Économie mondiale: la tempête parfaite (et payer pour les folies des banques privées)

Économie mondiale: la tempête parfaite (et payer pour les folies des banques privées)

Pour faire le point sur la crise financière qui secoue le monde et particulièrement les États-Unis, voici les articles les plus importants qui ont circulé les dernières semaines sur Internet, publiés par les médias de masse et alternatifs.

Voici qui se passe essentiellement:

- On nous dit qu'on vit un problème de diminution du crédit disponible, mais en réalité c'est une crise de repaiement qui sévit.

- Dans le milieu des années `70, un changement de politique s`opéra qui redonna graduellement le contrôle de la création du crédit aux banques privées, un retour à la pratique de déléguer aveuglément avec absolue confiance aux financiers. Celles-ci ont peu à peu, silencieusement, poussé pour qu'on déréglemente le secteur bancaire et y sont parvenu dans le milieu des années 90. À partir de là, elles sont devenues de pures agences jouant dans le grand casino mondial des investissements, des hedge funds et autres placements et comportements douteux, et tout ça avec notre argent. On a déjà eu de très difficiles leçons dans l'histoire, comme le grand crash boursier et la dépression de 1929.

Et pourtant on répète la même chose sans jamais apprendre. Et cette fois, tous les économistes, banques majeures, FMI, Banque Mondiale, financiers vont vous le dire: 1929 va ressembler à une marche dans le parc comparé à ce qui se trame et qui va se développer en une tempête parfaite en 2008.

- À force de créer du crédit on engendre l'inflation. Tout coûte plus cher parce que la valeur de notre argent de papier perd de la sienne à force d'être dilué dans l'océan d'argent qui est crée à travers le crédit aux particuliers et aux gouvernements. On contrôle les boums et les récessions économiques avec la quantité d'argent que les banquiers privés mettent ou enlèvent de la circulation à leur bon gré, en jouant avec les taux d'intérêts et l'inflation qu'ils créent en imprimant de l'argent comme de l'eau ainsi qu'en créant du crédit ou pas.
Le problème est qu'ils ont le pouvoir de créer de l'argent à partir de rien, qu'ils sont devenus des entreprises à profits, pur et simple.
Alors quand ils décident de jouer au grand casino mondial à hauts risques, ils font des montages financiers très complexes et douteux, question d'optimiser leur profits astronomiques, mais ce fesant créent des bulles financières artificielles tout comme fut la bulle immobilier. Quand les bulles crèvent, les banques s'exposent à des pertes catastrophiques tout en ruinant des millions de particuliers en même temps. Mais attention, quand nous fesons des mauvais placements on perd tout, mais quand c'est des banques privées, on les rembourse... avec l'argent des payeurs de taxes!!

Ça fait déjà un bon moment que l'économie américaine est à la banqueroute, et Alan Greenspan a crée de toute pièce la bulle immobilière en baissant les taux d'intérêts directeurs très bas et ainsi créer un vague de crédit sans pareil. Tout ceci avait pour but de retarder la venue de madame récession. Mais en même temps on a coupé dans l'impôt des riches et on a exporté la quasi totalité du secteur manufacturier vers l'asie. Des millions de travailleurs on donc perdu leur gagne pain, et ne peuvent plus repayer leur dettes.

60 millions d`américains vivent avec moins de 7$ par jour. Il y a pression énorme à la baisse des salaires, de la qualité de vie et des acquis sociaux. Les taux de reprises de finance battent des records, le marché de la construction ralenti dangeureusement, les guerres impériales ont coûté aux contribuables américains plus de 500$ milliards (sans compter les frais à long terme estimés à environ 2 trilliards).

Comme si ce n'était pas assez, on a averti il y a quelques semaines que les cartes de crédit sont à veille de présenter un autre problème massif: il y a pour 950 milliards de dollars en dettes non repayables.

