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Global markets on ‘cliff edge’ amid fears over European banks

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Related: Krugman: The Third Depression is Coming | G20 banking reform agreed upon, to be finalized in Seoul | As world walks economic ‘tightrope,’ Toronto G20 agrees to voluntary deficit reduction, delayed bank regulation | IMF report advises G20 to make spending cuts top priority | G8 Summit: Leaders divided over tackling national deficits | Greece starts putting island land up for sale to save economy | Europe debt crisis shows rifts in G20 | The End of The Great Bailouts is Approaching | Germany could cause euro collapse: Soros | The Real Meaning of ‘Economic Austerity’: IMF/World Bank devastation | EU wants control over member budgets | Spain could test the euro to its limit | IMF says Spain taking right steps towards stability | EU to push for global bank tax at G20 | France surrenders to Germany’s demand for Euro oversight by central bank | Spanish bailout readied as EU chief warns ‘democracy could disappear’ in debt ridden states | Europe embraces the cult of austerity – but at what cost? | Soros Sees ‘Act II’ of Financial Crisis, Blames ‘Market Fundamentalism’ Again | Double-dip recession ‘practically inevitable’: UBS | European markets decline for 3rd day | Eurozone plan for common bond issue to head off debt crisis | EU plans to create watchdog to curb credit rating agencies | Germany bans naked short-selling | European debt fears batter TSX | Greece links U.S. banks to debt crisis | European Council On Foreign Relations: EU Needs To Use Crisis For Greater Power | Sarkozy threatened to quit euro in showdown with Germany: Report | Hedge funds vote threatens EU-US rift | Global markets slide on debt fears | Loonie, TSX slip on euro woes | European Powerbrokers Present Proposal For New Economic And Political Order | Europe and America Morally and Financially Bankrupt | EU wants member countries to co-ordinate budgets | EU deal euphoria fizzles out | Ron Paul: Euro Bailout Will Lead To Currency Collapse | ‘Shock and awe’ euro rescue lifts global markets | Western Central Banks back Trillion Dollar European rescue plan, ECB to manage markets | Euro zone to regulate hedge funds, vows to fend off ‘wolf pack’ traders at all costs | Euro crisis goes global as leaders fail to stop the rot | Debt crisis: Panic on Wall Street, stonewalling in Europe | Greek rescue fears hit global stock markets | Greece swallows tough medicine in $150B bailout, more spending cuts announced | Greece erupts as men from IMF prepare to wield axe | Greece’s near bankruptcy won’t scuttle Canada-EU trade talks: minister | New austerity measures essential, says Greek PM | European Central Bank chief: Bank of International Settlements to Rule the Global Economy | Greek debt crisis: Europe feels shockwaves as bailout falters | Standard & Poor’s downgrade Greek credit rating to junk status | Greek bailout not limited to €45bn, Flaherty warns | IMF to move quickly on Greek request for loan | Greek PM calls for EU bailout loans | Greek civil servants strike, challenge EU/IMF talks | Soros warns Europe of disintegration | Investors rush to sell Greek bonds | IMF struggles to conceal glee at Greek deal | Greece secures joint IMF/Eurozone bailout program | Greek PM threatens to go to IMF if no EU bailout | General strike cripples Greece as protesters clash with police | Athens erupts as Greek austerity plan passes | Greece unveils radical austerity package | Athen’s coffers to run dry in two weeks, more cracks appear in Eurozone | Man who broke the Bank of England, George Soros, ‘at centre of hedge funds plot to cash in on fall of the euro’ | Goldman role in Greek crisis probed | Greek workers stage general strike | How EU Countries Cooked Books Using Derivatives | Goldman Sachs Helped Greece Obscure Debt Through Currency Swaps | Collapse of the euro is ‘inevitable’: Bailing out the Greek economy futile, says French banking chief | Euro currency union shows strains | Stimulating our way into debt crises | EU leaders reach secret Greek bailout deal | Will Greece set off ‘global debt bomb’? | EU cautions Greece about its deficit | Could Greece drag down Europe? | ‘Significant chance’ of second financial crisis, warns World Economic Forum | A world awash in debt | Secret report details Nazi plan to create a European Union | Leaked 1955 Bilderberg Docs Outline Plan For Single European Currency | Leaked Agenda: Bilderberg Group Plans Economic Depression | Bilderberg chairman: ‘Bilderberg helped create the Euro’ | Bilderberg Seeks Bank Centralization Agenda

Jill Treanor, Nick Fletcher, The Guardian
June 29, 2010

Value of top 100 UK firms fell by £100bn in six days, US consumer confidence lowest for seven months

Fears that government austerity packages will hinder global growth have combined with fresh anxiety about the health of European banks to hammer investor confidence.

Shares on both sides of the Atlantic dropped heavily amid warnings that markets were on a “cliff edge”.

