Well we finally have our opportunity to present our views to the 'independent' electoral commission. I have given the matter due thought and made my submission which I present below. Who knows maybe they will give me the opportunity to present my views directly to the commission at some later date.
Remember it will likely have no effect on the what I suspect is already determined conclusions of the commission, but it will be forever included in the public records, I hope history will show that there was a vocal opposition to the actions of the States of Jersey and that the resulting failures were solely a result of failings on the part of the States of Jersey to listen to the people.
It is impossible to address the issues presented in your leaflet without first addressing the purpose and function of the States of Jersey. I therefore touch briefly on these before responding to the direct terms of reference.
Fundamentally, civil society should be solidly founded on the basis of subsidiarity, whereby the decisions are made by the lowest competent authority. This is the fundamental basis of all modern liberal constitutions. The lowest competent authority wherever possible being the individual, then the family, then the Parish, then the States and then the UK government. This is a doctrine which is too often overlooked within the States of Jersey and is a primary cause of the difficulties Jersey now faces.
The fundamental truth is that all human beings are born free and equal (United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1) but the States of Jersey has become too keen to override this truth with the implementation of a great deal of petty legislation requiring for example people to wear seatbelts in a car which is a matter which should be left to an individual to determine for themselves.
I also look at elections in terms of meeting the demands of Article 3 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention of Human rights and that therefore any election should give rise to a 'clear expression of the will of the people'. There are many, many shortcomings within the Jersey electoral system and the elections as they currently operate are far, far from being compliant with the demands of such treaties, such matters being the subject of a current action before the European Court of Human Rights.
Finally, there is the grave concern of the lack of separation of judiciary, legislature and executive in the operation of the States of Jersey, too much power is concentrated in too few hands and power inevitably corrupts.
An example of this is found in the Bailiff's salary of £360,000 which is more than the combined annual salaries of the Lord Chief Justice, a judge several levels higher than the Bailiff and the Speaker of the House of Commons.
Whilst the Bailiff's role may be said to comprise of the duties of both of these positions, it is in and of itself, far less important than either. The Bailiff might be considered to be on a par with a district judge, at a stretch, (the honorific Queen's Counsel is entirely honorary and would not accord him the same dignity as a real Queen's Counsel in a British Court) and therefore his salary should be around £120,000, such is the extent of the corruption within the States of Jersey.
ON THE FUTURE ROLE OF CONSTABLES
In examining the future role of Constables it is important to review the dictates of Subsidiarity. It is clear that Parishes operate with far greater efficiency and accountability than do the departments of the States of Jersey. For myself I see a great deal of the responsibilities currently operated by the States of Jersey being returned to the Parishes including; road cleaning, planning decisions, road maintenance, primary education, welfare etc. The Parish assembly is the jewel of Jersey's brand of democracy and more power should be returned to it.
In order to achieve this a fundamental change would be required in which parishes were permitted to pass their own by-laws which with approval of the 'upper house', the States of Jersey might be enacted and apply solely within the confines of a parishes boundaries.
Clearly if Parishes were to take on a great deal more of the work then the Constable would ideally not be present in the States of Jersey as the demands of operating his or her parish would be too onerous to allow time for States work also.
I would not seek to replace the Constables within the States Chamber thereby reducing the number of members to 39.
ON THE ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF THE STATES OF JERSEY
One of the main barriers to a genuine 'expression of the will of the people' at election time is the multi-vote electoral districts. The effect of this is for a minority of people in Jersey to elect a majority of the same type of member, by which I mean those who share an ideology.
All political innovation moves from the extreme towards the centre, the Centre itself is devoid of innovation and ideas and the lack of change, and the lack of alternate viewpoints, within the States of Jersey has placed us in the dire financial peril, which we now find ourselves.
Any elections should be on the basis of one person, one vote thereby allowing a kaleidoscope of ideas to be represented within the States Chamber.
This may be through 39 single members electoral districts or through multi member electoral districts and it would even be possible to have a single island wide vote with the top 39 candidates being elected.
It would seem that 39 single member jurisdictions would allow every candidate sufficient opportunity with a little effort to meet every one of the approximately 2,000 voters in that district. There is much to be said for every voter having a personal relationship with every candidate and therefore member.
Only in this way is a candidate who has failed to meet his election promises readily removed from office. There should be no distinction between members however.
