Saturday, February 7, 2009

Ponzi’s and pyramids

The model on which the Philippine economic system is based since Edsa I has been a huge Ponzi scheme designed by the global financial mafia’s bankers, speculators and swindlers, all for their domination and exploit. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is but a tentacle of this Ponzi scheme that has made use of stock and derivatives markets, ratings agencies and business media to manipulate the market psyche. Indubitably, this has been resorted to with much fervor as the global mafia’s penchant to install or oust leaders of its choice. As Amschel Rothschild--one of those who started this global mafia in the 16th Century--once said: “Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes its laws.”

So now, this mafia rules over our Republic through the control of our money. And nowhere is this as clear as in Art. XII, Sec. XX of the Constitution, where the BSP is fashioned as “an independent monetary authority… the majority of whom shall come from the private sector… (providing) policy direction in the areas of money, banking, and credit… (and) supervision over the operations of banks and (exercising) such regulatory powers as may be provided by law over the operations of finance companies and other institutions performing similar functions.”

As Atty. Alan Paguia never tires to point out, “independent” additionally means the BSP is even more powerful than the Philippine President because it is accountable to no one, neither Congress nor the Commission on Audit (CoA)--a set-up no different from the US Federal Reserve, a private corporation only appending “federal” as a façade to waylay the US public. Similarly, the Fed is not accountable and its refusal to accede to the US Congress’ demand to reveal where the over-a-trillion of Bush-Paulson bailout funds were given is proof.

Through the Fed’s interest and dollar exchange rates, the “floating exchange rate” of the world is controlled--except in countries like China , Malaysia or Venezuela that exercise currency and capital controls. And since the Philippines is under this floating exchange rate system, it simply means the US Fed decides our rates’ value.

Finance capitalism is not the ordinary capitalism that mortal folks know. Wiki defines it as: “the subordination of processes of production to the accumulation of money profits in a financial system… characterized by the pursuit of profit from the purchase and sale of, or investment in, currencies and financial products such as bonds, stocks, futures and other derivatives… (including) the lending of capital at interest.“

Thus, it can be contrasted with industrial capitalism, where profit is made from the manufacture of goods. Because finance capitalism has to keep seeking bigger and bigger paper profits to perpetuate itself, it turns public needs into commodities by privatizing water and electricity, even education and health care, and then selling “pre-need” plans for some of these later.

The Market Oracle, a Web site, has an article echoing our view: “Economic & Financial Markets Forecast 2009: Collapsing Global Financial System Ponzi Scheme.” It says: “GDP, inflation, employment, credit ratings, corporate profits, balance sheets and much more have been MANIPULATED to FOOL the vast MAJORITIES of the electorate that can read and write. But any of these same people are functionally illiterate of history, economics, common sense, logic and the critical thinking skills necessary to sift through the FALSE and misleading rhetoric of the mainstream media, public serpents, er… servants and school systems.”

When Sen. Mar Roxas, himself a finance capital banker, rages against the Legacy Ponzi scheme, I know it’s just a comedy he’s staging; whereas grandstanding PMA goat Biazon is genuinely illiterate about it.

Learning the truth about finance capitalists in the past decade, I became committed to the struggle against their gigantic, global fraud and Ponzi game. One of the big swindles they had plotted was the privatization of public pension funds--the super-rich Japanese Postal Savings Bank was one of their targets. After Edsa II, the Makati finance mafia, using its enhanced power, attempted to launch the privatization of the Social Security System (SSS) by having Gloria Arroyo install finance man Vitaliano Nañagas. The Alert and Concerned Employees of the SSS (AcceSSS) was alerted and I supported them. In response, AcceSSS held daily lunch time pickets at the SSS entrance, and we stopped the privatization.

Imagine if the SSS were privatized, it would no doubt have been heavily invested in US investment funds already--just as the GSIS, under its political appointee, who ballyhooed its $1-billion investment in foreign investment funds through Credit Agricole and ING, lost $46 million or about P2.5 billion of the lowly GSIS members’ contributions.

Because the finance capitalist’s game is intrinsically Ponzi through and through, it has to keep squeezing more and more “profits” from paper; hence, the boom-and-bust cycle that inevitably sends it to the toilet. Those who start with it invariably get away with the hoard because of the political clout from the money already in their hands. Those who follow, meanwhile, are left with empty bags and broken dreams.

The finance and pre-need groups like Legacy are all part of this system; thus, senators and congressmen who legalized the financial system’s liberalization participated in creating this monster too. Yet, on top of their heap are the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Monetary Board and the Makati Business Club, who are merely ganging up on SEC’s Fe Barin because she’s a convenient scapegoat.

To end this national swindle, let’s proceed with the social revolution and restore real productive economics. One opportunity to change the prevailing investment practice is the proposed loans by SSS for the stimulus package, a pump-priming initiative undoubtedly needed by this country. With a sovereign guarantee--or the people’s guarantee, the loan is good. But the question is: What specific stimulus projects will be launched?

And here lies the problem: Gloria thinks that cutting roadside grass is already a good enough economic stimulus. Therefore, the SSS must ensure that its loan goes to infrastructure-development such as geothermal energy, irrigation and virgin coconut processing centers that are assured of continuing profitability over decades. It must exercise oversight to ensure earnings in the face of declining contributions due to the closure of many companies.

(Tune in to 1098AM: Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. / Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. / Saturday, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Destiny Cable, Channel 3, Tuesday, 8:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with the topic, “760 Rural Bankers Denounce Ponzi Schemes;” also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)