Earlier today commenter mistcr made what I considered to be an astute comment regarding Matthew Crawford’s take on SVB’s place in the Banking/Monetary crisis.
This article by Simon Black over at Sovereignman really spelled it out for someone like me who finds the economics of it all hard to understand. What really hit me between the eyes was his comment that the 2008 crisis was caused by the subprime stuff, lending money to NINJAS that had no chance of being paid back, while today's crisis is caused by these banks over-investing in US government bonds that "are supposed to be the safest, most ‘risk free’ asset in the world." In short, "These losses didn’t come from some mountain of crazy NINJA loans. SVB failed because they lost billions from US government bonds… which are the new toxic securities." That's how far we've come, folks.
Yep. I get it that it's not the fault of the bond concept itself that this is happening. My point was the symbolism of it all. Our financial corruption has become so deep that what is supposed to be a symbol of security is now being used as a tool for greed. It kind of sums up the whole Biden regime.
According to Yahoo Finance: "BREAKING: Inflation rises at slowest annual pace since late 2021". Shows how desperate they are to stop Powell raising rates anymore. Let's see what he does next week. Will he cave or stand strong?
The neocons must be close to being the most deluded people on the planet. They still believe that bullying China (e.g. the unsurprisingly unanimous vote in Congress about Covid's "Chinese" origins, the new "temporary" bases in the Philippines) will force them into line. On the contrary, everything they do makes the Chinese realise that they are in an existential war for their existence. It's both amusing and deeply disconcerting to see the diplomatic efforts of 70 years being demolished in a few short months of madness.
The Great Regress: “The occasional difficulties in each of their ties with the US aren’t due to any fault of their own, but are entirely the result of that declining unipolar hegemon refusing to recognize their objective interests and related sovereign right to pursue them.”
Very true, and 'twas ever thus, ML. Very few empires or individuals give up power easily. And this is the issue to which all others are subservient: how far will the neocon maniacs go to try and preserve their power? Everything else feeds into that. What few sane people there seem to be left on this planet hope that they will booted out before they can do maximum damage.
I believe their anti-China strategy will be as unsuccessful as their anti-Russia one. And Xi will be far less pleasant than Putin to deal with. The neocons will end up not only losing Ukraine, but also the whole Pacific region too, including Taiwan. What fools they are!
China could point some fingers right back at us, of course.
But they're clinging to the economic lifeline of access to US markets, and will continue to do so as long as the dollar is strong and their own economy fragile. I don't think they want to rock the boat.
I think you're right that China doesn't want to rock the boat--we're the ones rocking the boat. Probably because we hope we can coerce China into backing off some of its support for Russia. But I don't think China will back off, because they know that if they back off and Russia somehow loses, we'll just come right after China next.
But unlike our gracious host here, Crawford is a progressive at heart; he is sure that bitcoin will fix all our problems. That, and better education. And growing your own food. And having somebody (who?) quietly kill the sociopaths (whom?) who rise to the top: when we stopped removing obvious sociopaths from society, that's where it all went downhill.
Yes, it is a brand new world, and yes, we emerge stronger. We too come out free and independent, As you say, the idiots in Davos and DC decided to rush things. They pushed too fast and too hard. Like him or not, Trump has liberated us all. We Americans can take a path free of US domination and reclaim our sovereignty. We no longer trust nor believe in our government. We the citizens can no longer count on our government. The government can no longer count on us.
Trump is a genius at picking people. You said it best. Impossible to trust a bunch of swamp-dwellers to drain the swamp. Everybody in Washington is a swamp dweller. As Rumsfeld put it, you fight the war with the Army you have. He took the flak but accomplished miracles, all of which are now being undone. Trump doesn't want to 'win'. He is committed to reforming the system and getting us back our Country, if we want. I would assume he is convinced that de Santis is either not committed to doing this or incapable of accomplishing it. Since those who have managed to turn America into a banana republic in such a short time will do whatever it takes to avoid prosecution the struggle will be monumental. If we the citizens are not fully committed to reclaiming our government, in spite of all the unpleasantness this will involve, why should Trump even bother
And another problem is...If a MAGA Republican wins in 2024, s/he will have just as much trouble finding personnel to implement his/her policies as Trump did, unless s/he is actually not a MAGA Republican (for example, Mike Pence or Mike Pompeo).