In jittery trading ahead of a crucial repayment by Europe’s banks of a €442bn (£362bn) European Central Bank loan on Thursday the rates at which banks lend to each other in euros rose to their highest levels in eight months as rumours swirled that some banks were finding it difficult to raise funds in the money markets.

The FTSE 100 has now fallen 14% since its April peak after losing 157.46 points to close at 4914.22, a 3% decline on the day and its lowest level since September last year. French and German markets lost about 3%. Wall Street was down 235 points by the time London closed, about 100 points below the 10,000 level.

Analysts will be looking tomorrow for an indication of whether banks are becoming less reliant on their taxpayer lifeline when the ECB offers a way to refinance the €442bn one-year loan hours before the repayment is due.

If banks ask for more than €300bn to repay their existing loans with the more expensive three-month money being provided by the ECB, then concerns about the health of the banking system will escalate, analysts said.

(more…)

Dollar should be replaced as international standard, UN report says

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Problem, reaction, solution: globalist bankers have been successful at blowing out the US dollar and the Euro and bringing them to the brink via massive wealth destruction through the sale of fraudulent derivative securities, the monetization of the resultant debt, and “stimulus” inflation. This artificial debt bubble is just about set to pop, and a new solution is being offered by the same people, in much the same way a crack dealer strings along his victims.Want a hit? The first one’s free.

Related: RBS tells clients to prepare for ‘monster’ money-printing by the Federal Reserve | The scary euro? Maybe the most frightening monster is the greenback | Germany could cause euro collapse: Soros | Spain could test the euro to its limit | US money supply plunges at 1930s pace as Obama eyes fresh stimulus | Germany’s Merkel Says Euro Is in Danger | Ron Paul: Euro Bailout Will Lead To Currency Collapse | Ontario launches U.S. bond | IMF chief proposes new reserve currency | Man who broke the Bank of England, George Soros, ‘at centre of hedge funds plot to cash in on fall of the euro’ | Collapse of the euro is ‘inevitable’: Bailing out the Greek economy futile, says French banking chief | Euro currency union shows strains | The Federal Reserve as Giant Counterfeiter | Current And Former IMF Heads Call For New Global Currency | George Soros Calls for World Currency and “New World Architecture” | U.S. dollar sags on global financial leaders’ omission | G20 Meet To Finalize Dumping Of Dollar This Weekend? | Dollar Reaches Breaking Point as Central Banks Shift Reserves | Fisk: Nations to hasten demise of dollar in new world order | US dollar set to be eclipsed, World Bank president predicts | Bilderberg Wants Global Currency Now | Dollar to fall under scrutiny at G20 summit | UN wants new global currency to replace dollar | G20 agrees to continue economic stimulus measures; Geithner shops international reserve accord | China Set to Buy $50 Billion in IMF Notes | Medvedev Unveils “World Currency” Coin At G8 | China calls anew for super-sovereign currency | China explores buying $50bn in IMF bonds | Chinese economists deem huge holding of US bonds “risky” as Geithner visits| U.N. panel says world should ditch dollar | IMF may need to “print money”, act as “world’s central bank” as crisis spreads | Globalists Exploit Financial Meltdown In Move Towards One World Currency | World needs new Bretton Woods, says Brown

Gabriella Casanas, Mick B. Krever, CNN
June 29, 2010

The dollar is an unreliable international currency and should be replaced by a more stable system, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs said in a report released Tuesday.

The use of the dollar for international trade came under increasing scrutiny when the U.S. economy fell into recession. “The dollar has proved not to be a stable store of value, which is a requisite for a stable reserve currency,” the report said.

Many countries, in Asia in particular, have been building up massive dollar reserves. As a result, those countries’ currencies have become undervalued, decreasing their ability to import goods from abroad.

The World Economic and Social Survey 2010 is supporting a proposal long advocated by the International Monetary Fund to create a standardized international system for liquidity transfer.

Under this proposed system, countries would no longer have to buy up foreign currencies, as China has long done with the U.S. dollar. Rather, they would accumulate the right to claim foreign currencies, or special drawing rights, or SDRs, rather than the currencies themselves.

(more…)

Krugman: The Third Depression is Coming

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

Though we may question why the mainstream media has chosen this particular moment to begin using the ‘D’ word, Krugman is of course correct that a depression is coming. What else can we expect when, clearly, influential global banks pumped and dumped the equity and real estate markets in 2008 by injecting them with a vicious cocktail of fraudulent weaponized paper? And when they’ve been similarly euthanizing nations and their currencies by rebundling the debt from 2008 and monetizing it via the ’stimulus’ Krugman is so fond of?

The only choices left to those of us who don’t own private islands and are trapped aboard this careening engine are to stoke the boilers, slam down the accelerator, and try to pump up a global currency bubble to push the greatest debt explosion in recorded history off to the next generation – or slow it down, pull onto a side rail, and effect repairs. And what would be the best way to do that? By defaulting on the sovereign debt, letting the global central banks and their handlers burn (good riddance Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan et al), and moving to decentralized, market-driven commodity monetary systems that preserve wealth and which, intrinsically, make it hard for those who would be King to raise funds for wars and inflate away our livelihoods.

