When are you going to interview G Edward Griffin. He recently published the in depth study of the Federal Reserve. This is the most important financial book of the last 50 years! The title is: “The Creature from Jekyll Island.” Get it! Read it! Report it! What are you waiting for? Millions have been sold, and you are out of the loop! Oremus!

The Federal Reserve is a PRIVATE banking cartel that issues our money as DEBT.

What is she talking about zero interest rates?

A private banking cartel would not issue money INTEREST FREE.

They can’t make money on ZERO interest

[…] Hit segment 5 link […]

Ellen Brown has a false paradigm; war production does not create wealth. She is right about (a half-truth) debt, like credit or money it is neither bad nor good, but a tool which could be used for bad or good. Central / oligarchic planning is bad, which causes malinvestment, invites cronyism, corruption, theft in a system based on fraud.
Our most productive time without or little debasement (what the politicos could pull) after the 2nd (central bank) Bank of the United States was abolished, and until the (3rd central bank) was formed!
God bless you and yes I support Ron Paul the most important candidate for President since Andrew Jackson.
Thank you Big Al and have pleasant Memorial Day weekend!

There are just too many quality opinions out there to justify wasting any time on Ellen Brown’s.

The people are sovereign, not the state, the state it our servant, quoting Fed chief from of the 1940’s, the fox guarding the henhouse. We need a bi-metallic (or similar venue) standard where the people control their wealth and the oligarchy has very little to do with our transactions. This is an out and out Ponzi scheme; creating coupons (electronic or otherwise) out of thin air does not create (productivity) wealth and actually retards it, while concentrating power among the fraudulent stake holders or controllers.
Even if they were angels, central planners are no substitute of the perceived value of the subconscious and the near infinite variability of a free market. The currency should be inert, a store value, a reliable unit of accounting and not causing obsessing in itself in planning for commerce. Can you image an engineer trying to plan and build something if the unit of measurement was constantly changing?
Her argument was full of “double speak” and gaps in logic…

Again enjoy :^)

Al,
Sorry, but Ellen’s statements were so insane, I could not finish listening to segment two. I did enjoy the rest of your show.

I’ve heard Ellen Brown enough times to know she’s a nut.

The legacy of depleted uranium destruction continues from Iraq to Afghanistan and now on to Libya.

Re. Segment 1:
I am sure Ms. Brown is a great attorney, but as a Keynesian sophist her economic theory is wrong. How many times does Keynes’ theory have to be proven wrong?
It did not work for the Weimar republic, Brazil or Argentina or any other country.
She totally misses inflationary effects and the squeezing out of capital for industrial needs. (Not to mention he utter inefficiency of governments, with the possible exception of China.) Sure money printing (or government debt) works for a while because of the time lags between printing and inflation, but every time it has been tried it failed. And the longer it is continued the deeper and longer the depressionary post-printing recession is. The big error in Ms Brown’s reasoning is that you CANNOT increase the money supply much faster than the increase of the value of grown and manufactured goods without producing economic problems.
At the rate QE1, QE2, QE(next) is going, it will be post-world-monetary collapse, post World War III before the US starts to get back on its feet. She needs to study some Austrian economic theory. As for Japan! Their stockmarket is still only one-third of what it was 20 years ago. Some growth!
Attorneys both Brown and Obama, brilliant at arguing 2+2=5, or 3, or anything else, but about debt, they are not right. Just my opinion, of course, which is worth at least what you paid for it.

Re. Segment 2:
I was in Europe at the time of France and Italy deciding to attack Qaddafi.
Ms. Brown is a nut, who reads too much internet conspiracy theory.
The reason the Libyan offensive started was that Italy and France by way of Italy were being swamped by refugees. The US and UK and other EU countries got involved was because they were asked to help by France and Italy.
As for depleted uranium causing infertility of farm land! What utter crap!
1. Can you explain why Kuwait and nearby Iraq are not having any field infertility?
By what physical mechanism are you proposing this infertility? Depleted uranium is neither water soluble nor radioactive, so how is it gong to kill plant fertility?
And given the size Libya and the amount of armament being used, how is the depleted uranium even going to be spread around with enough presence to affect anything?

l. it is very obvious that Ellen Brown has a socialist point of view. Here beliefs down’t hold water and due not excuse uncontolled printing of currency. She does not offer a reasonable alternative view to people who hold precious metals as a back up to fiat currencies.

A simple search of ‘depleted uranium’ used in U.S. armaments could provide readers with information that is valuable to the discussion.
Depleted uranium Libya
Depleted uranium Iraq
Depleted uranium Afghanistan
Nato using depleted uranium

The US dropped thousands of depleted uranium bombs upon Fallujah, Iraq in 2003, and the aftermath since has been catastrophic. A quarter of all births since the strike have suffered from abnormalities ranging from cancer to leukemia, and the rate of mutation among newborns is higher than what was found after America attacked Japan during the Second World War.

Hallinan says the US military investigated the effects of uranium warfare as early as 1991 and realized then the consequences. Hallinan reveals that tanks that were impacted by uranium ammunition were buried in radioactive dumps and that those involved in site clean-ups were advised to wear bio-hazard suits and dispose of all of their clothing.

