Mankind was born into a paradise that provided all sustenance needed for life, one of perfect design, maintenance free naturally correcting imbalance. This Paradise was stolen by the creation of an unnatural man made system, not based on any science just the whim and desire of the creators. It was then required that one must participate in the man made system to obtain that which was once naturally freely and abundantly available to sustain life. This gave the controllers of the system an unnatural power and dominion over their fellow men; this was the beginning of the Ego Empire and the indentured servitude and usury putting a price on participation in this thing called life, which was originally free for all.All the free resources were locked down and ownership granted to a small number of men and the rest put into a public trust making what they could not manage unavailable to the individual citizen creating an artificial scarcity of land and therefore increasing the value of the land privately possessed. The system was not adopted freely by the economic constituency it was forced upon them backed by brute force and threat of imprisonment.
It created a beast that thrives on ignorance, gave rise to a massive gambling casino with fixed tables (Wall Street), permitted the creation of artificial value and needs, corrupted science, resulted in the creation of an institution called government that doesn’t fully represent the people in reality but creates only the illusion of doing so, and forces patronage of select vendors at inflated prices. Furthermore over time the natural resources were polluted and contaminated resulting in the most abundant natural resource, water, having to be purchased at a price from a supplier that cleaned and filtered it, the system became so distorted that at one point a bottle of water cost more then a gallon of gasoline and the copper in a penny was worth more than the value of the coin in the artificial financial system not based on natural systems science but rather greed and the love of power and dominion over others. It is time to restore paradise and eliminate the concentration of power distributing it amongst all men and women equally. No longer shall science be perverted by profit; no longer shall there be profit from disease, fear and conflict. No longer shall the sustainment of essential economy be threatened by the artificial economy, no longer shall a few benefit to the detriment of the many. ~Richard Thomas Gerber
Due to the recent Recession, there has been a lot of discussion around Regulation, the Banking Industry and various Financial Products. But, there has been little talk of examining the Financial System in its entirety and the risk of the governing Philosophies that dictate the System, Firms, Individual Products and their Impact on Society.
Full Article Below
http://www.costsandprofit.com/decision-securities-lending-mortgage-backed-securities-the-ppip-and-hammers
Affordability is obviously STILL the missing LINK to stablize the real estate, mortage, lending... industries.Greenspan did his experimentations to prove his Economic Theory and Bernanke is working on fixing the ill effects of such "theory".In truth, there are ways to allow "affordability" to take place again, and the experts do know how. The question is are THEY willing to make affordability happen instead of keep on trying to bury this administration by attempting to link the BAILout$$$ and the fall of mortages to this administration.They can make the mortage notes longer ... irregardless of the life expectancy of the borrower by having "ballon" payments at reasonable time say every 7 years and have it amortized over the current "maximum". There's NO DOUBT that such SAFE and Responsible mortage options will again bring our economy back, as Housing is STILL the major purchase and American Dream.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ALL-BUSINESS-Bondmarket-rout-apf-15457158.html?.v=4
I was pleased to read on http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=alaMtgFAIQoc&refer=home# Bloomberg today that Mr. Geithner has a plan to regulate over-the-counter derivatives. This is so overdue and I have been frustrated for 3 years by various leaders in Washington do anything about this market even though it was largely responsible for the collapse of the global economy.
Not only was it largely responsible for the collapse but very dangerous precedents are being set as I write this where these exotic financial products are being used as a gauge to price debt.
These contracts represent a $684 trillion over-the-counter derivatives market and they are now typically conducted over the phone between banks and customers!
What an absolute trip. I know with the "trillion" word being passed around like water lately another "trillion" figure may not sink in but Think about this number for a moment. What is the US debt, $10 Trillion? We are talking $684 trillion here. Yes, yes many of you will say, "So what." there are trillions of dollars in "derivatives" out there on every other product, commodity, stock etc. traded every day. Yes, "traded" on "open markets" with clear pricing and risks born by those who trade them and these types of "products" are not "insuring" against default of debt.
I was so incensed when I heard a clip by Lloyd Blankfein where he made this point with a straight face. The guy is a raving lunatic in my book to be able to do so. He is a "Hitler" of finance. There is no question. Some may call him a genius but he defends destruction and annihilation of all around him from a financial perspective and as I have said a million times and will continue to say, with 6 billion people on the planet all more interconnected every day, guys like Blankfein and the businesses they run no longer serve any benefit to humanity, on the contrary, they are destructive to humanity, our "capital system" and serve no allegiance to any good on the planet other than to do whatever is necessary to return 30% plus to their investors irrespective to the damage they cause economies and individuals and they operate without rules governed by any sovereign state, territory or jurisdiction (except for the strings now on his firm after taking money from the government and borrowing to feed his machine with the backing of the FDIC).