Of course the G20 got it wrong. While their solution isn’t as bad as Krugman’s suicidal Keynesianism, all they’ve elected to do is slow the infernal machine down to let the boiler cool before, once again, throwing fuel on the fire. Of course this turns a blind eye to the root cause of the problem, shears the populations of the world to enrich the responsible institutions, and sets everything up for the boom and bust cycle to repeat itself yet again. (Assuming we haven’t gone entirely into debt bondage and there’s anything left resembling an economy). Of course it’s a scam, and the first thing people have to do is say: stop this crazy thing, we want to get off.

Related: The End of The Great Bailouts is Approaching | The Real Meaning of ‘Economic Austerity’: IMF/World Bank devastation | Double-dip recession ‘practically inevitable’: UBS | Europe and America Morally and Financially Bankrupt | Terence Corcoran: The rise of global statism | Stimulating our way into debt crises | The Federal Reserve as Giant Counterfeiter | The Keynesian quagmire | Nassim Taleb on the economy: ‘We still have the same disease’ | Statistical Deceptions: How Fake is the “Recovery”? | Headed to National Socialism | The Illustrated Road to Serfdom | Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

Paul Krugman, The New York Times
June 27, 2010

Recessions are common; depressions are rare. As far as I can tell, there were only two eras in economic history that were widely described as “depressions” at the time: the years of deflation and instability that followed the Panic of 1873 and the years of mass unemployment that followed the financial crisis of 1929-31.

Neither the Long Depression of the 19th century nor the Great Depression of the 20th was an era of nonstop decline — on the contrary, both included periods when the economy grew. But these episodes of improvement were never enough to undo the damage from the initial slump, and were followed by relapses.

We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression. It will probably look more like the Long Depression than the much more severe Great Depression. But the cost — to the world economy and, above all, to the millions of lives blighted by the absence of jobs — will nonetheless be immense.

And this third depression will be primarily a failure of policy. Around the world — most recently at last weekend’s deeply discouraging G-20 meeting — governments are obsessing about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending.

(more…)

RBS tells clients to prepare for ‘monster’ money-printing by the Federal Reserve

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

Related: The scary euro? Maybe the most frightening monster is the greenback | US money supply plunges at 1930s pace as Obama eyes fresh stimulus | Europe and America Morally and Financially Bankrupt | Terence Corcoran: The rise of global statism | Stimulating our way into debt crises | The Federal Reserve as Giant Counterfeiter | The Keynesian quagmire | Nassim Taleb on the economy: ‘We still have the same disease’ | Statistical Deceptions: How Fake is the “Recovery”? | Headed to National Socialism | The Illustrated Road to Serfdom | Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Telegraph
June 27, 2010

As recovery starts to stall in the US and Europe with echoes of mid-1931, bond experts are once again dusting off a speech by Ben Bernanke given eight years ago as a freshman governor at the Federal Reserve.

Entitled “Deflation: Making Sure It Doesn’t Happen Here“, it is a warfare manual for defeating economic slumps by use of extreme monetary stimulus once interest rates have dropped to zero, and implicitly once governments have spent themselves to near bankruptcy.

The speech is best known for its irreverent one-liner: “The US government has a technology, called a printing press, that allows it to produce as many US dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost.”

Bernanke began putting the script into action after the credit system seized up in 2008, purchasing $1.75 trillion of Treasuries, mortgage securities, and agency bonds to shore up the US credit system. He stopped far short of the $5 trillion balance sheet quietly pencilled in by the Fed Board as the upper limit for quantitative easing (QE).

(more…)

Global governance fail: National sovereignty stands tall at the G20

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

While we must admire Mr. Corcoran’s optimism, there is reason to fear it may be dashed all too soon – there is always some new war, some new pretext for globalizing treaties waiting around the corner. COP 16 (Mexico) and the Seoul G20 are both scheduled for November this year. Certainly the globalist agenda ius on its heels, and reporting from the Bilderberg group this year affirms this – but as the saying goes, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. And though the gridlock of the $1.2 billion G20 summit deserves a cheer, our vigilance has been sorely lacking of late.

Related: How will democracy fare under the G20’s new world order? | Blame Canada: How Paul Martin, Larry Summers sketched out G20 new world order | G20 agenda named as “global government” by thinktank, Toronto summit set to sit on hands | Harper calls for global economic governance, lauds G20 as ruling forum | Terence Corcoran: The rise of global statism | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

Terence Corcoran, The Financial Post
June 27, 2010

Global governance, one of the drearier hallucinations of statist think tanks and back-room bureaucrats — and the phantasmagorial nightmare of anti-capitalist black-clad ideological crazies — crashed into the great wall of national realities at the G8 and G20 Toronto summits and went up in smoke. But that does not make the Toronto summits a failure. What still stands tall in the world economy and in global politics — as it should — is national sovereignty.