La FED (la banque centrale américaine, propriété de banquiers privés) a cessé de publier le M3, la référence pour savoir combien d`argent imprimé est en circulation sur le marché, empêchant ainsi toute possibilité de connaître la valeur actuelle réelle du dollars US, effort pour masquer le fait que la FED imprime de l`argent à la tonne, littéralement, faisant chuter sa valeur et fesant aussi monter l`inflation en flèche. Le dollars US a perdu plus de 45% de sa valeur depuis 2001 et perd actuellement 1% par semaine par rapport aux principales monnaies du monde .

Or, l'argent ne disparaît pas, il est massivement transféré de la classe moyenne vers la classe des 0.01% les plus riches. L'écart n'a jamais été aussi grand entre les pauvres et les riches, entre les salaires moyens de la classe moyenne et ceux de la classe des super riche.

Certains dans les milieux financiers et dans la sphère politique voudraient bien nous assurer que la crise financière est déjà en train de se calmer et que le pire est déjà passé. Mais à la lumière de ce qu'est réellement notre système bancaire et financier, il est très improbable qu'on soit déjà sorti du bois. Les gros joueurs font tout pour faire en sorte que le crash soit graduel pour ne pas effrayer le petit peuple, qui ferait juste comme ce qui est arrivé en 1907, 1929 et il y a quelques semaines en Angleterre: vider les banques de leurs épargnes et retirer leurs investissements du stock market, ce qui ferait en sorte que l'économie s'écroulerait quasi instantanément, ruinant les très riches aussi, qui veulent juste tirer leur épingle du jeu avant nous.

La plupart des riches se sont déjà positionnés en conséquence. Le prix de l`or et des métaux précieux sont à la hausse, car bientôt l`argent de papier va perde sa valeur de façon dramatique. Et puisque nous sommes au courant que le projet d`instaurer une Union Nord Américaine d`ici l`an 2010 englobant le Canada, les États-Unis et le Mexique prévoit l`instauration d`une monnaie commune, l`Amero, il n`est pas si surprenant que la destruction du dollars US soit souhaité et entraîné par la caste bancaire-financière-élitiste-corporative.

Il n`y a rien qui arrive par hasard... Toutes les principales decisions politiques sont prises par de puissants intérêts économiques dans des sommets comme ceux des Bilderberg, des rencontres du FMI, de la Banque Mondiale, etc. Si vous n'aviez que deux films documentaires à voir en 2008, je vous dirais que ces deux là sont plutôt incontournables:

** The Money Masters - How International Bankers Gained Control of America

** America: Freedom to Fascism - Director's Authorized Version

Si vous voulez comprendre dans quel systeme vous vivez, de quelle façon vous êtes de réels esclaves d'un système économique bâtit sur mesure pour voler les richesses du peuple et du monde en vous tenant dans un état de quasi survie permanente, et aussi comment les mégas corporations sont devenues tellement puissantes qu'elles gèrent nos vies, la politique et mêmes nos gouvernements, visionnez ces deux films. The Money Masters va vous faire comprendre clairement comment fonctionne le système bancaire, le tour de magie par lequel des banquiers privés internationaux contrôlent nos banques centrales et la création de notre argent, qu'ils impriment à partir de rien, et créent litéralement de l'argent-credit! Pensez à ça: le pouvoir de créer de l'argent à partir de rien entre les mains de quelques individus particuliers. Pensez-vous vraiment qu'on peut contrôler notre économie de cette façon? La dette internationale qu'on a, c'est à eux qu'on la doit en grande partie. On les appellent Les Maîtres de l'Argent.

Aussi longtemps qu'on ne comprendra pas comment fonctionne le système, on ne va que perdre notre temps à essayer de traiter les sysmptômes alors que le coeur du problème n'est pas traité. Le peuple ne contrôle pas son économie et la création de sa monnaie. Nous ne sommes pas maîtres en notre demeure. Tant que cela perdurera, nous pouvons bien nous bercer d'illusions que nous décidons du cour des événements et que nous vivons dans une réelle démocratie, mais en réalité nous sommes pris dans un engrenage qui nous rend de plus en plus pauvre, dépendant, et impuissant.