ON THE TIMING OF ELECTIONS
Elections should be held once every four years to allow sufficient time for a newly elected member to provide a track record on which future elections can be based. However there should be the possibility of a percentage of the voters of an election, say 10% to call for an immediate by-election should the member act in a manner which is unacceptable. Every member should realise that they are representing the voters and should conduct themselves accordingly.
CONCERNS OVER THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
My primary concern is that the commission will seek to implement conditions which allow the Civil Service to operate with the least constraint, thereby turning the States of Jersey into an instrument of tyrannical oppression at best or an out of control protection racket at worst. It is my heartfelt wish that the commission examine the facts purely on the basis outlined in the preamble, which is that which will best serve the people.
I fear on the other hand that it is going to act as an apologist for the failures of the States of Jersey for the period 1980 to date as represented by Horsfall, Walker etc. who have destroyed what was once an idyllic community.
It's time to re-examine the Robin Hood story, he did not take from the Rich and give to the Poor, he took BACK what had been previously been stolen from the people by the Corrupt.
Such is human nature that no one likes to see themselves as 'evil' and the lengths that some will go to in order to permit such self-delusion to continue is astonishing.
One of Russia Today's premier shows, the Keiser Report, (all 294 episodes to date are available on you tube) speaks to a British investment advisor on the future for the British Economy and her campaign to re-purchase Britain's lost gold.
The first part of the show is dedicated to examining one such delusion, the delusion that there is no fraud in the large financial firms that there is only 'egregious errors', 'a need for reform'.
Just like in Robin Hood's time, these bankers, politicians and regulators are not the Rich they are the Corrupt.
Let me put this as carefully as I can, Senator Breckon has been charged with an assault, charged not tried, not convicted but charged. Senator Breckon is at this stage innocent and will remain innocent until convicted in a Court.
We know that for some reason the Jersey Courts are out to show that they do protect women from domestic abuse and as usual 'meeting the target' has blinded them to the methods they employ. It is a standard tactic from divorce lawyers to encourage women to make groundless allegations against men as a means of securing sole occupancy of shared properties.
It was developed by Rose Colley's practise and whilst I have no evidence that Rose Colley herself employed this strategy, I do have evidence that other lawyers in her practise have used it on multiple occasions. Of course Rose Colley wrote the very law upon which this is all based, so no conflict of interest there then.
Yes I can and do say this openly having successfully bought the matters concerned to the attention of the Royal Court and received an out of court settlement because of it and the subsequent actions of the States departments.
Why therefore does the JEP dedicate its front page to gossip-mongering? When it is a story then I might be interested, otherwise find me some actual news to report.
But I did notice the extraordinary lengths that the JEP took to prevent any hint of defamation or libel, the headline showed the phrase 'serious assault', in quotation marks meaning that they are merely quoting what someone else said, what someone else said in a Court, therefore a statement which cannot be held to be defamatory.
Then the news that Nurse M is suing the States of Jersey for not protecting him from allegedly defamatory statements made by Stuart Syvret. Senator Syvret of course as head of a department and a man of integrity who sought to protect the people of Jersey from an apparent danger, of course he bullied that poor nurse and made him feel that he, at best, might not be very good at his job and should probably find employment elsewhere.
Finally Philip Ozouf should resign because he 'bullied' a civil servant. Now if by bully they mean he directed him to act in a certain manner, then I am afraid that it is just pathetic. There are many reasons why Ozouf might be asked to resign but actually doing his job and taking charge of his department is not one of them.
The Government of Jersey is clearly out of control, it has been for a long time, obsessively slaving to targets for growth. Growth of course they could not achieve except by taking short cuts, such as allowing unlimited immigration consistently against the will of the people they are supposed to obey.
But it is not simply that they are not able to hit their own targets except by cheating, it is the way they reward themselves for their failure. The Bailiff is paid more than the Lord Chief Justice and the Speaker of the House of Commons, combined when he is less of a man than either.
They hit their expenditure savings targets not by spending less but by charging us again for services we have already paid for, planning fees, prescription charges, these in government parlance are all included in the savings that the government makes.
The States of Jersey is a failure, it should be allowed to go bankrupt and the people of Jersey start again with a fresh government.
Picking on New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is one of the largest participation sports on the Internet. And rightfully so, since he often says ridiculous things that demand a response from those who understand basic economics better than he does, despite his having won a Nobel Prize. His January 26 column, “Jobs, Jobs and Cars,” has him once again making such an argument. This time it’s on the subject of job creation.
