Saturday 28 February 2009

Mr Haskell Goes to France. Goodbye: English Rugby Doesn't Need You

So after many months of huffing and puffing, James Haskell is off to Stade Francais (“my decision to leave Wasps had nothing to do with how much money was on the table”). Two other England internationals from Wasps – Riki Flutey and Tom Palmer - are also headed across the channel.

But not so many weeks ago it looked to be an even bigger exodus because fellow England players Danny Cipriani and Paul Sackey were also part of the awkward squad at Wasps, all pressing for infeasibly large slices of the capped salary pot. Ill-advised, because the cap is what it is, and a full squad has to be fed from it. In the event, Sackey didn’t really have his heart in it, and Cipriani is just a talented young man easily swayed by authority-figures: both will probably stay.

Word is that Wasps’ much put-upon management team will be pleased to see the back of the overbearing Jonathan Haskell: he ‘manages’ his son’s career (check out the unintentionally amusing website and the ghost-written Guardian pieces) and is said to have been whispering large numbers to the other impressionable lads. The Times reports that veteran Wasps loyalist Lawrence Dallaglio was charged with negotiating the retention of the malcontents. What they don’t mention is that when still a player, Dallaglio voluntarily sacrificed his own very legitimate salary aspirations to allow for attractive money to be made available to the talented youngsters like Haskell and Cipriani in the first place. What the great man thinks of the Haskells père et fils is best left to the imagination.

Far be it from C@W to criticize a chap for making as much money as he can, or taking business advice from his dad. But Rugby isn’t Soccer, and the club ethos isn’t comfortable with blatant careerism, as supporters’ chat forums clearly show.

Oh, and the RBS money won’t be flowing quite as freely in future either …

ND

11 comments:

Demetrius said...

As someone who has given up watching Rugby on the TV, because of the inane hype and garbage commentaries and analyses I no longer care any more, despite a lifetime of interest and playing. Let us go back to amateurism, scrap the leagues etc., and play only invitation fixtures, it would be a lot more fun.

Anonymous said...

Good morning Nick. The following posts are for you.
You asked.
Grab them and do whatever.

Anonymous said...

Understanding Issues: Part I

The problem I have in writing an essay like this, is where to start?
Or rather....
What is the knowledge base of my audience?
If the knowledge base of my audience is inadequate, how can I explain the problem, have it recognised, and how to debate a solution?

So I find that to begin, a wider explanation of the current situation is needed.

We live in a financial system that is dominated by, or rather, called, a Fiat, financial system, which uses Fractional Reserve Lending as part of its business model.

Let's examine those terms.

A Fiat system is a false system, an un-backed system, that is, there is nothing of intrinsic value to back the promise on a Sterling note, other than the promise to pay the bearer with another sterling note, - another promise to pay the bearer. This is accepted as a medium of exchange because the Government says it is, and because the government recognises it as a legal way to pay government tax demands. It is “legal tender”. Sterling notes, indeed any currency notes in any Fiat system, are “irredeemable”, ie the promissory note can only be replaced by another promissory note. They are however accepted as a medium of exchange. The ultimate backer for any paper promise to pay the bearer with another paper promise is the issuing government, and that ultimately falls to the responsibility of the taxpayer resident in the issuing country, ie, the ability of the issuing government to tax the population of that country to be able to pay the debts that the government has already incurred.

It has not always been like this.

Prior to 1971, when president Nixon cancelled the right to exchange the US $ paper currency for gold on demand, at a fixed price, the system was not Fiat, ie it had the backing of gold.
Excessive expenditure by the Federal Government had resulted in the issuance of large amounts of paper dollars, and these were held by foreign governments. Several foreign governments, notably France, began to worry about the level of debt incurred by the US government, and demanded payment, not in paper dollars, but in gold. This created a demand for gold that would have drained the US gold reserves. The decision was taken to end the convertibility of the US dollar into gold. Henceforth US debts would only be repaid in paper dollars. The Dollar became Fiat.

The second term used was Fractional Reserve Lending.

Fractional reserve lending mainly arose as a matter of operational convenience.
Originally Gold and sometimes Silver (in certain geographical areas) were used as “monetary metals”. They were used as ingots of defined purity, or made into coins of various sizes and defined purity. As a matter of convenience and security, these were stored in premises held by people who became known as “money changers”, an ancient profession, mentioned in the Bible, in Egyptian hieroglyphs, and in Sumerian tablets.

Receipts for precious metal deposits were given by the money changers, and it became the norm over many years, for the receipt holders to use them for trading purposes, rather than the physical transfer of bullion. Thus the modern “bank note”, or promissory note was born, - the promise to pay on demand.

Also over time, the money changers began to notice that not all owners of deposited bullion would seek to withdraw their bullion at the same time, and over many years they began to issue “loans” to borrowers, by way of debt obligations, - promissory notes they could present to a third party to obtain goods or services immediately on “credit”, and repay the debt to the money lender over time, together with an interest element.

