Posted on January 10, 2016 by Ellen Brown
Ellen speaks with noted author and co-Founder of the Labor Institute, Les Leopold, about how the market mechanics of inequality have succeeded over the past 40 years and what we can do collectively to bring about real change. She also discusses her latest article about the looming crisis that could be triggered by the new practice of bailing-in depositor money to save failing banks. And Matt Stannard delivers some words about money from the mouths of historical figures. Listen to the archive here.
Filed under: Audio, Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: inequality, Les Leopold, public banking | 6 Comments »
Posted on December 29, 2015 by Ellen Brown
While the mainstream media focus on ISIS extremists, a threat that has gone virtually unreported is that your life savings could be wiped out in a massive derivatives collapse. Bank bail-ins have begun in Europe, and the infrastructure is in place in the US. Poverty also kills.
At the end of November, an Italian pensioner hanged himself after his entire €100,000 savings were confiscated in a bank “rescue” scheme. He left a suicide note blaming the bank, where he had been a customer for 50 years and had invested in bank-issued bonds. But he might better have blamed the EU and the G20’s Financial Stability Board, which have imposed an “Orderly Resolution” regime that keeps insolvent banks afloat by confiscating the savings of investors and depositors. Some 130,000 shareholders and junior bond holders suffered losses in the “rescue.” Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: bail-in, Dodd-Frank, Financial Stability Board, public banking | 133 Comments »
Posted on December 11, 2015 by Ellen Brown
Global developments in finance and geopolitics are prompting a rethinking of the structure of banking and of the nature of money itself. Among other interesting news items:
- In Russia, vulnerability to Western sanctions has led to proposals for a banking system that is not only independent of the West but is based on different design principles.
- In Iceland, the booms and busts culminating in the banking crisis of 2008-09 have prompted lawmakers to consider a plan to remove the power to create money from private banks.
- In Ireland, Iceland and the UK, a recession-induced shortage of local credit has prompted proposals for a system of public interest banks on the model of the Sparkassen of Germany.
- In Ecuador, the central bank is responding to a shortage of US dollars (the official Ecuadorian currency) by issuing digital dollars through accounts to which everyone has access, effectively making it a bank of the people.
Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: digital currency, Ecuador, Iceland, Russian central bank | 51 Comments »
Posted on December 11, 2015 by Ellen Brown
Among other items of interest on “It’s Our Money” this week, Ellen interviews Independent presidential candidate Scott Smith, who has a clever plan for eliminating austerity, income taxes and the federal debt without creating inflation. Archived here.
Filed under: Audio, Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: digital currency, federal debt, income tax, public banking | 3 Comments »
Posted on December 3, 2015 by Ellen Brown
Ellen speaks with co-host Walt McRee a
bout negative interest and the war on cash, then talks with renowned futurist Hazel Henderson about how far afield economics has gone from its practical obligations to serve the public interest. Matt Stannard rounds out this week’s program on “It’s Our Money,” archived here.
Filed under: Audio, Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: ethical markets, negative interest, War on Cash | 2 Comments »
Posted on November 20, 2015 by Ellen Brown
In uncertain times, “cash is king,” but central bankers are systematically moving to eliminate that option. Is it really about stimulating the economy? Or is there some deeper, darker threat afoot?
Remember those old ads showing a senior couple lounging on a warm beach, captioned “Let your money work for you”? Or the scene in Mary Poppins where young Michael is being advised to put his tuppence in the bank, so that it can compound into “all manner of private enterprise,” including “bonds, chattels, dividends, shares, shipyards, amalgamations . . . .”?
That may still work if you’re a Wall Street banker, but if you’re an ordinary saver with your money in the bank, you may soon be paying the bank to hold your funds rather than the reverse. Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: bail-in, national dividend, negative interest, War on Cash | 87 Comments »
Posted on November 18, 2015 by Ellen Brown
Here is a power point I gave last night at an American Freedom Alliance event in Los Angeles on whether the federal debt can be repaid (yes), how it can be repaid (by simply issuing the money), and why that would stimulate the economy without leading to hyperinflation. Ellen
Can the Debt Be Paid 11-17-15
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: federal debt, public banking | 10 Comments »
Posted on November 14, 2015 by Ellen Brown
On November 11th on “It’s Our Money,” Ellen spoke with Bill Still on how to pay off the national debt; and Walt spoke with Dr. Margaret Flowers on ominous developments involving the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Listen to the archive here.
The Still interview was prelude to an American Freedom Alliance event on November 17th at 7:30 pm at the Luxe Sunset Blvd Hotel in Los Angeles, at which Ellen and Bill will be addressing the topical question —
“Can the National Debt Be Paid Down and If So, Who Will Pay It?”
Public invited. Details here.
Also now in the PRN archives is the enlightening October 28th interview of UK Prof. Thomas Marois on public banking developments around the world. Listen here.
Filed under: Audio, Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: federal debt, public banking, TPP | 10 Comments »
Posted on October 27, 2015 by Ellen Brown
Until the control of the issue of currency and credit is restored to government and recognized as its most conspicuous and sacred responsibility, all talk of the sovereignty of Parliament and of democracy is idle and futile.
— Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, 1935
On November 3rd, the US government will again run out of money due to a debt ceiling artificially imposed by Congress. This is the third time in four years that a radical faction has taken the country to the brink of default to extort concessions that are at best only marginally related to the budget.
The debt ceiling is an unconstitutional gimmick that violates the 14th amendment, which says the validity of the government’s debt shall not be questioned. The debt was incurred by Congress when it passed the budget, and the money has been borrowed and spent. Congress cannot now refuse to pay.
One good gimmick deserves another. The debt ceiling could be eliminated for good, by restoring to the government its constitutional authority to create money. Article 1, Section 8, provides: “The Congress shall have the power to coin money [and] regulate the value thereof . . . .” The president could pay the government’s bills by issuing some large denomination coins by executive order. Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: debt ceiling, Greenbacks, Trillion dollar coin | 36 Comments »
Posted on October 21, 2015 by Ellen Brown
The Dodd-Frank regulations are so lethal to community banks that some say the intent was to force them to sell out to the megabanks. Community banks are rapidly disappearing — except in North Dakota, where they are thriving.
At over 2,300 pages, the Dodd Frank Act is the longest and most complicated bill ever passed by the US legislature. It was supposed to end “too big to fail” and “bailouts,” and to “promote financial stability.” But Dodd-Frank’s “orderly liquidation authority” has replaced bailouts with bail-ins, meaning that in the event of insolvency, big banks are to recapitalize themselves with the savings of their creditors and depositors. The banks deemed too big are more than 30% bigger than before the Act was passed in 2010, and 80% bigger than before the banking crisis of 2008. The six largest US financial institutions now have assets of some $10 trillion, amounting to almost 60% of GDP; and they control nearly 50% of all bank deposits.
Meanwhile, their smaller competitors are struggling to survive. Community banks and credit unions are disappearing at the rate of one a day. Access to local banking services is disappearing along with them. Small and medium-size businesses – the ones that hire two-thirds of new employees – are having trouble getting loans; students are struggling with sky-high interest rates; homeowners have been replaced by hedge funds acting as absentee landlords; and bank fees are up, increasing the rolls of the unbanked and underbanked, and driving them into the predatory arms of payday lenders. Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: bail-in, Bank of North Dakota, community banking, Dodd-Frank, public banking | 29 Comments »
Posted on September 22, 2015 by Ellen Brown
Predictions are that we will soon be seeing the “nuclear option” — central bank-created money injected directly into the real economy. All other options having failed, governments will be reduced to issuing money outright to cover budget deficits. So warns a September 18 article on ZeroHedge titled “It Begins: Australia’s Largest Investment Bank Just Said ‘Helicopter Money’ Is 12-18 Months Away.”
Money reformers will say it’s about time. Virtually all money today is created as bank debt, but people can no longer take on more debt. The money supply has shrunk along with people’s ability to borrow new money into existence. Quantitative easing (QE) attempts to re-inflate the money supply by giving money to banks to create more debt, but that policy has failed. It’s time to try dropping some debt-free money on Main Street. Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: Jeremy Corbyn, money creation, public banking, quantitative easing | 36 Comments »
Posted on September 2, 2015 by Ellen Brown
British MP Jeremy Corbyn has proposed a “People’s QE” that has critics crying hyperinflation and supporters saying it’s about time.
Dark horse candidate Jeremy Corbyn, who is currently leading in the polls for UK Labour Party leadership, has included in his platform “quantitative easing for people.” He said in a July 22nd presentation:
The ‘rebalancing’ I have talked about here today means rebalancing away from finance towards the high-growth, sustainable sectors of the future. How do we do this? One option would be for the Bank of England to be given a new mandate to upgrade our economy to invest in new large scale housing, energy, transport and digital projects: Quantitative easing for people instead of banks.
Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: hyperinflation, Jeremy Corbyn, monetary policy, QE for the People, quantitative easing | 32 Comments »
Posted on August 18, 2015 by Ellen Brown
“The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default.”
— Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan on Meet the Press, August 2011
In a post on “Sovereign Man” dated August 14th, Simon Black argued that Donald Trump may be the right man for the presidency:
[T]here’s one thing that really sets him apart, that, in my opinion, makes him the most qualified person for the job:
Donald Trump is an expert at declaring bankruptcy.
When the going gets tough, Trump stiffs his creditors. He’s done it four times!
Candidly, this is precisely what the Land of the Free needs right now: someone who can stop beating around the bush and just get on with it already.
Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: Bernie Sanders, debt ceiling, Donald Trump, federal bankruptcy, public banking, quantitative easing | 157 Comments »
Posted on July 30, 2015 by Ellen Brown
“My father made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Luca Brasi held a gun to his head and my father assured him that either his brains, or his signature, would be on the contract.” — The Godfather (1972)
In the modern global banking system, all banks need a credit line with the central bank in order to be part of the payments system. Choking off that credit line was a form of blackmail the Greek government couldn’t refuse.
Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is now being charged with treason for exploring the possibility of an alternative payment system in the event of a Greek exit from the euro. Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: ECB, Grexit, public banking, ThisIsACoup, Yanis Varoufakis | 30 Comments »
Posted on July 9, 2015 by Ellen Brown
Banks create money when they make loans. Greece could restore the liquidity desperately needed by its banks and its economy by nationalizing the banks and issuing digital loans backed by government guarantees to its ailing businesses. Greece could provide an inspiring model of sustainable prosperity for the world. But it is being strangled by a hegemonic power in a financial war that is being waged against us all.
On July 4, 2015, one day before the national vote on the austerity demands of Greece’s creditors, it was rumored in the Financial Times that Greek banks were preparing to “bail in” (or confiscate) depositor funds to replace the liquidity choked off by the European Central Bank.
The response of the Syriza government, to its credit, was “no way.” As reported in Zerohedge, the government was prepared to pursue three “nuclear options” to protect the deposits of the Greek people: Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: Greek crisis, Grexit, public banking | 75 Comments »
Posted on July 3, 2015 by Ellen Brown
Pope Francis’ revolutionary encyclical addresses not just climate change but the banking crisis. Interestingly, the solution to that crisis may have been modeled in the Middle Ages by Franciscan monks following the Saint from whom the Pope took his name.
Pope Francis has been called “the revolutionary Pope.” Before he became Pope Francis, he was a Jesuit Cardinal in Argentina named Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the son of a rail worker. Moments after his election, he made history by taking on the name Francis, after Saint Francis of Assisi, the leader of a rival order known to have shunned wealth to live in poverty.
Pope Francis’ June 2015 encyclical is called “Praised Be,” a title based on an ancient song attributed to St. Francis. Most papal encyclicals are addressed only to Roman Catholics, but this one is addressed to the world. And while its main focus is considered to be climate change, its 184 pages cover much more than that. Among other sweeping reforms, it calls for a radical overhaul of the banking system. It states in Section IV: Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: financialization, Pope Francis' encyclical, public banking | 37 Comments »
Posted on June 21, 2015 by Ellen Brown
`Let the jury consider their verdict,’ the King said, for about the twentieth time that day.
`No, no!’ said the Queen. `Sentence first–verdict afterwards.’
`Stuff and nonsense!’ said Alice loudly. `The idea of having the sentence first!’
`Hold your tongue!’ said the Queen, turning purple.
`I won’t!’ said Alice.
`Off with her head!’ the Queen shouted at the top of her voice.
— Lewis Carroll, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”
Fast-track authority is being sought in the Senate this week for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), along with the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) and any other such trade agreements coming down the pike in the next six years. The terms of the TPP and the TiSA are so secret that drafts of the negotiations are to remain classified for four years or five years, respectively, after the deals have been passed into law. How can laws be enforced against people and governments who are not allowed to know what was negotiated? Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: fast-track, TISA, TPP, trade agreements | 44 Comments »
Posted on June 11, 2015 by Ellen Brown
It is well enough that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning. — Attributed to Henry Ford
In March 2014, the Bank of England let the cat out of the bag: money is just an IOU, and the banks are rolling in it. So wrote David Graeber in The Guardian the same month, referring to a BOE paper called “Money Creation in the Modern Economy.” The paper stated outright that most common assumptions of how banking works are simply wrong. The result, said Graeber, was to throw the entire theoretical basis for austerity out of the window.
The revelation may have done more than that. The entire basis for maintaining our private extractive banking monopoly may have been thrown out the window. And that could help explain the desperate rush to “fast track” not only the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), but the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). TiSA would nip attempts to implement public banking and other monetary reforms in the bud. Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: fast-track, monetary reform, public banking, TISA, TPP | 59 Comments »
Posted on May 19, 2015 by Ellen Brown
The dangerous underfunding of US infrastructure was underscored by a fatal train derailment on May 12th. The tragedy did not deter the House Appropriations Committee from voting to slash Amtrak funding the very next day. There are ways Congress could fund its massive infrastructure bill without raising taxes. But the conservative-controlled Congress seems to have other plans for the nation’s profitable public assets. Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: Amtrak, debt ceiling, high-speed rail, infrastructure crisis, public banking, quantitative easing | 19 Comments »
Posted on April 24, 2015 by Ellen Brown
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government. — Article IV, Section 4, US Constitution
A republican form of government is one in which power resides in elected officials representing the citizens, and government leaders exercise power according to the rule of law. In The Federalist Papers, James Madison defined a republic as “a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people . . . .”
On April 22, 2015, the Senate Finance Committee approved a bill to fast-track the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive trade agreement that would override our republican form of government and hand judicial and legislative authority to a foreign three-person panel of corporate lawyers. Continue reading →
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary, fast-track, ISDS, TPP | Tagged: fast-track, ISDS, TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership | 81 Comments »
WEB OF DEBT BLOG 
Les Leopold on “It’s Our Money”
Filed under: Audio, Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: inequality, Les Leopold, public banking | 6 Comments »