The governance camp will try to scrounge fragments of globalist achievement out of the official verbal and rhetorical shambles generated in the final communiqués and closing comments of the Toronto summit leaders. But there is little in the end that could be reassembled into a coherent statement of collective action. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, host of the summits, tried on Sunday to claim summit unity on the basis that the summits established a “framework” for common cause and policy convergence.

But in fact the Toronto summits represent a near total collapse of efforts to create some kind of overarching centre of global economic power. Despite repeated reference to strong collective commitments to international cooperation, sustainable development and macroeconomic co-ordination, the G8/G20 separately and jointly agreed to go their own ways and avoid collective action as much as possible.

On everything from deficit reduction to climate change, from financial regulation to trade, foreign aid, currencies and Afghanistan, the G20 ultimately marched off in 20 separate directions.

(more…)

G20 banking reform agreed upon, to be finalized in Seoul

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

The new rules are to be drafted by the Basel committee, the working group of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). It’s the sort of thing banks ought to be doing anyways in order to avoid some of the more dangerous and fraudulent corollaries of the system of fractional reserve banking. But two questions hang in the air – will this move then provide justification for the continued virtualization of monetary instruments? And what will the long-term consequences on the economic sovereignty of nations be of the unspoken precedent being set here – increased centralization of economic regulation power in the hands of the world’s central bank, the BIS? It’s just as Trichet said back in April at the CFR, when the G20 communique was actually being worked out (prior to this lavish coming out party we’ve just seen in Toronto): the Global Economy Meeting (GEM), which regularly meets at the BIS headquarters in Basel, “Has become the prime group for global governance among central banks”. But you’re not supposed to know about this. You’re not supposed to care while a new global economic architecture is built up around you. Well, you’d better figure out what it means that the same central bankers, the same casino system that brought you the global economic crisis in the first place are accruing more power and centralizing it under the rubric of ‘global governance’. You’d better figure out what that means to you and your family real fast. You might call it the real Secret of Oz (2 3 4) – what’s behind the curtain? Pull it aside and you begin to see that the contours of history are shaped by the battle over the ability to manipulate currency, the power to plunge economies into debt in the same way individuals have been controlled throughout history by countless sharecropping scams – it’s the company store, it’s your credit card, it’s the protection racket of income tax, it’s the inflation of paper dollars. You’re watching a financial coup in slow motion, and it must be resisted. The first place to begin is by looking at the difference between Keynesian and Austrian economic theory. One fun place to start is this short video: Fear the Boom and Bust.

Related: Obama calls for bank tax as next step in Wall Street reform | Europe debt crisis shows rifts in G20 | Expectations muted for economic, financial-reform breakthroughs at G20 | G20 Bank tax push gains momentum as UK, France, Germany introduce national legislation | EU to push for global bank tax at G20 | Tucker Bilderberg 2010 Wrapup: Attack on Iran discussed, World Treasury Dept delayed | G20 to delay tough bank tax regulations | Canada, EU at loggerheads over bank tax | European Central Bank chief: Bank of International Settlements to Rule the Global Economy | Harper calls for global economic governance, lauds G20 as ruling forum | US prepares to push for global capital rules | Flaherty wins delay in decision on global bank tax at interim G20 meeting | Bankers Prepare To Assault Americans With VAT, Transaction Taxes | Global bank tax urged by IMF | Flaherty stands firm against new bank tax | G20 sounds warning over lack of progress on global regulation | Banking reforms urgent, Harper says at G20 sherpas’ meeting | G20 ’sherpas’ meet with IMF, World Bank on Ottawa | Tories hand out $75 billion worth of ’spending restraint’ | Gordon Brown’s plan for global bank tax ‘a step closer | Global Bank Insurance Levy Wins Support over Transaction Tax at Davos | Harper urges G20 to follow economic accords | Bankers unite against Barack Obama and Gordon Brown in call for world regulation | IMF warns against retreat from stimulus spending | Banks find gaping loophole in Obama financial reforms | Obama talking tough with banks | EU urged to adopt bank supertax | Obama ponders bank transaction levy to recoup bailout shortfalls | No new stimulus, economy ’stabilized’: Harper | Explosive Leaked Emails Expose Treasury Secretary Geithner’s Deception in ‘Backdoor Bailout’ | Final Copenhagen Text Includes Global Transaction Tax | EU calls for tax on bank transactions | UK: Brown takes campaign for Tobin tax to Commonwealth | UK: Brown proposes global fund to kick-start Copenhagen climate change process | Flaherty, USA say no to global financial tax, yes to continued ’stimulus’ at G20 | Bernanke continues pressing for sweeping new powers for Fed | IMF chief wants global bank tax | G20 nations meet as protests flare on issue of international banking regulation | IMF approves $13bn gold sale to boost lending fund | China Set to Buy $50 Billion in IMF Notes | China calls anew for super-sovereign currency | No one talking about dumping dollar: China minister | China explores buying $50bn in IMF bonds | Chinese economists deem huge holding of US bonds “risky” as Geithner visits | A Bigger, Bolder Role Is Imagined For the IMF | UK PM reveals G20 plan to boost IMF by $1 trillion, hails new world order (again) | UN & IMF Back Agenda For Global Financial Dictatorship | IMF poised to print billions of dollars in ‘global quantitative easing’ | Gordon Brown seeks sweeping reforms to give IMF global ’surveillance role’ | IMF may need to “print money”, act as “world’s central bank” as crisis spreads | Globalists Exploit Financial Meltdown In Move Towards One World Currency | World needs new Bretton Woods, says Brown | IMF prescribes state regulation of ‘global financial order’ | Bilderberg Seeks Bank Centralization Agenda | Banks face “new world order,” consolidation: report