After many years, in diverse countries, a ratio of 10% seems to have evolved, That is only 10%, on average, of depositors, would seek the return of their capital at any one time. The money changers were thus able to lend out ten times the amount of money (gold, or by this time other securities too) on deposit, as paper,without fear of insolvency.

Imagine that, the Banks, (for that is what the money changers had evolved into) were able to create 90% of their raw material, - money, - out of nothing, charge interest on 100% of their loans, and yet some currently still make monumental losses.

Look at it another way.

A bank pays interest to its depositors of (say) 3%. And that 3% is paid on effectively 10% of the loans it can create, and lend to borrowers at (say)5%.
Or, the interest it pays to deposits of £1M over a year (let's assume a static model for simplicity) at 3%, is £30,000.
Via Fraction Reserve Lending, with deposits of £1M, it is able to lend out £10M, and charge 5% interest on £10M, which is £500,000.

So £500,000 interest earned against £30,000 interest paid out. Then add in the £10M of capital repayments over time, remembering that £9M is pure profit, that the bank had created out of nothing, and you begin to understand just how profitable, or rather the extent of banking gross margins, that the banking model can deliver!

Naturally, that is a very simplistic explanation, and banking has evolved into a much more complex industry than portrayed, however, to better understand the evolution of banking, I would suggest this link

This is a 3.5hour video, filmed in the US in the late '90s.
It is very revealing.


At this point for further details you should also acquire and read the book, - “The Creature From Jekyll Island”, written by G. Edward Griffin.

So, now you are an expert on the corruption of bankers, their centuries long endeavours to impose their debt based financial system on the US nation, copying the UK system of debt created “money”, and the unscrupulous methods employed to achieve these ends. The profitability of the debt-based financial model was their prime motivation coupled with their knowledge of the power that such a system would give them, to wield over whatever country they managed to subjugate into their system.

Not for them any notions of “national” pride or loyalty to a host nation. International branches of the same bank would arm both protagonists in any international war, and reap the rewards from both combatants. In fact the financing of wars, and subsequent reparations, were recognised very early in the games as being their most profitable activities. Naturally warring parties could not be funded, since the looser would be unable to pay, until the authorities in the warring parties were able to instigate a method of national taxation on the populace. The Napoleonic wars created the first income taxes in England, with the Rothschild Dynasty funding both parties. In many cases the providers of funds were able to choose the eventual victors, and finance flowed that would guarantee the desired outcome. This became the “National Debt”.

Now THAT is power.

However, nothing really changes: - Politicians, or minor aristocracies decide to wage war on a neighbour, convince the local population of a “common enemy” and the need to attack/defend, and suddenly the debt incurred and the interest payments become the problem of the entire population, while the banks/politicians/aristocracy, benefit!

Naturally, once “stock exchanges” were developed (initially Government bonds were the Rothschild favourite), the financiers were able to make the correct investments well before the event.

They rapidly grew very wealthy.

For thousands of years, gold, and intermittently, silver, have been regarded as monetary metals, and have been used in the manufacture of coins, - money. From the Sumerian civilisation, (which also used other commodities for monetary/barter purposes) through Egypt, Greece, Roman civilisations, their use was common. All through history currency issuing powers have sought to get more from their limited supply of precious metals, by the debasement of their coinage. This would take several forms, - reducing the precious metal content of the coin, reducing the overall weight of the coin, increasing the face value of the coin while maintaining the quality. Either way, the population viewed the act as devaluing the currency, as prices of other commodities, grains, etc were adjusted upwards by traders/importers in terms of the face value of the currency, in order to achieve the same QUANTITY of precious metal content. This was inflation, it debased the currency of the realm, and mass protests featured strongly against this, particularly in the declining years of the Roman Empire as the practice became prevalent. Eventually, as the Roman Empire began to collapse, the quantity of money in circulation began to contract rapidly, and the entire economy of the Western Roman world fell into heavy deflation, the velocity of money also contracted heavily, and what is now known as “The Dark Ages” descended on the entire remnants of the Western Roman Empire.

This lasted for hundreds of years.

Many modern writers are drawing parallels with the current financial problems facing the West, and the US in particular. They point to an exported manufacturing base, internal price inflation, and military over-stretch, with balance of payments deficits, and a debased currency.

The populations in those days regarded monetary metals both as money, which is both a medium of exchange, and a store of value. Modern western writers seem to wish to prevaricate on these features, arguing that gold and silver may well be stores of value, but they are not money. Those writers forget history, and assume that fiat regimes dominate the world. Many current societies still use barter, still use monetary metals, and I can speak from experience that both Krugerrands and UK Sovereigns are regarded throughout the world as money, and their value is based on their gold content, priced at current prices. UK retail banks may now be totally divorced from monetary metals, and no longer buy or sell gold or silver in any form, leaving that activity to specific dealers. This is certainly not true for the majority of the remaining world.

