the global cartel, while public employees, pensioners, welfare recipients, teachers and workers get the blame.41 In late October of 2012, the CEOs of 80 major corporations and banks in the United States banded together (as any well functioning cartel does) in order to pressure Congress, regardless of who the next President is, to pursue an agenda of harsh austerity measures and structural reforms. In a statement to Congress signed by the 80 CEOs, the American branch of the global cartel (its most significant branch), demanded that policies be enacted immediately, though implemented gradually, to give Americans time to prepare for the changes in the federal budget. Among the demands are to reform Medicare and Medicaid, healthcare, Social Security, increase taxes, and generally reduce spending. All of this amounts to a large federal program of austerity, to cut social spending and increase taxes on the population, thus impoverishing the population. This, in the words of the letter to Congress, must be bipartisan and reforms to all areas of the budget should be included.42 Among the signatories to the letter were the CEOs of ATampT, Bank of America, BlackRock, Boeing, Caterpillar, Dow Chemical Company, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Merck, Microsoft, Motorola, Time Warner, and Verizon, among many others.43 This followed roughly one week after a group of 15 major global bank CEOs sent a letter to President Obama and the U. S. Congress lecturing the U. S. political class on moral authority, giving their formal orders to the U. S. political establishment, that regardless of Democratic or Republican administrations, they are losing patience with the democratic apparatus of the state, and warned: The solvency, productive capacity, and stability of the United States, as well as its moral authority as a global leader, require that its fiscal challenges be credibly met. Among the signatories to the letter were the CEOs of Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. The Wall Street Journal . reporting on this letter, commented that even for a dying democracy, its embarrassing enough to see bankers telling our government what to do, but in this letter, we even see foreign bankers telling our government what to do, as other CEOs of the global cartel signed the letter, from banks such as UBS, Credit Suisse, and Deutsche Bank. The consequences of inaction on the U. S. debt, read the letter, would be very grave. In other words, the U. S. political class has received a threat from the global cartel that it is now time to implement austerity and adjustment measures, or to face the consequences of financial terrorism.44 Hiding the Loot: The Offshore Economy in the Age of the Global Plutonomy While people are being forced into poverty to pay off the bad debts of the super entity global banking cartel of drug money laundering banks which make up the global supra government, the richest people in the world have been hiding their wealth in offshore tax havens, and of course, with the help of those same banks. James Henry, a former chief economist at McKinsey, a major global consultancy, published a major report on tax havens in July of 2012 for the Tax Justice Network, compiling data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the IMF and other private sector entities which revealed that the worlds superrich have hidden between 21 and 32 trillion offshore to avoid taxation. Henry stated: This offshore economy is large enough to have a major impact on estimates of inequality of wealth and income on estimates of national income and debt ratios and most importantly to have very significant negative impacts on the domestic tax bases of source countries. John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network commented that, Inequality is much, much worse than official statistics show, but politicians are still relying on trickle down to transfer wealth to poorer people8230 This new data shows the exact opposite has happened: for three decades extraordinary wealth has been cascading into the offshore accounts of a tiny number of super rich. Roughly 92,000 of the super rich, globally, hold at least 10 trillion in offshore wealth. In many cases, the worth of these offshore assets far exceeds the debts of the countries that they flow from, the same debts that are used to keep these countries and their populations in poverty and a constant state of exploitation.45 The estimated total of hidden offshore wealth amounts to more than the combined GDP of the United States and Japan, hidden in secretive financial jurisdictions like Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. The process of hiding this wealth is largely facilitated by the major global banks, which compete with one another to attract the assets of the worlds super rich. James Henry explained that the wealth of the worlds super rich is protected by a highly