Financial Repression as Far as the Eye Can See-Axel Merk
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
Money manager Axel Merk says everyone should pay attention to recent comments made by former Fed Chief Alan Greenspan. Merk points out, “Greenspan said the balance sheet of the Fed is a pile of tinder that waits to be lit, and inflation will have to rise. A few days later when he was asked about those comments, he doubled down, and he said he didn’t think we could have a Fed exit without turmoil. . . . He basically said we are just going along for the ride; Congress tells us what to do.” Greenspan also said gold would be measurably higher in the future because history says governments will print money. So, what is the takeaway here? Merk contends, “To us, it’s very obvious. You have too much debt on the consumer side, and you have too much debt on the government side, and you are going to try to debase the value of that debt.” Merk, who manages around $400 million in assets, goes on to say, “We have very negative interest rates. If we do have economic growth and the Fed promises to be slow (raising rates), interest rates on a real basis would become more negative. If you look out 10 years, I don’t think we can afford positive real interest rates. How can we afford our entitlements? We might have an additional trillion dollars a year if we go back to the historic cost of financing our debt. We have the same problem in Europe, and we have the same problem in Japan. We are going to have financial repression as far as the eye can see.”
On the Fed ending QE 3, or money printing, Merk says, “It’s wishful thinking. We have had this a few times and the market has had a little bit of a fit. The one thing that central banks have achieved is that they have compressed risk premiums, meaning risky assets don’t appear risky anymore. Junk bonds don’t yield anything anymore, and the stock market doesn’t appear risky anymore. If risk comes back into the market because the Fed wants to do an exit . . . means asset prices will have to plunge. . . . It’s just not possible to have a Fed exit without having a very, very severe recession. That’s not what the Fed wants.” Merk goes on to say, “Ultimately, asset prices do not reflect fundamentals. Everybody is trading on technicals these days. The one thing I am cautious about is, one day, somebody is going to decide to sell and not buy. Guess what, everybody is going to pile in there. A few months ago, I thought we definitely would have a crash, but that was before the Bank of Japan decided to buy a couple of hundred billion dollars worth of stock and, sure enough, the market went up yet again. One of these days, the glass is going to be half empty and the market is going to come down on good news.”
On Japan, and news of even more money printing there, could they lose control and melt down the global economy? Merk says, “Japan is a little bigger than Cyprus, right, and Cyprus got us all a little jittery. So, yes, we do have odds there can be a little bit bigger of a crisis. . . . If Japan fails, it can have major ramifications. The thing is we know the play book. They foam the markets with liquidity and they can keep zombie banks alive, but when the public confidence erodes, all bets are off.”
On the vote by the Swiss to back their currency with physical gold, Merk says, “I actually think it is a very ingenious idea. Basically, the Swiss National Bank would not be allowed to ever sell gold again. It has to buy when the gold reserves are less than 20%, which means, over time, it’s going to inch up and up and up. Ultimately, we are going to get to 80 or 90% if it was to go through, and the Swiss National Bank would cooperate. I think it is a very nice way to try to introduce something close to a gold standard.”
Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with Axel Merk, founder of MerkInvestments.com.
(There is much more in the video interview.)
After the Interview:
Merk is going to have a webinar to talk about gold, and there will be a question and answer session. The webinar is Thursday, November 20, 2014, at 4:15 pm Eastern Time. The webinar is free of charge. If you would like to attend, you can sign up by (clicking here.)
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About the Author
Greg Hunter
Greg is the producer and creator of USAWatchdog.com. The site’s slogan is “analyzing the news to give you a clear picture of what’s really going on.” The site will keep an eye on the government, your financial interests and cut through the media spin. USAWatchdog.com is neither Democrat nor Republican, Liberal or Conservative. Before creating and producing the site, Greg spent nearly 9 years as a network and investigative correspondent. He worked for ABC News and Good Morning America for nearly 6 years. Most recently, Greg worked for CNN for shows such as Paula Zahn Now, American Morning and various CNN business shows.
greg;
…….”a gallon of gas is $8 and a loaf of bread is $22.50 ,” ‘merkel–THAT WOULD BE A BARGAIN OF COURSE ‘. WOOAAAHHH!
Did he say anything about hyper-inflation end-o-2014 in to 2015 per Kirby/Williams, and I just missed it?
greg;
THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE . COM
So why are so many really smart people forecasting economic disaster in the near future?
For example, just consider what the Jerome Levy Forecasting Center is saying. This is an organization with a tremendous economic forecasting record that goes all the way back to the Great Depression. In fact, it predicted ahead of time the financial trouble and the recession that would happen in 2008. Well, now this company is forecasting that there is a 65 percent chance that there will be a global recession by the end of next year…
In 1929, a businessman and economist by the name of Jerome Levy didn’t like what he saw in his analysis of corporate profits. He sold his stocks before the October crash.
Almost eight decades later, the consultancy company that bears his name declared “the next recession will be caused by the deflating housing bubble.” By February 2007, it predicted problems in the subprime-mortgage market would spread “to virtually all financial markets.” In October 2007, it saw imminent recession — the slump began two months later.
The Jerome Levy Forecasting Center, based in Mount Kisco, New York, and run by Jerome’s grandson David, is again more worried than its peers. Its half-dozen analysts attach a 65 percent probability of a worldwide recession forcing a contraction in the U.S. by the end of next year.
Could they be wrong?
It’s certainly possible.
But I wouldn’t bet against them.
John Hussman is another expert that is warning of financial disaster on the horizon. He believes that we are experiencing a massive stock market bubble right now and that stocks are approximately double the value that they should be…
If you look at corporate profits and especially corporate profit margins, they’re one of the most cyclical and mean-reverting series in economics. Right now, we have corporate profits that are close to about 11% of GDP, but if you look at that series you will find that corporate profits as a share of GDP have always dropped back to about 5.5% or below in every single economic cycle including recent decades, including not only the financial crisis but 2002 and every other economic cycle we have been in.
Right now stocks as a multiple of last year’s expected earnings may look only modestly over valued or modestly richly valued. Really if you look at the measures of valuation that are most correlated to the returns that stocks deliver over time say over seven years or over the next 10 years the S&P 500 in our estimation is about double the level of valuation that would give investors a normal rate of return.
Could you imagine the chaos that would ensue if stocks really did drop by 50 percent?
greg
Axel Merckx (born 8 August 1972 in Uccle), is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer. In his professional career that began in 1993 and ended in 2007, he has won an Olympic bronze medal and competed in eight Tours de France, finishing as the highest-placed Belgian rider six times. He is the son of professional cyclist and five-time Tour de France champion Eddy Merckx.
Financial Repression in China
by Nicholas R. Lardy, Peterson Institute for International Economics
September 2008
Nicholas R. Lardy The Chinese banking system has improved significantly over the past decade, but in one critical respect, it appears to have regressed. The People’s Bank of China controls interest rates in a way that has led to significant financial repression—low and now negative real return on deposits—as inflation has risen in recent years. This distorted interest rate structure is a significant obstacle to further reform of the financial system and to sustaining China’s rapid economic growth. Financial repression costs Chinese households about 255 billion renminbi (US$36 billion), 4.1 percent of China’s GDP, and a fifth of it goes to corporations, one-quarter to banks, and the government assumes the rest.
Financial repression reduces the cost to the government of sterilized intervention to sustain China’s undervalued exchange rate relative to the cost it would face if interest rates were liberalized. But the financial repression that facilitates an undervalued exchange rate imposes substantial, if partially hidden, costs on China’s economy. It has led to lending rates that are far too low, resulting in excess demand for bank loans and increased use of quantitative targets to control credit growth. These have led to a less efficient allocation of capital through the banking system and to a huge underground financial market.
Financial repression is also contrary to the government’s long-term goal of developing a commercial banking system. It has also depressed the growth of household income, undermining the government’s goal of transitioning to a growth path that relies less on investment and net exports and more on domestic consumption. Finally, financial repression seriously hinders the development of a fully and efficiently functioning capital market.
To get a free lunch, just stop throwing away your lunch
Monday, August 13, 2012
Financial repression, Japanese style
Author: Noah Smith
For anyone who is interested in the Japanese economy, the recent paper by Takeo Hoshi and Takatoshi Ito is a must-read. Basically, it says that the days of Japan’s seemingly infinite capacity to increase its national debt are numbered.
Everyone knows that Japan sustains its unprecedented national debt by borrowing money from its own people. The willingness of Japan’s private sector to lend near-infinite amounts of money to the government at a pittance of an interest rate is legendary.
