The Financial Jigsaw – Issue No. 96

My unpublished (100,000 word) book “The Financial Jigsaw”, is being serialised here weekly in 100 Issues by Peter J Underwood, author

 Quote of the Week:  19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer: “All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident.”

 NOTE – If anyone would like a free updated, 4th edition, electronic copy of the complete book, I should be pleased to email a free PDF on request to: [email protected].  The book has many footnotes linking to relevant and explanatory Appendices, websites and videos.

            Everyone is concerned with the coronavirus at present and what the Fed can do to prevent a market meltdown which is happening at present.  Clearly there is going to be a recession, if not, a depression as all our production facilities close down for the duration.  We are of course on equivalent to a war footing and governments should start taking the initiative in dealing with the fallout.  My friend at BOOM Finance and Economics and I have been proposing a solution for the Federal Reserve to implement which will allow governments to fund this crisis; here is how it works in BOOM’s words:

            “We must start Quantitative Boosting up to 2.5% of GDP immediately

1. Stop Short Selling on the Stock Market, especially of Banks, immediately (maybe stop the market altogether)
2. Start Quantitative Boosting (QB) because Quantitative Easing (QE) by any central bank will not help. QE involves buying Government Bonds (assets) which just boosts Bond prices. QB sends fresh new money from the banking sector, via Government expenditure, straight into the real economy.  Read about it here: Quantitative Boosting explained:

https://boomfinanceandeconomics.wordpress.com/2019/12/15/boom-as-at-15th-december-2019/  This is not a financial crisis yet but it is a Real Economy crisis. Lowering Interest Rates won’t work and QE won’t work   The Real Economy needs FRESH NEW MONEY and we can’t wait for the credit creation process to do that as it is way too slow.

            This short video was on RT Renegade Inc yesterday evening – worth a view – as Steve Keen says the governments need to issue corona bonds much like war bonds to finance this virus war – QB by any other name! https://www.rt.com/shows/renegade-inc/483151-writer-ayn-rand-capitalism/

            The Chinese origin of this virus is in doubt.  This detailed article explains how it may have come about.  “He said he wrote articles informing the US health authorities to consider seriously those deaths as resulting from the coronavirus, but they responded by blaming the deaths on e-cigarettes, then silenced further discussion.  The Taiwanese doctor then stated the virus outbreak began earlier than assumed, saying, “We must look to September of 2019” [Exactly the timing of the Repo meltdown in USA].  https://www.globalresearch.ca/china-coronavirus-shocking-update/5705196  Interesting, as it coincides with the Event 201 war game and is very plausible.  And note the follow-up article by the same author:   “The Taiwanese physician noted that in August of 2019 the US had a flurry of lung pneumonias or similar, which the Americans blamed on ‘vaping’ from e-cigarettes, but which, according to the scientist, the symptoms and conditions could not be explained by e-cigarettes.  He said he wrote to the US officials telling them he suspected those deaths were likely due to the coronavirus. He claims his warnings were ignored.  Immediately prior to that, the CDC totally shut down the US Military’s main bio-lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland, due to an absence of safeguards against pathogen leakages, issuing a complete “cease and desist” order to the military. It was immediately after this event that the ‘e-cigarette’ epidemic arose.”

https://www.globalresearch.ca/covid-19-further-evidence-virus-originated-us/5706078

 Here is the link to last week: Issue 95

I will continue to provide updates this year as Brexit negotiations with the EU progress as well as offering items about Britain generally:

            It looks as if Brexit is off the agenda for the time being whilst the virus rips through the economy.  And as usual, good old Britain is nothing like prepared for this catastrophe. This short report summarises the dire situation potential in UK:  “The UK has missed the critical containment window to implement social distancing policies that would flatten the curve and slowdown infections, suggesting the country could see an exponential rise in Covid-19 cases over the next month, sort of like what’s happening in Italy at the moment.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/uk-missed-containment-window-unprepared-virus-crisis-troops-could-be-deployed