Larry Elliott, Patrick Wintour, The Guardian
June 27, 2010

Under a plan to be finalised for the next G20 meeting banks will have to improve both the quantity and quality of the capital they hold

Tough rules designed to ensure banks make themselves strong enough to withstand a crisis without taxpayer bailouts have been backed by the G20.

Under a plan to be finalised for the next G20 meeting in South Korea in November, banks will over the next few years have to improve both the quantity and quality of the capital they hold. But in a compromise insisted upon by European G20 members, the proposal to have a regime by the end of 2012 has been shelved and governments will be given time to ensure their banks meet the standards.

Britain and the US were pressing for urgent reform, but believe the trade-off is the best way of ensuring that standards are enforced globally. Chancellor George Osborne said G20 had made “a significant step forward”.

(more…)

As world walks economic ‘tightrope,’ Toronto G20 agrees to voluntary deficit reduction, delayed bank regulation

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

What a sham. The majority of the famed G20 communiqué was worked out in advance and ‘leaked’ to the media in time, no doubt, for press runs. G20 leaders, for their part, were treated to a ‘working dinner’, gave their ceremonial blessing to the austerity plan, tweaked it slightly by bowing to China’s demands it not be singled out for currency manipulation, and went home. Price tag? $1.2 billion dollars, the erosion of your civil rights, and the militarization of the country’s financial capital. All of which (those new cameras, LRADs, water cannon etc.) will come in mighty handy once the austerity measures kick in. Hope we had good catering at least. Read the text of the communiqué here.

Related: IMF report advises G20 to make spending cuts top priority | G8 Summit: Leaders divided over tackling national deficits | The End of The Great Bailouts is Approaching | The Real Meaning of ‘Economic Austerity’: IMF/World Bank devastation | For G20 leaders, fiscal austerity is the new normal | IMF says Spain taking right steps towards stability | Harper urges austerity, Obama stimulus in urge for G20 to boost economic recovery | Carney warns of ‘age of austerity’, global outlook ‘getting worse’ | Spanish bailout readied as EU chief warns ‘democracy could disappear’ in debt ridden states | Europe embraces the cult of austerity – but at what cost? | | British face big spending cuts as coalition shows unity on austerity | Impact of $47B stimulus minimal: Fraser Institute | More stimulus spending coming | Federal budget watchdog disputes Flaherty’s forecasts | Hope keeps Flaherty’s balanced budget afloat | Tories hand out $75 billion worth of ’spending restraint’ | Stimulating our way into debt crises | IMF warns against retreat from stimulus spending | Flaherty’s economic plan blasted as leading to taxation or cuts | Idle job market hurting recovery, Flaherty warns | No new stimulus, economy ’stabilized’: Harper | Lower tax haul helps widen Ottawa deficit, $56.2B shortfall expected | Can’t say if federal stimulus is working: watchdog | Liberals call stimulus numbers ‘fiction’ | Ottawa on track for largest-ever deficit | Flaherty, USA say no to global financial tax, yes to continued ’stimulus’ at G20 | Economic picture still not very bright, and more layoffs are in store, manufacturers say | G20 to pledge continued ’stimulus’, examine international reserve fund | Aspiring government economists must reveal views on stimulus plan | Fund me or axe me, parliamentary budget officer says | Stephen Harper trumpets economic report card | Carney says G20 must stay the course on stimulus | Ottawa’s deficit plan would hike EI premiums | Canada’s $1-trillion debt baby | Flaherty sees deficit, debt, and timetable to return to surplus all expanding | G20 agrees to continue economic stimulus measures; Geithner shops international reserve accord | Federal deficit hits $7.5B in April-May | Budget officer ‘can’t tell’ if stimulus plan working | G8 leaders see no early end to stimulus | Flaherty looks for way to end stimulus | Stimulus cash is flowing – down a hole? | Harper lays out stimulus spending in progress report | ‘Reduced pace of deterioration’ indicates economy on the mend: Flaherty | Federal deficit to top $50B | Stimulus needed now, Bank of Canada says | US Congress reaches deal on economic stimulus package | $12B for infrastructure forms key pillar of stimulus package | Brace for a big, ‘comprehensive’ budget: Harper | Transport Minister Baird calls for dramatic action on stimulus package | Obama calls for ‘dramatic action’ on stimulus package | Flaherty vows short-lived deficit, consults corporate chiefs on spending initiatives | Harper government plans deficits as deep as $30 billion | Britain to introduce massive stimulus package | Deficits ‘essential,’ Harper says | Flaherty eyes sale of Canadian government assets | Flaherty lauds Keynesian global ‘economic stimulus’ strategies