What Hoshi and Ito do is this: They assume that Japan’s current government deficits, current GDP growth rates, and current savings rates will basically be maintained. Then they simply calculate the time when ALL of Japan’s private wealth will be held in Japanese government bonds. Beyond that point, Japan will only be able to finance its deficits by borrowing money from foreigners, which of course will instantly push interest rates up to the point where Japan is forced to default. Under all of the scenarios, doomsday comes before 2023. Of course, that is making some very extreme assumptions, i.e. that government borrowing crowds out all other borrowing and that Japan’s private sector demand for government bonds does not falter.
The upshot: Unless it balances its budget, Japan will start borrowing from foreigners in the next decade.
So there are three questions that follow, in my mind. The first is: Who is buying Japanese government bonds, and why? The second is: Why can’t Japan balance its budget? The third is: “What will happen if Japan has to borrow from foreigners?” To answer these questions, I asked some Japanese econ professors what they thought. What follows is a distillation of facts that they gave me about the Japanese economy, some but not all of which can be verified by looking at official statistics.
On the question of “Who is buying Japanese government bonds, and why?”, the answer appears to be: Pension funds, insurance companies, and regional banks. This answer is slightly different, though not hugely different, from the answer I gave when I blogged about the topic last year.
Japan’s private individuals, who previously bought a lot of bonds with their non-pension savings, hold a lot of JGBs but are not buying any new ones. Partly, this is because Japan’s household savings rate has dropped to near zero (which itself is partly due to rapid aging). Partly, it is because – all talk of “culture” to the side – people are just not that interested in holding such a low-yielding asset.
Japan’s big banks and non-financial companies are similarly refusing to buy more JGBs. The Ministry of Finance, whose job it is to sell JGBs, had been leaning hard on big banks and companies to buy more of the bonds. However, the bureaucracy is not all-powerful (again, contrary to the stereotypes), and companies have basically said “No more!”.
Pension funds and insurance companies, however, are a different story. The Ministry of Finance apparently has much more leverage over these guys, and basically forces pension funds to put households’ savings in JGBs. But you may ask: Why don’t workers demand that their funds invest in something higher-yielding? And here is what a professor told me:
In Japan, you can’t do that!! In America, workers have a say in what asset classes their pensions go into. In Japan, this is apparently not the case. A 22-year-old entry-level worker, who really should have all of his money in global stocks, has absolutely no ability to stop his pension from putting all his money into low-yielding Japanese government bonds. Nor can he simply withdraw his pension early; apparently that is also not allowed in Japan. I am not 100% sure I believe that Japanese pensions work like this, but this is what people insist is true. If they are telling me something wrong, please let me know.
If true, this is “financial repression” at its worst. Japan’s decrepit government is only keeping itself afloat by confiscating the savings of its hard-working populace. Some of these workers are staying in the office until late at night, only seeing their families one day a week, not even getting paid for the overtime…and their pensions are being confiscated by government pressure on fund managers.
So that answers that question. Next up is the question of why Japan can’t balance its budget. I mainly outsource this answer to Yuriko Koike. Japan used to waste untold billions on pointless construction projects (concreting over every riverbed in the country, for example), but after a decade of cuts, that sort of thing now accounts for only about 5% of the budget.
The real problem is this: Japan has European-style health care with American levels of taxes. If you’re going to pay for universal health care, you need high taxes, and Japan does not have them. With an aging population raising health care costs, Japan is going to have to either eliminate universal health care (ha!), or raise taxes a lot to balance the budget. Taxes have been raised, with the national sales tax recently going from 5% to 10%. But that change doesn’t kick in til 2015, and won’t put a particularly big dent in the deficit. Meanwhile, the tax hike was only popular because of the brave actions of a prime minister who will likely be fired as a result. Japan’s populace, tired of working themselves to the bone and seeing their savings be stolen by pension funds, appear to be engaging in a full-fledged tax revolt.
So it seems unlikely that Japan will balance its budget. And Hoshi and Ito show that Japanese private investors, captive as they are, will soon have their backs broken by the sheer unbearable weight of government debt. So when Japan’s government goes hat in hand to foreigners in the next decade, what will happen?
If Japan has to sell JGBs to rich countries, it’s game over. No one will accept such low yields with such high default risk. The only investor who might buy the requisite amounts of JGBs is China. China, facing pressure from the U.S. to stop supporting exports by buying Treasuries, might turn to JGBs as an alternative mercantilist strategy. The idea would be to hold down the yuan against the yen, inducing Japan to buy a bunch of Chinese exports. This would be insanely expensive for China, but would give China de facto political power over one of its biggest geopolitical rivals.
So I see the following possible scenarios for Japan:
1. An early default, as pension funds escape government pressure and/or regional banks get spooked.
2. A default in 10 years, after Japan’s private investors become totally tapped out.
3. A delayed default, but Japan becomes a client state of China in perpetuity, as China loans Japan’s government the money it needs to stay afloat.
4. No default, as Japan carries out economic reforms, lets unproductive companies die, and experiences rapid productivity growth.
5. No default, as Japan’s government ignores political pressure and raises taxes to European levels.
6. No default, as Japan’s government ignores political pressure and eliminates universal health care.
7. Hyperinflation, as Japan’s government pays off its debt by seigniorage.
(Actually, there is another scenario: Nightmare Socialism. Savings rates continue to rise, instead of falling as old people retire; more and more savings are hurled into JGBs, as the populace impoverishes itself to postpone default indefinitely. I didn’t give this scenario a number because it’s a little silly, and would represent an enormous and sustained reversal of many existing trends.)
I think Scenarios 1 and 2 are the most likely, though 5 is also possible. What do you think?
See comments of Japan economic repression;
http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/financial-repression-japanese-style_13.html
The Coming “Financial Repression”
September 28, 2011
Carmen M. Reinhart explains that debt crises lead to “financial repression,” which can take different forms, with some alternatives having better outcomes than others.
Listen now; http://w.petersoninstitute.org/publications/interviews/interview.cfm?ResearchID=1932
Japan is a hot spot and things are not going well there.
Once not long ago Japan was the king of electronics.
Now Sony is falling so fast it may be gone altogether in the not too distant future.
Seems Korea has taken center stage in that arena.
Is the Japanese car industry far behind their electronic industry?
I think this too maybe true as they seemed to have had their day in the sun.
If the question is will Japan cause a major stock market drop then one only has to look at all the Japanese cars in the USA to see that this is a very big deal.
As to our cat, I think it has a jet pack.
Question is how high will it take the little devil.
Vincent G could it be as japan goes so goes America? There is a legit comparison.
By the way. if I have offended you n the past I was wrong. Love from a distance. G 500 same.
From Reuters
G20 proposes buffer to end too big to fail banks
LOL
Vince I hope all cars don’t come from China. Mad car illness is all we need.
My Nissan is costing me a smell fortune to maintain. JUNK IS ALL I see. The price of tires unbelievable!
Firestone…LOL LOL last a year.
Small
FT’s Gillian Tett provides the rationale for gold price suppression
May 11, 2012
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Explaining “financial repression” as the coercion of investors to purchase government bonds that pay negative real interest rates, Gillian Tett of the Financial Times this week provided the perfect rationale for the Western central bank gold price suppression scheme — all without mentioning gold at all.
That is, investors might be powerfully discouraged from buying such crappy bonds and thereby subsidizing profligate governments if, meanwhile, a rising gold price was trumpeting a rate of inflation substantially greater than the bond interest rates or if gold itself, via capital gains, was offering a substantially better return than those bonds.
In an essay published in The Wall Street Journal last December, recently resigned Federal Reserve Board member Kevin M. Warsh was among the first to complain about “financial repression,” which he described as a matter of policy makers’ “suppressing market prices that they don’t like”:
http://www.gata.org/node/10839
We can infer that gold’s is among those disliked prices if not the primary price in mind — but we can only infer, since, despite GATA’s importunings, not even The Wall Street Journal itself, publisher of Warsh’s remarkable essay, could be persuaded to ask him, for purposes of a news story, to specify the prices suffering “financial repression” and to explain whether he learned of such price suppression during his recent service at the Fed.
On a planet with actual financial journalism, such questions might be posed directly to central bankers and former central bankers, with public answers demanded and refusals to answer reported prominently. On this planet — or at least in what is still sometimes called the Free World part of this planet — we have to settle for mere hints and implications. But, as shown by Tett’s column this week, appended here, such hints and implications can be found all over the place.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Hi Greg
Greenspam basically said US$ and in it denominated assets are toxic. And if this wouldn’t be enough your guest basically said the other big currencies and in them denominated papers are also toxic. Exceptions are probably the currencies of these countries which have substantial raw material deposits, production capacities and are politically stable this makes the BRICS countries and in some extent Germany and the Scandinavian countries the top candidates.
Just my 2 cents
Oracle 911
—Our God Is With You!
MORE than 50 years ago, shortly after the first nuclear bombs exploded, Nobel Prize-winning scientist Harold C. Urey said of the future: “We will eat fear, sleep fear, live in fear and die in fear.” Today, our world is, indeed, glutted with fear, and no wonder! On a daily basis, newspapers herald forth horrifying accounts of terrorism, violent crimes, and mysterious illnesses.