“The army knew that the stuff was dangerous. What they didn’t do was they didn’t tell anybody that it was dangerous, and that’s still the situation today,” says Hallinan.

Dr. Doug Rokke, the ex-director of the Pentagon’s Depleted Uranium Project, says that there is no way to totally decontaminate an area hit with uranium, an element that has a half-life of 4.5 billion years and has thus earned the title “the silent killer that will never stop killing.” Rokke today says he was told by the government to lie about the effects of uranium and that most of the crew he worked with is now dead.
NATO using depleted uranium in Libya
http://rt.com/usa/news/nato-depleted-uranium-libya/

Most of the problems in Iaq were due due to burning of oil, not depleted uranium.
As for radioactivity, why don’t you both to compute the radiation given off by a ton of uranium, with its very long half-life and compare it with background radiation?
And then try to explain how this small amount of radiation from uranium is so special as to possibly cause problems?
What ever happened to physics education in this country?

Iaq should be Iraq and both should be bother.
Apologies …. Why can’t I proof-read?

The US government I think will continue to raise the debt ceiling. So many US citizens need this income just to survive. I’m glad I don’t. I have a small construction business around St.Paul, Minn, and we are busy. I just go to work, for 40 years, pay my bills, and buy bullion. Enjoy your Reports, Big Al and Trader Rog, and everyones comments. Thanks

Hi Al. Great programing for 3/4 of your show. but the first 2 segments made my breakfast burrito go to the toilet. Mrs Brown should be hillary clinton’s sister, I am sure glad, she is not my mother. ! When i was in economics, the maynard kaynes sociology, or what they call kenesian theory, is total socialism. In the first part of the program she talked about debt to grow the economy, in the second part she talked about the debt trap? HUMMM makes me think were right there in the debt trap. A great book to read is the “confessions of an economic hit man” don’t remember the author. I do belive that our so called high education schools have failed or have been taken over by the commies! Ellen Brown is a brain fart! Thats just my opinion

Just another thought! Who invented credit? And what would the world be like if there was NO credit? Also what does the bible say about debt, Love of money? and whats to happen in the end times about bankers? hummm have to go and read some more.

I will support Ron Paul and lets get the fed audited. Lots to talk about but dad gummit.

happy day
fat ivan

Roger, I will keep this simple. If you have Ellen Brown on you show again, I will actively boycott you and your show. This country is beyond Keynesian rhetoric, BUT if you are going to put one on a Keynesian, at least put one on that can answer a simple question: “why not just print more money?”. Again. I’m VERY disappointed! I don’t think I will listen to your show next week…there are plenty of other outlets to get both sides!

Ellen Brown is correct that the Fed prints up the currency to pay the bills of the government. That is the same system that Zimbabwe had, a fiat currency backed by nothing. Ms. Brown, do you realize that printing money doesn’t create wealth? That government printing its currency is nothing short of stealing from its citizens? If it is OK for the government to simply print money, then why didn’t Zimbabwe remain a wealthy nation? We have so many examples from history that shows that fiat currency becomes abused and that the system collapses. Law with the French, Wiemar Germany, Argentina, Chile under Allende, Zimbabwe. Wake up and smell the coffee, Ms. Brown. We need a gold standard or perhaps a gold and silver (bimetal) standard.

For some reason in this period of time it appears necessary, I assume because of political correctness, to present opposing views on a subject. May I point out, however, that when one has two opposing views, only ONE of those two opposing views can be correct. The point of studying history is to be able to learn from experience to discern which of two opposing views is correct. Given that the last century has repeatedly shown Keynesian theory to be wrong when carried out to excess, and never has there been one example in any country, at any time, where excessive printing of money and deficit spending produced anything other than inflation and wealth destruction for the majority of a population, why do people still not understand?

Here is another comment from a listener who sent it to me via e-mail.

Dear Al, I very much appreciate your internet program. I too have been systematically investing in precious metals. Recently, I have become convinced we as a nation are are being driven toward a cashless society. When this occurs, what do you believe will be the role (if any)of personally held metals? I would also be interested in Roger’s opinion.
Best Regards, Bill Jordan

And yet another comment from a listener:

Al,
Wow, Ellen Brown certainly presented an interesting view! She may as well have said, “We don’t need no stinking gold standard!”
She seems to think that the Fed can create new money into infinity without any inflation worries. It’s interesting that she gets most of her knowledge “off the internet”. I guess she skipped the info on Weimar Germany and Zimbabwe. When the inflation rate is raging here in a year or so, why don’t you plan to have her on again and see if she can offer a solution.
Keep up the good work.
Dr. Ron Jones
Nevada, Mo.

Wait, here’s another:

Al,
Regarding your interview with Brien Lundin on the weekend show — I agree with him about the summer lows. Every year I hear people say that this year may be different; that somehow the fundamentals for silver and gold will negate the usual pattern… but every year these assets go down in price, and the miners with them.

