Theatre of the Absurd, A Must Read

They are crafting legislation to make depositors cover bank losses. An executive order that allows the government to seize any of your assets that it chooses. Copied in it's entirety. You gotta read this to believe it.


Sunday, September 07, 2014


IT'S YOUR FAULT: Federal Reserve Blames Americans Who “Hoard Money” For Obama's Economic Trainwreck



By Mac Slavo


Despite arguments to the contrary from the Obama administration, mounting evidence suggests that the U.S. economy is rapidly falling back into negative growth territory. More Americans are out of the workforce than ever before, median household incomes are at levels not seen since 1967, and consumer spending is coming to a veritable standstill. The crisis is apparently so significant that a Federal Reserve governor recently said U.S. policymakers are crafting regulations that will force bank depositors to cover any losses should their financial institutions fail.The question that many are asking is, how did this happen? How, after six years of recovery efforts and trillions of dollars printed, is it possible that the economy is not booming again?
This week the Federal Reserve published a report that claims to have figured it out and it turns out that the renewed economic downturn has nothing to do with foreign outsourcing, high taxation, increased health care costs for business or rising consumer prices for food and energy.
No, according to the Fed it is your fault. Apparently, you are not spending enough money. In order for the economy to recover you need to stop hoarding cash now and get out there and start buying more homes, cars, vacations, and electronics. Otherwise, you’ll only have yourself to blame when the system comes unhinged.
From the St. Louis Federal Reserve:

The issue has to do with the velocity of money, which has never been constant, as can be seen in the figure below . If for some reason the money velocity declines rapidly during an expansionary monetary policy period, it can offset the increase in money supply and even lead to deflation instead of inflation.

During the first and second quarters of 2014, the velocity of the monetary base2 was at 4.4, its slowest pace on record. This means that every dollar in the monetary base was spent only 4.4 times in the economy during the past year, down from 17.2 just prior to the recession. This implies that the unprecedented monetary base increase driven by the Fed’s large money injections through its large-scale asset purchase programs has failed to cause at least a one-for-one proportional increase in nominal GDP. Thus, it is precisely the sharp decline in velocity that has offset the sharp increase in money supply, leading to the almost no change in nominal GDP

So why did the monetary base increase not cause a proportionate increase in either the general price level or GDP?
The answer lies in the private sector’s dramatic increase in their willingness to hoard money instead of spend it. Such an unprecedented increase in money demand has slowed down the velocity of money
Top tier economists, it seems, are unable grasp why consumers have decided to hoard – in other words, save – their money even though the central bank is engaged in an unprecedented monetary expansion.
The answer is simple, really, and you don’t need to look at detailed government charts and statistics to figure it out.
American consumers have been absolutely pummeled over the last decade.
We are losing so many jobs that newly created minimum wage jobs touted by the Obama administration aren’t even making a dent.
Moreover, the price of food, electricity, gas and other essentials have risen so sharply that we’re paying nearly double for those items today than we did a decade ago.
And, as recently noted by The Economic Collapse Blog, over 77 million Americans currently have debt collection accounts and 25% of Americans have absolutely no emergency cash whatsoever.
It’s not so much that Americans are “hoarding” money, a phrase that suggests greedy people all over the country are stacking piles of cash under their mattresses. It’s that most Americans don’t have any money left to spend.
The Daily Bell says that the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government are now creating a new narrative to be spewed by their mainstream media propaganda arms, wherein the blame for this will fall squarely on the American people:
Sometimes Federal Reserve white papers attract attention and this one does because of the term “hoarding money.” This is a startling phrase and – who knows – perhaps it marks the beginning of a new meme.
Certainly the word “hoarding” is a popular one with government officials. When governments are uncomfortable with the actions of citizens for whatever reason, the term “hoarding” is often applied to stigmatize certain behaviors and encourage others.
This isn’t the first time government officials and their quasi-government counterparts have targeted “hoarders” as evil doers. They have done it before and the evidence suggests they are going to do it again as soon as the right crisis takes hold.
In 2012 President Obama signed a an Executive Doomsday Order that was designed specifically to target “hoarders” during a national emergency:
While millions of people have been preparing for the possibility of a catastrophic event by relocating to rural homesteads or farms, as well as stockpiling food, water, personal defense armaments and other essential supplies with the intention of utilizing these preparations if the worst happens, the latest executive order signed by President Obama on March 16, 2012 makes clear that in the event of a nationally deemed emergency all of these resources will fall under the authority of the United States government.
The signing of the National Defense Resources Preparedness executive order grants the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, the Department of Defense and other agencies complete control of all US resources, including the ability to seize, confiscate or re-delegate resources, materials, services, and facilities as deemed necessary or appropriate to promote the national defense as delegated by the following agencies
But what is hoarding? According to David Spero of Code Green Prep, it’s whatever they say it is. Right now, tens of millions of Americans are unable to put food on the table or pay their most basic expenses, yet the Federal Reserve claims that we’re hoarding money. In an emergency, they’ll make similar claims.
Hoarding of Just About Anything Can Be Banned
These definitions are written in to the 1950 War and National Defense Defense (sic) Production Act, and so let’s see what the act itself has to say for itself.
Go directly to section 2072. That’s the key part from our perspective.
§2072. Hoarding of designated scarce materials
In order to prevent hoarding, no person shall accumulate (1) in excess of the reasonable demands of business, personal, or home consumption, or (2) for the purpose of resale at prices in excess of prevailing market prices, materials which have been designated by the President asscarce materials or materials the supply of which would be threatened by such accumulation. The President shall order published in the Federal Register, and in such other manner as he may deem appropriate, every designation of materials the accumulation of which is unlawful and any withdrawal of such designation.
So the President can simply say that anything more than (for example) a week’s supply of food (and all the other things listed) is an amount ‘in excess of the reasonable demands of personal consumption’ and then order the Army to impound everything you have in excess of that amount.
Now, as we face a crisis in America on a scale never before seen, the government is attempting to change the story. In the end, when the worst of it hits and people start rioting in the streets because they can’t afford food or shelter, they’ll turn the blame on the “hoarders” who have selfishly saved cash and precious metals, stored long-term foods for an emergency, and prepared to deal with the very situation the politicians, central bankers and business elite have created.
Once the meme is pushed in earnest across the media networks, it will only be a matter of time before the crowds turn their attention to those greedy hoarders who ’caused this crisis in the first place.’
Those who hoard resources illegally will have their supplies seized and will likely be detained for actions akin to terrorism, while those who see something and say something will be rewarded with a cut of the booty.
This may sound outlandish, until you consider that this is how all tyrants and authoritarian governments have operated since the beginning of human civilization.
Hoarders beware. They’ll be coming for you.