Krugman claims that the Republican argument for the importance of job creation relies too heavily on the “heroic entrepreneur” rather than recognizing that “successful companies—or, at any rate, companies that make a large contribution to a nation’s economy—don’t exist in isolation.” For Krugman this means there’s plenty of help from government. Although I can’t speak for all Republican politicians, I can say that Krugman’s view of the argument for free markets is utterly mistaken.
The argument for the market is based precisely on the fact that the entrepreneur exists in a social context that helps to determine how effective her actions will be. The most heroic entrepreneur imaginable cannot be very productive if she is shackled by government regulations or is trying to operate in a society with ill-defined or poorly enforced property rights. As Ludwig von Mises recognized as far back as 1920, this is the same reason that successful entrepreneurs fail miserably when they try to run government agencies like businesses: What gives the entrepreneur the ability to succeed are market signals, which are necessary to determine what people might want and how well it was provided. Even the smartest person can’t learn if a teacher uses black chalk on a blackboard in a dark room. No entrepreneur can succeed in isolation.
More important, though, is that both Krugman and politicians from both parties are much too concerned about job creation when they should be concerned about value creation.
Creating jobs is easy; it’s creating value that’s hard. We could create millions of jobs quite easily by passing new legislation requiring more forms to be filled out more often. The question is whether we are actually better off by creating those jobs—and the answer is a definite no. We want labour-saving, job-destroying technology because it creates value by enabling us to produce things at lower cost and thereby free up labour for more urgent uses.
A century ago 40 percent of Americans worked in agriculture; today it’s less than 2 percent. The former farm workers didn’t all go unemployed. The wealth created by higher farm productivity and lower prices enabled us to demand all kinds of new products that in turn created many more jobs than were lost in agriculture. This is the story of innovation everywhere.
So rather than talking about job creation, let’s focus on value creation. The case for freeing markets is that such freedom best enables individuals to find ways to use their knowledge and skills to create value for others and thereby create wealth for themselves. The more wealth that value creators can keep, the more likely they are to continue to create it. Even if a value-creating innovation destroys jobs in the short run, the increased wealth will bring a great deal of job creation in its wake.
Krugman tries to criticize Apple by pointing out that the “heroic” Steve Jobs has only created about 43,000 Apple jobs in the United States (though he created around 700,000 overseas). But this misses the point: The real job-creation number that matters here is all the ancillary jobs created through the invention of the Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Those inventions, along with every other technological innovation, have created tens of millions of jobs in programming, web design, app design, hardware maintenance, accessories, and more.
Krugman also takes a swipe at fans of Ayn Rand by referring to “the John Galt, I mean Steve Jobs-type ‘job creator.’” But Krugman is blind to the error of his own joke: John Galt’s innovative motor took static electricity out of the air and turned it into useful energy, which would have been a huge job destroyer! Again, the triumph of entrepreneurial innovation is not in creating jobs, but in creating value. Galt’s motor would have freed up a lot of labor to be devoted to new wants made possible by the cheap source of energy. Krugman can’t even see that his own example undermines his argument.
The next time anyone starts talking about job creation, stop listening. Jobs come into existence when entrepreneurs are free to create value. Aiming directly at job creation is a recipe for waste and poverty. Set people free to use their talents to create value for others and the jobs will follow.
Venezuela a true Socialist State
With all the problems that go with it
In the modern world, a country’s natural resources have very little to do whether goods are on the nation’s shelves for people to buy. Singapore isn’t rich in resources, neither is Hong Kong, but both have vibrant market economies and shoppers can find whatever their collective heart’s desire on the shelves of stores in these two cities.
On the other hand, there is Venezuela, a country rich in resources. It is one the world’s top oil producers at the same time gas prices are soaring. The rich soil and temperate climate allow for productive agriculture and the country is rich in gold and other minerals.
One could only imagine that high tides would be lifting all boats, but yet the cupboards are bare. There are shortages of staples like milk, meat and toilet paper. In the country’s largest city, Caracas, residents must arrange their calendars around the once-a-week deliveries made to government-subsidized stores.
This is not a matter of rich or poor, the shortages affect everyone. William Neuman describes for The New York Times,
The shortages affect both the poor and the well-off, in surprising ways. A supermarket in the upscale La Castellana neighborhood recently had plenty of chicken and cheese — even quail eggs — but not a single roll of toilet paper. Only a few bags of coffee remained on a bottom shelf.