As Christians, we know what such conditions mean. They indicate that we are living in “the last days” of this wicked system, which the Bible foretold would be characterized by “critical times hard to deal with.” (2 Timothy 3:1) Our confidence is thus strengthened that Jehovah God will soon bring about a new world in which righteousness will dwell. (2 Peter 3:13)
“Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not gaze about, for I am your God. I will fortify you. I will really help you. I will really keep fast hold of you with my right hand of righteousness.”—Isaiah 41:10.
Greg …
To be “fair” don’t you think counterfeiters should make their pay-offs with “real money” …
Now that a new Attorney General has been appointed who promises to bring “fairness” back to the Justice System … don’t you think the first thing she should do (if she can’t lock up the criminal bankers) is to at least demand that they settle charges for all their Illegal Financial Conduct in Gold and Silver?? …
To simply go on allowing the bankers engaged in illegal manipulation to settle the charges against them in “paper money” is not a “fair” Justice System because in effect it is like releasing a counterfeiter fom all criminal charges by allowing him to go down his basement and print up some more phony money to pay off the judges and attorneys to let him go … and then he simply goes on with his criminal behavior.
The first thing the American people should demand of the new Attorney General (if she can’t lock up the criminals) is to require all their pay-offs be in “real money” and stop all the “phony money games” both sides are playing … if we make the banker criminals pay-off their billion dollar fines with $1100 dollar gold and $15 dollar silver I bet they wouldn’t want to see these metal prices going even lower.
This is a very important part of the “fairness” solution … it should be required that all the gold and silver fines collected by the new Attorney General be put into a Special Gold and Silver Trust for the Benefit of the American People” who were the ones defrauded” and not be given back to the polititians who will likely just spend it on more endless wars …
One day when gold is $50,000 dollars per ounce and silver $10,000 dollars per ounce the American Peoples Gold and Silver Trust will go a long long way to help pay for a financially secure Social Security and the Health Care System for all the “as yet unborn future generations” who (if we don’t step in now) won’t ever have a say over what these present day criminal bankers are doing to their future lives.
I’m glad that Axel didn’t give much time to a Comex default.
Comex is NOT the place where people come to buy and sell physical metals.
It’s a place where people who don’t have metal to sell, sell it to people who don’t want to buy metal.
People have been predicting an (sometimes imminent) Comex default for 10 years!
Here is a link that contains charts and links to charts showing how many days of globlal mining production it would take to satisfy precious metals long positions delivery requirements and to cover precious metal short positions.
https://smaulgld.com/silver-gold-long-positions-comex/
The amounts are staggering-but it only highlights that the amount of long and short paper contracts far exceed the amount of physical metal available.
It doesnt seem to bother the traders who “play” there. It’s like pro wrestling. They bet on a fixed outcome and make money. They are not there to see real wrestling or to buy or sell real metals.
The real end to manipulation is not a comex default but physical traders ignoring the prices on Comex
Greg …
One other point I would like to make … To Counter Financial Repression as Far as the Eye Can See … we must make sure that our Future in fact changes the Present … and this will likely require that our new Attorney General not only require settlement of banker financial fraud with physical gold and silver but also should include a “Claw Back Clause” in the negotiated settlement that requires all banker fines be paid in physical precious metal “Priced at the Time the Fraud was Commited” …
The reason this “Claw Back” feature is very necessary is because the criminal bankers could simply begin buying precious metal futures contracts to drive up precious metal prices to unheard of levels … just so they only have to pay off their billion dollar fines with a few ounces of gold.
Interesting and informative as always, Greg. The sooner we get a reset the better, if it means an eventual return to normality in the Western world. Actually, whatever occurs, as long as it’s change, can’t be any worse than watching our society have the life sucked out of her, before the scavengers feast on her decaying corpse.
Blood and soil is all we really have.
Here comes the “BOOM”.
http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-signs-gas-supply-deal-with-china-2014-11
Now you know the real reason Obama is headed to China with hat in hand. The dirty little secret is, Russia and China doesn’t need us anymore, or Europe for that matter.
Greg, it doesn’t matter what the Fed does at this point. Its out of their hands .The economic war is being fought on two fronts. The gold market, and the RMB currency swap. The only trump card the US had left to play was natural gas, and Russia just nixed that deal with their gas agreement with China.
The question I would like to ask Axel is “how long can the Fed continue to print money when no one is buying our bonds” ?
Addendum to may last statement.
– 10 year US T-bill – paying currently 2.44
– 10 year RMB – paying 2.99
If you were an investor, which one would you buy?
jerry
It is possible, that JC DAVIS would buy american, but not sure, depends on whether or not he is sitting near his pool table, w/old wine skin. 🙂 hi jc.
Allen . Simple answer is if it don’t fit don’t force it. LOL
The question I would like to ask Axel is “how long can the Fed continue to print money when no one is buying our bonds” ?
The Fed will eventually do what Japan is doing- buy every last US newly issued treasury bond
What will the Russian response be?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-10/bank-of-russia-cuts-2015-economic-forecast-to-show-no-growth.html
The economic war is in full bloom.
Jerry I think we all here the sound of a clock. Tick Tock . How it will unfold ? GOD knows. Take care Jerry. Hope we survive threw this.
Well Good news from me is I got wood to keep warm by today. On day at a time.
Here is the news you’ve been waiting for. The final phase of the collapse has started.
http://rt.com/business/203903-ruble-yuan-dollar-settlements/
With rapid the expansion of the RMB by the Chinese (especially in Canada), the unraveling of the dollar will happen much more quickly than most imagined.
The take down of gold and silver was predictable, because the PTB wanted as much of it as they could get their hands before the collapse took place to insure their position at the table with the Chinese. The rest of us will eat cake. Or in my case beans. In either case the Chinese, and apparently the Russians, now only deal in gold or the Yuan, for trade between their respective countries. The death of the dollar has begun.
The hits to the dollar just keep coming.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/04/china-offshore-yuan-idUSL4N0SU3KV20141104
Will the Swiss pull the trigger? I say No. Hope i am wrong.
Greg, on one hand, I find it so interesting to hear all of these different perspectives from all of these different people you interview on your show. That being said, I admit I inwardly groaned when I heard Merk talk about interest rates over “the next 10 years.”
I usually click the YouTube button for each interview so I can watch and listen in a larger format there, and next to today’s interview on YouTube, there was a thumbnail for Fabian Calvo’s video from October 17, 2014 (when the Fed announced they were going to keep interest rates low for a prolonged period), titled “ALERT: Fed Signal Proves Coming Collapse In Motion” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgIT607Cf44) which I watched after listening to Merk. Groan again! Fabian was also talking about a long horizon and was saying things were going to play out for much longer before the REAL inflation took place. (Ouch!)
At that point, I just had to stop and step back to feel into what I was personally expecting. Allow me to reveal a little about what led me to this whole subject of the “end times,” to put my comments into a proper perspective. I was originally raised in a traditional Conservative Jewish home, had a close relationship with God and talked to God every day as a child. I was taught to deny anything past the Old Testament, including Christ or anything associated with him. That all changed on March 9, 1981 when Christ appeared to me in my bedroom, put his hands on my head, passed his knowledge and power into me, and called me to follow him, which I have done ever since.
A year later (March 1982) I received a vision from Christ in which I saw “the future” that we are living in now. I saw a time of increasing earth changes (volcanoes erupting, earthquakes, forests being flattened by strong winds, oceans being whipped up into huge waves, etc.), and increasing unraveling of the human social fabric against a backdrop of rising chaos from which there was no escape. Entire cities were burning, but I didn’t see what had caused that. (While I was peering into this chaos, I wondered what had caused it and realized that it was a lack of love.)
The tensions rose and rose and then, just when I thought things would totally collapse under the strain, I saw people dressed in white robes appearing in various places around the globe. The phrase came, “They are centers for calm and blessing,” and they calmed those who were gathered around them. They gathered up those groups of people and took them up into the sky where they were taken on board large white circular ships that were cloaked in clouds.
After we were on board the ships, looking at the Earth from space, I saw the Earth slow its rotation and finally come to a stop. Everything that was not part of the bedrock went flying off into space, including the oceans. Then the planet slowly rolled over and began spinning on a different axis, similar to what was shown in the movie “2012.” I saw approximately the same degree of displacement that they showed in the movie, only I had seen it back in 1982.
There was a shift in time and then I saw the “new heaven and the new earth.” I experienced what that world will be like and it will be very different than our present civilization. I found the first confirmation of what I had seen in Revelation 21:1 (which I had not read before then): “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away; and the sea was no more.”