Perhaps the most successful, though short-lived bankers of all times, were the Templars. But then again, perhaps they were/are, not that short-lived after all!

The Albigensian Crusade in Languedoc ended in 1244, but it was 62 years before King Philippe IV of France, and Pope Clement V were in a position to harass the Knights Templar for their reported vast wealth. Having murdered two Popes, Pope Boniface VIII, and his successor, Pope Benedict XI, Philippe installed his puppet Bertrand de Got, Archbishop of Bordeaux, as Pope Clement V, in 1305.

Philippe drew up his list of accusations against the Templars. Heresy was easiest, as it was known that the Templars did not hold the doctrines of the Virgin Birth, and the Crucifixion. Also known was that their diplomatic and business affairs involved dealing with Jews, Gnostics, and Muslims.

Philippes plan was to strike on Friday 13th of October, 1307, and it would be an international (as far as it could be organised) strike, involving hundreds of armed men, but principally throughout France.

In 14th Century France it was the practice for aristocratic families to have sons within the Church, as Bishops, or Abbots of allied orders. The Chaplain of the Manor of La Buzadiere was such a nobleman, and shortly before the Papal edict against the Templars was enacted, he entertained seven Templar guests at his castle, and fully informed them of Philippes plans. The Knights Templars were Gaston de la Pierre Phoebus, Guidon de Montanor, Gentilis de Foligno, Henri de Montfort, Louis de Grimoard, Pierre Yorick de Rivault, and Cesare Minvielle.

The Knights immediately departed for Paris to inform their hierarchy of the plans. Runners were despatched to spread the word. The Grand Master of the Templars was Jacques de Molay. He arranged for the Templar treasure, stored in their Chapter House in Paris, to be transferred to La Rochelle on the Brittany coast, from where it was shipped, together with as many Templars who could get there, in eighteen galleys. Most of the ships sailed to Scotland, beyond the reach of Papal inquisitors, since Scotland under King Robert the Bruce, that is the King and the entire nation, had been excommunicated by the Pope for taking up arms against the Catholic King Edward II of England. The Templars were made welcome in Scotland, with many (around 50) settling in the Mull of Kintyre region. (Interestingly, several ships sailed to the Americas, where buildings and graves can be found identifying them as Knights Templars – they had access to copies of the same maps as Christopher Columbus used in his quest, years later)

The Papal edict of Scots excommunication was eventually lifted in 1323, when Pope John XXII recognised Robert the Bruce as the true King of Scots. As a reward for Templar loyalty at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314, and in order to further hide the Templars, in 1317 Robert the Bruce hid the Templars under a new organisation, - the Order of the Elder Brethren of the Rosy Cross. The King of Scots was installed as the hereditary Sovereign Grand Master, and from that time whoever held the office of chancellery was known as the Prince, (or Count) St Germain. Gaston de la Pierre Phoebus, (one of the seven knights) had escaped to Scotland, and since the Pope held the international reins of Chivalric Orders, Gaston, as senior Knight of the Rosy Cross, arranged for a meeting with Pope John XXII at Avignon. Pope John agreed to issue a Charter, providing his nephew, Jacques de Via, became the operative Grand Master. De Via died on 6th May, 1317, and Guidon de Montanor (another of the seven Knights) was elected Grand Master. The Charter of Incorporation, signed by the Pope was duly presented to King Robert the Bruce.

The lifting of the Papal Edict in 1323 caused many historian to assume that the Knights Templar must have been disbanded in Scotland. Nothing could be further from the truth. Robert the Bruce had successfully hidden them behind the cloak of a new Chivalric order, duly Chartered by the Pope.

It was during these Templar influenced times that the Scottish Banking System evolved from the Orders financial experience in Europe and the Middle East. Scottish lands held significant Gold deposits, and the Templars were quick to commence their extraction. This wealth was one of the reasons that Plantagenet England so desired dominion over Scotland.

Today there are several active Gold Mines in Scotland.

This from the Independent
And
Here is a gold mine, where the Templars settled

Anonymous said...

Understanding Issues: Part II

Let us now revisit the simple banking model in Part I

I do not want to over-complicate the varying mechanisms, between the US and UK banking systems, as that is not the issue here, merely to say that over time the State began to control the individual banks.
Banking licenses were issued, which allowed the banks to issue bank notes in their own name, (subject to limitations), and as banks failed, or merged, no new licenses were issued. Over time this resulted in a monopoly for the Bank of England. (Differing notes are still issued by banks in Scotland)

In order to control the amount of credit (debt) that could be issued under fractional reserve lending, (sometimes called “the multiplier effect” in the UK system) The Bank of England could require the clearing banks to hold varying proportions of the assets as deposits at the Bank of England. (The Chinese authorities are very active currently, using special deposits as a way of controlling their economy, via credit/debt issuance, and they seem to be avoiding the traps of pro-cyclicality quite well)

That is enough of the details to suffice.