Asked where a shopper could get milk on a day when that, too, was out of stock, a manager said with sarcasm, “At Chávez’s house.”
Money printing has created chronic price inflation in Venezuela and last year the official rate was 27.6 percent.
According to Hugo Chávez’s socialist government, these price increases were caused by runaway capitalism. So in response, Chávez instituted price controls, which like night turns to day, created shortages. But, of course, goods would appear on the black market at higher prices, so Chávez’s government blames speculators for causing the shortages.
As the Times points out, there is no reason that shoppers shouldn’t be able to buy staples in a city and surrounding area of over four million people. Venezuela was long one of the most prosperous countries in the region, with sophisticated manufacturing, vibrant agriculture and strong businesses, making it hard for many residents to accept such widespread scarcities.
Mr. Chávez and his ministers say “companies cause shortages on purpose, holding products off the market to push up prices. This month, the government required price cuts on fruit juice, toothpaste, disposable diapers and more than a dozen other products.”
El Presidente must believe that somehow suppliers make money by not supplying.
“We are not asking them to lose money, just that they make money in a rational way, that they don’t rob the people,” Mr. Chávez said recently, presumably with a straight face.
Clearly Chávez’s prices are too low for companies to make money so they either curtail production or stop all together. And, as the Times mentions, “some of the shortages are in industries, like dairy and coffee, where the government has seized private companies and is now running them, saying it is in the national interest.”
Chávez is up for election in the fall and he is threatening to nationalize companies that stop production. And the Venezuelan media is also under fire with the government accusing them of frightening the public into hoarding. “Government advertisements urge consumers not to succumb to panic buying, using a proverbial admonition: Bread for today is hunger for tomorrow.”
Only three years ago, the country was a coffee exporter. Now, Venezuelans can’t find it on the shelves. The government price is too low, driving planters and roasters to stop production and not invest in new plantings or fertilizer.
It is incredible that in this day and age, a government could be so blind, stupid, and cruel toward its own people. It’s one thing to teach this sort of nonsense at expensive universities, but another to put it in practice and ruin people’s lives.
The government of Venezuela, like all governments, runs round desperately trying to find out where the fault lies and not once does it ever stop to look in the mirror.
Those who would like to see the Union of Soviet States of Jersey should consider if this is what they really want. Individual liberty sacrificed for self-serving authoritarianism? Government is never the solution, Government is ALWAYS the problem.
What was the Government's decision making process?
The nature of economic growth is such that it is small and medium sized businesses which are the economic powerhouse of a nation. Large companies continue to grow, but through acquisition rather than innovation.
Large companies in recession are typically those which will survive by cutting employees and it is this sort of behaviour which we have seen in the recent downsizing by HSBC, RBS, Lloyds TSB, RBC, etc.
There has been a sudden raft of investigations by the States of Jersey of local businesses and people.
Jersey Financial Services Commission continues to 'investigate' small finance firms and put them to the wall with the cost of these investigations. The restaurants of the island have come under attack from the Treasury Department and at least one, Five Seasons, recently was forced out of business by the costs involved. Jewellers have also suffered a rash of these investigations recently.
This has a negative effect on the economy for the following reasons;
Firstly the cost of these investigations is prohibitive to small business, it diverts capital which could otherwise be put to work, into dealing with profitless questions from the civil servants. Civil Servants of course are not required to be economically productive but rather are parasitic, living off the hard work of normal people.
The cost of this harassment ultimately has a negative effect on the amount of taxation which is raised as obviously any costs are taken out of profits and therefore the amount raised in taxation declines.
It seems apparent that Government is solely concerned with short term goals of increasing immediate income and has not put due consideration into the longer term effects of this short term thinking.
Businesses have closed or are prevented from working efficiently, people are out of work, tax raised will decrease and their benefit liabilities will increase. Government could be making greater strides by dismissing the staff which are wasting people's time in this manner.
Of course if the Government thinks it could do a better job then perhaps it should nationalise all these businesses. Tomorrow I will look at the likely outcome of such any decision to form the Union of Soviet States of Jersey.
The so-called Global Financial Crisis is a term so widely used that it has earned its own acronym of GFC.