April 2, 2009
"The new “New World Order”
© Enrique Woll Battistini 2009
Now that the G20 Summit in London is over, it is fair to ask if sufficient attention was given by the leaders of the world's 20 richest countries to the economic and social conditions and prospects for development of the remaining 90%, which as should be noted, are non-OECD members and located mostly in the Southern hemisphere. Why is it considered acceptable that the rich and powerful decide on the fate of the poor, without their consent? Poor does not mean stupid or morally inept. Rather, it means disenfranchised, still, and that, in the new “New World Order” proclaimed by Gordon Brown today, should be abolished forthwith. The grossly unacceptable welfare imbalance between countries in the Southern and Northern hemispheres also must be corrected forthwith. It is a reflection of the gross capitalization imbalances between them, and will cease in short order if G20-supported special action to promote North-South foreign direct investment is undertaken. For such action to be successful, it must occur in the context of for-profit PRIVATE-PUBLIC Partnerships in each of the three main geo-economic North-South scenarios -The Americas, Europe-Africa, and Asia-Oceania. These Partnerships must be comprised of the fittest surviving financial companies in the leading OECD-member country in each scenario, and their counterparts in each non-OECD or developing country in that scenario. In addition, each Partnership must include appropriate multilateral institutions relevant to economic and social development and their counterpart local governmental entities, in a supporting role. Without question, these Partnerships must be for-profit, as stated, and must be led by the private sector. It is not enough to reform the international financial system, abolish banking secrecy, super-inflate the IMF, or to enact a massive world-wide deficit-spending scheme. In The Americas, the Partnership could be called, for instance, "A Partnership for Development with the United States of America" ("Sociedad para el Desarrollo con los Estados Unidos de América"). This idea was first proposed in 1992 to President Clinton, and in 2005 to Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. Perhaps its time has finally come.
***
I am proud of our Obama's announcement today.
It is wonderful to see a smart, strong young man stepping up to the plate and doing what needs to be done. It is wonderful to see one of my "Change This!" Wish List items getting attended to. (see earlier blog "Change This!")
We have a lot of housecleaning to do - at least it's springtime and time for it anyway. I can't wait to watch this Failed Lead Executive Extirpation Program (FLEE, for short ;) become common practice as we go about our economic recovery. I look forward to courageous, honest and deserving players taking the place of a too-long-entrenched uncaring régime - good thing you have a lot of résumes to choose from.
My prayers are with you folks and, for what it's worth, I'm around for ya.
All My Relations, Gramma Willi
P.S. Bringing the Indian Tribes into the UN is a sheer stroke of genius. Mad props to everyone who is behind it! Suggestion - put some of those savvy Native Elders at the helm of some of these organizations.
The blatantly persecutory political atmosphere aimed at anything or anyone "AIG", tainted with surreal Ku Klux Clan déjà vu, even an early-stage French Revolution flavor with its collective panics, where the facts, the law, and reason is laid aside, even by the most illuminated leaders and authorities, in favor of a mob psychology leading to lynching of "the guilty", is certainly not the American Way envisioned by the nation's forebears... its is a mere smoke screen rendering invisible those individuals and systems that failed society and should be carefully examined. The time has come for a call for calm and profound reflection on all quarters!
Wrote my words of peace in Forbes comments :
Quote :"
AIG's collapse caused a lot of pain, but its bailout package offered sweet relief for some.
AIG Outs Counterparties
AFRICASIAEURO
I think President Obama MUST act (through the Treasury and the FDIC) to put a plan in place that provides details of how toxic mortgages will be handled to be fair to mortgagees and make the banks (the upper management, the boards and the stockholders) pay the majority of the costs. The "stress tests" should be made tougher than has been indicated in the press, and banks failing it should be taken over, the upper management stripped of their pensions as well as their salaries, and the bank broken apart and sold as pieces. The apparent "fear of using the word Nationalization" can be overcome when the results of that takeover become clear. A large number of economists and even Republicans (though not those in office) support measures that are similar if not identical.
I think the obstructionist Republicans should be challenged as to what they would do and their approaches shown to not be workable.