There are several features of a modern Fiat system that must be understood in principle.

1)Modern Fiat systems have evolved efficient control mechanisms. If a 5%, or a 2%, or whatever %, rate of inflation is required, absent large extraneous events, that is what will be achieved. (remember the previous political machinations with interest rates prior to election times, and the Kudos Brown earned for making the B of E independent - allegedly)
2)All Fiat systems beyond a tipping point, have a definitive life-span, after which the “National Debt” is compounding at such a rate that it overcomes the ability of the economy to pay it. The Maths cannot be beaten.
3)During that life-span, incremental debt injected creates diminishing increases in GDP, on a £ for£ basis. Towards the end of a Fiat life-cycle, massive injections of incremental debt will create negative GDP. Once again, the maths cannot be beaten.
4)Increases in the rate of inflation in a Fiat system shorten the life-span of the system. Maths again.


Ron Paul says it well

The above are enough rules for now, but think of their importance, and understand the implications of the above in relation to current circumstances.

The intrepid blogger Karl Denninger blogged about points 2, 3,and 4 above.
He produced a graph here.
When reviewing this graph, take note that it was published BEFORE trillions of new debt was injected, albeit sterilised, by the Fed. The upcoming de-sterilisation will bend the trend line lower!
The image is here

And the blog is here

Simply put, there is too much debt in the economy. If people won't borrow, because they are up to the eyes in debt and non-profitable companies can't service any more, or can't roll existing debt over, the velocity of money decreases. You cannot inflate away from an over indebted position by injecting more debt via borrowings. Interest rates will not remain at, or near zero, for long, as bond vigilantes will strike, then even more existing debts become unserviceable, and currency devaluation becomes the only option.

The dirty hidden secret of all Fiat systems is the theft of all savings via inflation. Gradually, over the years, everything is confiscated. Yet everything is so gradual, (when operating properly) that it goes un-noticed, becomes part of an unconscious acceptance, it is insidious and evil.

Once again Ron Paul gets it


To give an example, in 1972, I purchased a serviced building plot from a local council, obtained detailed planning consent, and built my own residence. The land cost £2,500, it was one quarter acre. Today, the land would cost more than £150,000.

The land has only marginally increased in value due to development, - it was bought with outline planning permission, - the difference is that the £ has devalued since 1972.

Difficult to believe?

Well here is a website that can be used interactively to illustrate my point. Here


Here is a website that looks at the prices of housing from 1890, to present, and adjusts them for inflation. It shows vividly the vast over valuation of housing currently, so let's say the land valuation could drop to £75,000, that is still a vast devaluation of the £ from the £2,500 purchase price.
Yes, it is American, but if anything the degree of historical over valuation is higher in the UK.


Intereting, isn't it

In the normal run of business activity, if a business were to issue receipts for non-existent goods, or sell a product that it did not own, it would be guilty of fraud, and the directors would run the risk of jail time.

This is what banks do as part of normal business activities, called fractional reserve lending, and it becomes legal because the Government issues a banking license that says it is legal.

It is the global use of fractional reserve lending that increases overall inflation levels via increasing levels of credit (debt/money)-(although inflation levels may vary geographically) and results in the gentle theft of all savings, over time.

Remember, prices do not automatically increase, it is the currency that devalues in a Fiat system. NO FIAT CURRENCY HAS A FIXED VALUE, IT MUST DEPRECIATE OVER TIME. PERIOD. Absent fractional reserve lending and interest on debt, the normal evolution during a product life-cycle is one where the product becomes cheaper due to increasing volumes of mass production rising from public acceptance of the product selling in greater volumes, and improvements in technology, and competing companies entering the market attracted by the initial margins. For example, look at the advances in computing power, and the price decreases in the last 2 decades,- albeit an element of the price reduction is due to off-shoring/currency manipulation in the exporting countries.

The mistake that MOST thinkers make is to consider the currency as fixed and commodity prices as increasing. Such thinking is particularly useful to Fiat governments. It disguises their theft of the savings of the populace, and their reneging on their future liabilities.

A Fiat system cannot be deflationary without ultimately imploding. It struggles to exist profitably in near zero inflation (equilibrium). It can best exist in a “growth” situation, that is, where increasing levels of credit/debt are being created, - the classical western “growth model” of western economies.

Deflation is death to Fiat because the paying down of all debt, or the cancelling of all debt via bankruptcy destroys the money supply, and economic activity ceases, since credit (debt) is “money” in a Fiat system. This is part of what worries the global financial authorities in this current deflationary stage of global financial collapse.

