Founder of the Euro says ‘catastrophic’ currency will self-destruct

“As more and more countries within the European Union struggle economically, the euro – the union’s common currency – becomes more embattled, with its founder now even predicting its demise.

German Finance Minister Oskar Lafontaine, who was responsible the euro’s development and launch, is now calling for the end of the single currency in order to let southern Europe recover. He says if not, the current fiscal course is “leading to disaster.”

“The economic situation is worsening from month to month, and unemployment has reached a level that puts democratic structures ever more in doubt,” he said, according to the Telegraph, one of Britain’s largest dailies.

“The Germans have not yet realized that southern Europe, including France, will be forced by their current misery to fight back against German hegemony sooner or later,” he said, adding that much of the current fiscal crisis has come in large part from Germany’s squeeze on wages, in order to gain export share.”

Via Natural News

Insanity Cubed

“Obviously this is a colloquial “definition” of insanity. However, at the very least it is an unequivocal demonstration of abject stupidity. Choosing to repeat failure is utterly indefensible behavior.

What do we see with our politicians, bankers, economists, and media talking-heads? Bludgeon your way through all of the obfuscation; and we see that most of our economic problems are derived directly from two, failed policies: excessive money-printing and excessive debt.

Yet what are the only two “solutions” for these problems being proposed by Western governments (and their apologists in the Corporate Media) today? Even more-extreme money-printing, and even more-extreme debt-creation. Putting out the fire with gasoline. Insanity.

Has anyone actually paid attention to any of the so-called sovereign “bail-outs” which have occurred over the past five years? In every instance it has involved lending vast sums of money to hopelessly insolvent governments.

Supposed I owe $10,000, but require a “bail-out” because I can’t service this debt; and my Rescuer lends me another $5,000. Please explain to me how I’ve been “bailed out” when I now owe $15,000? Obviously if I couldn’t make payments on my debt when I owed $10,000; it’s mathematically impossible to do so when I now owe $15,000.”

Via Alt Market

Gangster State America

“There are many signs of gangster state America. One is the collusion between federal authorities and banksters in a criminal conspiracy to rig the markets for gold and silver.

My explanation that the sudden appearance of an unprecedented 400 ton short sale of gold on the COMEX in April was a manipulation designed to protect the dollar from the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing policy has found acceptance among gold investors and hedge fund managers.

The sale was a naked short. The seller had no gold to sell. COMEX reported having gold only equal to about half of the short sale in its vaults, and not all of that was available for delivery. No one but the Federal Reserve could have placed such an order, and the order came from one of the Fed’s bullion banks, one of the entities “too big to fail.””

Via Activist Post

Whadda Ya Mean We Can’t Steal Houses?

“”Unfair” isn’t quite the word.

Colorado, for those who haven’t followed either the news or The Ticker, passed a nice law to “solve” the foreclosure problem for banks — they stripped the requirement that the banks actually have the mortgage documents to prove that they were the proper party to be able to foreclose.

Remember that the big issue a couple of years ago was “robosigning” — that is, document forgery. Continuing the scam is, of course, the highest and best use of “lobbying” lawmakers, and in Colorado the banksters scored big, removing even the pretense that a foreclosing actor actually owned the mortgage through documentation — even forged documentation!

Now a simple statement became enough.

So-called “financial news media” has ignored this, of course. It’s in their “best interest” too; after all, you wouldn’t be able to sell ads on a TeeVee station talking about “together we’ll go far” if the people understood that how the stagecoach “went far” was by stealing all your property.”

Via Market Ticker

Self-Serving Recommendation of the Day: Visa Asks Spain to Lower Limit on Cash Transactions

“Spain’s underground economy is reportedly 19% of GDP. Is it? Who knows? Whatever it is, Visa has its eyes on transaction fees while holding a carrot in front of the Spanish government regarding more taxable income.

Via Mish-modified translation from Libre Mercado, please consider Visa recommends Spain further limit the use of cash transactions. “

The black market economic activity is beyond the control of the Treasury, and is one of the major objectives of the government during the current crisis to try to raise tax revenues. In 2010, Spain decreed the obligation to report all transactions greater than $ 3,000. In 2012 a ban was placed on cash payments in excess of 2,500 euros.