Jeremy Torobin, Boyd Erman, The Globe and Mail
June 27, 2010

Communiqué says countries support Stephen Harper’s proposal for deficit targets, warns of risks

The Group of 20 will adopt deficit- and debt-cutting targets proposed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper but allow governments to attack their fiscal gaps as their own economic dynamics dictate.

G20 leaders pledge to “take all necessary steps … fully within agreed timelines,” according to a leaked draft of the summit communiqué.

“Measures will need to be implemented at the national level and will need to be tailored to individual country circumstances,” the document says. “We will each identify additional measures, as necessary, that we will take toward achieving strong, sustainable, and balanced growth.”

The communiqué adds that “advanced economies” commit to the targets urged by Mr. Harper, to cut deficits in half by 2013 and “stabilize or reduce” overall debt-to-GDP levels by 2016.

“We are committed to taking concerted actions to sustain the recovery, create jobs and to achieve stronger, more sustainable and more balanced growth,” it says. “These will be differentiated and tailored to national circumstances.”

The more immediate targets would be ambitious for many countries. For example, Japan’s current fiscal strategy seeks to halve the deficit relative to gross domestic product by fiscal 2015, and to achieve a surplus by 2020.

“Honestly, this is more than I expected, because it is quite specific,” said Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel. “It’s a success that industrialized countries as a group accepted this.”

(more…)

Obama calls for bank tax as next step in Wall Street reform

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

President Obama wishes to create a protocol for dismantling troubled financial firms. The more skeptical among us may envision a wood chipper pointed straight into the ‘blood funnel’ of Goldman-Sachs. But don’t pay attention to the fact globalists are looting your country, look! People kicking a ball on TV!

Update (2010/06/29): Spoiler alert: The G20 version of Obama’s legislation didn’t happen. Not this time. Flaherty and Harper held off the EU and stuck to their guns. Maybe in France G20 2011, we hear Sarkozy’s a big fan. In the meantime, wait and see if Obama gets to sign this in as national legislation on July 4, a particularly obscene gesture.

Related: Obama celebrates banking bill’s passage in Senate | Goldman Sachs concedes case for restraining the big banks | US prepares to push for global capital rules | The Obama Banking Regulation: Big Banks Are Too Politically Connected to Fail | Obama scolds Wall Street for fighting reform, pushes new regulation package | Obama urges Senate to hand total oversight of financial sector to Federal Reserve, eliminate ‘Reserve’ part | Bernanke Pushes to Keep Regulation Power as Some Senators Waver | The Federal Reserve as Giant Counterfeiter | Bankers unite against Barack Obama and Gordon Brown in call for world regulation | Banks find gaping loophole in Obama financial reforms | Obama talking tough with banks | Wall Street’s leading bankers admit: we made mistakes | Obama ponders bank transaction levy to recoup bailout shortfalls | Explosive Leaked Emails Expose Treasury Secretary Geithner’s Deception in ‘Backdoor Bailout’ | US Bankers Get $4 Trillion Gift From Barney Frank | Financial reform bill passes U.S. House | Taibbi: Obama’s sellout to Wall Street creates ‘permanent bailout’ | Americans Deserve a Transparent Federal Reserve | Bernanke continues pressing for sweeping new powers for Fed | Federal Reserve Appeals Order to Disclose Emergency Bank Loans | Judge Orders Federal Reserve To Disclose Who Received Bailout Trillions | Geithner lambastes US economic watchdogs resistant to planned transfer of powers to Federal Reserve | Obama Regulatory Reform Plan Officially Establishes Banking Dictatorship In United States | Obama unveils overhaul of financial system oversight | Federal Reserve To Be Given Sweeping New Powers | Top Senate Democrat: bankers “own” the U.S. Congress | Wall Street’s Big Takeover | Geithner Said to Have Prevailed on the Bailout | Banks won’t say where U.S. bailout money going | Paulson, Bernanke defend change of plan: $700-billion now to be given directly to banks | Congress Accuses Federal Reserve Bagman Of Bailout “Bait and Switch” During Angry Hearing | U.S. government won’t use bailout fund to buy troubled assets | Behind the panic: Financial warfare over the future of global bank power | Goldman-Sachs Alumni Hold Reins of Financial System | Treasury’s Plan Would Give Fed Wide New Power | Financial ’super cop’ role for Fed

Caren Bohan, Mario Di Simine, Reuters
June 26, 2010

President Barack Obama, fresh from a win on a sweeping overhaul of Wall Street regulations, on Saturday urged Congress to take up his proposal for a $90 billion, 10-year tax on banks as the next step in reform.

