statism watch

Reuters
November 13, 2008

OTTAWA — All countries should submit their financial systems to an independent review by the International Monetary Fund and be held accountable for the results, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Thursday.

Mr. Flaherty presented the proposal in a Financial Times column as world leaders prepare for a G20 summit of developed and developing nations in Washington on Saturday, where they aim to come up with a joint policy response to the global financial crisis.

Canada was the first country to undergo the IMF-World Bank review procedure, called the Financial Sector Assessment Program or FSAP, introduced in 1999. The plan aims to promote a sound financial sector by pinpointing weaknesses and recommending improvements. Last year it published the results from a second review.

“This independent review of domestic financial systems should be mandatory and public,” Mr. Flaherty wrote.

“We need IMF surveillance with teeth. Countries must live up to their responsibilities to support global financial stability and growth.”

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Steve Watson, Infowars.net
November 13, 2008

Investors warn liquidation of assets and deflation is temporary calm before the storm

Economic experts have predicted that rampant inflation caused by government stimulus packages will soon take hold of the economy and force precious commodity prices to all time highs.

Johann Santer, MD at Superfund Financial Hong Kong told CNBC that he expects to see gold climb from its current position at $710 to a whopping $1500-$2000 an ounce within the next three months.

“Should money should be going into cash, paper?” asked CNBC anchor Martin Soong, to which Santer replied in the negative:

“Not necessarily, we see that for the time being this remains the right strategy to be in, of course people are quite nervous, but once we start to understand again that it will not really protect us from inflation, which most likely will come in the long run, because of all the stimulus packages, I would assume that we should also start looking at the gold price at the moment and find opportunities there.”

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We’ve no doubt there is ‘nothing unusual’ about the way this deal went down…  now, who’s that killjoy that blew the whistle? That’s who we’ve really got to nail to the wall! (Duly filed under ‘corruption’.)

CBC News
November 13, 2008

Two former mayors of Vancouver are trying to reassure taxpayers there is nothing unusual about a proposed $100-million loan approved by city council to bailout the company developing the Olympic Village.

Phillip Owen and Larry Campbell said it is standard process to keep negotiations with developers private until a deal is signed.

“There was nothing differently done about this property transaction or the previous hundreds that have been done in the last three decades,” said Owen.

Campbell, who is now a Liberal senator, said he is more concerned about the breach of confidentiality that allowed news of the proposed deal to become public late last week.

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