Commentary
What Is the Cause of the Economic Meltdown?
By Pastor Eli James
July 28, 2008
Introduction: The Information Meltdown
I am always amused by mainstream media’s shallow coverage of nearly all important news events. More and more independent commentators are realizing that the corporate media rarely tells the truth about anything. Almost all “news,” these days, is disinformation. There is a very important reason for this: the corporate media is part of the globalist business world, which means that any particular television network is either owned by another corporation, or contrariwise, the network is the parent company which owns other corporations. With so many corporations in bed with each other, few “news” outlets will report accurately on any serious problems concerning the corporate business world.Editor's note: Western presses, with the exception of the American press, have published the truth about various events that have taken place over time. The powers-that-be, however, do not want the American people to know the truth, because they know that the American people did, they would not tolerate these actions taking place, so these people are denied the truth while people in other nations are not.
So it is with the banking industry, especially concerning international finance. Banking corporations are often conglomerates that have dealings in shipping, manufacturing, oil, armaments, and entertainment. And those corporations that have interlocking boards of directors are keenly aware that controlling negative information about their conglomerate businesses is an important aspect of doing business. The days of the muckraking reporter are over, since much of the time the potential muckraker would be doing an expose about a subsidiary in the conglomerate.
Banking corporations that own oil corporations that own construction companies that own security companies that own chemical corporations that own media corporations are not going to allow any serious reporting about any aspect of the conglomerate. This is why we no longer have news reports coming from ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. Instead we have infotainment and infomercials. When necessary, we also get soft-peddled saber-rattling against potential enemies of the Corporate State. Serious, detailed commentary about any important subject is a thing of the past. The news media has become as vague as the politician: speaking words that say little or nothing. This is an art form. The old saying calls it “beating around the bush.”
I have long been a critic of global corporations and their tendency to monopolize and control information. And since these corporations have so much power and influence with politicians, few politicians will say anything negative about their financial contributors, especially if they want free publicity. As the planet moves gradually towards becoming ONE BIG CORPORATION, it is understandable that the public relations subsidiary of the ONE BIG CORPORATION is only going to provide sketchy information about any serious economic problems.
Given these interrelated corporate interests, all news has become little more than corporate propaganda. All information coming from these sources has become inadequate. All establishment commentators, with very few exceptions, have become timid; and all reporters know that there are subjects which they cannot broach. In short, if you want the TRUTH about any given subject, your best source of information these days is the internet. The internet has loads of independent people, such as myself, and renegades who have left the corporate sector to blow the whistle on these activities. These independents and renegades are not beholden to any major corporation or the government. I can speak my mind without fear of being fired by the Personnel Division. The renegades may have old friends, who are still employed by the global corporation, that will become their enemies, but they are motivated to tell the truth for the benefit of those who desperately need this information. These alternative sources of information will often name names and reveal scandals that the corporate media cannot possibly touch [expose]. If there is something shady [deviant]going on in the boardroom, the last thing the board members can handle is exposure. Thus, a tight control must be kept on all information, especially news of wrongdoing within the corporate establishment.
What is the Cause of the Current Economic Meltdown?
Given the fact that I am completely independent of this Beast System (the global corporate monolith), I can say things that no dependent journalist would dare to say. You will never hear a mainstream media “journalist” say this: The current world economic crisis is a direct result of – are you ready – FREE TRADE. Since FREE TRADE is the pet project of the global economy, its principles and operations cannot be questioned. The fact that, here in America, both the Democrats and Republicans have wholeheartedly supported all of these international trade agreements, neither party is going to question the wisdom of this policy. No politician will dare to question the soundness of Free Trade – not even Barack Obama.
I have gone on record as saying that Free Trade is a FREE RIDE for the multinational corporations. Critics of Free Trade have seen this day coming; and we have predicted that it will be an irreversible meltdown. Why? Because the international corporations, due to short-term greed and Free Trade, have killed the American economy.
With the blessing of the United Nations and other international business organizations, what Free Trade has done is to slowly and deliberately put America out of business. How has this happened?