I have since studied the Bible as one possible explanation for what I experienced back in 1981 and 1982. In Acts 2:16-18 Peter says:
“But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel: 17 It shall come to pass in the last days, said God. I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 And upon my menservants and maidservants will I pour out my Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy; …”
Joel 2:28-29 says, “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
In Romans 9:27-28, Peter said, “Isaiah also preached concerning the children of Israel, Though the number of children of Israel should be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant shall be saved. 28 For whatever the Lord has determined and decreed, he shall bring to pass upon earth.”
In Isaiah 10:20-22, it says: “And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and those who are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again trust upon him that smote them; but they shall trust in the Lord, the holy one of Israel, in truth. 21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22 For though your people of Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return; their number decreased, cut off, but flooded with righteousness. 23 For the LORD God of Hosts shall bring destruction and make decrees throughout all of the earth.”
This has led me to conclude that I personally am the fulfillment of both of these prophecies — about my prophesying through the pouring out of spirit during the end times/last days, and about a remnant of Israel returning to a renewed relationship with God.
When I was groaning inwardly about how long this entire process might drag on before resolution arrives, I remembered passages from Matthew and Mark that I feel relate.
Matthew 24:21-25 says, “For then there will be great suffering, such as has never happened from the beginning of the world until now, and never will be again. 22 And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would live; but for the sake of the chosen ones those days will be shortened. 23 Then if anyone says to you, Behold, here is the Christ, or there; do not believe it. 24 For there will rise false Christs and lying prophets, and they will show signs and great wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the chosen ones. 25 Behold, I have told you in advance.”
Mark 13:19-23 says something very similar: “For in those days there will be suffering such as has never been from the beginning of the creation which God made until now, and never will be again. 20 And if the Lord had not shortened those days, no flesh would live; but for the sake of the elect ones, which He chose, He shortened those days. 21 Then if any man should say to you, Behold, here is the Christ; or behold, there; do not believe it. 22 For there will rise false Christs and lying prophets, and they will show signs and wonders, and mislead, if possible, even the chosen ones. 23 But be careful; behold, I have told you everything in advance. ”
From this, I conclude that although Merk and Calvo both see a protracted process of collapse stretching across many years ahead, there might be a shortening of that process through other mechanisms that are not in the hands of men to control, not even the elites.
In Isaiah 24:1-6, the Pole Shift I saw as ending the entire process on this planet is described: “Behold, the Lord shall destroy the earth and lay it waste and turn it upside down and scatter its inhabitants. 2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. 3 The land shall be utterly destroyed and utterly spoiled; for the Lord has spoken this word. 4 The earth howls and sits in mourning, the world waits and sits in mourning, the haughty people of the world lament. 5 The earth also is defiled like its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the law, changed the ordinance, and nullified the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore the earth shall sit in mourning, and all of its inhabitants be condemned; therefore all of the inhabitants of the earth shall be destroyed, and a few men shall be left.”
Coming back to Matthew and Mark, we get confirmation of what Isaiah described. Matthew 24:29-31 tells us, “Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the universe will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in the sky; and all the generations of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a large trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the heaven to the other.”
Mark 13:24-27 says something similar: “In those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, 25 And the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the universe will be shaken. 26 Then they will see the Son of man coming in the clouds, with a great army and with glory. 27 Then he will send his angels and gather his chosen ones from the four winds, from the utmost part of the earth to the utmost part of heaven.”
Both of these passages describe what I saw in that vision in 1982, right down to the detail about the ships that looked like clouds (I later discovered that that is an ionization layer that they can create and dissolve at will — had many demonstrations of that from 1987 onward). The stars WOULD appear to “fall from the sky” from the perspective of someone standing on the surface of the planet during a Pole Shift, but I don’t think anyone will survive that to tell the story, the movie “2012” notwithstanding.
So while I can sympathize and commiserate with those who have posted on this site in response to the varying expectations given by different speakers, I have come to the conclusion that there IS still a time of great chaos and suffering that lies ahead (I think it is beginning now), but also that that time WILL be “shortened” through the scenario I saw in my vision in 1982 and that the planet itself will be left barren and devoid of life above the mineral level after the Pole shift takes place. Those who are taken off of the planet into “the clouds” will be the inhabitants of the new earth when that becomes available to live on. I expect to be among those who experience that and as Christ told me at the end of that 1982 vision, at some point in time, “I will be called” to serve in that effort. He told me to “be in a prayerful attitude” while I was waiting to be called, and I have done that to the best of my ability during the long wait that has ensued.
I hope that some of what I have written here is of some comfort to others. Otherwise there would be no point in my sharing it. I feel that at least some of those who post here can receive it in the spirit I offer it. I have no wish to engage in religious debates and I don’t belong to any religious denomination. I follow Christ directly and that’s been what’s been right for me. I respect your right to do whatever feels right for you. We live in a republic, not a democracy, and in a republic our rights are God-given ones, not something subject to the whims of a “majority.”
The battle against Save our Swiss Gold is getting into gear: the banks and their main stream media cronies will do what they can to stop it
Hi NC Gal,
Fascinating comment. Thank you for posting it. As I read I wondered if you have been able to share this with your parents and siblings (if you have any) and whether they received your testimony concerning Jesus (Yeshua) as the Christ. The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be richly with your spirit NC Gal, Amen!
Mark,
Thank you for not rejecting my experience wholesale, as Emeth did below. My father died before this happened. My mother actually was one of the main influences in my life who demonstrated that God was close at hand at all times and while she, as a Jew, was formally forbidden to acknowledge Christ, whenever she referred to him, she used the familiar name, “Yoshke,” which was a Yiddish diminutive that implied affection for him.
She was fascinated with what I shared with her, especially about the ships, and confided that back when she was a child, living in a tiny village in Poland, UFOs came overhead and everyone there saw them. However, she asked me not to tell anyone else in my family about any of that, and when I tried to introduce it as a subject at a family gathering, she changed the subject and wouldn’t support what I was saying.
My brother converted to Christianity more than once and said the only reason he went ahead with his Bar Mitzvah was to get the presents. He married 3 different Christian women, raised his children as Christians, but when I tried to talk to him about my vision, his response (as many could identify with here) was, “I don’t want to hear about this! I just want to pay off my mortgage, send my kid to college, and retire to the Carolinas.” (As far as I know, he is still living in Michigan, and I am the one who is living in North Carolina.) I am not in touch with him anymore, and as Christ told the disciples, wherever you are not welcomed, shake the dust off your feet and move on (paraphrasing). Anyplace I am not received, I do that.
Following Christ demanded everything of me. I had to totally reject the religious teachings I was raised with and strike out on my own. I could not find a church that fit with what I had been given directly from Christ, but after I had received inner baptism directly from Christ and he told me I had been forgiven my past because I had lived in ignorance, he told me that from that time forward, I would be held accountable for every thought, word and deed, a very high standard indeed.
At this point in time, my faith is complete. I have no doubt about where I am heading and with whom. There were many tests along the way, and I stumbled often, but now I feel prepared for what will come next. I have no fear about death or the future, only that I don’t want to suffer anymore. (I was disabled for 9 years, and during that time I did have one extended experience that I would call suffering, which taught me compassion for others like nothing else could.)
As I said, I offered my story in the hope it would provide some comfort for some who read this thread. I have no need to defend, justify, or explain this experience. It was as I have said, and I found confirmation for it when I read the Bible after it happened. I have continued to have a close relationship with Christ ever since.
So we are to trust your experiences, visions and revelations, although we don’t know you, your character, or even the basis of your Scriptural understanding, other than what you have outlined above. Unlike Jesus, his Apostles, or the prophets before them, whom were all uniquely and unquestionably authenticated (eg. Jn.3:2, Acts.2:22), we are just to believe you because of your claims.
If this was not your objective, why write what you did. Yes, I heard that you don’t wish to engage in religious debates. So I am not going to debate you, only state that God has showed me that you are speaking falsely, out of your own heart.
I often meet people like yourself, and most claim ‘Sola scriptura’, but like you they do not understand what they read, nor interpret the word accurately. They simply bend the words to fit their existing understanding.
For example, your interpretation of Isaiah 24 is woeful. You are not alone in this. How about firstly understanding the background of Isaiah, and the impending destruction brought upon both Israel & Judah by the Assyrians. This is all part of the contextual history of the times, and part of the theme running through Isaiah.
Hezekiah’s reign was typical of Christ’s future work. The Assyrian invasion was typical of the latter day invasion spoken of in Ezek.38, Joel.3, Zech.14. Hezekiah was God’s anointed (christ) king who petitioned God, who brought Judah’s miraculous deliverance (Isaiah.36-39), just as these other references speak of Israel’s future deliverance from Gog (a latter day Assyrian type), by the anti-typical Hezekiah, even the Lord Jesus Christ.