Il ne reste qu'un grande guerre à mener chers lecteurs et lectrices, et sera celle du peuple contre les banquiers internationaux, ces requins sans pitié qui n'hésitent pas à ruiner des pays, des populations entières et qui ont financé et fomenté les deux côtés de la plupart des guerres majeures que le monde ait connu.

Je vous laisse sur les mots de Benoit Perron, chargé de cours à l'UQAM et animateur de radio à Zone de Résistance et conférencier:

« La Chine et le Japon détiennent 2700 milliards $ en bonds du trésor mais à cause de la dépréciation du $ US, ils ont décidé d’en investir une partie dans le private equity fund Blackstone Group une créature de la CIA reliée au Carlyle Group qui est lui-même connecté au Bain Capital. À eux trois, ces requins blancs des fonds publics sont en train d’aspirer 37% de l’économie mondiale hors de l’économie réelle pour la placer dans l’économie virtuelle des paradis fiscaux, ce qui va créer une secousse sismique d’une grosse empleur à court terme. Quand? Je l’ignore mais avec le scandale des subprimes aux USA, cela ne saurait tarder!

J’ai fait une conférence sur Blackstone et Carlyle il y a un an et en utilisant le FOIA (Freedom of Information Act des USA), j’ai consulté les listes de fonds de pension et de caisse de retraite, il y a des milliers de pages, et j’ai recensé toutes les fois que le nom de Blackstone et Carlyle et Bain Capital et Texas Pacific Group apparaissent et les sommes investies puis la même chose avec le fonds de pension du Canada et la régie des rentes du Québec avec la Caisse de Dépôt et placement puis j’ai surveillé les 6 autres hedge funds qui font partie des top ten pour un chiffre approximatif de 37%.

Le dollar faible sert à financer son déficit commercial, son déficit budgétaire et sa sale guerre en Irak mais rend les pétrodollars US moins alléchants alors l’Asie et le Moyen-Orient veulent être payés en Euros, ce qui irrite les 5 sœurs USA du pétrole alors les services secrets USA ont recours à leurs chevaux de troie hedge funds pour pour réintroduire les Treasuries US dans l’escarcelle de la Federal Reserve Bank via les « no man’s land » des paradis fiscaux sous contrôle anglo-américain, ainsi en les réintroduisant en douce via la porte arrière Bush peut continuer de dire à la plèbe que l’économie va mal et que des réformes drastiques sont nécessaires pour la redresser alors qu’en réalité la situation est totalement sous contrôle mais il est impérieux pour les Barons Voleurs d’occulter le fait qu’ils sont tous en train de bazarder leur position en bourse car ils estiment qu’il y a trop de joueurs dans le système, ce qui érode leur chance de profits. ALORS LE SYSTÈME doit se purger à court terme, c’est un phénomène récurrent depuis 300 ans, rappellez-vous la crise financière artificielle de 1907 aux USA provoquée par Jacob Schift , John D. Rockefeller et J.P. Morgan dans le but de faire accepter à la plèbe la création de la FED Usa EN 1913. L’HISTOIRE NE SE répète pas , elle bégaie!

Le fonds de private equity Sagard de Paul Desmarais a avalé la Gaz de France via Suez avec le magnat Albert Frère de Belgique( il possède le pays avec la famille royale) et ils contrôlent 1/3 du pétrole d’Alberta. Avec les autres spéculateurs des hedge funds ils poussent le prix du baril vers 77$[on est presqu’à 100$ maintenant-LNI] alors que l’épargne des ménages est négative et leurs dettes élevées, ce qui rend la situation explosive à tout moment car ils devront piger dans leur REER pour payer l’épicerie et une bonne partie de cette caisse de retraite est pompée dans ces mêmes hedge funds, un véritable cercle vicieux. Les subprimes ne sont qu’une première secousse. » -Benoit Perron

Would someone taser the Penguin?