But the biggest thing is that some positive steps need to be taken quickly. Many times things are rushed when a more measured approach would work, but with the economy accelerating in its downward path, time is of the essence in this situation. Even if the action is not perfect, bold steps MUST be taken soon.
I will be doing a live radio show for 120 minutes from 2.00P.M to 4.00P.M. (PST) on the following days:
January 23, 2009 Friday from 2.00 - 4.00 P.M (PST) to accommodate listeners from all time zones.
Category: Current Events
Topic: Corporate Bailout
Discussion:
What should financial institutions do with the taxpayers’ bailout?
Why have they not utilized those funds to stimulate economy?
What is public demand from them and the legislators?
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January 30, 2009, 120 minutes 2.00P.M - 4.00P.M
Topic: Economy and Health Care
What should the new administration do for you and the economy?
How do we fix the Health Care system?
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Podcast live : http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Padmini-A
Guest Call-in-number: (646) 727 -3778
I invite you all to participate in the public forum and share your concerns, ideas and knowledge.
Your comments and thoughts are welcome in the political discourse.
Let us keep democracy alive and help our new President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in rebuilding our nation.
Look forward to the session.
Thank you.
Padmini Arhant
P.S. My apologies for not being able to schedule a convenient time on January 21, 2009. I am aiming to provide as much time as possible through whatever avenues available in getting us back on our feet.
Your participation is a huge encouragement and always appreciated - Thank you again.
What does Barack Obama’s Inauguration mean to you?
Implicit in Barack Obama's widely publicized vision is a world in need of change that will reverse the global economic downturn that has arisen from the widespread effects of deficient financial supervision by U.S. authorities and corruption in the U.S. real estate mortgage industry. Such change transcends the enactment in the U.S. of improved regulation and supervision in the financial industry in general, and a reappraisal of the nature and extent of regulation required in the design production and delivery of goods and services, especially when done at an industrial scale, in the context of an imperiled planet. The change demanded in today's globalized world includes the satisfaction of the loud plea for justice audible in its every corner, within the narrow confines of each nation and in the great concert of all nations, in the treatment which individuals and nations afford each other today, which determines the quality of life for all. And at the heart of change that will improve the lives of untold billions of poor and extremely poor, lives the hope for equal rights and increasing opportunity for employment for material and spiritual survival and self-improvement, which is the valid and palpable measure of real justice, and is required to unequivocally steer global society away from the tipping point to chaos at which it is. This quantum change demands in turn, as the fulcrum for the turning point to global prosperity, Top-Down North-South global economic reform spearheaded by an honest competent and agile examination of the grotesque unacceptable and self-perpetuating welfare and capitalization imbalances between OECD nations and the others. This cycle of poverty hopelessness terror and backwardness must be broken and replaced with a virtuous cycle of riches hopefulness peace and development, so help us God. This monumental challenge for change can best be met by means of a Private-Public Financial "Partnership for Development with the United States of America" led by the Private sector and backed by the pertinent Governmental and Multilateral organizations, aimed at holistic development in the Southern hemisphere harmonious and convergent with development in the Northern hemisphere and with responsible globalization. The name of this change is OBAMA CHANGE, and his inauguration means HOPE to me, and to billions like me.
Republicans Bring Socialism to America
AP photo / Charles Dharapak
President Bush shakes hands with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson at the Treasury Department after the House passed the $700-billion financial bailout bill on Oct. 3.
By Robert Scheer @ truthdig.com
Let the record show that it was George W. Bush, the rich Texas Republican, who brought socialism to America, so don’t blame it on that African-American Chicago Democrat community organizer who made it into the White House. The government takeover of the banking and automobile industries not only happened on President Bush’s watch, it was also the deregulatory mania of this president’s family, beginning with his father, which took this country into such starkly unfamiliar territory.
What a betrayal of free-market capitalism. And who would have thought that it would be the candidates backed by conservative pundits Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh who made it possible? You actually could trace the destruction of corporate capitalism to the much-ballyhooed “Reagan Revolution” of the movie actor who got his main training for the presidency as a huckster for General Electric, where he honed the message of “getting government off our backs.” The revolution of unfettered corporate capitalism led to an era of unfettered corporate greed, which sowed the seeds of its own destruction........