When first seen, it seemed like girl friend club or some such, since many friends use GF loosely to refer to sweethearts. The GFC is falsely named, since it is more accurately described as a global monetary war with the USGovt vigorously defending its franchise in the USDollar for crude oil and trade settlement, and for bank reserves management. Take either away, and the other departs quickly, leaving the United States vulnerable to a quick ticket to the Third World marred by price inflation and supply shortage, even isolation in ring fences.
On its own devices, the US is in as bad shape as the worst of the PIIGS nations. The USGovt debt is above 100% of GDP finally. The annual deficit of $1.5 trillion could not be financed in normal methods. So the USFed is the adopted buyer of last resort, purchasing over 80% of new and recycled US debt issuance.
The Interest Rate Swap tool acts like a hydraulic howitzer, in pushing down the long-term interest rates by creating false artificial demand. Without the IRSwap contract, a Morgan Stanley specialty, the US interest rates would be 6% to 7% just like Spain and Italy.
The USTreasury Bond is not a safe haven, but rather a place where Weimar printing press operations persist, where decisions like SWIFT code rules are enforced like a illicit weapon, where billboards are painted to attract embattled investors of impaired toxic sovereign bonds from Southern Europe to retreat to the supposed safe haven of USTBonds.
WEAPON FOR INFLICTION
The USDollar has become the Weapon of Mass Self-Destruction. The first nations to depart from usage of the USDollar for exclusive trade and reserve bank operations will be the leaders in the next chapter. That list of insurgent nations is being defined right here and now. Those who remain committed to the US$ in trade and banking will put themselves at risk of systemic collapse and on a direct path on a slippery slope to the Third World.
As the pace of capital destruction continues from the US$ conduit, lifting the cost structure as the debt monetization continues, the global economy will continue to falter. In the West witness the economic recession. As the USGovt raises the pressure on rebels on the world stage that refuse to comply with the USDollar Club, supported by the USMilitary that seems never to question the wisdom of directives from on high, the stress level to the entire global financial and monetary system is shaken severely.
In the East witness the stall from the Western drag. The biggest blind spot among economists, has been that the ultra-low near 0% official rate has been the steady persistent cause of capital destruction and a guarantee for recession.
How tragic that economists cannot comprehend either capital formation or capital destruction under their arrogant noses!
They talk of tax tweaks, of currency manipulation charges, of stimulus packages that lack effective elements, of focus on the wrong sides like consumption and retail spending. They focus on soft fluff such as inflation expectations, when the Treasury Investment Protection Securities are actually monetized by fresh money output in QE sidebar programs. No protection there!
They focus on a CPI distorted to the extreme, as though it contained a shred or legitimacy. The frequent calls for more USFed bond purchases is heard, as if it is the core cure for financial market stupor. The QE bond purchases are the cancer in the body financial. The US economists are a lost bunch.
The USEconomy is not the site of capitalism and economic development. It is the site of the Fascist Business Model put to practice, where preservation of large corrupted insolvent banks is given a national priority, where liquidation of insolvent broken systems such as certain financial markets and big banks is avoided at all costs.
The US is the site of chronic asset collateralization and credit extension in order to support consumption to the point of systemic breakdown. Home equity raids were followed by home foreclosures, a shock to the clueless economist crew. Economists have litlte comprehension of economics, as seen by the clown hack Paul Krugman receiving a Nobel Prize. He is the absurd foppish captain of a doomed ship, elevated before its sinking. The USGovt debt, like most US State debt, like most big US bank balance sheets, like Fannie Mae debt, like AIG debt, is unsustainable, broken, in a process of collapse, all supported by the constant and high volume output of the monetary press managed by the US Federal Reserve.
Gold is becoming the Device of Financial Self-Determination, since it is free from debt and counter-party risk.
The value and role of Gold has become well recognized in the last few years, especially since the financial crisis broke wide open in the summer 2007. It seems strangely obvious that Gold is money and the USDollar is not.
As money flees for safety in Europe, England, and the United States, the story not told is that the monetary system is crumbling. The process has been underway since Greece broke down in December 2009, following the Dubai World debt bust. Greece was simply the much smaller opening act, the real climax events in Europe is Italy and Spain, whose government bonds are also captive wards of the Euro Central Bank state.
The EuroCB acts more and more like an elite independent state, even with occasional defiance to the Germans and their Bundesbank stellar central bank, chock full of integrity, expertise, and tradition.