You need to grasp the concept of poetically figurative language, as well as understand that the word ‘earth’ is the Hebrew word ‘eretz’, which means ‘the land’ here, and more specifically ‘the promised land’.
Interestingly, your visions and interpretations are almost identical to that of the well known and attested plagiarist, Ellen White, who is considered by some to be a prophetess. Please consider very carefully what Paul says in Gal.1:6-9.
NC Gal, I’ve always enjoyed your commentary. You’ve an excellent ability to write and a good perspective.
I had a whole rebuttal prepared, but instead of detracting from your vision, I’d just like to say thank you for sharing your beliefs.
Woody,
Thank you for being accepting to the degree that you expressed. I appreciate your not offering a rebuttal. I offered what I said truthfully and with an open hand, and it was with the sincere intention to offer comfort. Coming from the background I did, when I discovered the relationship between the Old and New Testaments, I realized that the Jews claimed that God stopped speaking with people at the end of the Old Testament and Christians often feel that God stopped speaking with people at the end of the New Testament, but when I found the scriptures regarding these times and that at least some of us living in them would prophesy (some falsely, to be sure), then it made sense to me that if God EVER spoke to anyone, it didn’t make sense that that would stop at a particular point in history. The entire expectation of the “return” says that the story is still unfolding, even now, and I believe that I have a part to play in it. Only time will tell the truth of all things.
To explain the book of Revelation, I’m going to start right in.
Verse 1 says the Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to, and the word there is “to show”, the actual word in the Greek language is “to signify” or “to show by signs.”
What you need to understand first of all is the book of Revelation sounds symbolic because it is symbolic.
So what we will do is look at the symbols.
Now, as soon as I say that a lot of people will say “I’m jumping off this bus…”
Buy you’d be making a great mistake because everyone understands that there are signs and symbols in the book.
No one disagrees.
When you run into the Lamb you know that’s a sign for Jesus Christ. You don’t even question it.
When you run into the Lion you understand that’s a sign for Jesus Christ.
What I’m going to tell you is that the signs and symbolism of the book hold the key for understanding it.
Now the question is “Why would someone write such a symbolic book?”
Well, the Book of Revelation is three kinds of literature.
First of all, it’s prophetic literature. So that means there is an unfolding of some future things.
Second, it is literature that is apocalyptic in nature and that’s where the rub comes. People don’t understand what apocalyptic means.
Finally, some of it is just plain narative.
To come back to Apocalyptic, it means this, it was written at a time of deep distress. Something like a time when American soldiers were in Hanoi Hotel and there they found themselves imprisoned and their captors were tormenting them.
How did they communicate with each other?
They communicated with signs and symbols that were obscure to their captors but were very clear to the prisoners.
The Book of Revelation is written by a church under the oppression of Rome and it’s written in signs and symbols that were very clear to the first century Christians and rather obscure to the Romans. Thus, it would have much less likelyhood of being suppressed.
Justin says:
June 8, 2011 at 2:55 pm
“Hi. If you have an open mind you will see the truth. I only speak the truth.
John of Patmos was a scientist with an explosive discovery. He wanted to send valuable information through the Romans without it being read or destroyed. He masked science in religious garbage which is used to encode the book.
http://www.tinyurl.com/revdavinci for the key to the code, step-by-step, just as John guides his “partners” through the code. The approach is simple. John took his “visions” and wrote them down. We just have to do the reverse. The document deconstructs the written word back into visions in their true context.
Then when you are done he gives you proof you got it right by creating a picture from the description. There are horses, locusts, all manner of things.
I hope you enjoy and have fun with Revelations now. It is not doom and gloom in the slightest. It actually has some good jokes and satire.
I appreciate it will be a lot to take in after 2000 years of trying to find the Word of God in a crossword puzzle. But when you understand the code you will understand John as a human being with qualities to admire. That is the Christian message in Revelations. God Bless!”
When in the middle of summer you come upon a road with a sign warning ice, if your in a temperate climate, you know that means beware in winter and you know the sign points to something else and not the sign literally being ice.
THE SYMBOLISM IN BOOK OF REVELATION
While most everyone recognizes Revelation as symbolic, some folks argue it as being actual and non-symbolic, to the point of one man proposing that an actual red dragon with seven heads lurks in outer space! (It’s true!). However, it’s an indictment against modern Christianity’s lack of biblical study to not immediately recognize the myriad of symbols in the Revelation that were taken from other internal biblical references. The symbols CAN NEVER be haphazardly concocted. The interpretation is NOT UP FOR GRABS! It is filled with references to Hebrew customs.
John was not given this information to simply satisfy our curiosity as to what will happen later on. He told us these things to get to work and do the Lord’s will and OVERCOME THE DEVIL! REVEAL JESUS!
Imagine reading the bible to see if you can find the latest reported technology of today hinted at in there, rather than reading it to get stirred as to what you should be doing for the kingdom!
It’s about Jesus. And if you do not get that impression, you are reading it through stained glasses tinted with false doctrine.
Prophecy in the bible is not just predicting the future. It is a message to God’s people that is always written in a covenant form. For example, Isaiah spoke of the people of Israel becoming God’s people using terms borrowed from the accounts of creation.
Isa 51:16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
Even cultural issues in their day were used to figuratively give a message to the people in VERY plain terms. That is why familiar references were made! It was not Gnostic! It was not secret messages! It was plain references that were VERY familiar to the people to whom it was written. Since the early church was comprised of people who very much were familiar with the Old Covenant, for example, there abounds references to the Old Testament writings that were borrowed and used as allegories of the message for the people of the New Testament early church.
Do we believe God makes the Christian today lie down in green pastures in a very literal sense? Of course not! Psalms abound with literary figures of speech. It is the style of writing used in such books. Acts is a history book for the most part. Revelation is not just future history. It is written in the STYLE of the Psalms and other such books. David wrote of God being seen riding wings of the wind coming in thick clouds of darkness in wrath Against David’s enemies. Revelation is written in PRECISELY THE SAME MANNER.
It’s POETIC!
All the prophets always spoke in this way! There are images of creation in Genesis that were referenced repeatedly by the prophets. Rev 1:1 said the book was written in SIGNIFYING manner. Symbolic. Just like Psalm 23. But what mockers always and consistently throw their heads beneath the sand to avoid seeing, is that these symbols are TAKEN FROM THE BIBLE ITSELF. That is a far cry from one brother who takes Daniel’s references to a Leopard kingdom from a “confirmation” in a newspaper where Germany was said to have Leopard tanks!
We get the symbols from the Bible itself!
John never made up the images. And we cannot interpret them using our own ingenuity. They are carefully taken from the rest of the Bible. Christ is a Lamb because a LAMB was sacrificed in Exodus’ Passover , and not because Lambs are gentle, loving creatures.
SIGNIFIED
More on the term SIGNIFIED:
John wrote Revelation, and the term SIGNIFIED in Rev 1:1, meaning to symbolize, is found in John’s Gospel as well, giving the same sense.
quote:
Joh 12:30-33 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. (31) Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. (32) And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (33) This he said, signifying what death he should die.
(The next verse refers to the above one.)
Joh 18:32 That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.
Joh 21:18-19 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. (19) This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
In each case, Jesus did not speak plainly about death, but SIGNIFIED death using poetic language.
\THE TEMPLE IN HEAVEN
Revelation 5 shows Jesus as High Priest and sacrifice, BOTH, as a lamb carrying His own blood to the throne. The ark’s mercy seat depicted this throne. And the four beasts were about the throne as they were on the mercy seat, covering it. They’re the seraphim of Isa. 6.
And Heaven, that John saw, was the true Most Holy Place! No man could go in to take the book, just as only the high priest could go into the most holy place. And This goes all the way back to the Garden, where Man was cast out due to sin. the most Holy Place represented the Garden!
The veil covering the most holy place had cherubim’s embroidered into it, just as the entrance the Garden was blocked by cherubim s and a flaming sword. We know the flaming sword was by the veil in the tabernacle and temple, because Lev. 10 shows Na dab and Abihu trying to enter and fire slaying them.
And the lamb appears BETWEEN THE THRONE AND THE FOUR BEASTS.
quote:
Rev 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
If the four beasts, cherubim’s, were positioned as guardians here, in the same manner that they were in the Garden, then standing BETWEEN the throne and the cherubim’s would be like STANDING INSIDE THE GARDEN, that nobody could enter!
The Lord sat on the Throne with a the book in his right hand. Just like the tree of life with the fruit of life in its branches.
And John is told to eat the book in Revelation 10, as though we now have access back into the Garden again! The LAMB OPENED THE WAY! WE CAN EAT THE FRUIT OF LIFE, which is THE GOSPEL WORD OF SALVATION! Acts 2:38!