Visa Europe now recommends that the Government of Mariano Rajoy further restrict the use of cash to combat the underground economy and, thus, increase tax collection. Visa suggests a measure similar to that adopted in Italy, where the limit is set at 1,000 euros.

Via MISH’S Global Economic Trend Analysis

How Does This End?

“The fleecing of the American public continues.

The theft takes different forms, but it all serves one purpose — to transfer wealth from the average Joe to the crony corporatists and their political lackeys. Here are but a few examples of how this has been accomplished:

• Bailouts for the wealthy and well-connected are paid for by the unconnected middle class.
• Subsidies are provided for unworkable schemes submitted by political donors and favorites. These schemes inevitably fail and the tax-payer is left holding an empty bag.
• Laws are routinely ignored when “friends” need help. In identical circumstances, would you receive the same treatment as Jon Corzine?
• Despite the biggest theft in world history, no one was prosecuted. The Savings and Loan crisis in the 1980s was trivial in comparison to the recent financial crisis. More than a thousand S&L executives were prosecuted.
• Ever-increasing sacrifices in the form of higher taxes from the productive sector are demanded to continue the plush living of the ruling class.

Capitalism and free markets depend upon trust, integrity, property rights and the rule of law. Without these, there are no advantages to free markets. Nor are there any incentives to create wealth. Instead, an economy becomes little more than a massive plunder scheme where the powerful exploit the weak. No economic recovery is possible under such circumstances.”

Via Zero Hedge

Assault On Gold Update

“I was the first to point out that the Federal Reserve was rigging all markets, not merely bond prices and interest rates, and that the Fed is rigging the bullion market in order to protect the US dollar’s exchange value, which is threatened by the Fed’s quantitative easing. With the Fed adding to the supply of dollars faster than the demand for dollars is increasing, the price or exchange value of the dollar is set up to fall.

A fall in the dollar’s exchange rate would push up import prices and, thereby, domestic inflation, and the Fed would lose control over interest rates. The bond market would collapse and with it the values of debt-related derivatives on the “banks too big too fail” balance sheets. The financial system would be in turmoil, and panic would reign.”

Via Activist Post

Cyprus: $17 Billion Isn’t Enough

“Oh, but everyone believed that if Cyprus “came up with” $7 billion (by stealing deposits) and shutting down the banks, along with capital controls, the $10 billion was “enough.”

Oops — it’s not. As I noted at the time the destruction of jobs that came from pilfering small and medium sized business bank accounts was going to lead to monstrous layoffs — and thus fewer tax receipts.

Now the number has gone up to $23 billion — six billion more — which incidentally is twice what the government was first told they had to find on their own.

Yet another abject fraud perpetrated on the people.

Are you learning yet America?

Probably not.”

Via Market Ticker

Goldman Buying Gold, Selling Treasurys To Muppets Whom It Advises To Do Opposite

“There was a brief period of confusion for a while when Goldman didn’t have clear muppet-stomping trades on the book, and those who wished to frontrun the Goldman prop desk (and do the opposite of the muppet flow) were stuck furiously scratching their head. And granted while it’s not a “Stolper”, tonight we got two gifts (in the parlance of Whitney Tilson) with Goldman first telling its clients to sell gold following Goldman’s lowering of its price target for the yellow metal (which as always means the hedge fund known as Goldman is buying what its clients are selling). And then, moments ago, we also learned that Goldman is also selling the 10 Year, which it advise muppets to buy.”

Via Zero Hedge

Secret FDIC Plan to Loot Bank Accounts

‘It shouldn’t surprise. It’s already policy. Market analyst Graham Summers explained. Depositor theft is coming. Europe is banker occupied territory. So is America.

Finance is a new form of warfare. It’s more powerful than standing armies. Banking giants run things. Money power has final say.

Economies are strip-mined for profit. Communities are laid waste. Ordinary people are impoverished. Even their bank accounts aren’t safe.

Cypriot officials agreed to tax them. Canada, New Zealand, and Euroland member states plan doing the same thing. So does America.

Officially they’re called “bail-ins.” It’s code language for grand theft. Instead of breaking up, nationalizing, or closing down failed banks, depositor funds will keep them operating.”

Via Activist Post