First of all, there was the shutting down of America’s manufacturing sector. International corporations, by moving their manufacturing facilities to cheap labor markets, such as China, India, and Mexico, eliminated millions of blue collar jobs in this sector of the economy. With manufacturing facilities being moved out of the country, middle management, supervisory and technical people had to move with the operation…until they could be replaced by newly trained locals.
After manufacturing moved out of the country, the high tech corporations decided to import computer programmers and technicians from other countries, such as India, to replace American techies who had been paid salaries at three or four times more money. Silicon Valley workers were especially hard hit by this gambit. Big corporations found that they could save money on customer service by employing telephone reps in foreign countries, thus putting more Americans out of work.
Editor's note: It's not just Americans who are being put out of work as a result of this action by corporations.In addition to international corporations, small companies also felt the squeeze, because they simply could not compete against corporations that could produce millions of widgets for a fraction of the cost that a local company could. Such companies faced a disturbing choice: 1.) Either pack up and try to set up shop in another country, or 2.) Go out of business. The American shoe industry died off because of this factor. The steel industry disappeared. The tool and clothing industries began to feel the same pressure. Whole sectors of the economy simply collapsed under the weight of this process of wage deflation and job losses. America’s auto industry is next in line, including the numerous small businesses that feed the auto industry with parts and supplies. In order to compete in this global Free Trade market, a company must have access to cheap labor in order to survive. By 2005, nary a product with a “Made in America” tag could be found on any store shelf.
Editor's note: Unless it was made in the Mariana Islands, which by law, is allowed to state, "Made in the USA" even though these Islands are not in the United States.
Initially, this trend toward cheap, outside labor may have had a marginal benefit to the American consumer, as goods produced overseas were slightly cheaper than goods produced by higher-paid American workers. But as more and more Americans were losing their jobs to cheap and slave labor, these cheaper goods were only available to those Americans who still had jobs or those who had money in the bank. As a result of this gradual, relentless exportation of jobs out of America, the international corporations began to see their customer base decline.
I am a proud, anti-internationalist “isolationist.” I have never believed in the Free Trade concept. I saw, from the beginning, that the new international trade agreements, such as GATT and NAFTA, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and United Nations Banking operations in the Third World had two particular goals in mind: 1.) To centralize control of trade within the United Nations Organization, thereby making the UN the place where the biggest and best deals could be made, and 2.) To maximize corporate profits by exploiting the world’s cheapest labor pools. But only the multinational corporations had access to such sweet deals. National and small businesses in America were out of the loop [not able to participate]. There was no way that smaller companies could compete against this international monster.
Few people seem to realize what a huge role the United Nations Organization plays in promoting third world industrialization. UN loans to these technologically backward countries often go bad, because these countries simply do not have the resources to carry out such plans. In Africa, the petty dictators often use UN loan money to lavish themselves with luxurious villas and personal possessions. Rarely – probably never - do such UN loans actually make the debtor country a better place to live.
It is a historical fact that America became the world’s richest nation, not by Free Trade, but by tariffs and protectionism. Until the 1960s, our federal government did a reasonable job of protecting American industries and jobs from foreign competition. Protectionism works like this: Imported goods have a tariff imposed upon them which bring them to the approximate price level of similar American-made goods. Thus, the American consumer has always had a simple choice, to buy American or foreign goods at roughly the same price. It is also a fact that imported goods coming from socialist countries or from government subsidized industries in foreign countries make for unfair competition against American companies that have to risk their own money to stay in business. For these reasons, protectionism and isolationism have always benefited American industry and the American worker.
Free-Traders and internationalists derisively call this system “isolationist,” but they will not tell you that this system has always been the best for the American worker. The real reason why the internationalists are opposed to tariffs is because tariffs have always been a barrier to exploiting cheap, foreign labor. So, you can see that such criticism, coming from the international corporations, is nothing but deception motivated by greed.