The ‘Almighty Dollar’ is really a paper tiger

I'll refer to them as US dollars for simplicity, but you should know that they are anything but - they are Federal Reserve Notes and they are owned and manipulated by private bankers.

Crisis may make 1929 look a 'walk in the park'

Twenty billion dollars here, $20bn there, and a lush half-trillion from the European Central Bank at give-away rates for Christmas. Buckets of liquidity are being splashed over the North Atlantic banking system, so far with meagre or fleeting effects.

As the credit paralysis stretches through its fifth month, a chorus of economists has begun to warn that the world's central banks are fighting the wrong war, and perhaps risk a policy error of epochal proportions.

"Liquidity doesn't do anything in this situation," says Anna Schwartz, the doyenne of US monetarism and life-time student (with Milton Friedman) of the Great Depression.

"It cannot deal with the underlying fear that lots of firms are going bankrupt. The banks and the hedge funds have not fully acknowledged who is in trouble. That is the critical issue," she adds.

There is no credit crisis. There is a repayment crisis. The leaders of our society were happy to loan out money so we would all buy products, then moved the high paying jobs making those products to other countries. Now they stand around, scratching their heads, and wondering what the hell happened and why didn't the world stay rosy the way Adam Smith promised it would?

Global crash imminent, warns expert

A sharp downward correction is due in the global markets as real estate, stocks and energy soar to record highs, warned a leading expert on the opening day at this year's Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Week.

The worst crisis I've seen in 30 years

Crises have come and gone, but the one unfolding since August and which intensified last week is the most serious. It is not just that its impact is cascading around the world because of the new interconnectedness of global finance, it is that the authorities, particularly in Britain and America, have lost control and do not have the means to regain it as quickly as we might hope.

National borders act like fireproof doors in a building or watertight doors in a ship. Yes, those doors can be inconvenient, but they exist to prevent an accident in one portion of the structure from turning into a complete disaster. Fire doors keep the fire confined to just a few rooms. Watertight doors keep one flooded compartment from flooding others. The building stands, the ship floats.

When idiots decide that removing the fireproof doors and watertight doors will allow people and cargo to move more quickly through the building or ship, well, they are right. Things do speed up, and all is well until that accident. Then, without the fireproof doors, the entire building burns. Without the watertight doors, the entire ship sinks.

Globalism is taking the entire Earth and removing the economic fireproof doors. and as I warned many times over the last several years, an accident (crash) in one region can easily cascade around the globe, dragging the entire system down with it.

Which is what is starting to happen now.

Morgan Stanley issues full US recession alert

Morgan Stanley has issued a full recession alert for the US economy, warning of a sharp slowdown in business investment and a "perfect storm" for consumers as the housing slump spreads.

US Federal Reserve eyes rate cut, prepares for economic storm: analysts

The US economy has sailed through a series of rough patches, but the Federal Reserve is likely to cut interest rates Tuesday to guard against the effects of a brewing economic storm, analysts say.

Implications of Commercial Real Estate Collapse

Hidden in the headline U.S. Housing Crash Deepens in 2008 After Record Drop is the fact that it's not just housing we are talking about.

U.S. office sales fell 70 percent in October from a year ago, industrial sales declined 24 percent, and retail and apartment sales dropped 50, according to New York-based research firm Real Capital Analytics Inc.

"A Generalized Meltdown of Financial Institutions"

Reality has finally caught up to the stock market. The American consumer is underwater, the banks are buried in debt, and the housing market is in terminal distress. The Dow is now below its 200-Day Moving Average -- the first big "sell" signal. Anything below 12,500 could trigger program-trading and crash the market. The increased volatility suggests that we are watching a "real time" meltdown.

Crash is coming, warns top investor

THE man responsible for investing $41 billion of the State's money has warned mum-and-dad investors to prepare for a massive sharemarket crash.

He says a dramatic downturn is inevitable as the rapid rate of investment is unsustainable, and the repercussions of the $300 billion subprime lending crisis in the US are yet to be felt fully.