Obama wants to slap a 0.15 percent tax on the liabilities of the biggest U.S. financial institutions to recoup the costs to taxpayers of the financial bailout.

“We need to impose a fee on the banks that were the biggest beneficiaries of taxpayer assistance at the height of our financial crisis — so we can recover every dime of taxpayer money,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address. [Ed. Note: Presumably not the government-connected banks, they paid their loans off in record time. It's their next biggest competitors that are targeted by this legislation.]

Obama, who is in Canada to attend gatherings with leaders of the world’s biggest economies, also used the address to welcome a deal by congressional negotiators on a historic rewriting of U.S. financial regulations.

Obama hopes to tout the changes as a model for other countries at the Group of 20 summit on Saturday and Sunday.

“I hope we can build on the progress we made at last year’s G20 summits by coordinating our global financial reform efforts to make sure a crisis like the one from which we are still recovering never happens again,” he said.

(more…)

IMF report advises G20 to make spending cuts top priority

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

“Lies and theft/ Guns and debt/ Life and death/ IMF” – Vampires by Thievery Corporation

What’s the balance of outstanding loans between the IMF and G20 countries? Well, it turns out they have a webpage for that and the present total is 51 billion in credit outstanding accounts. That’s priced in ‘SDRs’, the house scrip of the IMF, which aspires to be a sort of world Federal Reserve. So in this communique, they’re simply giving their clients a little friendly advice to pay up. Can you imagine if this institution, its interventions and predatory loans the cause of so much turmoil in the developing world, won its PR campaign to get international transactions denominated in SDRs? Soros, DSK, Sarkozy and others are hopping with urgency for the  Petrodollar replacement. The IMF would be the top creditor to the world, essentially taking over the Federal Reserve’s role and extending its services, so helpful to the USA, to all nations. Hopefully DSK would be gone by that point, a small mercy. Have you read his bio? Domique Strauss-Khan is a dyed in the wool collectivist, scion of the socialist party in France, a veteran of the “Yes” campaign for the EU constitution, a top globalist. If the IMF takes over the printing of currency, this guy becomes a sort of Alan Greenspan to the world. And if you thought Greenspan was creepy, check out old DSK.

The IMF’s business primary business is setting up military dictatorships to drain the resources of a country dry. DSK and the IMF both fulfill the archetype of the wight, the vampire – he with his insistent SMS, they with their SDRs and SAPs – “Structural Adjustment” austerity programs. Hey Canada, there’s a new banker in town and you’re not going to like what he puts on the table. You thought turmoil followed the G20? Just wait until you see an IMF riot. That’s why Harper spent a good chunk of the 1.2 Billion it cost to stage the IMF on security hardware. They’re just getting ready for the really angry mobs all the military studies are predicting when people figure out how they are being bled dry. (It would go some way to explain why Harper appears so bloodless. It should come as no surprise he’s for austerity programs as well.)

Related: G8 Summit: Leaders divided over tackling national deficits | The End of The Great Bailouts is Approaching | The Real Meaning of ‘Economic Austerity’: IMF/World Bank devastation | For G20 leaders, fiscal austerity is the new normal | IMF says Spain taking right steps towards stability | Harper urges austerity, Obama stimulus in urge for G20 to boost economic recovery | Carney warns of ‘age of austerity’, global outlook ‘getting worse’ | Spanish bailout readied as EU chief warns ‘democracy could disappear’ in debt ridden states | Europe embraces the cult of austerity – but at what cost? | | British face big spending cuts as coalition shows unity on austerity | Impact of $47B stimulus minimal: Fraser Institute | More stimulus spending coming | Federal budget watchdog disputes Flaherty’s forecasts | Hope keeps Flaherty’s balanced budget afloat | Tories hand out $75 billion worth of ’spending restraint’ | Stimulating our way into debt crises | IMF warns against retreat from stimulus spending | Flaherty’s economic plan blasted as leading to taxation or cuts | Idle job market hurting recovery, Flaherty warns | No new stimulus, economy ’stabilized’: Harper | Lower tax haul helps widen Ottawa deficit, $56.2B shortfall expected | Can’t say if federal stimulus is working: watchdog | Liberals call stimulus numbers ‘fiction’ | Ottawa on track for largest-ever deficit | Flaherty, USA say no to global financial tax, yes to continued ’stimulus’ at G20 | Economic picture still not very bright, and more layoffs are in store, manufacturers say | G20 to pledge continued ’stimulus’, examine international reserve fund | Aspiring government economists must reveal views on stimulus plan | Fund me or axe me, parliamentary budget officer says | Stephen Harper trumpets economic report card | Carney says G20 must stay the course on stimulus | Ottawa’s deficit plan would hike EI premiums | Canada’s $1-trillion debt baby | Flaherty sees deficit, debt, and timetable to return to surplus all expanding | G20 agrees to continue economic stimulus measures; Geithner shops international reserve accord | Federal deficit hits $7.5B in April-May | Budget officer ‘can’t tell’ if stimulus plan working | G8 leaders see no early end to stimulus | Flaherty looks for way to end stimulus | Stimulus cash is flowing – down a hole? | Harper lays out stimulus spending in progress report | ‘Reduced pace of deterioration’ indicates economy on the mend: Flaherty | Federal deficit to top $50B | Stimulus needed now, Bank of Canada says | US Congress reaches deal on economic stimulus package | $12B for infrastructure forms key pillar of stimulus package | Brace for a big, ‘comprehensive’ budget: Harper | Transport Minister Baird calls for dramatic action on stimulus package | Obama calls for ‘dramatic action’ on stimulus package | Flaherty vows short-lived deficit, consults corporate chiefs on spending initiatives | Harper government plans deficits as deep as $30 billion | Britain to introduce massive stimulus package | Deficits ‘essential,’ Harper says | Flaherty eyes sale of Canadian government assets | Flaherty lauds Keynesian global ‘economic stimulus’ strategies

