Grab bag 9-14-2011

While waiting for the markets to roll over, I want to hit on several quick points which do not individually merit a post:

• Dallas Fed Chief says "Uncertainty, not Fed policy, is hampering the U.S. and global economy".  Oh where to start.  I'll try to keep it simple even though it is made as complex as possible by those running the show in order to throw the common man off the scent. 
• First off, you have to love the Fed's tactic of having one or two of the 12 Fed Heads going public with their concerns while the Fed as a group goes forward on its path of currency debasement.  It's part of a common con man strategy of mixing a little truth with a lot of BS in order to fool the uneducated or the unwary.
• Secondly, what does he mean by "uncertainty"?  In short, he means that he believes that people are not borrowing money because they are "uncertain".  Uncertainly here is con-man-speak for "unconfident".  In short, the con man is saying the con is failing due to lack of confidence.  Will he entertain the possibility that people not having jobs underpins their decision to avoid debt?  Will he accept the fact that boomers are entering retirement and thus need to down size instead of leveraging up?  These are the real reasons for lack of "certainty".  In fact, a fair analysis says that people would borrow if they could but they are certain it would be an asinine idea given that US poverty level is the highest it has been since 1993 (and worsening each month).
• Most importantly, is the fed in control of the economy or not?  In one breath it claims to be omnipotent in its ability to control the economy (and thus we should listen to what it says along with giving it more and more power each time it falls short of its stated goals) but then on the other hand we are told that Fed policy is basically impotent if the people are "uncertain".  Sorry Feds, you asked for all these "mandates" and now that you are failing at executing you better expect that the people will demand that the captain go down with the ship.
• BNP Paribas plans $96 billion of asset sales.  That's quite a bit of de-leveraging for France's largest bank.  I wonder why they are doing it.  Oh, that's right, they are "uncertain".  About what?  How about the fact that the credit rating of France's largest banks are under attack.  As above, however, this is not a case of being "uncertain" but rather of being perfectly certain: shed assets now and raise cash or suffer big time when France rolls over.  Remember, this is not "contagion" but rather just the logical course of events to expect when a country leverages up internally in order to run a trade surplus with a bunch of PIIGS.
• China tells world "I can not save you.  I can't even save myself".  OK, well, not in so many words but it might as well have used those words.  Besides, the song of  the same name properly conveys the mood (sung by a band appropriately named "Stabbing Westward"...). China only appears to have money.  It is a sham in the same way that the Clinton administration appeared to be flush.  It is nothing more than a shell game of debt.  Chinese banks lent money to build expensive housing which nobody in China can afford.  They also lent money to create production capacity that nobody wants to buy.  That is a major reason that stuff from China is so cheap.  China is in deep trouble and it is a joke to expect that it can bail out the Eurozone or anyone else.
• Poverty level in the USA hits new record.  This is the curse of fiat currency and fractional reserve lending.  It creates booms which must undeniably and inevitably go bust.  The con men steal all of the value out of the system during the boom and then they drop the losses on uneducated masses and patsies during the bust.  This is not an accident.  This is not an act of God.  This is not a miscalculation.  It was, is, and always will be a predictable outcome of what happens when those who know how money works are allowed to game a corrupt and fraudulent money and credit supply.  The people who did it knew they were doing it right from day one.  They didn’t care.  They believed they were simply the beneficiaries of economic Darwinism.  When the masses who have been patsified by them finally realize the truth of what I have been writing for years, however, the bankers and con men better watch out.  Economic Darwinism might take a back seat to physical Darwinism when the people decide to get even.  It’s coming bankers and moneymen.  Trust me, it’s coming.  You really didn’t think you were just going to get away with it forever, did you?  Really?  Really???