Talk of Worst Recession Since the 1930s - November 12, 2007

A Wall Street superstar this year who runs Balestra Capital Partners, Jim Melcher, says he's "worried about a recession. Not a normal one, but a very bad one. The worst since the 1930s. I expect we'll see clear signs of it in six months with a dramatic slowdown in the gross domestic product."

Balestra Capital, a $350 million New York hedge fund, was up 3% for the past three market sessions, when the Dow Jones Industrials, spearheaded by widespread declines in financial stocks and fears of more billion-dollar-plus asset write-downs, tumbled more than 677 points, or about 4.5%. The Nasdaq fared worse, skidding about 7%, triggered by across-the-board declines in those fast-stepping technology stocks.

In the 20th century, the US has used war as a way out of recession in the first world war and the second: will this trigger World War III, where, this time, we are absolutely, and unequivocably, the bad guy?

MICHIGAN GOV. SHUTS DOWN

US headed for housing depression

Housing industry looks to Congress for help

I told you, here comes the call for a "bailout", which means YOU the taxpayer will be asked to cover the losses of some reckless business practices by the financial industry, just as happened with the S&L debacle in the 1980s, and every time the government takes your money to save the bankers from their own folly, it just makes it easier for them to repeat the same mistakes allover again ten years down the road.

Unprecedented Central Bank Collusion Allows Troubled Institutions to Borrow Emergency Funds in Secret

The crucial elements in the Fed’s move yesterday is not so much the sum of money on offer - $20bn next week, $20bn the week after - but that all depository banks in America can draw from the tap anonymously, without the risk of being found out.

Greenspan Favors Government Bailout for Homeowners

I warned you ..

Taxpayers to foot the Northern Rock bill

Taxpayers could face a multimillion-pound bill for the rescue of Northern Rock, after Alistair Darling refused to give a guarantee that the £24 billion Bank of England loan will ever be fully repaid.

Wonder who is going to wind up cleaning up the subprime mess for US banks?

Take a good look in the mirror!

Print, Print, Print

In case you missed this news, the European Central Bank yesterday created 348 billion euros. That's equal to about one-half trillion dollars. Presto! Like magic, one-half trillion dollars of so-called "liquidity" appeared out of thin air.

Citigroup calls emergency board meeting

The Housing Crash, Suburban Sprawl and the Crisis of the American Middle Class

Congress and the White House, state governments, local legislatures and lobbyists are vested to the hilt in denial: that the downgrade by Moody's of at least $50 billion in collateralized debt from AAA to junk is a verdict on an economic model-suburban sprawl-that is torpedoing America's middle class.

Round after round of promises: low inflation, steady job growth, health care, bridges, highways, the promise of public education, social security, the environment: what stares back at the middle class is an almost unrecognizable result.

Cheap goods won't keep stagflation at bay

Bank of America shutting $12 billion cash fund

Bank of America Corp. said Monday that it's shutting a $12 billion a money-market fund of sorts and halting cash withdrawals after losses from complex investments tied to the mortgage crisis.

A run on the bank?

FDIC Shuts Down NetBank Due to Defaults

NetBank Inc., an online bank with $2.5 billion in assets, was shut down by the government on Friday because of an excessive level of mortgage defaults.

Citigroup's financial migraine worsens with asset shift

Citigroup reveals $49 billion subprime blow amid ratings downgrade

Countrywide reports doubling of foreclosures

World stocks plummet after global banks take action in bid to avoid recession

Stocks worldwide have plummeted in the wake of yesterday's unprecedented decision by leading central banks to pump billions into money markets in a bid to avoid a worldwide recession.

Bernanke Met With Vulture Mortgage Operator During Height of Sub-Prime Crisis

Records of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's appointments during the sub-prime crisis don't show him meeting with any sub-prime mortgage homeowners, but he did meet with vulture mortgage player Lewis Ranieri.

Soooooo, the guys setting monetary policy for us all is buddy-buddy with the guys reaping a fortune from people struggling to keep their homes?

BofA money market fund dives 70%

Bank of America shuts new investors out of money fund--recently worth $40B -- citing credit crisis.