The authorities are determined to preserve (their) the Fiat system at all costs, even at the expense of criminal moral hazard, and possibly the future viability of the country, and age-old democratic values. Although the current crop of political leaders seem oblivious to economic principles, there are increasing numbers of dissenters to their methods, who are becoming increasingly more vocal in their opposition.

It is this passion evidenced by the authorities, for the preservation of the Fiat system, which is becoming increasingly illogical, that causes inquiring minds to speculate the true motivations behind a seemingly noxious stand.

Anonymous said...

Understanding Issues. Part.III

Towards the end of a Fiat currency life-span, when debt levels are becoming difficult to repay, the tendency on the part of the authorities to cheat, to hide the fact from the voters increases.

As the cheating persists, the studied avoidance of tough decisions is evaded by repeated bubble blowing that creates the illusion of economic well-being. This becomes addictive, and the corruption, and conspiracy becomes more intense and more widespread, and endemic.

Today inflation statistics are grossly manipulated, as are unemployment statistics, as are GDP statistics, together with commodities. These may, or may not convince professionals concerning the state of the economy, but in concert with a supine and a “Deep Captured” MSM, it makes for comic debate on the screen, and propaganda for the sheeple.

Monetary authorities on both sides of the Atlantic have manipulated the price of gold throughout the 20th century, to keep the price near to the “official price” at which currencies could be exchanged under the Gold Standard. This was nothing new.

This is an early document from 1961, discussing this subject, in vague terms.

It wasn't until the Reagan era, when market volatility increased, and the 1987 US market crash occurred that the “Presidential Working Group on Financial Markets” was established.

The Working Group on Financial Markets (also known as the President's Working Group on Financial Markets, the Working Group, and colloquially the Plunge Protection Team) was created by Executive Order 12631, signed on March 18th, 1988, by United States President Ronald Reagan.
The Group was established explicitly in response to events in the financial markets surrounding October 19th, 1987, (“Black Monday”) to give recommendations for legislative and private sector solutions for "enhancing the integrity, efficiency, orderliness, and competitiveness of [United States] financial markets and maintaining investor confidence".
As established by Executive Order 12631, the Working Group consists of:
The Secretary of the Treasury or his designee (as Chairman of the Working Group);
The Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, or his designee;
The Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or his designee; and
The Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or his designee.

Did you notice the last bullet point, Nick, the CFTC?
Do you remember my comment concerning their “sublime corruption”?
The above (Plunge Protection Team Member) explains PART of their abject failure of oversight, when market abuse is practised by certain agencies for “public good”. Everything hinges on that definition, of course!, as manipulation is on the face of it, illegal.
Safe Haven explains that the working group has recently become far more pro-active in the markets, using money from the Fed, and linking it to the cessation in the publishing by the Fed, of M3, as increases in M3 were predictive of future market manipulations.
This spells it out!

In other words, Fed created money was being used for market manipulation. Where was a legal mandate for that?

Once fraud, however well intentioned, becomes embedded in the system, it grows and spreads, and infects the thinking of all officials in the commission of their duties. It is cancerous.

Like all cancers, it eventually destroys the host. The financial systems credibility of the US and UK are perilously near to that point, together with the entire economies of the G7, and probably G20, right now.

This is pure Opera

DEEP CAPTURE explains the phenomenon in the US context. Given the hearings running in the UK currently, and wild-life exiting the woodwork, it becomes increasingly obvious that “Deep Capture” also exists in the UK to varying degrees. A clear conspiracy.
Deep Capture

Ted Butler, an excellent writer, and campaigner for honesty, on the precious metal Silver, a monetary metal, has been pushing the CFTC for over a decade for an investigation of the clear and visible manipulation of the Silver Price, contained in figures published by the CFTC! At times the ounces short have approached the global annual output of Silver, yet in a decade of complaints, no action has been taken. The membership of the head of the CFTC on the Presidential Working Group on Financial Markets, explains the lack of action.
Here is the archive of his articles. Read them carefully, and understand.
Also understand that the same Bullion Banks involved in Silver manipulation are also involved in the manipulation of the price of Gold.
Archived Articles

These activities are not normal shorting. These banks do not cover after a price decline, they add to their position. That alone speaks of manipulation, together with their truly massive presence!
Who would do this? Who would benefit from the Silver price suppression, year after year?
The Bullion banks involved are all Federal Reserve Primary Dealers, - the owner of the Fiat currency!!!!!! And some are also members of the LBMA!!!!!!!!!!!
A clear conspiracy on the part of the Fed/National Executives of US and UK is evident here.

And they don't even deny it!
Here is a quote from Eddie George.