            I just thought that (sigh) the British people should know that they are being taken to the cleaners with this ‘bail out £330Bn ‘gift’!  HMG are giving away NOTHING!  They are offering extensions to mortgages (which will still have to be paid) – this is a debt extension, not a debt forgiveness which is why they haven’t included renters; they would need to offer actual CASH for that.  And they aren’t ‘helping’ businesses, they are offering ‘guarantees’ which means companies will have to go to commercial banks to obtain loans to pay overhead for the duration.  At the end of this debacle they will owe even more money together with interest rolled up to boot”.  QUOTE: “The loans, made on “attractive” but unspecified terms, would allow firms to carry out fundamental day-to-day tasks such as paying wages and rent bills and buying stock. The money, available from the start of next week, will be offered via the Bank of England for bigger firms, while smaller enterprises can seek business interruption loans of up to £5m each.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/17/coronavirus-rishi-sunak-promises-to-guarantee-330bn-loans-to-business  Jeez, are they all so stupid and ignorant out there that they don’t understand the difference between ‘cash’ and ‘debt’.  At least the Americans are talking about dropping $1,000 on everyone as ‘helicopter’ money – it’s nothing like enough but at least the thought is there!

            AND – I wonder why the government haven’t forced closure of restaurants, pubs etc; because if they did, then businesses would be able to claim on their insurance for loss of earnings for the duration of the crisis; an impossible sum for insurance companies.  So HMG just ‘advises’ that ‘people should not go to pubs etc’ – virtually guaranteeing their failure.  This is either wilful ignorance or a deliberate, hidden agenda.  I am not sure which at present.

            AND – don’t forget when the banks start failing they will be coming for your bank accounts, just like they did in Cyprus in 2013, under the ‘Bail-in’ process instigated after the last financial disaster in 2008.

UK has now left EUROPE so I will continue to comment on relevant EU – UK events:

            The lockdown of Italy isn’t a temporary thing. Oh, the suspension of free movement is temporary, but it portends something far bigger.  It’s the beginning of the real political balkanization that’s coming to the European Union over the next few years. Old enmities and prejudices have not been stamped out under the boot heel of oppressive legislation coming from a bunch of disconnected technocrats in Brussels.  They have only been suppressed. Because when there are existential threats there’s no time or desire to virtue signal about how we’re all one big happy dysfunctional family.  https://tomluongo.me/2020/03/14/real-crisis-starts-now-europe/

            “For months me and a very few others have been warning about the problems in Europe. That the real problem isn’t in the U.S., though it’s certainly a mess, it is in Europe. It’s why I focused so hard on Brexit.  Would the U.K. actually get out of the EU before it all comes crashing down around the deaf and now stunned Brussels technocrats?” https://tomluongo.me/2020/03/16/anyone-told-ecb-bankrupt/ 

The 4^th edition of The Financial Jigsaw issued recently includes a Foreword, Preface, Epilogue and Appendices which I will publish here in advance.   Next come the Appendices:

Here is Appendix IX – I know this is ‘old’ news but I wanted to record for history some of those of the elite who have continually demonised Edward Snowdon now in exile in Russia.  The same situation applies to Julian Assange who at present is facing an extradition trial in UK; more on this later on when we have a better idea of the outcome.  There is tremendous support for Assange in UK and woe betides HMG if they fail to protect him from the ravages of the mad whirling dervishes in Washington DC.

