Economy
Newsweek magazine published the following headline on the cover of its February 16 issue: “We Are All Socialists Now: The Perils and Promise of the New Era of Big Government.” Of course, it’s hard to imagine that we have only now entered the era of “big government” — weren’t we there already? But there is no doubt that both money creation by the Fed and spending by the federal government are accelerating to finance the proliferating bailout and stimulus programs.
The Fed's Hockey Stick Chart
Written by Larry Greenley
On his January 29 TV show, Glenn Beck drew national attention to a relatively obscure graph of our nation's "monetary base" (a narrow definition of money supply, also known as M0) maintained online by the Research Department of the St. Louis Federal Reserve. The reason for the special attention was the dramatic hockey stick shape of the graph that developed during the last few months of 2008. Beginning about September the usually stable graph of monetary base vs. years shot virtually straight up for the remainder of the year.
In a speech in the Treasury’s Cash Room today, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled yet another initiative to stop the financial crisis in its tracks. “Right now critical parts of our financial system are damaged,” Geithner told his audience, few of whom, in all likelihood, had any idea how America’s financial system works. “Instead of catalyzing recovery,” Geithner continued, “the financial system is working against recovery and that's the dangerous dynamic we need to change."
"Supersizing" the IMF
Written by William F. Jasper
Is the International Monetary Fund headed toward becoming the Federal Reserve of the world? Although one-world elitists in political and banking circles have been promoting the idea for many years, it has taken the current global economic crisis to provide the appearance of urgency and legitimacy needed to make the Global Fed scheme sellable to the public.
The credit rating of the U.S. government is falling fast. Treasury debt mechanisms have crashed in bond markets this year, forcing Treasury officials to offer a spiral of steeper discounts at auction. Investors are becoming increasingly reluctant to purchase the notes in the face of a rising flood of debt that will be floated by the Treasury Department this year.