Eddie George and Gold
“We looked into the abyss if the gold price rose further. A further rise would have taken down one or several trading houses, which might have taken down all the rest in their wake. Therefore, at any price, at any cost, the central banks had to quell the gold price, manage it. It was very difficult to get the gold price under control but we have now succeeded. The U.S. Fed was very active in getting the gold price down. So was the U.K.”
Eddie George, Bank of England, September 1999.

In other words, trading houses were short, in massive values relative to their abilities. If they went down, the price of gold would spike, and more short positioned institutions would fail if they were forced to cover. They therefore got help from the Fed, and the UK.
His mention of the Abyss shows how great the long position was.
“at any price, at any cost” is significant don't you think?
What was at stake?
Eddie George was the Governor of the Bank of England, responsible for the Fiat currency of the UK.
Could the viability of the UK Fiat currency have been under threat?
The US Fed cannot intervene in these markets, it would have used the same bullion banks/primary dealers as proxies.
And we are lead to believe that the LBMA am, and pm, price setting is free from B of E, and political pressure!!
If you believe that, I have a bridge I could sell you!

In my “conspiracy rant” a month ago, I asked “what sort of elasticity equation relates to the current price of oil”, or words to that effect, drawing attention to prices for oil.

No-one picked up on it!

Nick, you have asked why the price discrepancy between the two sources seemed to be the wrong way round.

On 12th February, Rob Kirby published the answer.

Here it is

Rob says “Monetary authorities induced highly levered hedge funds.....[...]..... dollar hegemony was threatened”

Actually they did it via a global, concerted, margin call on every hedge fund on their loan book. Hedgie concerted selling to meet margin calls triggered further selling. The commodity cascade began. The dollar index recovered from that point, against all logic, that said a debased currency, debased as much as the dollar had been for two decades should have crashed.

Dollar index

Was this legal?

Certainly a clear conspiracy!

I will deal with the second part of Rob Kirbys article, relating to gold, later.

Anonymous said...

Understanding Issues. Part IV

Before going into detail concerning the almost global conspiracy on the part of Fiat currency holders to suppress the price of Gold, it is important to understand the depths of insecurity that Fiat owners exist under. Many millions, probable billions of taxpayers funds have been expended over the years, to this end. This is outright theft. It has no legal mandate.

But it does show the fundamental weakness of Fiat, particularly towards the end of its life-cycle, when administrations are increasingly forced to manipulate every damn economic read-out monitor to convince the electorate of their security.

The senior political class, the MSM, and professional economists become nothing more than bare faced liars.

Greenspan spoke honestly about the characteristics of Gold before he took the Chair of the Federal Reserve Board.
An honest Greenspan

And this article speaks of the total conversion of Greenspan, from an Austrian/von Mises disciple, to a Fiat currency fool whose main tool was verbosity and deception, hidden by increasing levels of debt, off-shoring, manipulated economic statistics, excessive leverage, and manipulated markets. A totally failed economic formula.
More early Greenspan, but...

Karl Denninger speaks his mind
At the ceremony to honour his work Well said Karl


Before the Sub-Prime broke, the XAU, as a proxy for gold miners, was systematically taken down, month after month, when the price of gold was rising rapidly, and the share prices of other miners was also rising. A completely counter intuitive move.
It was done to counter the anticipated rise in the share price of miners, in a repeat of the late 1970s, (and other actions were taken against Gold), that the upcoming financial collapse would create. Someone had prior knowledge of these events.
Intrepid Rob Kirby explains.
Here

Who could afford to do this? Who would benefit?
Who wanted to avoid the public judgement that the Gold Price delivers on failing Fiat currencies?

Early in the life of nulab, idiot Brown sold off part of the UK gold reserves, deliberately advertising the fact globally, which served to depress the world price further. Significantly,this was round about the time of LTCM troubles, and the Eddie George comment!
Recently Bear Stearns was “taken over” by JPM, with a subsidy from the Fed, of some $30B. During fractious negotiations, which involved the Fed, Giethner, and a few other familiar names, someone omitted to inform Bear that 24 hours later the Fed would be opening a window that would have allowed Bear, an investment bank to borrow from the Fed. Well, hoodathunkit?
Bear was assassinated, because they were long gold. Significantly long.
Once again, Rob Kirby takes up the story.
And a fascinating story it is