Corporate Totalitarianism
The payoff for the United Nations was and is greater economic control of all markets, as its banking operations, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, had, since 1947, been in the business of developing third world industry. It was only a matter of time before the UN’s third world industrial build-up would result in intense competition against America’s manufacturing industry. The irony of this factor is the fact that, of all countries, the American taxpayer has been paying the most money into the coffers of the UN, far more than any other nation. Congress has routinely appropriated “America’s share” for financing the UN, while the American people scarcely knew how much or how often. So, while the American people were financing the UN, the UN was laying the groundwork for America’s industrial defeat.
Mary Davison, in her expose of the UN’s totalitarian plans, Profound Revolution (1966), had this to say:
It might be suggested also, that the existing monetary systems of the civilized world will not begin to support the world-wide programs of the United Nations and that this is the real reason the International Currency is being prepared for launching. The World Government, which is the U. N., proposes to issue a WORLD CURRENCY and issue all currency through the World Bank which is a U. N. institution. Still the American people refuse to believe that the United Nations IS A WORLD GOVERNMENT.
And now we see that the UN’s third world industrialization projects have also put Americans out of work, because these projects redirect capital away from our home needs and also exploit cheap labor pools. Thus, the American taxpayer has been paying for the elimination of his own job, which would ultimately be exported to a UN project in a foreign country. It is not an exaggeration to say that the UN takes America’s generous subsidies with one hand and stabs us in the back with the other. This is the thanks we get for paying money into the United Nations!
Mary Davison sums up the dilemma in this clear passage;
It might occur to somebody to ask just why the tax monies of the American Producer should be devoted to the building of oil and gas pipe-lines in these far-off countries. Informed people everywhere know that OIL is cartelist property; those who reap the profits from oil and gas are well able to pay for their own pipe-lines. This should raise the question: WHO WILL OWN THIS PROPERTY in which America has so much invested--THOUSANDS OF MILLIONS of dollars worth of wealth created through OUR TAX MONEY? When we deal with the subject of INDUSTRIALIZATION we are dealing with the profit motive. If we pay for all this—who should own it?
Indeed, US taxpayer money is being used by the UN to make international corporations rich(er).
Free Enterprise, the Goose That Lays the Golden Eggs, is the Exact Opposite of “Free Trade”
For much of the Twentieth Century, America was the world’s economic engine. We led the world in technology, innovation, efficiency, planning, design and construction…you name it. As America developed into this economic powerhouse, our labor force was the most highly skilled and best compensated work force the world had ever seen. America’s middle class was made up of these workers. The labor unions had extracted good pension plans and health insurance premiums from the corporations as well. This is the American System, known to all the world as “Free Enterprise.” This is the economic system that is possible only under the United States Constitution, which is a nationalistic, protectionist document. Unfortunately, corporate lawyers have undermined the intent of the US Constitution, and we have entered the phase of Global Governance: government by lawyers, bankers, and other thieves.Editor's note: To understand why an employer would ship jobs overseas, please read "The Trilateral Commission's Effect on the Middle East" at http://www.truedemocracy.net/w01/3.html You will learn a piece of history that you did not know if you are an American. Others will be able to read what their own press published if you are in another First World nation.
As the second and third worlds began to produce similar goods at less cost, American corporations consciously planned on eliminating these costs, as Third World corporations could produce the same products for far less in labor costs. Also, with advanced mechanization, the high-skill workers could be replaced with low-skill workers, thus reducing labor costs even more. The multinational corporations had to be able to get around America’s Constitutional protections against exploitation by international organizations. Enter “Free Trade.”
The promoters of Free Trade unequivocally sold their system to the American public as a potential gold mine of economic opportunity for Americans. All the newspapers, all the bankers, all the politicians (Democratic and Republican) and all the economists told us what great thing “internationalism” is compared to “isolationism.” Conservative critics couldn’t get a word of criticism into the mainstream press. Now we are seeing the fruit of their policies: destruction of the American economy.