For those who think DeSantis is the answer...well, he may be...but he hasn't faced the barrage yet. Remember what Trump said, "In reality, they're not after me. They're after you. I'm just in the way."
One word of caution. I am not advocating overt civil disobediance. I do not trust these people to further my legitimate security concerns. All the more so I would not give them cause to take action against me. What I see happening is the brightest and the best in this country going their own way, living a good, moral life together with their neighbors and loved ones, and contributing as little as possible to furthering the plans of our evil politicians.
I wish you guys would suss this one out together. I had been convinced that the CIA (with MI6) was pretty much responsible for overthrowing the democratically-elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and installing a pro-US government. My impression is that many Iranians considered the coup, among other things, an act of outright theft of Iran's patrimony. Perhaps I am mis-informed.
FWIW, David Talbot argues in his NYT bestseller, The Devil's Chessboard, that it was Allen Dulles and the CIA who took down Mosaddegh.
For those who haven't read it, The Devil's Chessboard is a fairly horrifying account of the careers or the two Dulles brothers, the rise of the CIA, the development of the Deep State, and the philosophical underpinnings of US global hegemony.
Yes. The British wanted to regain control of Iran's oil, so they got the US to participate. It was a joint CIA/MI6 op. Just as you can see the same duo repeatedly throughout history, up to the present. It's what Putin means when he refers to the "Anglo-Saxons."
This article by Simon Black over at Sovereignman really spelled it out for someone like me who finds the economics of it all hard to understand. What really hit me between the eyes was his comment that the 2008 crisis was caused by the subprime stuff, lending money to NINJAS that had no chance of being paid back, while today's crisis is caused by these banks over-investing in US government bonds that "are supposed to be the safest, most ‘risk free’ asset in the world." In short, "These losses didn’t come from some mountain of crazy NINJA loans. SVB failed because they lost billions from US government bonds… which are the new toxic securities." That's how far we've come, folks.
https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/if-svb-is-insolvent-so-is-everyone-else-146244/
Yep. I get it that it's not the fault of the bond concept itself that this is happening. My point was the symbolism of it all. Our financial corruption has become so deep that what is supposed to be a symbol of security is now being used as a tool for greed. It kind of sums up the whole Biden regime.
And lots of lefty local government, union pension funds, banked there/invested in it.
According to Yahoo Finance: "BREAKING: Inflation rises at slowest annual pace since late 2021". Shows how desperate they are to stop Powell raising rates anymore. Let's see what he does next week. Will he cave or stand strong?
Where’s all the talk lately about loosening Iran sanctions to comply with the Obama/Kerry Uranium enrichment agreement?
Oh… right…
it seems like up to about 6 months ago, no one gave India a second thought.
Now they seem to be a quite powerful independent faction in this restructuring of the world polarity.
“Never underestimate Joe’s ability to f... things up.” Barack Obama
The neocons must be close to being the most deluded people on the planet. They still believe that bullying China (e.g. the unsurprisingly unanimous vote in Congress about Covid's "Chinese" origins, the new "temporary" bases in the Philippines) will force them into line. On the contrary, everything they do makes the Chinese realise that they are in an existential war for their existence. It's both amusing and deeply disconcerting to see the diplomatic efforts of 70 years being demolished in a few short months of madness.
The Great Regress: “The occasional difficulties in each of their ties with the US aren’t due to any fault of their own, but are entirely the result of that declining unipolar hegemon refusing to recognize their objective interests and related sovereign right to pursue them.”
This is what passes for diplomacy now…
Very true, and 'twas ever thus, ML. Very few empires or individuals give up power easily. And this is the issue to which all others are subservient: how far will the neocon maniacs go to try and preserve their power? Everything else feeds into that. What few sane people there seem to be left on this planet hope that they will booted out before they can do maximum damage.
I believe their anti-China strategy will be as unsuccessful as their anti-Russia one. And Xi will be far less pleasant than Putin to deal with. The neocons will end up not only losing Ukraine, but also the whole Pacific region too, including Taiwan. What fools they are!
China could point some fingers right back at us, of course.