paid, industrious bevy of professional enablers in the private banking, legal, accounting and investment industries taking advantage of the increasingly borderless, frictionless global economy more of that free market magic. The top ten banks in the world, which include UBS and Credit Suisse (based in Switzerland) as well as Goldman Sachs in the United States, collectively managed roughly 6.4 trillion in offshore accounts for 2010 alone. As the report revealed, for many developing countries the cumulative value of the capital that has flowed out of their economies since the 1970s would be more than enough to pay off their debts to the rest of the world, debts which are largely illegitimate as it stands. This trend is exacerbated in the oil rich states of the world such as Nigeria, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. The report stated: The problem here is that the assets of these countries are held by a small number of wealthy individuals while the debts are shouldered by the ordinary people of these countries through their governments. With roughly half of the worlds offshore wealth belonging to the top 92,000 richest individuals, they represent the top 0.001, a far more extreme global disparity than that which is invoked by the Occupy movements 1 paradigm. Henry commented: The very existence of the global offshore industry, and the tax free status of the enormous sums invested by their wealthy clients, is predicated on secrecy.46 Remember, free market means that those who own the market (the global cartel), and free to do anything they please. A 2005 report from Citigroup coined the term plutonomy, to describe countries where economic growth is powered by and largely consumed by the wealthy few, and specifically identified the U. K. Canada, Australia, and the United States as four plutonomies. Keeping in mind that the report was published three years before the onset of the financial crisis in 2008, the Citigroup report stated: Asset booms, a rising profit share and favourable treatment by market friendly governments have allowed the rich to prosper and become a greater share of the economy in the plutonomy countries, and that, the rich are in great shape, financially.47 Its only everyone else that is suffering, which by definition, is a well functioning economy. As the Federal Reserve reported, the nations top 1 of households own more than half the nations stocks, and they also control more than 16 trillion in wealth more than the bottom 90. The term Plutonomy is specifically used to describe a country that is defined by massive income and wealth inequality, and that they have three basic characteristics, according to the Citigroup report: 1. They are all created by disruptive technology driven productivity gains, creative financial innovation, capitalist friendly cooperative governments, immigrantsthe rule of law and patenting inventions. Often these wealth waves involve great complexity exploited best by the rich and educated of the time. 2. There is no average consumer in Plutonomies. There is only the rich and everyone else. The rich account for a disproportionate chunk of the economy, while the non rich account for surprisingly small bites of the national pie. Citigroup strategist Ajay Kapur estimates that in 2005, the richest 20 may have been responsible for 60 of total spending. 3. Plutonomies are likely to grow in the future, fed by capitalist friendly governments, more technology driven productivity and globalization.48 Kapur, who authored the Citigroup report, stated that there were also risks to the Plutonomy, including war, inflation, financial crises, the end of the technological revolution and populist political pressure, yet, the rich are likely to keep getting even richer, and enjoy an even greater share of the wealth pie over the coming years.49 In February of 2011, Ajay Kapur, the author of the Citigroup report who is now with Deutsche Bank, gave an interview in which he explained that, the world economy is even more dependent on the spending and consumption of the rich, and that, Plutonomist consumption is almost 10 times as volatile that of the average consumer. He further explained that increased debt levels are a sign of plutonomies: We have an economy today where a large fraction of the population doesnt pay federal income taxes and, because of demand for entitlements, we have a system of massive representation without taxation. On the other hand, you have plutonomists who protect their turf and the taxation amounts are not enough to pay for everyones demand. So Ive come to the conclusion that budget deficits are biased toward getting bigger and bigger. Budget deficits are going to become a manifestation of a plutonomy.50 The plutonomy is largely characterized by a lack of a consuming and vibrant middle class. This is a trend that has been accelerating for several decades, particularly in North