APPENDIX IX

Snowdon’s detractors identified

• “America is now a less safe place. The world is a less safe place because of what Mr. Snowden unilaterally did. He deserves to be prosecuted. I hope they find him in the hole that he’s hiding in Hong Kong and bring him home and try him.” – Karl Rove
• “I hope we follow Mr. Snowden to the ends of the earth to bring him to justice.” – Lindsey Graham
• “For this, some, including my colleague John Cassidy, are hailing him as a hero and a whistle-blower. He is neither. He is, rather, a grandiose narcissist who deserves to be in prison.” – Jeffrey Tobin – The New Yorker
• “What he did was an act of treason.” – Diane Feinstein
• “He’s a traitor.” – John Boehner
• “I think he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I consider him right now to be a defector.” – Peter King
• “There is an obligation both moral, but also legal, I believe, against a reporter disclosing something which would so severely compromise national security.” – Peter King
• “I can assure you, this is not about spying on the American people.” – Al Franken
• “For me it is literally, not figuratively, literally, gut-wrenching to see this happen, because of the huge, grave damage it does to our intelligence capabilities.” – James Clapper (Perjurer)
• “We do not see a trade-off between security and liberty.” – Keith Alexander – NSA Director
• “The national security of the United States has been damaged as a result those leaks. “The safety of the American people and the safety of people who reside in allied nations have been put at risk as a result of these leaks.” – Eric Holder
• “I think he’s a traitor. I’m suspicious because he went to China. That’s not a place where you would ordinarily want to go if you are interested in freedom, liberty and so forth. It raises questions whether or not he had that kind of connection before he did this.” – Dick Cheney – The Dark Lord
• “And I hope that he is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” – Mitch McConnell
• “Now you’ve got this 29-year-old high school dropout whistle-blower making foreign policy for our country, our security policy. It’s sad, Brian. We’ve made treason cool. Betraying your country is kind of a fashion statement. He wants to be the national security Kim Kardashian. He cites Bradley Manning as a hero. I mean, we need to get very, very serious about treason. And oh by the way, for treason — as in the case of Bradley Manning or Edwards Snowden — you bring back the death penalty.” – Fox News and Friends
• “Can intelligence operate effectively if every starry-eyed analyst feels entitled to be a self-appointed whistle-blower?” – Gary Rosen – The Wall Street Journal
• “Edward Snowden should go to jail, as quickly and for as long as possible.” – John Yoo – The National Review.
• “I think on three scores—that is leaking the Patriot Act section 215, FISA 702, and the president’s classified cyber operations’ directive—on the strength of leaking that, yes, that would be a prosecutable offense. I think that he should be prosecuted.” – Nancy Pelosi
• “Who is a journalist is a question we need to ask ourselves. Is any ‘blogger’ out there saying anything – do they deserve First Amendment protection? These are the issues of our times.” – Lindsey Graham
• “This lens makes you more likely to share the distinct strands of libertarianism that are blossoming in this fragmenting age: the deep suspicion of authority, the strong belief that hierarchies and organizations are suspect, the fervent devotion to transparency, the assumption that individual preference should be supreme. You’re more likely to donate to the Ron Paul for president campaign, as Snowden did. But Big Brother is not the only danger facing the country. Another is the rising tide of distrust, the corrosive spread of cynicism, the fraying of the social fabric and the rise of people who are so individualistic in their outlook that they have no real understanding of how to knit others together and look after the common good.” – David Brooks

“It seems the ruling oligarchs, their mouthpieces in the mainstream media (both conservative and liberal), Machiavellian politicians on both sides of the aisle, unscrupulous military commanders and deceitful government bureaucrats have all rallied to shield their existing perverted surveillance state. These people actually believe that what is best for their own personal interests is also best for the citizens of this country.

There is only one Party – the Establishment Party. The smear campaign against Edward Snowden began immediately. The vitriolic accusations, venomous scorn, malicious ridicule and pathetic attempts to discredit Edward Snowden for sacrificing everything on behalf of the country he loves has revealed more truth about how the real world operates than the thousands of articles written by supposed “conspiracy theorists” over the last decade.

To be continued next Saturday

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Author: Austrian Peter

Peter J. Underwood is a retired international accountant and qualified humanistic counsellor living in Bruton, UK, with his wife, Yvonne. He pursued a career as an entrepreneur and business consultant, having founded several successful businesses in the UK and South Africa His latest Substack blog describes the African concept of Ubuntu - a system of localised community support using a gift economy model. View all posts by Austrian Peter