Unfortunately, the Bundesbank signed on with the European Monetary Union as the Clydesdale horse without a side horse partner of equal strength and durability to pull the Euro stagecoach. Therefore, the ill-designed team in front steered left into the ravine. Next comes the abyss without the horse of Teutonic breed at all, GERMANY WILL LEAVE THE EURO.
WORLDWIDE OBJECTION
The major players of the world have three major complaints on USDollar management:
unilateral decisions to conduct debt monetization by the USFed (debased)
bond fraud centered on mortgage securities, exported globally (cancer)
endless war with ulterior motives too numerous to specify (aggression).
The USFed never consults with victims of its monetary policy. They are scolded by them instead, after reading of the next Quantitative Easing initiative. In the real world, QE never ended. It became Global QE, appeared as Operation Twist deviously, and lately in my opinion is basically QE to Infinity.
When the Dollar Swap Facility unleashed $3 trillion in loans to rescue the many broken big European banks, the impact on Chinese reserves or Brazilian reserves or Russian reserves or Korean reserves seemed very secondary and unimportant in the large scheme to preserve the USDollar Franchise system. It is breaking apart. The USFed unleashed another $2.5 trillion onto the domestic banking system, mostly to Wall Street. The debasement effect has been staggering and deeply damaging.
When obvious bond fraud in the multiple $trillions occurred, some expected justice. Not those who noted that all prosecutions were outside Manhattan, and that within Wall Street only patsies were selected for prosecution to make an example and to establish a facade for taking firm action.
The credibility of legal remedy is absent. The greater hope has centered upon the many investor lawsuits against the Wall Street banks. They will continue forever. No justice will come to the US bankers for their unprecedented white collar crime that has contributed to the systemic failure of the nation. Only with tribunals after the default.
The war front is hardly defensive in nature. It is more offensive with hidden motives. This is a delicate topic. All too often a motive has to do with preserving the USDollar usage or to obtain gold in large volume. The Libyan liberation seemed to put Qaddafi away, but the national treasury in 144 tons of gold bullion still resides in London. The conditions for its return to Libya in my view will never be met.
Call my cynical, when my preference is pragmatic realist. The Iran sanctions and saber rattling are 95% about protecting the USDollar, and 5% about their nuclear refinement development. A much bigger risk was the missing former Soviet warheads, but the USGovt made no rumblings about it on the global stage 10 to 15 years ago.
GRAND BACKFIRE
The Global QE (aka QE to Infinity) put into first gear the backfire against the US. Nations around the world resented higher food, commodity, and industry input costs. On June 28th, the SWIFT bank code law goes into force to obstruct transactions.The abuse of SWIFT codes against enemies and allies alike has taken the backfire into second gear. Big strategic mistakes are being made.
The G20 nations have a brain trust in the BRICS core, which has decided to pursue an alternative method of trade settlement. They describe a method to satisfy trade obligations and payments. They describe a departure from exclusive US$ settlement. They actually are working on a rival SWIFT code system from Asia, without the name. It will soon match the Western SWIFT system stride for stride in rivalry.
Bigger bank centers in Asia will arise, including perhaps maritime insurance, as crippled Lloyds pulls out. Soon expect to see an Eastern SWIFT system, that China hints might be gold-backed. The main body of trade to test the new system will be on crude oil sales. The entire trade settlement system on bank payments is on the verge of a major schism, a split away from the US-dominated methods.
The several bilateral Iranian oil deals pushed the movement toward a more organization system in a backfire against the United States. The USGovt has effectively accelerated the global response to replace the USDollar in trade settlement. The misguided SWIFT weapon usage encouraged several US allies to entertain the new Eastern alternative, so that at a later date it will be embraced and used more widely. The poor chess move by the USGovt on the table sacrifices the queen. It is unclear what the next move will be to put the USDollar in checkmate.
It could be a Saudi announcement to accept non-US$ for oil payments, but alongside the continued US$ usage. After all, the sand empire sitting on crude oil has new protectors in China & Russia, rendering the US a marginalized bully. The end of the Petro-Dollar will be the coup de grace for the USDollar exclusivity. The writing is more clearly written on the container vessel walls crossing the oceans than ever in the last four decades.
SHOCK & AWE INSIDE CENTRAL EUROPE
A German banker contact informs that as a result of a high level meeting in Germany (not in the news), a decision has been made for France to exit the Euro currency first. They are ordered out. Regardless of whether Hollande displaces Sarkozy for the president post, the French have been instructed as to how business will be conducted. No other information, like whether France will revert to the Franc currency and not risk a severe Latin Euro devaluation after Germany and Netherlands depart. My impression is that Germany will launch a new currency very soon.
