Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBuying Up the Planet: Out-of-Control Central Banks on a Corporate Buying Spree
Buying Up the Planet: Out-of-Control Central Banks on a Corporate Buying Spree
Monday, 23 June 2014 10:28
By Ellen Brown, The Web of Debt Blog | News Analysis
"Finance is the new form of warfare without the expense of a military overhead and an occupation against unwilling hosts. It is a competition in credit creation to buy foreign resources, real estate, public and privatized infrastructure, bonds and corporate stock ownership. Who needs an army when you can obtain the usual objective (monetary wealth and asset appropriation) simply by financial means?"
- Dr. Michael Hudson, Counterpunch, October 2010
When the US Federal Reserve bought an 80% stake in American International Group (AIG) in September 2008, the unprecedented $85 billion outlay was justified as necessary to bail out the worlds largest insurance company. Today, however, central banks are on a global corporate buying spree not to bail out bankrupt corporations but simply as an investment, to compensate for the loss of bond income due to record-low interest rates. Indeed, central banks have become some of the worlds largest stock investors.
Central banks have the power to create national currencies with accounting entries, and they are traditionally very secretive. We are not allowed to peer into their books. It took a major lawsuit by Reuters and a congressional investigation to get the Fed to reveal the $16-plus trillion in loans it made to bail out giant banks and corporations after 2008.
What is to stop a foreign bank from simply printing its own currency and trading it on the currency market for dollars, to be invested in the US stock market or US real estate market? What is to stop central banks from printing up money competitively, in a mad rush to own the worlds largest companies?
Apparently not much. Central banks are for the most part unregulated, even by their own governments. As the Federal Reserve observes on its website:
" The Fed) is considered an independent central bank because its monetary policy decisions do not have to be approved by the President or anyone else in the executive or legislative branches of government, it does not receive funding appropriated by the Congress, and the terms of the members of the Board of Governors span multiple presidential and congressional terms."
As former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan quipped, Quite frankly it does not matter who is president as far as the Fed is concerned. There are no other agencies that can overrule the action we take. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/24539-buying-up-the-planet-out-of-control-central-banks-on-a-corporate-buying-spree
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
4 replies, 836 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (12)
ReplyReply to this post
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Buying Up the Planet: Out-of-Control Central Banks on a Corporate Buying Spree (Original Post)
marmar
Jun 2014
OP
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)1. K&R
Cicada
(4,533 posts)2. CURRENCY DEVALUATION is a brake
If Norway simply prints extra currency to buy foreign assets then their currency will decline in value. That will make their purchases more costly and will cause inflation. The target nation can benefit - China is not likely to harm the US economy if they own parts of it.
The federal reserve posts its audited financial statements in case you want to see how much they have invested. The fed opposes congressional audits to protect itself from politicians, but they don't mind independent auditors auditing them.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)3. kick
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)4. kick