Bank of America says closing money market fund

Goldstein denied a CNBC report that the fund had been frozen, saying that clients were being offered the option of cash redemptions or of switching their assets into other Columbia-managed funds.

Is the derivatives bomb about to explode?

A potent inflationary cocktail

'Hedge fund collapse is on the way'

Investors will withdraw $500bn (£245bn, €355bn) – a quarter of the asset base – from hedge funds in the next year, leading to the collapse of a "large number" of hedge funds.

So spredicts Giles Conway-Gordon, managing partner of Cogo Wolf, a San Francisco-based fund of hedge funds, who believes investors are increasingly dissatisfied with industry performance, and that computer-driven quantitative hedge funds now simply run too much money to make healthy returns.

Mortgage Crisis Forces Big Cuts at WaMu

Washington Mutual Inc., the nation's largest savings and loan, said Monday problems in the mortgage and credit markets are forcing it to close offices, lay off more than 3,000 workers and set aside up to $1.6 billion for loan losses in its fourth quarter.

It's The Economy Stupid

Alex Jones interviews George Humphrey (FearorLove.com) on the state of the economy. They discuss the unbelievably scary numbers behind the derivatives market and the true value of precious metals vs. the federal reserve note.

Alex Jones interviews George Humphrey (FearorLove.com) on the state of the economy. They discuss the unbelievably scary numbers behind the derivatives market and the true value of precious metals vs. the federal reserve note. Click the "Listen Now" link below to listen to this informative interview on the hidden dangers threatening the stability of our economy.

Click here to --> Listen Now

Or click here to --> Download for Ipod

David Sirota: Greenspan Says Solution to Inequality is to Lower U.S. Wages - Business on The Huffington Post

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has been in the news lately trying to pretend he's had nothing to do with the slow-motion economic meltdown America is currently experiencing in the housing, job and labor market. But he is still the same old Alan Greenspan -- the one who opposes the minimum wage, and wants to drive wages in general into the ground. In fact, he admitted as much in a recent interview on Democracy Now!.

At about 39 minutes into this clip, you can hear him say this:

"We ought to be opening up our borders to skilled labor from all parts of the world because if we were to do that we would increase the supply of skilled workers that our schools have been unable to create and as a consequence of that we would lower the average wage of skills and reduce the degree of income inequality in this country."

What is this man thinking?

Well, of course, you've got to know what he's thinking when he makes this kind of statement: anything that is good for corporations trumps anything that might be good for American workers.

Bank of America to lay off 3,000 from investment unit

Bank of America on Wednesday said it would lay off 3,000 people, nearly two percent of its entire work force, as part of a restructuring of its loss-hit investment banking unit.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank, the second largest in the country, announced the restructuring of its Global Corporate and Investment Banking (GCIB) division after revealing last week a sharp plunge in earnings in the unit for the third quarter.

Merrill Lynch reveals $7.9bn write-down

A $7.9bn write-down by the investment banking giant Merrill Lynch has reignited controversy over how big the losses from the mortgage market crisis might yet turn out to be.

The figure, disclosed in the bank's quarterly results statement yesterday, was $2.4bn higher than it had predicted less than three weeks earlier, but analysts left a conference call with management still unclear as to why it had ballooned.

It appears that the sub-prime problems are far from over.

Goodbye dollar, hello inflation

The dollar is no longer the world's reserve currency. This is the statement you heard twice in one day if you were checking out the news on Bloomberg over the past 24 hours.

Foreclosures soar

Worst of U.S. subprime troubles are ahead, S&P chief economist says

Stocks battered by mortgage mess

Dow falls over 150 points on news Wachovia will take a $1 billion hit, forecasts for slower growth in Europe.

IMF chief warns dollar may suffer 'abrupt fall'

The head of the International Monetary Fund, Rodrigo Rato, warned Monday there are risks of an "abrupt fall" in the dollar, linked to a loss of confidence in dollar assets.