Free Trade has led to a predictable circumstance: By eliminating America’s jobs, Free Trade was also eliminating the American consumer. Only a dimwit would fail to understand that a consumer has to have an income in order to be a consumer. The American consumer, now having lost his job and his income – thanks to Free Trade – cannot buy the cheaper goods that Free Trade produces. Free Trade is self-destructing as we speak!
The inevitable time has arrived when Americans are losing their jobs at such a fast pace that they can no longer afford the cheapest goods that China can make. The goods no longer move off the store shelves. More and more retail businesses are closing…and the recession – I mean Depression - is on. I am guaranteeing a world-wide depression unless Free Trade is abandoned and Free Enterprise (the American System) is reinstituted. “Free Trade” is killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
The End Game
As I have explained many times to my radio show listeners, the only sector of the American economy that has been working at full capacity during the last decade was the housing market. Since new homes had to be built on American soil, there was no way that the corporations could export the jobs of the construction workers. The very nature of real estate is its location. The only way to keep construction costs down in this area is to import cheap labor; and that’s what the illegal aliens from Mexico provide. The Big Banks, having no loyalty to America or the US Constitution, encouraged illegal aliens to enter America by enticing them with low-interest loans. With the housing market declining, these “immigrants” would, hopefully, also become potential home-buyers. This would keep the housing market going.Editor's note: The foregoing is just one way that the internationalists caused illegal aliens to enter the US. At least one other event also causes it promulgated by Monsanto.
In 2006, hurricanes Katrina and Rita also gave a boost to the construction industry, as the nation’s construction labor pool was kept working by rebuilding the southern coast.
But America’s housing construction boom was fast approaching its Waterloo: overbuilding. It was only a question of time when America would run out of buyers for existing real estate. The industry had a dilemma: Do we quit building and keep the price of housing steady? Or, do we keep building and hope that prices don’t fall? The second alternative was the only real choice. Since only the housing market was keeping Americans working, it would be suicide to stop building. If we have to go bust, let it be in the future and not immediately. But the day of reckoning has finally arrived. Overbuilding and a lack of buyers have caused the housing market to collapse, along with the banks and loan companies that were supplying the money to potential buyers. EVERYBODY SAW THIS COMING, but nobody could do anything about it, because housing was the only industry that was keeping people employed; and everybody was hoping against hope that some kind of fix could keep the industry working.Not to be, however.
In March of this year (2008), Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, made his speech in Washington, stating,
"Far too much of the lending in recent years was neither responsible nor prudent. The terms of some subprime mortgages permitted homebuyers and investors to purchase properties beyond their means, often with little or no equity. In addition, abusive, unfair, or deceptive lending practices led some borrowers into mortgages that they would not have chosen knowingly."
Hearing Bernanke blame mortgage companies for this crisis, I nearly threw a brick at my television set. I said to myself, “You bastard!” YOU’RE THE ONE WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS MESS! It is YOU AND YOUR PALS AT THE FEDERAL RESERVE AND THE WORLD BANK AND THE UN WHO HAVE CREATED THIS STILTED ECONOMY. IT IS YOU AND YOUR INTERNATIONALIST CORPORATIONS WHO HAVE BEEN PUTTING AMERICANS OUT OF WORK FOR THE LAST THIRTY YEARS. YOU SON OF BITCH!!!!
To blame mortgage companies for trying to sell homes in this market is like criticizing the hot dog vendor for selling hot dogs after the baseball game is over. Although there were some newcomers who took advantage of the increased business provided by low interest rates, most of these companies were just trying to survive, just like the construction companies, service companies and skilled labor, who were all being employed by the housing industry. It’s like criticizing a drowning man for grasping at a life preserver.
The fact is this: IF THE MORTGAGE COMPANIES HADN’T DONE WHAT THEY DID, THE MELTDOWN WOULD HAVE OCCURRED EVEN SOONER.