America and Britain, where the middle class population is heavily indebted. The middle class has existed as a consumer class, keeping the lower class submissive, and keeping the upper class secure and wealthy by consuming their products, produced with the labour of the lower class. The most advanced plutonomies in the world are the most advanced industrial and technological nations, where the major corporations and banks are highly subsidized and protected by the state, as is typical for a state capitalist society. While the industrial and rich northern state capitalist societies were able to industrialize and grow rich through highly protectionist measures, the poor south of the world (Africa, Asia, Latin America) were subjected to free market policies which opened up their economies to be exploited and plundered by the rich northern nations. No country has ever become an industrial power by implementing free market policies, but rather, by doing the exact opposite: heavy subsidies and state protection for key industries, technologies, and corporate entities. While the Third World was forced to implement free market policies in order to get loans, the predictable result took place: mass impoverishment and exploitation. The Third World states were run by tiny elites who dominated the countries politically and economically, and who hid their stolen wealth in foreign banks and offshore tax havens. Now, in the midst of the global economic crisis which has been ravaging the world for the past four years, the rich northern countries are themselves implementing the same free market policies, though designed to subject their populations to market discipline while maintaining and in fact increasing the protectionist and subsidized policies for the multinational corporations and banks. It is important to note that market discipline and actual free market policies are exclusively designed for the general population, not the elite. Workers, students, the elderly, the poor and the many are to be subjected to market discipline while the banks and multinational corporations continue to be heavily subsidized (as the largest national welfare recipients) and protected by the state. Thus, just as our banks and corporations have plundered the Third World with rapacious delight over the past three decades, now they will be able to do the same to the populations of the rich nations themselves. The state will transform, as it did in the Third World, into a typically totalitarian institution which is responsible for protecting the super rich and controlling, oppressing, or, in extreme cases of resistance, eliminating the problem populations (i. e. the people). Welcome to the global plutonomy in the age of austerity, the result of living under and tolerating a global super entity corporate financial cartel. Truly, one must pause and, if only for a moment, appreciate the ability of this global cartel to function so effectively in spite of its blatant criminal activities, and face almost absolutely no repercussions. Something truly is wrong with a society when a poor black man caught with 5 grams of crack cocaine goes to prison for ten years, while rich white bank executives admit to laundering billions of dollars in drug money and receive only a fine and a slap on the wrist (maybe). The lesson is clear: if you are a thief, steal by the billions or trillions, and then no one can do anything about it. If you are in the drug trade: handle only billions (or hundreds of billions) in drug money, and then you will get away with it. If you dont want to pay taxes, be a member of the top o. oo1 of the worlds super rich and hide your billions in offshore tax free accounts. If you want more, create a global economic crisis, demand to be saved by the state to the tune of tens of trillions of dollars, and then, tell the state to punish their populations into poverty in order to pay for your mistakes. In other words, if you want to indulge your criminal fantasies, lie and steal, profit from death and drugs, dominate and demand, be king and command, become the highly functioning socially acceptable sociopath you always knew you could be8230 think big. Think BANK. Serial killers, bank robbers and drug dealers go to jail bankers get bailouts and get an unlimited insurance policy called too big to fail. Andrew Gavin Marshall is an independent researcher and writer based in Montreal, Canada, writing on a number of social, political, economic, and historical issues. He is also Project Manager of The Peoples Book Project. 