"There are risks that an abrupt fall in the dollar could either be triggered by, or itself trigger, a loss of confidence in dollar assets," Rato told the IMF board of governors.

But ... things look so normal, Martha!

So you look outside and you say that the world looks just like it did yesterday? Take a few minutes to watch the YouTube videos linked below and then ask yourself whether looks can be deceiving.

This proves that the value of American housing now is down about 50% in many parts of the country ... and in just a few months, too.

Central California Housing Crash:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVFBojFJTZM

Florida Housing Crash 50% Off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10WoQZKZkNs

Miami, Florida Housing Crash 50% Off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkuW8bCjC6c

Housing Meltdown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4SHn-5d8IY

Mortgage Meltdown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-rEs_FofB4

US Mortgage Mess Goes Global:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzuVG0xlq_A

Global Market Meltdown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oajsYswDPQo

How Millions of Americans Will Lose Their Homes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biP2JOf5euo

Bill Moyers Housing Market Meltdown (from June):

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q9dC7FQJ1U

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggRyJlD8X4

Barclays and RBS line up Fed for £15bn

Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland have lined up emergency funds of up to $30bn (£15bn) from the US Federal Reserve to bail out American clients caught up in the global credit crunch.

Inflation may prompt food price controls: UN food chief

Some countries may have to implement retail price controls on food in the near future because of rising prices for consumers, the UN's food chief said in an interview published Monday.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Jacques Diouf also said that he would not be surprised if the rising food prices sparked riots in parts of the world, adding that food price inflation had become an "even more serious problem" in recent weeks as the rises have started to hit consumers.

The mystery of the missing $2.9 trillion

Like most people, economists love a mystery – especially if it involves not a missing person but a missing $2.9 trillion in United States debt.

That's $2.9 with 11 zeros after it.

The obvious answer is that the books are being cooked.

"The last official act of any government is to loot the nation." -- Michael Rivero

Bank Foreclosures Lists, Foreclosure, Free Foreclosure Listing, Foreclosed Home List Government Forclosures

You know, there is one thing that the US government could do to ease the foreclosure crisis.

They could slash taxes.

Not some piddly-assed token drop of a percentage point or two, and not just for the already rich and don't need the tax cut, but a serious slash across the board.

Government accounts for less than 5% of the total population. Do they really need HALF of all of our money?

We kicked out the last government in 1776 over a ten percent aggregate tax rate. Now we are up to fifty percent and rising, and still the government cannot balance their books. We work one hour for the masters for every hour we work for ourselves and by an odd coincidence (meaning it isn't a coincidence) that is the same ratio of work for the masters work for self that the slaves of ancient Rome lived under. It is the same ratio of work for the masters work for self that the slaves of the old South lived under. It is the same ratio of work for the masters work for self that the medieval serfs lived under.

When this nation became a nation we did not have most of the taxes we have today. And we PROSPERED! We, as a nation, became rich. Today, of course, we hear nothing but how we must all make do with less, so that the government can have more.And we are making do with less. We are losing our homes. We are sending our children to ineffective schools. We are having to put off needed medical care. We are facing bleak retirements when we are no longer allowed to work.

Always we give and no matter how much we give, the government always needs more.

We are losing our homes, and the government is perfectly willing to make a somber face and say how sorry they are, but they won't do the one thing that would really improve our lives and that is to GET OFF OUR @#$%ING BACKS!

Fed Intervenes in Financial System: Financial News

Fed Injects $41 Billion Into US Financial System to Help Ease Credit Problems

There is no credit problem: there's a re-payment problem. All the high paying manufacturing jobs have deserted this country, and found new homes overseas, aided and encouraged by US government policies.

This new infusion of 'funny money' is not going to help the situation, because the only people who will be borrowing it are the ones already in over their heads, and unable to meet their current obligations. The smart people have curtailed their borrowing, and will not be lured in again, even with lower interest rates.

At best, this move is holding off disaster until after the holiday shopping season.