I COULD SEE RIGHT THROUGH Bernanke’s lies; and I smelled the putrid smell of his phony accusations; and I wanted to punch him in the face for such an obvious shifting of blame. It was a convenient excuse for deflecting responsibility from himself and his internationalist corporate business partners. Perhaps a few people actually believed his statement! But few people seem to understand that the Federal Reserve System is in total control of our economy. The Fed determines how much money there is in circulation. They can boom the economy or bust it by how much money they create at any given time. ALL ECONOMISTS KNOW THIS.
I have spent thirty-five years in the home remodeling field, so I know what drives the housing industry, from the nuts and bolts to the big money. The major driving force of housing prices, since World War II, has been inflation. Real Estate, until now, has always been the best hedge against inflation. Real Estate tends to keep or improve its value, especially if the population increases. In Chicago, a house purchased in 1960 for $30,000 could be sold in 2000 for $500,000 – and that’s without making any improvements to the house!!! That’s quite a hedge against inflation. As long as the rest of the economy remains fairly stable, the value of real estate will always increase along with the inflation rate. All property investors know this. This is why they invest in real estate.
But, in the eight years (2001-2008) of this New Millennium, the Federal Reserve Board has been spending fiat money like Weimar Germany. Why? To finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are two ways to finance a war: by printing fiat money or by raising taxes. The last thing George Bush wanted to do was tell the American people, “We have to go to war against Iraq, and I’m going to have to raise your taxes to do so.” This would have made the war even harder to sell. So Bush and his internationalist banker friends knew that they could pay Bechtel, Haliburton, Blackwater and all of these other insider corporations with fiat money. Inflation is an invisible tax, as the economists say.
All bankers know that financing a war with fiat money will create tremendous inflation. The Fed, the Neo-Kahns and George Bush, in a fit of overconfidence, assumed that Iraq would be an easy kill, so that the fiat money required would be negligible. They were wrong. Five years later, we are still embroiled in that fiasco and there appears to be no way out. In the meantime the Federal Reserve Note (US dollar) is being inflated into worthlessness, to the point where few nations or non-American corporations are willing to accept the Fed’s monetary issue. So, we are now experiencing a double whammy: the collapse of the housing market and high inflation due to financing the war with fiat money.
What’s the solution?
There is only one way to end this crisis: End the war and put Americans back to work IN AMERICA. I am not a university-trained economist, but I do know how to put America back to work. This is actually very easy: Put the construction industry back to work by rebuilding America’s collapsing infrastructure. This is how Hitler revived the German economy after the Weimar collapse. Hitler actually took his cue from Abraham Lincoln’s Greenbacks, which Lincoln circulated as NATIONAL MONEY, as opposed to banker’s money, which the North would have had to borrow at a rate of 28% interest!!!! This is what Roosevelt should have done more of during the Great Depression. Building a few dams hardly got the economy going again. It was the WWII industrial build-up that got America out of the Great Depression.Editor's note: Of course the German economy could recover under Hitler because the Bank of England funded his rise through the Schroeder Bank according to Henry Makow Ph.D. in his article entitled "Illuminati Used Appeasment To Trick Hitler"
If America can spend money blowing people to smithereens in Iraq, it can spend money at home paying workers to build bridges, pave highways, repair sewers, ENLARGE THE LEVEES IN NEW ORLEANS, etc. etc. etc. But, of course, this makes too much sense. No Free Trader is interested in doing this, because it would expose the failure of their internationalist policies.
In addition, it seems that the Zionists and internationalists are not as concerned about reviving America’s economy as the American people are. Their goal has been to gain total control of the Middle East oil supply, and so they are not even thinking in terms of putting America back to work. They have their priorities. We have ours. America, do you realize how you are being betrayed?
All I can do is suggest this solution; but the politics of world oil and the Arab-Israeli conflict is currently more important to these internationalists than our collapsing economy. If these idiots in charge don’t get the message soon, the American people will soon be in the grip of a GREATER DEPRESSION, that will make 1929-1939 look like a church picnic.
In His Name,
Pastor Eli James
The Journal of History - Fall 2009 Copyright © 2009 by News Source, Inc.