14 Responses

  1. Greg’s but of a doomsday’er but love Ellen regardless

  2. Sorry, but the cases against the big banks will never get to a jury. Judges know they can’t allow it to happen and they have consistently dismissed them or awarded summary judgment.

  3. I have written twice to the Australian Treasury, asking them to confirm, or deny that the confiscation of deposits in the event of a Banking Crisis, is now law, or scheduled to become law in this country, and both times my requests have been ignored. No reply.
    This tends to suggest that it is coming, but they don’t want anyone to know, before it is passed by Parliament. Be warned !!

    • Hi, Brian. Your comment here is great. This nightmarish impending bail-in has been on my mind for some time, especially after I read Ellen’s article about what happened in Cyprus last year. I myself would like to get some advance notice, but I don’t think it will happen in my lifetime. But thanks for the heads up.

      I seem to remember you mentioning in a previous comment that you were in the banking business at one time. If so, do you think that any bank will be safe when such bail-ins begin?

      • Hi Calliope. I’m not sure which country you are in(USA?). In Australia at present there’s no sign of impending trouble, but we have some of the highest priced real estate in the world(which comes from Banks lending too much money into the RE sector) If there was a dramatic fall in RE prices in future, due to recession, we’ve already seen how that effected the USA.

        In the USA I understand at least 200 smaller banks have gone ‘bust’ since 2008, while the biggest NYC banks are a protected species, as we have all seen.Those smaller banks have been integrated into surviving banks without any major damage.

        Banking is an inherently dangerous business particularly in a major recession or depression(and has cost the USA trillions of dollars since 2008). If a country’s Banks find themselves in this situation, the government can not possibly bail every one out so, I believe that governments will have to confiscate depositors funds(like Cyprus did) as well as print money to save the system.
        Given what we’ve seen in Cyprus and the talk of Bank bail ins generally, I do not leave much lazy cash in my bank accounts, because if, and when the government decides to “Bail In” the Banks they WON’T give you ANY NOTICE of their intentions. Cheers.

        • In response to your “Banking is an inherently dangerous business,” Brian, here’s a great little recent video from professor Richard Werner, a German economist living in the UK. He gives a clear idea of why banking is dangerous and how to make it less so, and fix our economies in the process. He knows how well German public banks work and is a public banking ally. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJETJSME9ro

          • Thanks for the link ErnieM (and the accompanying links). Banks inflating bubbles in a particular sector of the economy(Real Estate) is what economists refer to as “too much money chasing too few goods”, which of course raises the price of, in this case, Real Estate. Somewhere down the track, I fear Australia may pay the price. During the Great Depression, Banks closed, and people lost their savings. It is not impossible to imagine that the same situation will occur again.
            Don’t leave too much “lazy money” in your account.

            • Thanks for your response, Brian, but if you listen to professor Werner again, you’ll see that he’s not talking about “too much money chasing too few goods.”
              If the money were chasing goods–being aimed at the productive economy– more would get produced and the economy would grow. He says there are two streams of money (credit creation). The problem is that there is too large a stream that is not chasing goods, but just “money making money” activities. And he says that “credit guidance” needs to be exercised to direct credit to the real economy for useful purposes. One way the guidance can be accomplished by different banking structures, as in Germany where the local public banks must invest in local industry by law.

        • Thanks, Brian. I was kind of kidding about getting special advance notice. I think that actually we are already on notice, and I agree with your warning.
          Good luck getting a response on your great question to the Australian Treasury.

          I

        • Thanks, Brian. I was kind of kidding about getting special advance notice. I think that actually we are already on notice, and I agree with your warning.
          Good luck getting a response on your great question to the Australian Treasury.

  4. […] Brian Harry, Australia, on April 24, 2014 at 4:50 pm said: […]

  5. […] admin •April 28, 2014Uncategorized Brian Harry, Australia, on April 24, 2014 at 4:50 pm said: […]

  6. […] Harry, Australia, on April 24, 2014 at 4:50 pm said: I have written twice to the Australian Treasury, asking them to confirm, or deny that the […]

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