Foreclosures jump 30 percent in 3rd quarter

Foreclosure actions were reported on more than 446,000 properties the three months ended Sept. 30, up 30 percent from the second quarter and double last year’s third quarter. That brings the overall foreclosure rate to one in every 196 U.S. households.

The rise in foreclosures was widespread, with 45 out of the 50 states reporting higher levels than last year. But the highest concentrations were a handful of housing markets; California Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Texas and Michigan made up more than half of the total.

US Home Prices Plunged 4.5% in Third Quarter

Prices of existing U.S. single-family homes in the third quarter slumped 4.5 percent from a year earlier, matching a record decline from the previous period as the housing downturn deepened, according to a national home price index on Tuesday.

VIDEO: The Truth About The Economy: Total Collapse

Currency Controls Return as Central Banks Fight Gains

Central banks from Bogota to Mumbai are imposing foreign-exchange curbs to take control of their soaring currencies from traders dumping the dollar.

Wall Street tumbles after interest cut

On Wall Street, stocks tumbled, reflecting disappointment among some investors who were hoping for a larger rate cut. The Dow Jones industrial plunged more than 200 points.

Fd cuts prime 1/;4 point, DOW tumbles -294

Gulf funds drift away from dollar

Cashed-up China set to hunt down more US bargains

Fresh from a five-billion-dollar investment in Morgan Stanley, China's cashed-up government is set to go shopping for more bargains as it takes advantage of the financial turmoil in the United States.

Japan and China lead flight from the dollar

Japan and China led a record withdrawl of foreign funds from the United States in August, heightening fears of a fresh slide in the dollar and a spike in US bond yields.

Data from the US Treasury showed outflows of $163bn (£80bn) from all forms of US investments. "These numbers are absolutely stunning," said Marc Ostwald, an economist at Insinger de Beaufort.

China unleashes cautious giant onto world's financial markets

Dollar falls vs euro as housing starts plunge

The dollar fell broadly on Wednesday after a report showed housing starts dropped to their lowest level in 14 years in September, adding to concerns that the housing market may drag on the U.S. economy.

Traders sold dollars after the Commerce Department said home construction starts fell 10.2 percent last month, below Wall Street's consensus forecast.

How China Could Crash the US Dollar on a Whim

China has several economic “weapons” at its disposal for countering the US, ranging from the manipulation of its currency to the diversification of its burgeoning stock of forex reserves. It also has several less blunt options to choose from, such as enabling Chinese companies to compete more directly and effectively with US companies, and opposing the US in securing a domestic energy supply. On all of these fronts, the US is essentially being held hostage, since it has become so dependent on China as the world’s factory. Ultimately, it seems unlikely that China will deliberately butt heads with the US unless it is first provoked, but America should nonetheless be on its guard, since its economy hangs in the balance.

Money for Nothing

I found it appalling that Morgan Stanley would claim to store silver that didn’t exist and even have the chutzpah to charge for the storage. That would appear to be a clear case of fraud. I am even more appalled that the judge in the case, or any government regulator, would look the other way. The important lesson here is not that Morgan Stanley got caught with its hand in the cookie jar, but what silver investors can learn from this episode.

Lennar Reports Biggest Loss in Its 53-Year History

35K state workers get layoff notices

Chrysler CEO: We're 'operationally' bankrupt

Chrysler to cut up to 12,000 jobs

Chrysler LLC said Thursday it plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs, or up to 15 percent of its workforce, as part of an effort to slash costs and match slowing demand for some vehicles.

The automaker will cut 8,500 to 10,000 hourly jobs and 2,100 salaried jobs through 2008. The company already had begun cutting 1,100 temporary workers Wednesday. It will eliminate shifts at five North American assembly plants and cut four vehicle models from its lineup.

You can be sure of one thing: military recruiters will be lined up at the plants where the layoffs are happening, big-time.

FBI HARASSES RON PAUL BACKERS OVER LIBERTY DOLLARS

The FBI will presumably follow up this assault with the seizure of all poker chips in Las Vegas as well as all credit cards and gift certificates.