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081209_republicans_bring_socialism_to_america/
I read in The Forum of the December 3rd USA Today a piece by Alan M. Webber titled "Blame and the Big 3". A founding editor of the business magazine Fast Company and a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors, he wrote:
"For the automakers, that means a bailout should include a government commitment to a floor on the price of gas at the pump - say $4 per gallon - with the promise of an automatic tax increase of 10 cents per year for five years. If the automakers and consumers knew that five years from now gasoline will be no lower than $4.50 per gallon, that alone would drive auto design, manufacturing and purchase in a smarter direction. Some of that increase would need to be rebated to low-income Americans who need their cars for work - another reason it's a three-way deal."
This is almost exactly what I had written up about the use of the CO2 charge and the public benefits fund to provide a stable financial future for this same challenge of changing the auto industry. But my analysis showed that this CO2 charge of $2 per gallon at today's market gas price of $2 per gallon is a very high $ per ton of CO2. On the other hand, this possible government policy also addresses "energy independence" and "US automakers global competitiveness". Both of these national goals also carry a dollar cost for US residents to pay.
The conclusion is: If Americans are willing to pay and make sacrifices, the policy is workable. But if the policy is not flexible and changeable when it is no longer optimal, then it may create unintended consequences.
During this global financial and economic crisis, and possible depression, which will last for at least a year or longer, oil prices will likely remain low. This would mean that hybrid cars, and future plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will not be competitive. Investments in large scale wind and solar projects will stop. Other new energy technologies such as coal gasification or liquefaction will also be even less economical. How much taxpayer subsidy do we want to interfere with free market economics?
Mandatory national Renewable Portfolio Standard is central planning in disguise. Large scale wind power developments forced to be accepted into the nation's fragile transmission grid will likely increase the frequencies of blackouts. These will cause economic disruptions. There are solutions to the problem, but the risk of blackouts will still be higher.
The best idea is to modify the proposal to raise the gasoline tax. A carbon public benefit investment program should be instituted instead. This is not a carbon tax, but is similar. A rough calculation shows that a $1 per gallon add-on price is about $60 per ton of CO2 emission, which is very high. NordPool CO2 market price is around $15/ton. I have done some screening analysis which shows that at about $25-30 per ton, a CO2 charge will make wind or solar power plants firmed up with storage economicly highly competitive without tax subsidies. Nuclear and Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle plants would also be competitive.
If we translate $30/ton of CO2 into gasoline price, that is about $0.50 per gallon.
The automobile industry is highly dependent on the oil price, which has become very volatile. Long term investments prefer stable economic and financial forecasts. The government can intervene to provide a stable gasoline price to the consumers by adding a quickly adjusted variable CO2 public benefit charge, so that the consumer price, no matter what the oil company costs are, will be stable at about $3.50 per gallon.That seems to be the breakpoint when people start to feel the pain and want to switch to more efficient or alternate fuel vehicles. At today's gasoline price around $2 per gallon, this means that the CO2 charge would be $1.50 per gallon now. But if the oil price goes back up to $120/bbl, the CO2 charge would be effectively reduced to zero.
Now, how do we make this CO2 charge work in the midst of this financial crisis? The amount of CO2 charge we pay at the pump, if charged through a credit card, can be traced to the account holder and credited to the consumer/investor. (Those who do not have credit cards can use the receipts to file a credit on their account.) I look at this money as being held in a trust fund by the government in the name of the consumer. It may be treated as a savings account which can be withdrawn by the consumer under some conditions. It may eventually be available like another source of retirement income. So the consumers do not see it as a tax burden, but a savings that also is for the public and global good.
Car companies will see this as providing a forecastable and stable financial future for developing more efficient cars. But actually, with today's oil and gasoline prices, the CO2 adder of $1.50 per gallon is about $90/ton of CO2. That is too high. If CO2 credit is traded between the electricity CO2 market and a car CO2 market, the disparity between the $15/ton in NordPool and the $90/ton to make the new car technologies viable would indicate that the world would be better off to reduce CO2 in power generation rather than in cars. Or that if the $15-30/ton CO2 charge is applied to gasoline, then the economics for electric vehicles may not be so favorable.
The same idea on how to treat a CO2 charge on the cost of electricity would apply, but instead of continously adjusting the CO2 price to maintain a stable electric price, the price schedule of the CO2 charge will be projected into the future with periodic adjustments. In this manner, long term investments in different power plants will have a more stable financial forecast. Electricity consumers will similarly see the charge as their investments held in a public benefit fund. They will have some control and ownership of it, and it may be treated as a savings account or a retirement account.
