Cato Institute

"Personally, I look at the Americans and I see a people who have been very effectively brainwashed, or who simply have given in to the entirely human tendency to shuffle unquestioningly onto the path of least resistance and let themselves go. I see a people who, on a wholesale basis, have consciously or unconsciously decided to trade the idea of America for the false security of a totalitarian state."

 

David Galland

And the hard reality is that the vast majority would raise their hands in favor of the current system that has the state deeply involved in pretty much every aspect of the economy and society at large. The level of support for the very same tangled body of state-controlled handouts, regulations and central economic planning now choking the last gasps of life out of the body politic is obvious and overwhelming. The champions of liberty are fighting against a very entrenched and increasingly dangerous public mindset. Today the enemy (of true freedom) is within. In fact, the nation is overrun by them... they dominate in most every community, in most businesses and even in most families.

Independent from Congress … or from the American People?

Let’s consider Germany. According to Axel Weber, the former  head of Germany’s Central Bank, Germany is in fact sitting on a REAL Debt to GDP ratio of over 200%. This is Germany… with unfunded liabilities equal to over TWO times its current GDP.

The “austerity” and “growth” to which EU leaders refer are simply two sides of the same coin: that of assuming that massive problems can be dealt with superficially. It’s akin to polishing the brass on the Titanic as it sinks: in the short term, you’re making a small difference, but in the big picture, you’re ignoring the very real, enormous problem you need to tackle.

Has the case really gone cold? Or, are those who are in charge of the investigation, the "regulators" and the trustees, simply spraying teflon on every piece of sticky evidence that could lead to criminal prosecutions?

In simple terms, Spain is like Greece, only bigger and worse. According to the Bank of International Settlements worldwide exposure to Spain is north of $1 TRILLION with Great Britain on the hook for $51 billion, the US on the hook for $187 billion, France on the hook for $224 billion and Germany on the hook for a whopping $244 billion.

The coming years will be marked by a seismic change in the economic landscape in the US. Firstly and most importantly, we are going to see economic growth slow down dramatically. The reasons for this slow down are myriad but the most important are: 1) Age demographics: a growing percentage of the population will be retiring while fewer younger people are entering the workforce. 2) Excessive debt overhang.

Europe is broke. Completely and totally broke. The whole notion of bailouts and debt swaps is pointless here, you’re talking about systemic failure due to the entire financial system being overleveraged and based on spending patterns that are unsustainable in any way.

To picture how a cutback in social programs will impact the US populace, consider that in 2011, 48% of Americans lived in a household in which at least one member received some kind of Government benefit. Over 45 million Americans currently receive food stamps. And 43% of Americans aged 65-74 are Medicare beneficiaries. Consider the impact that even a 10% reduction in these various programs would have on the US populace.

Ignoring, momentarily, that the U.S. has already adopted international law which seeks to curtail online piracy (see, e.g., DMCA), and that these new bills seek to do little more than enact what amounts to police powers over foreign companies, it looks like the studies cited in support of piracy-gone-rampant may have never have existed. Julian Sanchez, a researcher at the Cato Institute, did his level best at tracking down the research behind the near-absurd numbers (the industry claims nearly $250B lost in revenues a year, and 750,000 lost jobs), but instead found only circular references.

A must read paper from George Selgin and the Cato Institute, which confirms what Zero Hedge has been saying since inception: the Fed must be abolished immediately: "The Federal Reserve System has not lived up to its original promise. Early in its career, it presided over both the most severe inflation and the most severe (demand-induced) deflations in post-Civil War U.S. history. Since then, it has tended to err on the side of inflation, allowing the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar to deteriorate considerably. That deterioration has not been compensated for, to any substantial degree, by enhanced stability of real output... A genuine improvement did occur during the sub-period known as the "Great Moderation." But that improvement, besides having been temporary, appears to have been due mainly to factors other than improved monetary policy. Finally, the Fed cannot be credited with having reduced the frequency of banking panics or with having wielded its last-resort lending powers responsibly. Its record strongly suggests that the Federal Reserve‘s problems go well beyond those of having lacked good administrators. Although it has manifested itself in different ways during different decades, the Fed‘s failure has been chronic. The problems appear to reside with the institution, and not with particular personalities who have been placed in charge of it. Hence the record would not be likely to improve substantially even with complete turnover in the Board of Governors. The only real hope for a better monetary system lies in regime change."

A one hour program in which Ron Paul provides the basics of the Federal Reserve and why it is high time transparency was introduced to this most critical of institutions. Must watch.