Heather Scoffield, The Globe and Mail
June 26, 2010

Sacrifices would be great, but rewards would be enormous, with millions of new jobs, widespread reduction in poverty, and stronger global growth, paper says

The International Monetary Fund has issued a secret recipe for global economic recovery that is sure to taste sour to many G20 leaders.

The confidential report, obtained by The Canadian Press, says advanced countries must make government spending cuts their top priority — the same message Prime Minister Stephen Harper and some other leaders are pushing at this weekend’s G20 summit.

The sacrifices would be great, but the IMF says the rewards would be enormous, with millions of new jobs, widespread reduction in poverty, and stronger global growth. It predicts world output would increase by $1.5-trillion (U.S.) over the medium term.

The paper was commissioned by the Group of 20 countries ahead of the summit so the group would have impartial and nuanced advice [Ed. Note: That's hilarious] as it figures out how to repair the world economy for the long haul. It has been kept confidential because the G20 members have not yet agreed to release it.

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The scary euro? Maybe the most frightening monster is the greenback

Friday, June 25th, 2010

Related: Germany could cause euro collapse: Soros | Spain could test the euro to its limit | US money supply plunges at 1930s pace as Obama eyes fresh stimulus | Germany’s Merkel Says Euro Is in Danger | Ron Paul: Euro Bailout Will Lead To Currency Collapse | Ontario launches U.S. bond | IMF chief proposes new reserve currency | Man who broke the Bank of England, George Soros, ‘at centre of hedge funds plot to cash in on fall of the euro’ | Collapse of the euro is ‘inevitable’: Bailing out the Greek economy futile, says French banking chief | Euro currency union shows strains | The Federal Reserve as Giant Counterfeiter | Current And Former IMF Heads Call For New Global Currency | George Soros Calls for World Currency and “New World Architecture” | U.S. dollar sags on global financial leaders’ omission | G20 Meet To Finalize Dumping Of Dollar This Weekend? | Dollar Reaches Breaking Point as Central Banks Shift Reserves | Fisk: Nations to hasten demise of dollar in new world order | US dollar set to be eclipsed, World Bank president predicts | Bilderberg Wants Global Currency Now | Dollar to fall under scrutiny at G20 summit | UN wants new global currency to replace dollar | G20 agrees to continue economic stimulus measures; Geithner shops international reserve accord | China Set to Buy $50 Billion in IMF Notes | Medvedev Unveils “World Currency” Coin At G8 | China calls anew for super-sovereign currency | China explores buying $50bn in IMF bonds | Chinese economists deem huge holding of US bonds “risky” as Geithner visits| U.N. panel says world should ditch dollar | IMF may need to “print money”, act as “world’s central bank” as crisis spreads | Globalists Exploit Financial Meltdown In Move Towards One World Currency | World needs new Bretton Woods, says Brown

Eric Reguly, The Globe and Mail
June 25, 2010

As economists foretell the demise of the European currency. they are forgetting about the U.S. dollar beast in the closet

The words that have dominated headlines on the euro have bordered on apocalyptic: crisis, blowout, sinking, disaster, chaos, death, storm, tragedy, fear, contagion. This is how the world has come to see Europe’s shared currency.

Anyone reading about the euro from the time that Greece began to unravel in January would have assumed that the greatest economic experiment since the end of the Second World War, perhaps since Roman troops employed pointy objects to unify Europe 2,000 years ago, was a dud, kaput, finito, mort. The North American media and the economists they quoted were particularly down on the 11-year-old euro project. They endlessly referred to American economist Milton Friedman’s prediction that the euro would not survive Europe’s first big economic crisis.

Mr. Friedman’s skepticism about the euro’s long-term viability may yet prove well founded. But on the eve of the Group of 20 summit in Toronto, the leaders of the euro zone countries will not arrive defeated, their heads bowed. That’s because, already, there are signs the worst is over.

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