Perhaps they wished for France to take some of the attention and to begin the chaotic process. The contact has consistently stated that France would not be included from the new Nordic Euro, an exlusive core group of Central European nations that qualify by having a current account surplus. French debt is too great, and likely to soon expand much worse. He said France would become a ward of the German state, with dictated policy and direction. Bear in mind that Germany owns of 90% of the French Govt debt. It remains to be seen whether France will assume the lead position among the PIGS, whose nations will all go adrift. Rumors of a Latin Euro Central Bank located in Marseilles were once spun.
A major reliable long-standing source of information on Central Europe and gold trades has provided information on France. One is left with conjecture, speculative analysis, and deep challenge. France has been offered something important, like financial support in return for leading the broken chaotic Southern European nations. France might start a Latin Euro Central Bank soon with some measure of German support. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard mentioned this concept a year ago. Its credible merit will be revealed soon. France resembles the nations of Italy and Spain far more than Germany.
With the socialist Hollande taking over the reins of power, expect much larger deficit spending, higher bond yields, more strains on their economy, even the flight of capital, possibly bank runs. Then it will be obvious that France is the King of the PIIGS. Germany might also have wanted to put France in the spotlight, while the German industrial leaders and bank leaders forge their next big accord and create an alliance more formally with Russia and China. An eastern-based barter system is in the works. The G20 non-US$ payment system will establish much of its manifested workings, with wiring and linkage to be made known as the months pass.
SHOCK WAVES IN FOREX
Enormous shock waves are coming to the Euro. Will Spain and Italy revert to the Peseta and Lira former currencies, or stick together during assaults? Will Greece revert to the Drachma and defy the bankers who woud lose bigtime?
Will the Germans unleash their bank bailout and invite the separation from the South, sure to topple numerous big European banks? What timing will come for the new Euro Mark currency to be launched by Germany? Will the new Euro Mark (or Nordic Euro) currency be a primary vehicle to settle trade with Russia? Will the Euro Mark have a gold component?
How long before the Chinese Yuan is made fully convertible? Will the convertible Yuan be an advertised precursor for a gold-backed Yuan, used in G20 trade settlement? Will it be the basis of the new Eastern SWIFT bank system? Will the Yuan be the new basis for Eastern trade settlement? Will the Russians take advantage of the controlled storm surge and announce their own backed Ruble currency, perhaps backed by gold, silver, oil, and natural gas? Will the Arabs exploit the timing and announce their long desired Gold Dinar?
To be sure, a group of simultaneous new strong currency alternatives for trade settlement will ensure their survival and successful launch. They would benefit from critical mass and absent isolation. They do not wish to become victims of their own success, with rising exchange rates and consequent damage to export trade.
The US relies upon renegade nations not going it alone, suffering the harmful effect of a better currency. If done together, the new launches would act like a strong broad well fortified craft and not a floating raft. The outsiders looking in will be the United States and England.
Expect Australia to sign on with China, a major trade partner and owner of port infrastructure Down Under. Since heavy importers and exporters of toxic bonds, the US & UK will struggle to bid up the new Euro Mark, the new Chinese Yuan, and possibly the new Russian Ruble and new Gold Dinar. The certain death knell for the USDollar will be the acceptance on non-US$ payment for Saudi crude oil.
REBIRTH OF EURASIA
Germany has decided to look Eastward, and to cut some ties with the US & Anglo platforms that are unmistakenly breaking down. The German engineering expertise, financial acumen, and organization skills have been put to work behind the curtains, free from US/British sabotage. They are working to create an alliance that brings to bear the profound Russian commodity, mineral, and energy resource wealth together with the vast Chinese wealth and factory persence. Many projects are in the works, but train lines from Russia to Germany.
The oil pipelines are nearing completion, for energy delivery to Central Europe. The three nations will serve as the core to the alliance, which has been given assurance by the Persian Gulf nations to hitch their wagon at the appropriate moment. Recall the April 2000 conference where the Arab billionaires signed on to have Russia & China their regional protectors. It is all coming together. The USGovt sanctions against Iran have pushed the pace of the process.