Understand that JPM is a tool of the Fed. Here is a direct quote
“The tag team of JP Morgan as the monster and Goldman Sachs as its harlot represent a powerful pair that is more responsible for destroying the entire US financial system than 95% of the American public has any awareness. The colossus of JP Morgan is a monster, a predator, nurtured by pond scum. It has gobbled up Chase Manhattan, Manufacturers Hanover, Chemical Bank, Bank One, and more over the past two decades. Their profound presence in keeping the US Treasury Bond yields down can never be understated. They do so by managing 85% of the credit derivatives on the planet. They distorted usury prices, as in price of borrowed money, thus aggravating the LIBOR (London Inter Bank Offered Rate) market in a very visible manner. The oblong usury prices have contributed mightily to the destruction of the US Economy itself, created bubbles, killed jobs, and wrecked savings. The ugliest hidden activity for the JP Morgan monster is to manage the Bank of Baghdad, where they manipulate the crude oil price, where drug trafficking money is funnelled from Afghan sales, under management by the US Military aegis (guys with no uniform stripes or markings). Maybe such illicit money offsets Credit Default Swap losses, making America strong for freedom and liberty. Goldman Sachs is clearly the investment banking agent for the US Govt, given the privilege of insider trading in unspeakable proportions. They manage the Plunge Protection Team efforts to intervene in financial markets, making America strong for freedom and liberty. The new kid on the block is the FDIC. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp is steering fresh meat into the corralled JP Morgan stockyards for slaughterhouse feeding. The label of harlot might be too kind, especially from the perspective of senior bond holders. But JP Morgan requires fresh meat (capital) periodically, thus making America strong for freedom and liberty. Never mind the fires caused after its hearty meals and flatulence.”

And speaking of JPM derivatives,
How about this for size>

Notice also that HSBC is the other main holder of derivatives.
And HSBC is a Market Making Member of LBMA, along with a few other familiar names.
Still want to buy that bridge, - I've got several?

Rob Kirby goes further in this link and examines the activities of central banks leasing arrangements. Central banks lease out bullion as a way to suppress the price, knowing that the gold will probably be sold. They would only be confident in doing that if they were confident that the gold could be re-purchased for a lesser price in the future, and returned to them. This arrangement can be lucrative for banks struggling for profitability. It also speaks of full knowledge by central banks of price suppression.

I'll hand over to Rob again.

“Gold price suppression is not simply a “paper game” where relentless amounts of price suppressive “futures” can be sold forever; the price suppression scheme also requires that the price riggers expend some physical gold too – to make the ponzi-esque selling of futures “believable.” The physical gold which is mobilized to accomplish this is typically sovereign gold that is “leased” from Central Banks.
Leasing is preferred to outright sales because you can only outright sell something “once” – and it is gone. By leasing, the physical gold leaves the vault to be sold in the open market but Central Banks replace the missing physical gold with an I.O.U - for accounting purposes – and claim that they still posses the same amount of physical bullion! So, by leasing gold instead of “outright sales,” Central Banks can and do double count [cheat] – a la Enron – their gold stocks!”

Yes, they do double count leased out Gold, BUT THE RULES OF THE IMF AND BIS ALLOW IT.
How does that grab you?
One of my first statements on this blog was that hyper inflations is a CURRENCY event and moves from deflation where there is a loss of confidence in the currency creating a sudden loss of value, via the exit door. No-one seemed to notice.
Eric de Carbonnel is a fine blogger who we will visit shortly, however Rob picks up a problem in one of his blogs
Interesting, ain't it.

This is a chart to look at regularly, it is the price of Gold over three days. Regularly viewing this chart shows where the manipulation is taking place.
Gold Manipulation

Finally from Rob


Here Eric de Carbonnel speaks about the dangers of Gold ETFs. Many hold no gold, and are secured by Gold derivatives, thus there is a counter part risk.
Note that the providers mentioned, JPM, and Barclays, are members of LBMA, as is HSBC Bank, USA, and as we have seen, JPM and HSBC also deal heavily in Gold derivatives on the short side.
Seems very risky to me.
At some point the Banks will probably blow. What then?
The only Gold to hold for investment purposes, is PHYSICAL GOLD.

Take a simple example.
You live in Iceland.
You go to bed on D day, minus one, with your left hand holding 100 units of currency, and your right hand holding gold to the value of 100 units of Icelandic currency.

You wake the following morning, D day.
In your left hand your 100 units of Icelandic currency can only now purchase 20 units of yesterdays Icelandic currency imports.
Your right hand can still purchase 100 units of yesterdays Icelandic imports. However, your right hand is now worth 5 times yesterdays Icelandic units of currency, and can purchase 5 times yesterdays value of home produced Icelandic goods.
Join the EU for safety, and you lose your only industry to foreign fishing fleets.

Pity no-one thought of owning Gold!
When, not if, devaluation comes to the UK, caused by Browns stupidity, the above scenario will play out. The degree of change will vary, the principle of devaluation, happening slowly now, remains

And Finally.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration.
"How long can the US government protect the dollar’s value by leasing its gold to bullion dealers who sell it, thereby holding down the gold price? Given the incompetence in Washington and on Wall Street, our best hope is that the rest of the world is even less competent and in even deeper trouble. In this event, the US dollar might survive as the least valueless of the world’s fiat currencies."

Anonymous said...