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Lynch, Banks Seen Dangerous Defying Obamas Too Big to Fail Move, Bloomberg, 16 April 2012: 5 Dean Baker, The eurozone crisis is not about market discipline, Al Jazeera, 18 December 2011: 6 Roger Altman, We need not fret over omnipotent markets, The Financial Times, 1 December 2011: 7 Roger Altman, We need not fret over omnipotent markets, The Financial Times, 1 December 2011: 8 Rajeev Syal, Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor, The Observer, 13 December 2009: 9 Ed Vulliamy, How a big US bank laundered billions from Mexico8217s murderous drug gangs, The Observer, 3 April 2011: 11 Ed Vulliamy, Global banks are the financial services wing of the drug cartels, The Observer, 21 July 2012: 12 John Paul Rathbone, Money laundering: Taken to the cleaners, 20 July 2012: 13 Agustino Fontevecchia, HSBC Helped Terrorists, Iran, Mexican Drug Cartels Launder Money, Senate Report Says, Forbes, 16 July 2012: 14 Roberto Saviano, Where the Mob Keeps its Money, The New York Times, 25 August 2012: 15 Dominic Rushe, HSBC 8216sorry8217 for aiding Mexican drugs lords, rogue states and terrorists, The Guardian, 17 July 2012: 16 Ed Vulliamy, Global banks are the financial services wing of the drug cartels, The Observer, 21 July 2012: 17 Michael Smith, Banks Financing Mexico Gangs Admitted in Wells Fargo Deal, Bloomberg, 29 June 2010: 18 Alexander Eichler, Mexican Drug Cartel Laundered Money Through BofA, FBI Alleges, The Huffington Post, 9 June 2012: 19 Jessica Silver Greenberg and Edward Wyatt, In Laundering Case, a Lax Banking Law Obscured Money Flow, The New York Times, 8 August 2012: Jessica Silver Greenberg and Ben Protess, Money Laundering Inquiry Is Said to Aim at U. S. Banks, The New York Times, 14 September 2012: 20 James B. Stewart, For UBS, a Record of Averting Prosecution, The New York Times, 20 July 2012: 21 Matt Taibbi, The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia, Rolling Stone, 21 June 2012: 22 William D. Cohan, How Wall Street Scams Counties Into Bankruptcy, Bloomberg, 1 July 2012: 23 The Libor Scandal: The Rotten Heart of Finance, The Economist, 7 July 2012: 24 Shahien Nasiripour, Nine more banks added to Libor probe, The Financial Times, 26 October 2012: 25 Douglas Keenan, My thwarted attempt to tell of Libor shenanigans, The Financial Times, 26 July 2012: 26 The Cartel: Behind the Scenes in the Libor Interest Rate Scandal, Der Spiegel, 1 August 2012: 27 Matt Taibbi, Why is Nobody Freaking Out About the LIBOR Banking Scandal Rolling Stone, 3 July 2012: 28 Ral Ilargi Meijer, LIBOR Was A Criminal Conspiracy From The Start, The Business Insider, 11 July 2012: 29 Steven Swinford and Harry Wilson, RBS traders boasted of Libor 8216cartel8217, The Telegraph, 26 September 2012: 30 Jill Treanor and Dominic Rushe, Timothy Geithner and Mervyn King discussed Libor worries in 2008, The Guardian, 13 July 2012: 31 Mark Gongloff, New York Fed8217s Libor Documents Reveal Cozy Relationship Between Regulators, Banks, The Huffington Post, 13 July 2012: 32 Chris Giles, Libor scandal puts BoE in line of fire, The Financial Times, 17 July 2012: 33 Jill Treanor, British Bankers8217 Association to be stripped of Libor rate setting role, The Guardian, 25 September 2012: 34 Liam Vaughan, Secret Libor Committee Clings to Anonymity Following Scandal, Bloomberg, 21 August 2012: 35 David Enrich and Max Colchester, Before Scandal, Clash Over Control of Libor, The Wall Street Journal, 11 September 2012: 36 Andrew Mayeda, Canada Regulator Says Has Power to Probe Libor Cartel, Bloomberg, 22 June 2012: 37 Halah Touryalai, Banks Rigged Libor To Inflate Adjustable Rate Mortgages: Lawsuit, Forbes, 15 October 2012: 38 Darrell Preston, Rigged Libor Hits States Localities With 6 Billion: Muni Credit, Bloomberg, 9 October 2012: 39 Andrew Gavin Marshall, Austerity, Adjustment, and Social Genocide: Political Language and the European Debt Crisis, Andrewgavinmarshall, 24 July 2012: 40 Roger Altman, We need not fret over omnipotent markets, The Financial Times, 1 December 2011: 41 Ben Polak and Peter K. Schott, Americas Hidden Austerity Program, The New York Times, 11 June 2012: Jason Cherkis, A Thousand Cuts: Austerity Measures Devastate Communities Around The World, The Huffington Post, 17 July 2012: Editorial, The Austerity Trap, The New York Times, 23 October 2012: Derek Thompson, American Austerity: Why the States Cutting Spending Are Doing Worse, The Atlantic, 21 June 2012: 42 CEOs Deficit Manifesto, The Wall Street Journal, 25 October 2012: 43 Executives Who Signed the Fix the Debt Declaration, The Wall Street Journal, 25 October 2012: 44 Al Lewis, Bankers Face the Abyss, The Wall Street Journal, 21 October 2012: 45 Heather Stewart, Wealth doesn8217t trickle down it just floods offshore, research reveals, The Observer, 21 July 2012: 46 Heather Stewart, 13tn hoard hidden from taxman by global elite, The Observer, 21 July 2012: 47 We8217re living in a plutonomy, The Telegraph, 2 April 2006: 48 Robert Frank, Plutonomics, The Wall Street Journal, 8 January 2007: 50 Gus Lubin, Deutsche Bank Says The 8216Global Plutonomy8217 Is Stronger Than Ever, And That Means 10X More Volatility, Business Insider, 17 February 2011:
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