With the Eastern SWIFT payment system among banks, the foundation has become more concrete suddenly. As it slams into place on the global financial landscape, the shock waves should deliver tremor episodes to the USDollar and its corrupted custodians. Witness the early birth pangs of Eurasia, which has not been a cohesive force since the Ottoman Empire. History is coming full circle.
GOLD CONSOLIDATION ENDING AGAIN
Like a tired saw, the gold price is consolidating after several weeks of price firming, having adjusted to yet more shocks of naked short ambushes. The after effects of MFGlobal linger, rendering great harm to the integrity and function of the COMEX.
Many firms are legally prohibited from participating in risk hedge management at the COMEX, since accounts were stolen by JPMorgan and no hint of either prosecution or remedy is apparent or likely. The after effects of the huge February 29th naked short ambush also linger. Over 630 million ounces of paper silver were dumped on the COMEX in a single hour on that day, which will go down in history, under COMEX corruption as a chapter.
The volume of silver exceeds global mine output in a full year. So a message to those hare brained analysts who claim (earth to Bob Moriarty at 321GOLD) that the precious metals market can never be corrupted or manipulated or intervened to the point of chronic distortion, the message is to wake the hell up.
The new paradigm shift is very much at work in the gold market, silver too. The gold cartel pushes down the PM prices with naked short ambushes, no collateral posted, grossly out of proportion with economic need or mining firm hedge practices, enough to engineer a 8% to 12% price decline. Limits are enforced of 1% gains but 10% swoons. But the Eastern Coalition, not to be confused with the Eastern Alliance, continues to push down the gold price in order to execute some important very high volume purchases.
The coalition is comprised of a handful of extraordinarily wealthy Eastern families with heavy motive to disrupt the balance of banking power dominated by the New York and London crowd to the point of chronic hegemony and abuse. They had a $50 billion infusion last November to move the bullion metal out of cartel banks methodically. The coalition pushes down the gold price in order to conduct raids on the gold cartel member banks, exploiting their vulnerability with respect to margin calls on sovereign bond positions and currency positions.
The UBS example several months ago was a textbook raid that has been repeated. My open guess is that the next victims are Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup. Keep in mind that UBS is not a minor player, but one of the two giant Swiss banks which sold out to the Wall Street and London banksters long ago. The Swiss banking system is far weaker than is widely known, the object of major lawsuits.
Unique retaliatory treatment is reserved for Citigroup, as a result of special thefts committed against a certain family behind the coalition. This story will develop over time. Information sources are less generous on details, an indication of the gravity of the situation and imminent important events to come. The gold wars are central to the global financial war in progress, with a great many sides and numerous arenas. Stratajema, you can crawl back into your hole, or else share your rich sources.
Gold & Silver are each in a long-term consolidation. The gold pennant pattern is more intermediate. The silver pennant pattern is more long-term. Great metal shortage, huge investment demand, and pursuit of safe haven will drive prices much higher. The epic battle between paper gold and physical gold never results in paper victory in the final battles. This chapter of history will be no exception. Resolution will be an upward move in price.
Remember the primary engine for the Gold Bull market is the negative real interest rates. The true inflation adjusted rate of interest (whether FedFunds or USTB 10-year yield) are running in the minus 8% to minus 11% range, since price inflation is in the 9% to 11% range and the USEconomy is stuck in a recession of minus 2% to minus 4% steadily, like in quicksand. It foretells of tremendous price gains for gold. The mainstream financial press is desperate to sell a wrong-footed story, for the sixth year in a row.
The USDollar appears to be topped out. As it falls, the global cost structure will be lifted again. Most commodities are priced on a US$ basis. Big challenges are in force against the global reserve currency. Aggravating the effect is the chronic high oil price. The Iran effect is felt, not going away, only to grow worse as the backfire backlash develops into new platform systems. Sadly, the history is the final chapter of the USDollar and its written epitaph.
Americans appear to be the least informed on current events and risk levels. Many will see their life savings, their pension plans, and other valued assets suffer great loss since they have not put in place protection from the imploding beleaguered USDollar. The lost value of their homes is but the beginning of their great loss. That warning has not been heeded effectively by the majority of the masses, who qualify as sheep. Steps are difficult to make, but they must be made.
Gold & Silver offer the best such protection in the form of bars and coins, kept outside the US and UK, the axis of fascism.
Thanks as always to Jim Willie, for the unique insights into the machinations of the current global economic situation.
