From The RampartsJunious Ricardo StantonThe Raw Deal Part II“Like the Interstate Commerce Commission before it, the Securities and Exchange Commission would be staffed with people from the industry that it was supposedly a watchdog over and who would most likely feel that what's good for banks are good for America? Throughout the years preceding the Stock Market crash, the Federal Government did just that. The Federal Reserve set below market interest rates and low reserve requirements that all favored the big banks. The money supply actual Increased by about 60% during this time. The phrase ‘buying on margin’ entered the American vocabulary at this time as more And more Americans over-extended themselves to take advantage of the soaring stock market. So what went wrong? It was in 1929 that the Federal Reserve realized that it could not sustain its current policy. When it started to rise Interest rates, the whole house of cards collapsed. The Stock Market crashed and the bank panics began. But what would make this depression worse than all the rest? There was a depression in 1921, but no one remembers that one. What was Different? As we'll see, there were a number of policies enacted over the next few years that, from both a free market and a Keynesian perspective, would do nothing to help America recover and do everything to exacerbate the depression. Over the next few years, the Federal Government would allow the money supply to contract by a third.” America’s Great Depression www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=22938The current economic collapse had its origin in collusion and a working partnership between the banks, insurance companies, Hedge Funds and US government at the executive and legislative levels. This was accomplished via a series of government policies and legislation under the guise of “laissez-faire” and “free market economy” which were nothing of the sort. Since the Reagan administration the US government has been pro deregulation. The myriad policies of deregulation from Ronald Reagan until now including Obama are really a form of corporate bribery and welfare; payoffs to politicians for passing favorable legislation for the military- industrial complex, telecommunications, banking and pharmacological corporations who benefitted greatly from these policies. The template for the depression we are experiencing now was actually created by the Federal Reserve Bank and the Wall Street banks during the period known as the “Roaring Twenties”. During the nineteen-twenties the media of that era newspapers, magazines, radio and motion pictures promoted the Wall Street Stock Market as a way to get rich quickly. In addition to stocks there was also major real estate speculation, reckless buying on credit which created a high risk environment whereby many white folks over-extended themselves debt wise. When the Stock Market crashed and brokers called in their margins to pay for the stocks (like what happened to the two Duke brothers played by Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche at the end of the movie Trading Places) over-extended debtors were unable to pay and many lost everything. There were major runs on banks nationally and the Federal Reserve Bank systematically withhold credit from the marketplace causing business and commerce to grind to a halt.“From 1929 to the early 1940s, the United States and many industrialized countries worldwide experienced a prolonged and deep economic downturn. The Great Depression forced millions into unemployment, homelessness, and near-starvation. At its worst point, unemployment in America soared to 25%. A decade of easy credit created a false sense of prosperity, while farmers struggled under heavy debt and declining farm goods prices. The ensuing market correction in 1929 evaporated the fortunes of many, with the entire population suffering as consumer demand dropped, jobs disappeared, and factories shuttered against declining orders. Government intervention, in the form of public policy changes and job creation, improved conditions. The onset of World War II and rising demand for manufactured goods to support the war effort officially ended the Great Depression.” www.yourdictionary.com/dictionary-articles/Definition-of-Economic-Depression.htmlDuring the early days of the Depression, banks around the country called in their short term and long term loans. When cash strapped farmers, businessmen and homeowners were unable to pay up, the banks gobbled up their farms, businesses, factories and homes for pennies on the dollar; until Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected. Early in his administration Roosevelt saw the devastation and social unrest this was causing and stepped in to stop it. We are seeing a replication of that loss of homes, businesses and jobs today. Only today more people are in greater debt because of deliberate policies of inflation, predatory lending, maxed out consumer debt due to credit cards (which didn’t exist in the 1930's) home equity, auto and student loans. Even if you aren’t in default heading towards foreclosure you have already lost thousands of dollars on the value of your home and any personal or retirement wealth you may have accumulated. See the Center for Economic Policy Research’s most recent report on the adverse impact of the housing crisis and wealth loss on baby boomers at www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/reports/the-wealth-of-the-baby-boom-cohorts-after-the-collapse-of-the-housing-bubble to glean how this current implosion has erased the net worth of millions of middle aged folks at a time when they can least afford financial set back.“U.S. homeowners lost an astounding $3.3 trillion in home value in 2008, as the worst slump in the residential real estate segment intensified amid the U.S. recession, Zillow.com announced Tuesday. Further, homeowners lost $1.4 trillion in value in Q4 2008. In 2007, homeowners lost $1.3 trillion in value. Further, the median home price based on data collected by Zillow.com plummeted 11.6% to $192,119 in 2008. Meanwhile, the percent of homeowners with negative equity -- home values less than their amount owed -- jumped to 17.6% in Q4 2008 from 14.3% in Q3 2008. Also, real estate equity has declined $6.1 trillion -- or by a value equal to about 40% of the U.S.'s roughly $14 trillion economy since home values peaked in Q2 2006.” U.S. homeowners lost $3.3 trillion in home value in 2008 Posted Feb 3rd 2009 10:15AM by Joseph Lazzaro www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/02/03/u-s-homeowners-lost-3-3-trillion-in-home-value-in-2008/The same Fed policies that created the Great Depression caused the current crisis: rampant speculation, over-leveraged debt, low interest rates, predatory lending, and the deliberate government and media promotion of easy credit (debt). These policies have handcuffed the economy and we are all paying a heavy price (except for the Wall Street bankers, brokers and the speculators who reaped obscene profits from their debt based system). “The U.S. was saddled long ago with a debt-based monetary system, whereby the only way money can be introduced into circulation is through bank lending. It was the system that was instituted in 1913 when Congress gave away its constitutional power over money creation to the private banking industry by passing the Federal Reserve Act. It was then that the catastrophe we are now facing became inevitable. It took nearly a century to get here but it finally happened. We should have known it was coming when Federal Reserve-created bubbles replaced economic growth from our disappearing heavy industry, starting with the recession of 1979-83. We could have seen it coming when the dot.com bubble collapsed in 2000-2001, and Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan worked with the George W. Bush administration to substitute the housing bubble for a real recovery.” The U.S. Economy: Designed to Fail by Richard C. Cook www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?The financial elites who orchestrated this mess win all the way around. They win when US government debt climbs (like we have now) they reap the benefit of the interest payments taxpayers must fork over to them, they win when they can buy up assets for next to nothings as more and more families, businesses, state and local governments are forced to liquidate homes, buildings, utilities, roads and infrastructure to raise money and they win because they set the financial and political agenda via threats, bribes (campaign contributions) and corruption. They will win it all unless a strong charismatic leader steps in to halt the larceny. The problem is usually in the US is they assassinate that strong leader like they did Lincoln and Kennedy. Or they plot a coup like they did against Roosevelt and Clinton (the NeoCons wanted Clinton gone because he would not invade Iraq or expand the war in Kosova which would have made the bankers and military industrial complex rich via more war profiteering) . The only viable option for regular working class folks now is a grass roots tax payer insurrection or a straight up revolution. Are you ready for rebellion or revolution?-30-
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