FOUR HORSEMEN is free from mainstream media propaganda — the film doesn’t bash bankers, criticise politicians or get involved in conspiracy theories. It ignites the debate about how to usher a new economic paradigm into the world which would dramatically improve the quality of life for billions.
The casino has swallowed the system. The sums the players are betting are not only far larger than the value of the rest of their portfolios, but six times larger than the combined assets of every human institution and family on Earth, and almost 17 times bigger than the worth of humankind’s yearly output. Even if the whole planet were offered as collateral, it could not cover Wall Street’s bets.
A “bail-in” is a relatively new term being used increasingly in international finance to refer to a situation in which private assets, including private bank deposits, are confiscated by government institutions to compensate for shortfalls. The bail-ins are used to address problems ranging from inadequacies in financial institution reserves to situations in which a government needs to reduce debt ratios to resume borrowing.
Right now we’re seeing an end to the growth of just about every essential industrial input that has fueled our civilization. The widespread realization that growth is over spells death for global finance, meaning that the nations of the developed world are poised on the brink of financial collapse. (Orlov points out that one country, Greece, is already well past the brink and is mired in financial, commercial and political collapse all at once.) The author sees each of the Western nations headed for a deflationary spiral followed by “a quick but painful bout of hyperinflation thrown in at the very end.”
By cutting jobs, wages, pensions and benefits governments in the US, UK and across Europe are deliberately causing the living standards of the poor and middle class to plummet while at the same time, mercilessly removing the social safety net by slashing public services when people need them most. With a diminishing and in many cases negative disposable income, households can barely afford the necessities of life; consumer demand is floundering and this is having a predictable knock-on effect on businesses with the net result being less tax receipts for the treasury. This is not a plan for deficit reduction as we’re being told. This is class war!
Reports are that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is engaged in a massive, covert military buildup. An article in the Associated Press in February confirmed an open purchase order by DHS for 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition. According to an op-ed in Forbes, that’s enough to sustain an Iraq-sized war for over twenty years. DHS has also acquired heavily armored tanks, which have been seen roaming the streets. Evidently somebody in government is expecting some serious civil unrest. The question is, why?
Homeless men and women are living in a network of disused sandstone caves near the town centre of Stockport, Greater Manchester. There have been up to four people a night sleeping rough in the cave system perched on a 20-foot precipice overhanging a river, only a short distance from public view.
“In the last three months alone 21,000 NHS employees have lost their jobs, and those nurses, doctors and other health professionals that remain feel that no-one is listening to them and that they are being asked to achieve more with less. As a result morale is at rock bottom.
“This is no way to run our most important, most cherished national institution. Those who sacrificed so much during World War Two to build a better future for themselves and their families didn’t want this.
After five years of Obama’s economic recovery, the American people are as gloomy as ever. According to a Bloomberg National Poll that was released this week, fewer people “are optimistic about the job market” or “the housing market” or “anticipate improvement in the economy’s strength over the next year.”
In the case of QE, we can see now that Bernanke forged ahead without developing a coherent exit strategy. That’s a big no-no; you never want to paint yourself into a corner especially when trillions of dollars and the stability of the financial system are at stake. But that’s where Bernanke finds himself today four years after embarking on a policy path that has boosted corporate profits to all-time highs, widened income inequality to levels not seen since the Gilded Age, and pushed Dow Jones Industrial Average up by 146% since its March 2009 low.
Time is running out for the US economy and the American people. The financial press and economic commentators, with few exceptions, do a good job of keeping this fact from the public
A new report says homelessness in northern England has witnessed a 42 percent increase in just one year, with the homeless choosing to live in a network of disused sandstone caves near the town centre of Stockport, Greater Manchester
