Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

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• UKIP's Godfrey Bloom Blasts Fractional Reserve Lending as Fraud; Says Central Bankers Should be Tried for Financial Crimes
• When All Else Fails, Blame Your Staff, Not Yourself
• Reader Comments on "Are We Spending Enough on Education?"

UKIP's Godfrey Bloom Blasts Fractional Reserve Lending as Fraud; Says Central Bankers Should be Tried for Financial Crimes Posted: 07 May 2013 01:08 PM PDT Here are a pair of interesting You-Tube videos on fractional reserve lending sent by reader Magnus who lives in Sweden. Godfrey Bloom Blasts Fractional Reserve Lending as Fraud "The problem that we have is a flawed banking system, a fractional reserve banking system where bankers can lend money they don't have. If you go back in time in the United States to the 1850s, that was a capital offense. You could hang for that."  Link if video does not play: Money-Printing Scam - Godfrey Bloom MEP Central Bankers Should be Tried for Financial Crimes Godfrey Bloom on Cyprus: "In the great Cypriot bank heist, of course the big boys got their money out early, didn't they? It's always the little people who get shafted, isn't it? We now have a sick system, a situation, which the previous speaker alluded to quite rightly where the Fed, the Bank of England, the ECB, the Bank of Japan, all completely bankrupt, holding mountains of junk bonds bought with counterfeit money. Let's all blame the retail banks but it's the central banks where the cancer starts. Politicians, bankers, and lackey bureaucrats should be arraigned in an international financial tribunal, in the Hague, in the same way as war criminals."  The end is rather humorous, please play it. Link if video does not play: Central bankers and lackey bureaucrats should be tried for financial crimes    Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com   Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

When All Else Fails, Blame Your Staff, Not Yourself Posted: 07 May 2013 10:18 AM PDT President François Hollande's popularity has sunk to a new low of 24%. Rather than blame his own policies for the huge rise in unemployment and the lack of competitiveness in France, Hollande pins hopes of fresh start on cabinet reshuffle. In an interview with the French magazine Paris Match published on Wednesday, Mr Hollande warned that none of his ministers were indispensable and that all would be judged on their results. "At some point, choices and adjustments will have to be made," he said. "No one is protected in the government. No one has immunity," he stressed, hinting that even his close ally Jean-Marc Ayrault, prime minister, was at risk. Many people who voted for Mr Hollande a year ago have recently joined protests against his government, complaining that the French president has failed to stand up to Germany's pro-austerity dictat in Europe. At a leftwing rally in Bastille in Paris on Sunday protesters repeatedly attacked Mr Hollande's decision to delay the retirement age, cut child benefits and reduce capital gain taxes to finance the country's looming €20bn pension system deficit. "A big lesson from my first year is that the legislative process is too slow for the needs of the French people and the demands of companies," said Mr Hollande. "We must act more quickly."  Judging by Results  Hollande wants to judge his appointees by their results. How about the big point? Hollande should point a finger at himself. And just look at the socialist clowns complaining about lengthening of the retirement ages and cuts in untenable pension benefits.  Supposedly more taxes is the answer, but that has the wealthy fleeing the country. More importantly, French businesses are already burdened with inane work rules that make it nearly impossible to fire anyone. France Unemployment Rate France Unemployment Rate Are Hollande's ministers responsible for the appearance of the above chart or is Hollande's socialist agenda? Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com  Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

Reader Comments on "Are We Spending Enough on Education?" Posted: 07 May 2013 01:59 AM PDT Reader Michael from Northglen, Colorado chimed in on my article Is the US Spending Enough on Education? Michael writes .... Hello Mish I went through one of numerous searchable databases put together by Natalie Menton to see where Jefferson County, Colorado is spending money on education. I ran some searches and discovered that of the more than 100 highest paid employees in the district none of them is in a classroom, and all of them are making more than $100k. Many of the titles are mystifying. Even if I presume these people are very good at whatever it is that they do, I'm hard-pressed to believe that the people of Jefferson County are getting their $11 million worth of service per year. Allow me to cite some interesting examples from the 2010 school year. The 102 highest salaries in the district were all paid more than $100,000 per year. That  works out to about $11.4 million every year. There were no fewer than fifteen senior principals with salaries ranging from $101,367 to $126,768. Why does a school district need to compensate an Executive Director for Public Engage/Communications to the tune of more than $119,000? I have the same questions about Executive Directors of/for School Management, four of which make between $105,000 and $121,000 each. I'm no less curious about the four "Community Superintendents" ranging from $121,000 to $130,000 each. Of course, those are just base salaries that do not include benefits or pensions. Lastly, let's turn our attention to the Superintendent of Schools, who we are told is underpaid at a salary of over $200,000. For comparison purposes, Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State of the United States of America, has national security responsibilities. Love her or hate her, she is responsible for representing this country to every other sovereign nation on the planet. Hillary makes $186,000. Last fall, during the general election, Jefferson County managed to get Ballot Questions 3A and 3B passed following a fearmongering campaign. Taxes went up. So where did the money go? Just thought I'd share those bits and bytes with you, not that they'll come as any surprise. Cheers, Michael Northglenn, CO Where did the money go? Clearly, it's all "for the children", as it always is. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

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