Trade Policy and Economic Decline

In a book titled SELLING US OUT, J.R. Martin writes of Chinese companies “exploiting loopholes in the U.S.-China tax treaty signed by the Reagan administration in 1986.” He asks what the Founding Fathers would say about our current trade deficit, and our indebtedness to communist-ruled China. Martin asks, “What would Washington and Adams think about the corrupt and destructive power of the two major political parties in America? How would they judge today’s capitalism?”

Asia’s Currency War

Global finance chiefs may have denounced it, but that has not stopped Japan joining other central banks in driving its exchange rate lower. With Australia and South Korea forced to respond, will the Asia-Pacific region be the main battleground in a global currency war?

BARRON’S: There Were Two Gigantic, Suspicious Sales Of Gold On Friday That Caused The Price To Plunge

A lot of gold bugs think the price is being manipulated somehow, or that there’s some divergence between what’s going on in “paper” gold (gold prices that are tied to ETFs) and what’s going on in physical gold (people buying ingots or jewelery).

Randall W. Forsyth at Barron’s fans the flames of goldbug conspiracy theorists a bit this weekend, arguing that there have been suspicious sales in gold seen on the exchanges (probably driven by the ETFs).

He writes:

These improbable moves have made gold bugs suspicious, which isn’t unusual. Folks who own gold do so because they don’t trust the status quo, especially when it comes to government-issued paper money. But just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean somebody isn’t out to get you. They point to bursts of selling on Friday, April 12, which resulted in prices plunging by more than 5%, and to dumping that resumed the following Monday in Asia, early in the day when markets are illiquid. That culminated in a 9% collapse by the time the New York market had settled. But a seller who wanted to unload a large position at the optimal price would have done precisely the opposite—liquidate as discreetly as possible. Instead, sellers dumped the equivalent of more than 300 tons of the metal in staccato-like blasts during those sessions.

Hypocrisy and Capitalism

Fidel Castro once said, “I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating … because it causes war, hypocrisy and competition.” What is most curious in this quote is the apparent innocence with which a famous socialist dictator uses the term hypocrisy, as if the socialist alternative to capitalism were anything but hypocrisy. Socialist dictators often allege that economic freedom is slavery and then, through a socialist revolution, bring real slavery to an entire people. The socialist dictator says, “I am a liberator.” He blames the free market for poverty, and then he annihilates the free market in favor of near universal poverty. A politician like Castro, promising happiness and freedom, nonetheless delivers the exact opposite and has the nerve to say that capitalism is hypocritical.

Consider the old Soviet joke which asks, “Comrade, what is the definition of capitalism?” The answer comes back, “It is a system where man exploits man while socialism is the exact opposite.” The joke works nicely in all socialist countries. The socialist dictator blames the free market for the world’s problems. He assumes a dictatorship over the economy, over investment, over opportunity. It is a total dictatorship because the state takes total control. And what could be more “filthy” and “gross”?

Impact of the Crisis

Experts and analysts always say China, but it’s the one you never see coming that hits the hardest. They likely do not account for the fact that China, although ‘rising’, is not trusted throughout the world and will likely have a limited role instead of a leading one on the world stage because of this.

On the other hand, Germany’s stranglehold on and ever-growing control of the EU (the world’s largest economy) is also not accounted for. Couple that with the misguided appearance of being 100% pacifist since the second World War, yet it’s the third largest arms exporter in the world, you can give the upper hand to Germany. It’s a highly overlooked and dismissed fact.

BERLIN (Own report) – The EU crisis is causing a serious weakening of the EU’s foreign policy, concluded a recent study published by the Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin. Not only are the member states’ financial outlays for foreign and military activities clearly diminishing, due to leeway shrinkage caused by budget cuts, but “conflicts between member states have grown” around how to handle the crisis, according to the SWP. This has stifled “joint foreign policy initiatives.” The think tank points out that the enduring crisis and the hard-line German austerity dictate have damaged the prestige of the EU and, therefore, also severely tarnished its global “soft power.” Particularly damaging are the cuts in the military sector, even ranging up to 30 percent reductions in defense spending of the smaller and medium sized EU countries, jeopardizing their long term capability of participation in EU wars. The option of instrumentalizing a common EU foreign and military policy, to reinforce German clout and eventually promote it to world power status, had always been an important motive in Berlin for the buildup and development of the EU.

Europe’s Unemployed: An Army Waiting for a Leader

As Europe edges toward mass anarchy and chaos, the Catholic Church is emerging as the key mediator between Europeans and their leaders.

Europe’s unemployment crisis is one everyone knows about, but no one is thinking seriously about.

Cyprus-Greece agree to act in concert on defence matters

If you were, lets say, a sinister EU and you wanted to guarantee a supply of energy resources because you have none, how would you go about doing it?

Expanding on the relations between Cyprus and Greece pointed out by this article, one could say in a nutshell, this is how: The EU, which is ran by Germany via the “Troika”, subjugates Greece through forcing it to give up chunks of sovereign rights while simultaneously destroying the Cypriot economy for generations via bank depositor theft. While some control of both countries over their economies is retained, they forge natural relationships for a common cause (keeping Turkey and it’s revived Ottoman empire dream out of their region) that bring about resources that will ultimately be under the Fourth Reich’s EU control mechanism.