Understanding Issues: Part V
Tracking the Fiat owners conspiracy in the suppression of the Gold price across the Atlantic is easy.
Beyond the fact that the members of the LBMA are global operators, and the fact that there are large European Banks on the membership list of the LBMA, tracking individual actions in Europe is made difficult for me by the language barrier.

Any conspiracy needs a focal point, a forum for developing views, for members to meet, a publicity machine to put views forward, to bend opinion. One which can hide true intentions under a welter of propaganda and illusionary good works, one so obvious, so famous that the incredulity of the public would negate any unintentional mistake.
Can we find such a body?
Well, actually, yes we can! Google any of the senior names from the Clinton,
The Bush, or the Obama administration against the “Council on Foreign Relations”, and you will find that they are ALL members. This is their forum, their ideas institute, their club house.
Using Google you will find that the Rockefeller dynasty founded the CFR, and was also responsible for founding the Trilateral Commission.
Using Google you will find that the Rockefeller dynasty has an abiding interest in Eugenics and is on record as believing, and working towards a global population holding a maximum of 1 billion, under a New World Order.
You can use Google to find an overlap in names between the two organisations.
The Rockefeller dynasty is heavily invested in Monsanto and Syngenta, two of the major companies involved in the genetic modification of foodstuffs, and Rockefeller more than any other is responsible for the growth of “Agribusiness” that displaced traditional farming structures into monolithic structures that aid in the global penetration of GM foodstuffs.
Strange then, that Rockefeller should be one of the major investors in a grain store on an island in the Arctic circle, together with Monsanto, Syngenta, Bill Gates, and the Govt of Norway that will store grains for the future that companies like Monsanto and Syngenta are seeking to eliminate.
Interesting stuff
Just what do these people know about the planned future that would require such an investment?
For many years the Rockefeller publicity machine has worked to remove the tarnish from the image
But largely failed
I GIVE YOU THESE FACTS TO ILLUSTRATE THE AMBITIONS, AGENDA AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CFR, WHICH IS THE FOCAL POINT, THE TALKING SHOP, OF THE VERY SAME ACTORS BEHIND THE CURRENT FRANTIC EFFORTS, THE THEFT OF £/$ BILLIONS FROM FUTURE TAX PAYERS, TO SUSTAIN THEIR FAILED ECONOMIC MODEL, THEIR FAILING POWER BASE, THE EXISTING GLOBAL FIAT SYSTEM.

Remember there are no lengths to which they will not go in their quest for power.
I had thought that evidence, solid evidence that came to light immediately after the 9/11 incident, would result in a satisfactory conclusion to the search for the perpetrators, Sadly, this evidence seems to be ignored, as do so many other details. Would that be because the persons involved were so very obviously wealthy? And if the suspicions are true, consider the arrogance of the people placing these investments, - they consider themselves totally above the law.
Truly amazing that this should be ignored

Aaron Russo was a very famous Hollywood producer. (RIP, Aaron) He was be-friended by the Rockefeller dynasty, who tried to persuade him to join the Council on Foreign Relations. Part of the persuasion involved an explanation of how omnipotent members of the CFR were. He predicted to Aaron that 9/11 would happen, and also explained the upcoming plans to micro-chip the population, and the relevant data-bases that would be involved (with CFR members being not chipped! All testimony was on youtube. I cannot find the part relating to micro-chips, but the 9/11 prediction is here. If anyone reading can help on the micro-chip section?...
9/11

Enough on the character of these people, you should understand the problem by now, the point is that now they are linked into Europe at a very high level, via The European Council of Foreign Relations, with a very powerful membership, including Etienne Davignon, No 20, the Head of the European Bilderberg Organisation, no less, and George Soros, No 99, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, director IMF., No 100.

This is a terrifying development.
Read and Weep

Many things hinge on the upcoming G20 on April. Hopes may be high. My expectations are rock-bottom! Behind the scenes, blocks will do their own thing, the disparity of interests is too great.
Dumb and Dumber organise a “Con the Sheeple Extravaganza”. Or, this could be really serious behind the scenes, their common approach to the G20, which would definitely be very bad news.
Dumb and Dumber
This is where we are now.
Right here

And there is far, far less gold in reserve than paddles, they've leased it away! They know it. It is in foreign hands, private and public.
Morons.

And this is where we are going. All of us.
BOOM

Thank you Nick for asking.

Thank you for visiting.

Spread the word, - Politicians, Brown, you have no mandate for what you are doing!

Anonymous said...

Have a good day, Nick.

Enjoy.

Anonymous said...

Artists at work

Nick Drew said...

Well thanks, anon: duly grabbed

Savannah Adams said...

Wow. What an analysis by Anon. I honestly think that rugby games are fun to watch, especially if you love football. My husband thinks that it doesn't really matter what team or whoever members play in a team. Just as long as the team keeps on goin' and as an audience you're entertained, all is well.