Revelation 1:1-20
1 A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God gave him, to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place. And he sent his angel and presented it in signs through him to his slave John, 2 who bore witness to the word God gave and to the witness Jesus Christ gave, yes, to all the things he saw. 3 Happy is the one who reads aloud and those who hear the words of this prophecy and who observe the things written in it, for the appointed time is near.
Greg
I have a question for you.
Seems to me that there are many movies on Youtube recently.
Movies like Jack Bull which HBO owns the copyright for and many others.
Unless I’m mistaken these movies are in violation of the copyright.
It’s my experience that lawyers can on their own file a lawsuit on behalf of the copyright owner for damages.
Since Youtube has counters for views this makes it very easy to set a damage amount.
Even at $2.00 a view this can amount into really big bucks.
Why do you suppose Youtube has stopped going after these accounts that are uploading these videos?
Could it be they are hurting big time for PPC and PPV ads?
Vin
Vincent,
You may be on to something but I do not know for sure.
Greg
Vincent I think they are overwhelmed with violators.
Maybe not. Hell I don’t know. Good question man.
Great interview Greg. Axel Merk is a man of great knowledge and of great value. Good to see him on the show. This country’s government have been living way above their means for a long time and rest assured it cannot keep on going in that direction. Michael Noonan has a pretty good take on the timing of the economic chaos event in that he says It will come when it will come, but it is not as far off as it has been. As long as the paper market on the COMEX exist they can just keep on manipulating away. But that my good friend will end also. Thanks for all the good Info and as always Fear Not
Sambo
When Pink Floyd sold way more than million tickets before they even set foot in America back in 94, the Washington Post commented ” Those who think British Invasion is over, should think twice.”
Those who are believing the government’s line and expecting a fat retirement income
should also think twice!
Merk may know how to invest but he shows he has little political economic knowledge when he agrees with statements like “the Fed is controlled by Congress as is just along for the ride” and that it is impossible to have a gold standard in a socialist country. Tell that one to the Canadian, Scandinavian and European countries that built various social policies into their social contract between people and state under gold standards but now threatened without currency backings. This guy loses it for me and I had to stop listening about a third of the way through.
BTW the Canadian Central Bank has NO gold and the Scandanavian and Euopean countries that have some gold and socialist policies do not tie thier currencies to gold at all
Interesting interview Greg.
And you opened by talking about my favourite subject – the Fed!
Just my 2 cents worth but I have to say that I thought Axel’s comments on the Fed were somewhat naive for a man of his obvious intellect. Apart from that I thought he was spot on with most of his comments.
Personally I find it very difficult to listen to anything past or present Fed chair persons have to say. They have been trained to talk in riddles and most of what they say is spin or simply flat out nonsense. For example at 2:15 Greenspan was quoted as saying” in 5 years time the gold price is going to be higher – when pressed on how much higher he said MEASUREABLY – man did he stick his neck out with this profound prediction – not!
If you want a good laugh just google Bernanke bloopers. Below is an example;
On May 17, 2007, Fed Chairman Bernanke said, “We do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system.”
Of course Axel like so many Americans just can’t bear to mention that the Fed is simply a pantomime play that it is owned and staged by a private banking cabal. Being a farmer I have an analogy for this farcical example of the world’s all time most glaring example of a conflict of interest:
Having a cartel of private banks owning and running the Fed makes about as much sense as a farmer employing a group of foxes to look after his hen house 24 hours a day. Under the contract the farmer is not allowed to go into the henhouse, or anywhere near it for that matter, and the foxes must deliver the eggs to his house. The farmer has no oversight on how the hens are being looked after but he is a bit suspicious because the foxes are not bringing him any eggs. To make matters worse the last time he spoke to one of the foxes he was assured that all was well with the hens and they would soon start laying again. His suspicions were raised however by the fact that as the fox was spinning the story about how well the hens were, he couldn’t help noticing that there appeared to be blood on the foxes chin and hen feathers stuck between his teeth!
Obviously any talk of the Fed being independent is by definition complete nonsense. For Greenspan to say “we are just going along for the ride, congress tells us what to do” – well this is just dribble.
At the 1:20 mark Axel said that Greenspan was quoted as saying “the Fed is run by culture not by economics” I certainly have to agree with that comment!
I totally agree on two other points made by Axel;
#1 No taper by the Fed is possible. You cannot taper a Ponzi scheme.
#2 Massive QE is a very effective way to erode sovereign debt in a technically bankrupt nation. However it is really just debt default with a different label.
The massive entitlements due are debt also unless the Govt. reneges. However this debt is never added into total debt. If it was added in the real total US debt it would be akin to that of the Weimar republic in the 1930s. As we all know the Weimar republic did not end well.
IMHO – All in all an excellent and thought provoking interview Greg.
Cheers
Col
Col,
Love this: “Having a cartel of private banks owning and running the Fed makes about as much sense as a farmer employing a group of foxes to look after his hen house 24 hours a day.”
Greg
Colin –
In your studies concerning the Fed have you ever come across a reason why the Fed chairman is always Jewish? Many of the Fed governors are not Jewish but the only ones promoted to the chief office are Jews. I’m not asking this as an anti-Semite. I’m curious and am trying to find the reason why this is so. (We are all trying to understand the world in which we live, Greg, so I hope you will let this question post.) Thank you.
Wolfgang,
I am having real difficulty in answering your question and I am certainly not anti-semite either. Let me answer this by saying – yes, there is a huge number of Jewish people in these sorts of positions in the US and indeed worldwide. I am not against any race colour or creed. But I am against the monolithic greed and destruction that is caused by TPTB and their network that strangles the finances of the globe.
This is not about race.
This is about greed!
I remember when I was first enlightened to the fact that the Fed was owned by a private banking cabal. My reaction was absolute shock and disbelief. I have never fully come to terms with how something so farcical could survive at all – let alone for 100 years.
Subsequently I have spent years researching the Fed and found it to be an absolutely fascinating subject. It has to be the most evil and ill conceived financial model in the history of mankind. [hence my analogy above with the foxes looking after the hens]
The overwhelming reason its effects have been so far-reaching is because the cartel owned Fed just happens to issue, what HAS BEEN for 70 odd years, the reserve currency of the world.
The Fed has been the Joker and all of the trumps in the AAA’s hand [Anglo American Axis].
If you look at virtually every major national man-made tragedy in the world that has taken place since WW1 you can trace its origin back directly or in part to the AAA. The ownership model of the Fed is what really sustains and finances the AAA and most of the massive global carnage and suffering. By the way most of us know full well that the Fed was formed in 1914 and we also know what else happened in that tragic decade.
The US President that I personally admire the most signed a EO that threatened the power and the monopoly of the Fed. Within a few months he was murdered in cold blood – coincidence, I think not.
IMHO
The financial world is the Titanic.
The Fed is the iceberg.
We can fiddle around with elections and deck chairs, drink scotch, play music and dance – but it won’t actually help.
You see, the iceberg is still there, and it is very, very close now.
Cheers
Col
My take is New York is a money center and about 20% of the population in NYC is Jewish. So, naturally you would see overrepresentation in finance from New York and the Northeast in general.
Greg
WZ,
I don’t believe Colin nor Greg submitted sufficient lucid and accurate information in response to your query. No disrespect to either.
You have made a very fine deduction and it is not to be disregarded.
However , one must dig deeper than studying the Federal Reserve to answer your question.
I suspect that you are setting a trap for the unwary because of the way you pose the question as more of a statement. Nevertheless…
Trace the history of the Federal Reserve, its members and in particular the Banking Elite of Europe (esp. Rothschild – Modern Jew ). Rothschild is actually the German word for “Red Shield” which adorned the house that Meyer Amschel (Rothschild) and family occupied in Frankfurt Germany. He was born in the Jewish ghetto Judengasse of Frankfurt and developed the banking dynasty that we know of today using the sacred art of fractional banking.
Closer analysis will discover the prevalence of these so called Jewish Merchants of Venice & Genoa/ International Bankers / Gentiles in Banking circles and at the pinnacle of entities such as “The City”. They are descendants of Babylon and follow the laws of the Talmud as taught by the Rabbis to the King and his Noble men followers and hence Talmudic Judaism was borne. Babylon was the centre of Jewish religion and authority and its people eventually spread throughout Europe after its demise. The modern Jews observe the 63 volumes of the Talmud which can only be described as the most obscene, indecent and vile texts ever written.
How is all this related to your question ?
Banking is a Babylonian Cult. The Jewish Merchants / Bankers are well trained in the art and were permitted use of the franchise ….as constructed by the Babylonian King Priest Nimrod.
Can you think of any other reason to create a debt based monetary system that rules and impoverishes the world today under governance of the Talmud. Moreover can you understand the necessity to have a Jew (with knowledge and full understanding of the Talmud) as the Chairman of the most important financial entity in the world.