Perhaps this is too ahead-of-the-curve, but it is a very plausible outcome. Europe in general does not wish to remain dependent upon the Russian bear for all of its energy resources, nor the Middle East. This would be a life saver for them. They have no fear of economically or politically, openly raiding and plundering countries as shown in the last three years. Even if it doesn’t come under EU control, it’s also within the realm of possibility that the energy resources will be sold at very cheap prices to the EU in return for paying off country debt and regaining some sovereignty. Either way, you can look forward to the EU getting in on the action. Expect Israel to also fit into the equation as it also is a deterrence to Turkish aggression.

The Cyprus issue, energy security and the exploitation of hydrocarbon reserves in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone were examined during a meeting in Athens between the Defence Ministers of Cyprus and Greece, Fotis Fotiou and Panos Panagiotopoulos, respectively.

Fotiou also discussed with Panagiotopoulos the situation in the wider south-eastern Mediterranean region and Turkish threats against Cyprus with regard to oil exploration.

He thanked the Greek government and its people for supporting the Republic of Cyprus and for being the firm and permanent supporter of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cyprus and its economy, adding that “with hard work by both governments we can support one another and give hope and prospects to the people”.

Euro Rises as Sweden Threatens to Join Currency Wars

In case anyone didn’t catch last week’s currency news:

The so-called currency wars progressed further in today’s session, as two new countries jumped on the bandwagon of selling or threatening to sell its own currency to unwind recent strength.

Overnight, RBNZ Governor Wheeler announced that the central bank had already once intervened in Forex markets to bring down the price of the New Zealand Dollar. During European trading hours, Swedish Finance Minister Borg said the Krona’s strength may become an issue for the country’s central bank.

It Doesn’t Fit the Narrative, Part Two

Most know who George Soros is, but perhaps not as much as they’d like to believe. More well-sourced and factual information about Soros can be found here – more than you could ever ask for, or want to know.

The intelligence community that we know no longer exists, as it has been infiltrated long ago and is redirecting its agenda.

Last October we explained how the Benghazi incident  highlighted the very sad politicization of the Intelligence reporting of the United States. Not at the functional level, but at various points in the political leadership. Click the link below and read the post in light of this week’s revelations:

It Doesn’t Fit the Narrative

To be fair, there were cases of politicization of defense and intelligence matters in the Bush years as well, with the media questioning whether or not there really were WMDs in Iraq and the whole Valerie Plame situation to name a couple of incidents.

In our case, we have first-hand evidence of a problem in this regard. We were repeatedly told that “no one wants to go there”  and that “it doesn’t fit the narrative” when we presented credible evidence of financial market manipulation that took place in 2008 and threats of worse going forward. In private meetings with Intelligence Officials, some privately acknowledged that “the narrative” prevented a thorough review of what took place in the financial crash. They said it was “in the past” and no one wanted to look back. Of course, this is from the same Administration that said last September’s Benghazi tragedy was “a long time ago.”

Roll Back China’s Influence

NAYPYIDAW/BERLIN (Own report) – The German Foreign Ministry is strengthening Berlin’s anti-China position in Southeast Asia, through a new training program for employees of several of Myanmar’s ministries. If one seeks to “roll back” the influence of the People’s Republic of China, Myanmar is “a very interesting partner,” affirmed a specialist on Southeast Asia at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin. The German government is expanding cooperation with that country accordingly, and in addition to broadening cooperation on political projects, seeks particularly to enhance its economic influence. The EU recently lifted the economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar due also to German pressure. The German Ministry of the Economy is supporting new business deals. Critics’ indications that the economic opening of the country serves western enterprises and the local elite in the entourage of its military rulers, have as little effect as the human rights organizations’ protests, accusing the government in Naypyidaw of tolerating pogroms against the Muslim minority. They have been demanding – to no avail – that the EU take appropriate measures.

Billion dollar bet on rate cut pays off

From the man that nearly broke Britain:

It may go down as one of the great currency bets in Australian dollar history  – a $US1 billion gamble on a Reserve Bank  rate cut that has delivered a $US19 million ($18.65m) profit in 36  hours.

The beneficiary, if you believe the rumour mill, is investment legend George  Soros.

Best of all, it appears the 82-year-old American pulled off the deal three  times, all with different foreign exchange brokers in Asia, for a tidy profit of  almost $US60 million.

BREAKING: European Commission to criminalize nearly all seeds and plants not registered with government

As oft heard, Socialism is only a bridge to Communism. Today’s modern ’Troika‘ attempting to grab full control over what Europeans can grow in their own backyards illustrates the direction it’s going as the cycle of history repeats itself. Given the fact Cyprus and Greece (Italy/Spain/France next) can be subjugated by today’s Fourth Reich (Germany) running the EU via economic warfare through the Troika, one shouldn’t be surprised if they have enough leverage to pull this one off — especially since sovereign nations haven’t shown any backbone whatsoever in saying enough is enough.

(NaturalNews) A new law proposed by the European Commission would make it  illegal to “grow, reproduce or trade” any vegetable seeds that have not been “tested, approved and accepted”  by a new EU bureaucracy named the “EU Plant Variety Agency.”

It’s called  the Plant Reproductive Material Law, and it attempts to put the  government in charge of virtually all plants and seeds. Home gardeners who grow  their own plants from non-regulated seeds would be considered criminals under  this law.