From the Summit of the Moral High Ground

The old shop front You may or may not know that one of the businesses surveyed every quarter in order to compile the statistics on Jersey retail sales is my own. I was in the completely novel position this quarter, of having to show an increase in sales of more than 5%. So the question is why is this happening amidst an economic depression? Let's just clarify those numbers somewhat I submit solely the retail sales made in the Central Market premises, and specifically exclude the inter-jurisdictional sales made from my website, from eBay and through Amazon. These now account for about 50% of the total business from 0% within 3 years, but when you are the cheapest on the internet, it is fairly easy to make sales in this way. Major producers are now making fundamental changes in the way their goods are sold on the internet which has begun to destroy their own businesses, but that is a topic for another post. The changes to the VAT have not really had any effect other than to ...

There can be no clearer signal, no larger or brighter billboard sign that the ECB's decision to offer 0% interest on deposits.  The thunder of imminent collapse is trumpeting more clearly with each passing day. Once the seals are released, Western Society as we know it will collapse. The much beloved government in whom so many have placed so much of their trust, to whom so many have passed so much of their responsibility to, will finally teach the necessary lesson to those who would believe that their life, their future and their responsibilities are nothing that they need worry about. The chart above shows the effect of the ECB's decision to cut their overnight deposit interest rate to 0% a fall of  €484 Billion  or around 50% of deposits. Where did all this money go, well the yield on Swiss bonds fell to a record low of MINUS 0.38%, yes people are willing to lose money to buy Swiss bonds, together with a multi-record breaking WTF? auction of US 10 year t...

The disputed area of the South China Sea  Long time followers of this blog will know that much of my understanding of what is going on in the world comes from the inimitable golden jackass,  Jim Willie CB . It is his analysis which points to a fundamental shift in the global economic stakes and that shift is in an eastward direction. I keep looking for the signs he has been pointing to in his recent offerings and Bloomberg reports that China has imported more gold in the first five months of 2012 than the UK holds. Yesterday the Financial Times  reported that Iran had been importing tonnes of gold in the first five months of 2012. Over at Zero Hedge the supposition becomes that not only is China directly importing gold but it is demanding gold rather than US$ from its trading partners. The Jackass hypothesis it seems is borne out by events. And whilst we are on the subject of gold, analysis shows that the UK's sale of gold in 1999 to 2001 directly assisted on...

Barclays boss: Banks should be allowed to fail by itnnews When paper money hyper inflates there is only gold  Few observers make the connection, but the current LIBOR scandal is a middle inning of two important events. The first is the demise of the Western banker leadership crew. The executives from the most powerful banks will be last to be deposed, all sharing an ethnic strain. The second is the open fracture of the Western financial system.  "Over the past few years, to be sure a great many people have grown tired of Jackass descriptions of corruption within the banking sector and financial system in general. Well, hear this: TOLD YA SO! The London Interbank Offered Rate scandal will erupt into an uncontrollable firestorm, hitting one chamber and then the next, with rapid contagion. The Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve are both implicated, but they will skate until the end game. They control the prosecutors and the news networks. Few yet connect the...

Bob Diamond has disclosed details of conversations he had with government officials asking him to rig the market. We have been perpetually bombarded by a succession of frauds, Barclays manipulating the LIBOR rate and now testimony that they were put under pressure by the regulator and the Labour Government to further manipulate. Read Bob Diamond's statement here . Matt Taibbi, at Rolling Stone Magazine  points out that RBS have similarly settled and one can only wonder how long it will be until the other 14 banks similarly make a settlement in the hopes of avoiding a criminal prosecution. UBS will also settle in due course. In ' The Scam that Wall Street learned from the Mafia ' Matt follows the trial of three defendants who were convicted of colluding to lower the interest rates offered to municipalities with a sheer incredulity that they would even bother to try to defend their actions in the face of overwhelming evidence, but these are just small players and th...

Monetary Easing 'Rob from the People to give to the Banks'  Russian Today reports "The Bank of England and the UK Treasury have revealed plans for a £100 billion support program in order to stimulate British banking to provide cheaper loans during the time of recession.  British Chancellor George Osborne explained the emergency plan, called “funding for lending” scheme, requires the Bank of England to provide cut rate lending to banks in order for them to pass on the lower interest rates to customers. Osborne pointed out the scheme was developed in order to avoid a possible credit crunch and higher interest rates in Britain, as the banks are reluctant to lend at the time of economic uncertainty. The plan could secure an £80bln in loans to businesses and households within weeks, according to the Chancellor.  He also warned that British economy should rely on tight fiscal policy and active monetary policy in supporting its economy, while “things could get worse...

Amongst the world's recent economic news there has been much strangeness; the decision of China and Japan to trade directly with each other instead of in US dollars is just the latest tolling of the bell which is trumpeting the end of the US economy. Just waiting on the Saudis to add the final nail to the coffin. The warning signs are becoming clearer with JP Morgan holding a 'derivative position' which has already caused losses of $3 billion and with $140 billion of outstanding lawsuits in progress against it, the $120 billion capitalisation of the world's largest bank is looking like it is going to be worth nothing. The SEC (the US regulator) has decided that Lehman Brothers moving $50 billion of liabilities off its balance sheet every time they were required to file accounts was not fraudulent and that no one will be prosecuted for basically outright cheating. The regulator takes it orders from the president who takes his funding from the banks... and the el...