Comments

PeterE said…
Brian,

In your last post you wrote;

"I'm not going to be around to see how all of this ends."

But things seem to be accelerating quite quickly. Do you really think it will be long before real trouble hits the streets so the system can reset?
Would you care to have a guess at some time frames?

I'll be back in the states in a few weeks. It'll be interesting to see what has changed in the last 9 months.
Anonymous said…
Interesting.

Our culture is brimming with apathy. Our people simply do not care about politics, government, or central banking. We are a superficial, narcissistic culture bent on obtaining material wealth, boob jobs, little mansions with a view, things associated with status. Our poor are given just enough food and health care to keep them shut up and happy.

The things that matter, like love, virtue, and human kindness and fair play have been replaced by a dog eat dog culture that sees nothing wrong with stealing every last cent from you just so long as it is marginally legal. Our government is the worst offender and oddly- no one cares. Government apologists and liberal statists actually make the case that 60 or 70% tax rates are needed.

If I live to be 78, then I have 25 years. I don't think I will be alive. No society has ever come back from deficits eclipsing 100% of GDP. From here (2008) on in we shall die a slow economic death, while the government desperately tries to cling to power and control. By the time this giant sheep herd of a culture wakes up- it will be too late. Government will turn on its citizens- just as this piece points out and just as Jefferson predicted- we will have a tyrannical mess on our hands. I really believe we will have another civil war.

I don't think things will move quickly enough for me to see it. It is a kind of slow, grinding death of incrementalism where government will slowly eliminate all of our rights, criminalize all behavior that threatens them, try to control all outlets of communication, and try to seize the means with which we will ultimately defend ourselves.

That's the future. Tyrannical government doesn't negotiate. Will all that happen in 25 years? I doubt it. It would sure be fun to watch it though.

Brian
Anonymous said…
Obama is a communist asshat.
He is pure evil and bent on destroying America.
The Republicans are sitting there watching him do it. They are just as guilty. The truth is both sides are manipulated and owned by TPTB.
100 years ago Russia went through the same thing.
Anonymous said…
An executive order that allows the government to seize any of your assets that it chooses. Copied in it's entirety.

AS JON STEWART WOULD SAY, 'FU@K U ALL'.
Anonymous said…
Time for the A-Holes from the J-Hole to start moving the goalposts as their jig is up.

Ala 2008 (housing jig), the majority are tapped out, yet the .1%-live like royalty, and can't see it thru their forested estates. The majority, especially the younger gen, can't afford good housing even with record low rates. And the clueless idiots wonder why the market sucks.
jms said…
Only thing I've been hoarding is 100 watt light bulbs.
Not to worry, Brian. The Council on Foreign Relations recently put out a white paper proposing that the helicopters used by the Fed to dump money on Wall Street should be moved to Main Street. No doubt the good times are just around the corner.
Anonymous said…
When they raid my bank account, there's not much I can do about it but bitch. Raiding my mattress is whole different ball game. Shit,snot and lead are gonna fly. Gotta go...the ATM is waiting.
Anonymous said…
All this could have been avoided if the greatest generation hadnt treated thier children like special fucking snow flakes. The impending chaos and system colapse is being presided over by the fruits literally and figuratively of the boomer generation politicians the most narsisistic worthless parasites ever to beleive they are entitled to your hard earned wealth no matter the scope and scale of what you have. These sociopaths were pampered and catered to and allowed to climb through the institutions of our nation destroying as they went like locusts, now universities are a wasteland where an education is no longer a learning experience to elevate you and prepare you to contribute to societies wealth stability and productivity. Now its a propaganda mill to further the goals of the locust grasshopper leach class, same with the .gov agencies and the political class. These people pushing the destruction of every good institution and social covenant left in our culture wont be satisfied untill they get the civil/revolutionary war they have been fomenting and then there will be no closing that pandoras box. I only pray that the leftist statist culture warriors that have brung us to this brink get what they deserve once it starts ala Nicolae Ceaușescu

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