But they're clinging to the economic lifeline of access to US markets, and will continue to do so as long as the dollar is strong and their own economy fragile. I don't think they want to rock the boat.
https://theupheaval.substack.com/p/chinas-russia-dilemma
I think you're right that China doesn't want to rock the boat--we're the ones rocking the boat. Probably because we hope we can coerce China into backing off some of its support for Russia. But I don't think China will back off, because they know that if they back off and Russia somehow loses, we'll just come right after China next.
Between losing trade or losing face, I suspect the Chinese would prefer the former.
In brief defense of Crawford who does consider geopolitics, consider
https://roundingtheearth.substack.com/p/world-war-e-levels-deep-on-psyops from January 31.
But unlike our gracious host here, Crawford is a progressive at heart; he is sure that bitcoin will fix all our problems. That, and better education. And growing your own food. And having somebody (who?) quietly kill the sociopaths (whom?) who rise to the top: when we stopped removing obvious sociopaths from society, that's where it all went downhill.
Yes, it is a brand new world, and yes, we emerge stronger. We too come out free and independent, As you say, the idiots in Davos and DC decided to rush things. They pushed too fast and too hard. Like him or not, Trump has liberated us all. We Americans can take a path free of US domination and reclaim our sovereignty. We no longer trust nor believe in our government. We the citizens can no longer count on our government. The government can no longer count on us.
@Pete
"Trump called everyone's bluff and showed the world the empire had no clothes."
That's the problem with Trump. Its actually a conundrum.
The problem with Trump is that he's usually dead on right.
Trump is a genius at picking people. You said it best. Impossible to trust a bunch of swamp-dwellers to drain the swamp. Everybody in Washington is a swamp dweller. As Rumsfeld put it, you fight the war with the Army you have. He took the flak but accomplished miracles, all of which are now being undone. Trump doesn't want to 'win'. He is committed to reforming the system and getting us back our Country, if we want. I would assume he is convinced that de Santis is either not committed to doing this or incapable of accomplishing it. Since those who have managed to turn America into a banana republic in such a short time will do whatever it takes to avoid prosecution the struggle will be monumental. If we the citizens are not fully committed to reclaiming our government, in spite of all the unpleasantness this will involve, why should Trump even bother
And another problem is...If a MAGA Republican wins in 2024, s/he will have just as much trouble finding personnel to implement his/her policies as Trump did, unless s/he is actually not a MAGA Republican (for example, Mike Pence or Mike Pompeo).
For those who think DeSantis is the answer...well, he may be...but he hasn't faced the barrage yet. Remember what Trump said, "In reality, they're not after me. They're after you. I'm just in the way."
One word of caution. I am not advocating overt civil disobediance. I do not trust these people to further my legitimate security concerns. All the more so I would not give them cause to take action against me. What I see happening is the brightest and the best in this country going their own way, living a good, moral life together with their neighbors and loved ones, and contributing as little as possible to furthering the plans of our evil politicians.
Why should any country give up its sovereignty?
@Joseph
They didn't just 'give up' their sovereignty.
They sold out: https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/nato-spending-by-country/
Always follow the money.
@mistcr @Pete
I wish you guys would suss this one out together. I had been convinced that the CIA (with MI6) was pretty much responsible for overthrowing the democratically-elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and installing a pro-US government. My impression is that many Iranians considered the coup, among other things, an act of outright theft of Iran's patrimony. Perhaps I am mis-informed.
FWIW, David Talbot argues in his NYT bestseller, The Devil's Chessboard, that it was Allen Dulles and the CIA who took down Mosaddegh.
For those who haven't read it, The Devil's Chessboard is a fairly horrifying account of the careers or the two Dulles brothers, the rise of the CIA, the development of the Deep State, and the philosophical underpinnings of US global hegemony.
https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Chessboard-Dulles-Americas-Government/dp/0062276174/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+devil%27s+chessboard&sr=8-1
and there's this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Persian_Agreement
Yes. The British wanted to regain control of Iran's oil, so they got the US to participate. It was a joint CIA/MI6 op. Just as you can see the same duo repeatedly throughout history, up to the present. It's what Putin means when he refers to the "Anglo-Saxons."