Note too the “prevalence” of Jews in centres of control. They occupy esteemed positions in Government, Law, Finance and Business and are well represented in many Councils, Funds, Commissions and other manifestations of control.
Keep in mind that the monetary system is in fact the vehicle of a policy to centralize the world power.
I am not anti Jew but wish to clarify that 95 % of the Jews on Earth are so called Self Styled Jews ie. they are not of Hebrew Stock or Blood or Faith. They observe the Talmud which is written in Hebrew script but containing not one word of Ancient Hebrew.
Colin
Correction:
The 99.9 percent get less, while (Colin NZ)
the banks sit on mega bucks. Look at the American
Govt. FRB auctions of 541 Billion during …
Should be:
The 99.9 percent get less and less,
refer to Colin NZ posts on FRB,
the banks continuously sit on
mega-bucks.
original
comment from:
10/30/2014 •
Rick
Factually speaking =
Look at deflation as anti-velocity.
St Lawrence
Please accept my sincere apologies for my over reaction on what was a simple typing error.
I wan’t you to know that I enjoy your posts on Watchdog and regard you as a valuable contributor.
Hope there is no hard feelings – certainly none on my part.
Cheers
Colin
Colin
I personally believe that it is too easy to
paint with a broad brush.
During my youth McCarthy discovered
a gigantic truth, then he muffed the ball,
he mixed up socialist economics, communist
plutocracy-governance, elitist collusion …
happened again when the John birchers and
Mr. Walsh did the same thing.
Not all Oligarchs are evil and destructive,
not all Statists-federalists are plutocratic-aristocrats….
Federal Reserve bank is only 5 to 10 percent cause of
Americas loss of USA excellence, wealth generation;
1940 to 1965 ability to feed, clothe, enrich the world
as a leader in peace and productivity. (exception Korean
War)
A good sign-post (refer to Rod Serlings’ Twilight Zone)
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2014/09/22/bread-circuses-bombs-decline-of-the-american-empire/
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2014/11/09/bread-circuses-bombs-decline-of-the-american-empire-part-two/
Hint: i was born during Truman pres.
and will live to see the Chinese owning
every American Business, Bank, Politician,
Media outlet, internet-server on the American Continent,
without firing anything explosives,
Refer to Tsun Zue “Art of War”
Greg: Another great guest. Love all your shows, I always look forward to each of your new videos. Thanks for keeping us informed.
Thank you Karen.
Greg
GREG; STUPID AMERICANS, read below.
In a rare clip that has recently surfaced, Jonathan Gruber, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology health economist and professor who helped to craft portions of the Affordable Care Act, expressly said what he thought about the American people as he spoke about how the unconstitutional law was passed. He called the American people STUPID, and said their STUPIDITY was “really, really critical for the thing to pass.”
In the nearly 1 minute clip from a panel discussion at the Annual Health Economists’ Conference in 2013, Gruber said, “You can’t do it political, you just literally cannot do it. Transparent financing and also transparent spending. I mean, this bill was written in a tortured way to make sure [the Congressional Budget Office] did not score the mandate as taxes. If CBO scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies. OK, so it’s written to do that. In terms of risk-rated subsidies, if you had a law which said that healthy people are going to pay in – you made explicit healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed.”
Read more at http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/11/obamacare-architect-stupidity-american-voter-helped-us-pass-law/#OJ8QemdCuTB6SJP2.99
The Sunshine Mint can not fill their Silver orders.
Others have same problem.
I have a client that sells Gold and Silver and they are having big problems getting it plus demand has increased a lot.
Gentlemen it seems Silver is now very hard to buy.
NC gal
nice book you wrote there, if it was not a book excuse me, but it was certainly long enough to be one. It has some bearing on this interview in what way?
NC Gal….. inspiring post. I also question the various guests when there projections go out so far. It doesn’t fit into the timelines I see both worldly and Biblically. Christians want to believe they will escape all the hardships coming but there is no basis in that belief. All anyone has to do is read the scriptures you presented to see they all described God’s chosen one’s being there during the hard times……….. I sent this video(audio) to Greg and posted it here a week ago. No one commented…….This guy’s interpretation of Revelations had a profound effect on me. Hopefully the church can shed their bias and come to a true understanding of the truth. The basic premise is we will all be here for longer than we would like, but that’s the plan………. [ http://sidroth.org/radio/radio-archives/john-shorey#sthash.AyJ1GN4Z ]
GREG; from a commenter coll. blog.
Firstgarden • 10 hours ago
THE DARK TROLLS
Trolls don’t merely contend for their beliefs. They are contentious by design. Obviously, folks can argue and exude hate, and not be a troll. But all trolls are consistent in their writing, always contradicting, controverting, often saying caustic and abrasive things. But, their most marked characteristic lies in coming to places that are opposite from their own nefarious abodes, where normally, any sensible person would be loathe to do so.
As there are different kinds of personalities, so there are different kinds of troll personalities. Some trolls are subtle, while others march right down main street, shamelessly ripping into anyone who crosses their path. They leave a slime trail behind them, which is easy to slip on. And a horrendous odor that singes your nostril hairs.
The blatant troll sees a passerby, and slowly emerges from under his murky bridge. Moss and dead vines hang from the underside of the old, wooden bridge. On the way out, he lets out a barbaric belch from the unwholesome filth he’s been feeding on.He comes to sow tares in fields of wheat.
He then opens his mouth, and out gushes unfounded platitudes that are the envy of h e l l. As the proverbial fool, he does not delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own mind — a mind shrouded in defecated darkness. A place full of things that only grow where the light does not shine.
The more subtle trolls of darkness creep in on spindly legs, like spiders, weaving webs of deception in the corners and under rotted woodpiles. There they lurk, waiting for sojourners in unawares. Sticky with strands of demagoguery devoid of principle, they seek to entangle and immerse, wrap them up and suck out the blood of sincerity from their yet-tender souls.
The most insidious dark troll of all is the atheist troll. He comes to subvert the righteous in his way, and trip up those who seek the truth. In the spirit world, his political champions appear as so many freaks and hobgoblins on a bad Halloween night. These are psychic vampires who will not tolerate free thought in another. The words of age-old wisemen mean nothing to this dark troll. He despises all their wisdom, while he continually hatches ill-conceived spider eggs, in the hope of begetting countless more children of darkness like himself.
But, we would not have it so. Instead, we would see the dark trolls redeemed to a higher plane wherein all may share a brotherhood together, under the Fatherhood of God. But they would have none of it. They prefer their dark, diabolical haunts, and will not come to the Light. And they despise others that do.
We need not be ignorant of their wiles. For they can not help but show their true nature. Lies are their food and drink, as they harden and crystallize with age — when what they say and do, they finally become. Such is the future of the dark trolls, unless they repent.
For truth seekers come to be enlightened, and to enlighten, with truth gently entreated; nurturing, loving, caring… or, at least, sincere.
But the dark trolls want no such thing. Steeped in their wickedness, they are deprived of sleep unless they can cause someone to stumble.
Jesus said, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come,
but woe to him BY WHOM they come!
It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea,
than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.”
May the dark trolls come to abhor their ways, turn, and come to the Light.
“My sheep hear My voice.”
Will Our Earth Ever Be Destroyed?
HAVE you ever wondered, ‘What is the future of our earth?’ Because of what they see happening to our beautiful planet, many people believe that our earth may not survive.
Indeed, today the earth is being ruined by the abuse of precious resources, such as water, forests, and the delicately balanced atmosphere. Also, some scientists warn that the earth and all life on it may be threatened by such things as a large meteorite, an exploding star, or the exhaustion of the sun’s hydrogen fuel.
Scientists believe that the earth will gradually—perhaps over many billions of years—lose the ability to sustain human life. The Encyclopædia Britannica describes this as “the irreversible tendency toward disorder.”
Happily, the Bible assures us that our God will not allow our earth to be destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. As Creator, he has limitless “dynamic energy,” so he can sustain the universe indefinitely. (Isaiah 40:26) Thus, you can put faith in these words: “[God] has founded the earth upon its established places; it will not be made to totter to time indefinite, or forever.” “Praise him, you sun and moon. Praise him, all you stars of light. . . . For he himself commanded, and they were created. And he keeps them standing forever.”—Psalm 104:5; 148:3-6.
God’s Purpose for the Earth
It was never God’s purpose that the earth be abused and polluted as it is today. Instead, God created the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, and placed them in a beautiful garden. Of course, their Paradise home would not have remained beautiful on its own. God assigned them “to cultivate it and to take care of it.” (Genesis 2:8, 9, 15) What delightful and satisfying work God gave to our once perfect parents!
But God’s purpose for the earth involved much more than caring for that original garden. He wanted the whole earth to be transformed into a paradise. That is why God gave this command to Adam and Eve: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.”—Genesis 1:28.
