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1) The Federal Reserve is a private bank. It is not a part of the US Government. Ironically, the FDIC is owned and operated by the US Government, as are many other government sponsored organizations that would bear the burden of any crisis.
“Some people think that the Federal Reserve Banks are United States Government institutions. They are private monopolies which prey upon the people of these United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers; foreign and domestic speculators and swindlers; and rich and predatory money lenders.“
– The Honorable Louis McFadden, Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee, Republican Senator from Pennsylvania, in the1930s
2) Since the original issuance of the US Dollar by the Fed, it’s down more than 97% (chart). Article:
“By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate,secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens…There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose.“ John Maynard Keynes attributed to Vladimir Lenin.
3) $1 Million in Gold in 2002 would equal $6 Million today, whereas a$1Million investment in the DJIA in 2002 would equal $1.4 Million today.
Dow to Gold ratio 100 year historical chart shows Dow out-perform Gold by 238%. Compare this to the DJIA’s explicit 700% increase during the same time. Also consider that Gold remains Gold, while losing companies in the Dow are regularly removed, thus providing a misleading result.
4) European banking system is leveraged 26:1 meaning a 4% drop will wipe them out.
The European banking system is a complete and total disaster.Remember how bad Wall Street was in 2008? Europe‘s banks are many multiples worse than that. The US at least recapitalized its banking system after the Crisis. Europe hasn‘t. At all. That‘s right, the banks in Europe have not raised capital to bring down their leverage rations,which is why the ENTIRE EU BANKING SYSTEM IS LEVERAGED AT 26 TO1. Lehman, which was a total sewer of garbage debt, was leveraged at 30 to 1. Europe‘s ENTIRE SYSTEM is leveraged at 26 to 1.
5) Hyperinflation has happened worldwide in more than 56 countries.
Hyperinflation effectively wipes out the purchasing power of private and public savings, distorts the economy in favor of the hoarding of real assets, causes the monetary base, whether specie or hard currency, to flee the country, and makes the afflicted area anathema to investment.
6) 99% of stocks are not owned by individuals, they are owned by the DTCC on your behalf. The European equivalent is Euroclear. Info on DTCC
So, do you think you own the stocks you’ve bought? Think again. For those of you who have not heard of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC) and you own stocks … sit down. This might change your your whole way of thinking. Who is the DTCC and what does it do? The DTCC actually provides clearing for 3.5 million securities from the United States and, get this, from 110 other countries and territories as well — all valued at roughly $28 trillion. In 2008 alone, the DTCC settled more than $1.88 quadrillion in securities transactions. The DTCC is also the registered owner and holder of your stock. At present, the DTCC holds $23 trillion in assets. It has a virtual monopoly on clearing. In fact, 99% of all stocks in the USA are legally owned by it.
Considering that the Federal Reserve and the Bank of France might not have all of Germany’s gold in their possession, (after possibly‘lending‘ some of it) could be reason enough for deciding to repatriate it in the course of a seven year time period. Legal accounting “tricks” (gold swaps) currently allow central banks to “lease“ and provide the physical metal to the market (causing gold price suppression) while still reporting it in their balance sheets.
8) Economically speaking, the British Economy is worse than during the Great Depression.
Economists from the Royal Bank of Scotland said the last four years have produced the worst economic performance in a non post-war period since records started being collected in the 1830s.
Shadowstats.com is a website that analyzes government economic and unemployment statistics based on methodologies used by previous United States administrations, from the pre-Clinton era to the time of the Great Depression.[1] The author of the site claims that using Depression-era methodology, for example, the U.S.unemployment rate would have been 16.5% in January 2009, more than double the announced rate of 6.7%.[2] The site is authored by John Williams, an economic consultant with an economics BA and anMBA from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire.[3]
10) Although the United States has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world at 35%, the effective tax rate (based on what US Corporations actually pay because of loopholes and the use of offshore tax efficient jurisdictions) is only 12%. On a scale of OECD countries, the US has one of the lowest effective tax rates.
At 35%, the United States has the highest nominal corporate tax in any of the world’s developed economies.[1] However, the effective corporate tax rate in 2011 fell to 12.1%, its lowest level since before World War I.[2]
11) The world’s largest trading nation is China, not the US
U.S. exports and imports of goods last year totaled $3.82 trillion, the U.S. Commerce Department said last week. China‘s customs administration reported last month that the country‘s trade in goods in 2012 amounted to $3.87 trillion.
12) The nation in Europe with most hours worked is Greece. Germans are not even in the top 10.
This week Greece is facing more spending cuts after agreeing to a deal of 130bn euros (£110bn, $175bn) to help it avoid bankruptcy. But the statistics suggest the country has not lost its way due to laziness. If you look at the average annual hours worked by each worker, the Greeks seem very hard-working. Figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that the average Greek worker toils away for 2,017 hours per year which is more than any other European country. Out of the 34 members of the OECD, that is just two places behind the board leaders, South Korea.