Sadly, God’s purpose was opposed by a proud angel who came to be known as Satan. He craved to be worshipped by Adam and Eve. Using a snake as his mouthpiece, Satan got them to rebel against God’s rulership. (Genesis 3:1-6; Revelation 12:9) How their selfish lack of appreciation must have hurt our Creator! But one thing that their rebellion did not do was change God’s purpose for the earth. He states: “My word that goes forth from my mouth will . . . not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it.”—Isaiah 55:11.
For good reason, God has allowed Satan’s rebellion to continue down till our day. During this time, mankind has been able to experiment with many forms of self-government, and the results have proved that independence from God, as promoted by Satan, is a total failure.*—Jeremiah 10:23.
On the positive side, during the millenniums that have passed, God has blessed certain upright humans. He has also preserved in the Bible a record of the consequences of either obeying God or rejecting his rule. In addition, God has done wonderful things for our future benefit. He has lovingly provided mankind with a Savior by sending his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to teach us the best way to live and to give his life for us. (John 3:16) Because Jesus did not deserve to die, his death has been used by God as a legal basis to buy back what Adam and Eve lost, namely, the prospect of everlasting life in an earth-wide paradise. To that end, almighty God has established a heavenly government to rule over all mankind, and he has appointed his Son, the resurrected Jesus Christ, to be King of that Kingdom. This marvelous arrangement will ensure that God’s purpose for the earth is fulfilled.—Matthew 6:9, 10.
Thus, you can have absolute confidence in these wonderful promises recorded in the Bible: “Evildoers themselves will be cut off, but those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth. The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it.” “‘Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.’ And the One seated on the throne said: ‘Look! I am making all things new.’”—Psalm 37:9, 29; Revelation 21:3-5.
The Bible Does Not Contradict Itself
Some, though, may wonder, ‘How can we harmonize the above-quoted Bible texts with other verses that seem to speak about the earth’s coming to an end?’ Let us consider some examples. Such an examination will demonstrate that the Bible does not contradict itself.
Long before scientists recognized the “tendency toward disorder” in all physical things, a Bible psalmist wrote: “You [that is, God] laid the foundations of the earth itself, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They themselves will perish, but you yourself will keep standing; and just like a garment they will all of them wear out. Just like clothing you will replace them, and they will finish their turn. But you are the same, and your own years will not be completed.”—Psalm 102:25-27.
In recording these words, the psalmist was not contradicting God’s everlasting purpose for the earth. Rather, he was contrasting God’s eternal existence with the perishability of all the matter that God had created. Without God’s eternal renewing power, the universe—including the solar system that we depend on for stability, light, and energy—would descend into total disorder and ultimate destruction. Thus, if left to itself, our earth would “wear out,” or come to a permanent end.
There are other verses in the Scriptures that may also appear at first glance to contradict God’s stated purpose for the earth. For example, the Bible speaks of heaven and earth as ‘passing away.’ (Revelation 21:1) Surely these words do not contradict Jesus’ promise: “Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) What, then, does the Bible mean when it speaks of heaven and earth as ‘passing away’?
The Bible frequently uses the expression “earth” in a figurative sense, meaning human society. For example, consider the following verse: “All the earth continued to be of one language and of one set of words.” (Genesis 11:1) Obviously, “earth” here refers to the people who were living on the earth. Another example is Psalm 96:1, which according to the King James Version states: “Sing unto the LORD, all the earth.” Clearly, in this and many other passages, the word “earth” is used figuratively to refer to people.—Psalm 96:13.
The Bible sometimes likens the ruling powers on earth to the heavens or to heavenly bodies. For example, the oppressive Babylonian rulers were described as being starlike because they elevated themselves above those around them. (Isaiah 14:12-14) As foretold, the figurative Babylonian “heavens,” or ruling class, and “earth,” the supporters of that rulership, came to an end in 539 B.C.E. (Isaiah 51:6) This allowed repentant Jews to return to Jerusalem, where a “new heavens,” a new ruling body, ruled over “a new earth,” a righteous society of people.—Isaiah 65:17.
The Bible’s words about heaven and earth ‘passing away’ apparently refer to the end of today’s corrupt human governments and their ungodly supporters. (2 Peter 3:7) That will open the way for God’s new heavenly government to bless a righteous new human society, for “there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to [God’s] promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.”—2 Peter 3:13.
Thus, you can have faith in God’s promise that our earthly home will last forever. Moreover, the Bible shows what you must do to share in that wonderful time when the earth will be transformed into a global paradise. Jesus said: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.” (John 17:3) Why not make it your goal to examine what the Bible teaches about the future of the earth and humankind?
g
by Bill Holter, Miles Franklin:
Very “quietly” the world’s 20 largest economies will meet in Brisbane, Australia later this coming week. I use the word “quietly” because here in the U.S. almost no mention of the upcoming meeting has been made. I even searched for news on the event and almost could find none. Strange? Well yes and no, quite strange because it surely is big news especially with all that has been going on but not strange because here in the U.S. we must keep a happy face on things which very well may not be the outcome this time around. I wasn’t sure how I was going to write this piece but I guess it’s just easiest to tell you what I think the result will be and then explain why.
In my opinion, once this meeting is over next Sunday all hell could break loose financially. I say this because much has already been put into place ahead of time and it is my expectation the U.S. and her dollar will at a minimum be taken off of “the top shelf” or at least be pushed back from the front. Let me put forth some of the many available dots and see if they can’t be connected.
Read More @ MilesFranklin.com
The full Holter article can be found at http://blog.milesfranklin.com/theyll-call-it-the-g-20-massacre. Thanks for calling it to our attention, Al.
Thanks for this info.
How can the other nations allow the US fascist cartel to destroy their countries further?
It’s over. They are now isolating the US and the US banker cabal. They will leave the dollar, just like Jim Willie says. We in the US will have to change our lives to deal with the loss of all the financial advantage of decades. Other countries also have economic problems, but none export chaos and war like the US.
US people will face what they haven’t wanted to see. But, hey, we might like the changes!
Read on msn that unlike China, Obama wont even give Putin the light of day in Brisbane, what that means I don’t know, but sure sounds ominous and just how would they know such a thing. I thought Putin sure must have dune a lot of swallowing to approach the man the new world disorder crowd has appointed as their under cover neo-conservative rep. and Putin knows they all must want him dead, because he’s the one standing in their way. It will sure be interesting to see what comes about down under, to say the least!
Thank you for posting this Al.
Would love to see another interview with Karen Hudes and her latest progress. Her interviews just keep getting more and more interesting.
As you’re probably aware, Greg, Alan Greenspan was interviewed by journalist Gillian Tett at a CFR conference almost two weeks ago.
While this discussion of his advocacy for gold may go down as a relative scoop in an otherwise dodgy career for an FT journalist, she failed to nail him with the ultimate market moving question: Is their any gold in Fort Knox or the New York Fed?
You, I, and others know the answer. I just would have enjoyed seeing this “johnny-come lately” squirm.
Gee, Emeth, I got just the opposite testimony from God……..Al, I’ve always said, there’s as many interpretations of the Bible as there are inhabitants on earth. Meaning you are only one (including Emeth) and if you both arrogantly believe that your interpretation stands far above anyone else’s then I have quite a few scriptures for you to digest………… Greg, it’s your show but can you put a limit on the volume/paragraphs posted ? It really detracts from having a meaningful discussion………. Heck, I could submit ALL of the book of Revelations (with commentary).
Jeff,
Good point. I was torn about putting that much up. That said, let’s try to keep the posts down to a few paragraphs.
Greg
Ok Greg. Please get Karen Huded back on . she has a way of sparking thought.
Obama’s bid for new China ties can’t quell tension
JOSH LEDERMAN, Associated Press
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102172841
People are largely a product of their upbringing, their familial ties, and with that comes their religious outlook and politics. Of course, this is not carved in stone as you all know. I very much appreciate all of your views. I may not agree, and sometimes I do not quite follow some comments. That is OK. We have had many different experiences. Gregorian chant, for instance, can soothe my beast and take me back to the memory of a safer period in my life. I am, however, an RC renegade, feel this current Pope is clean off the reservation. Have no party affiliation though I do vote. Just looking for insight where I can find it.
Frankly, I cannot wait to read everyone’s take on the topics at hand. Your background and contributions in certain areas can only add to my arsenal of awareness.
Greg, I avoided your last weekend wrap up at first. I felt unsettled over the current events of last week and just pulled back. I did yard work till I wore myself out and could sleep like a stone at night. Finally, on Sunday night, I gave you a listen. I laughed, I mulled over your comments, I listened again. You are fast on your feet, and my Irish half appreciates that.
Things are going to get real dicey when Prez Mao gets back. He just looks so embittered lately and I think the gloves are about to come off. We will to see his Dorian Grey true self. Yep, the painting is about to leave the attic.