The good news is that the drop presents a great buying opportunity. I wrote an essay on it for Seeking Alpha, analyzing silver & gold stocks over 3 years across explorers, juniors, and seniors. Over the three years, selling in May and buying back in August netted a 13% advantage over holding through the summer. See: http://seekingalpha.com/user/925476/instablog

Meanwhile, thanks for your great show, and for turning me onto Ellen Brown — I will check out her articles and book.
Dirk

Last one for now.

Al,

I’ve read some of Ellen Brown’s work and I have been impressed. She clearly has remarkable expertise and insights in many areas. Unfortunately, in this case, I was shocked by her naivety.
• Ms. Brown’s thesis that the fiscal problems of the United States can be solved simply by having the government borrow at 0% because money is nothing but a balance sheet entry is vacuous. The government doesn’t control interest rates and interest payments are derived from taxes, i.e., paid by the people to private investors that hold U.S. Treasuries, e.g., financial institutions, Wall Street firms, such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, foreign investors, etc.
• Treasury yields are based on the competition among bidders in Treasury auctions. Mathematically, as federal government debt levels rise relative to GDP tax revenue at some point becomes insufficient to meet interest payments, which is the formula for a sovereign debt crisis Raising taxes generally has a negative impact on GDP.
I will not comment here on the profound negative consequences of inflation, the disruptive effects on international capital flows and trade, and the destructive effects of negative real interest rates associated with a 0% interest rate set by the Federal Reserve. I will say, however, that we are seeing some of the results already in the form of high inflation in emerging economies, rapidly rising global commodity prices, etc.
• For Ms. Brown’s ideas to work, U.S. government debt would have to be monetized by the Federal Reserve because that’s the only way to achieve a 0%, or near 0%, interest rates. No other bidder will accept 0% when the real return is negative due to inflation.
• Of course, the interest rates in question are actually Treasury yields, not bank lending rates. As debt levels increase relative to GDP, government debt becomes more risky and the only way to attract capital to to offer higher yields.
• Infinite debt is impossible in a finite word. Even if foreigners, e.g., China, would continue to loan money to the U.S., the amounts needed would become problematic, e.g., when the U.S. needs to roll over $5 trillion or $10 trillion in one year. For that to be possible, foreigners would have to greatly increase their money supplies, which would cause sever inflation in those economies, or the U.S. dollar would have to become much less valuable, which would affect the balance of trade, negatively impacting the very same export-dependent economies that U.S. needs to borrow from. In reality, it’s just not workable. The U.S. cannot continue borrowing while rolling over an ever larger debt.
• Every historical example of strategies similar to that suggested by Ms. Brown has resulted in hyperinflation and the utter destruction of the currency involved. Ms. Brown failed to explain to why “this time is different.”
I would add that the Federal Reserve is a private corporation established primarily to support the banking industry and that it is not a part of the government nor is it controlled by the government. In fact, the owners of the Federal Reserve are not known to the U.S. government or to the American people. The recent disclosure of the Federal Reserve’s emergency loans during the financial crisis may indicate some of the foreign interests that own the Federal Reserve. Obviously, it benefits financial firms for the government to borrow because debt service (interest payments) literally transfer money from U.S. taxpayers to investors in U.S. Treasuries, including big banks and foreign investors. I fail to grasp the benefit of this arrangement that Ms. Brown seems to think exists. In fact, I would imagine that abolishing the Federal Reserve would be a step in the right direction.

My suggestion to Ms. Brown would to refrain from further commentary on monetary systems because she lacks sufficient understanding of them.

Ron

Au contraire, what I’m proposing has worked very well, for example, in Japan. Bear in mind that the immediate issue is whether to raise the debt ceiling: it’s an immediate crisis we’re facing in the next 3 months. The options are to not raise it and risk precipitating a global depression like in the 1930s when the UK defaulted on the global reserve currency, or to raise it and add to the debt. There is plenty of room to add to the debt. We’re only at half the debt to GDP ratio that we had in World War II (counting just publicly-held debt), and we’re only at about one-quarter the debt to GDP ratio of Japan, which hasn’t gone into hyperinflation but rather is still in a deflationary spiral. Here’s a quote from economist Robert Kuttner on that — http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-kuttner/a-double-dip-recession-fo_b_853051.html:

But wait, isn’t the deficit a real problem? Yes, and no. Eventually, deficits at the 2011 level are not sustainable. However, the current accumulated debt held by the public of about 60 percent of GDP is not dire.

We could have two or three years of bigger deficits, very major public investment, let the debt ratio peak at 100% of GDP; and then stronger recovery, lower unemployment, and higher taxes on the wealthy would bring the debt ratio slowly down, as occurred after WW II.

Japan’s debt ratio, for comparative purposes, is over 200 % of GDP — and Japan is increasing government outlay to repair the damage of the earthquake and tsunami. Britain’s, after World War II, was over 250 percent, and Britain went on to enjoy a postwar recovery.

Why can’t we have massive public reparation with war or natural disaster? Because politicians lack the vision and nerve.

Austerity will only slow down the recovery. The idea that a steeper path to deficit reduction will somehow restore business confidence and thus more than offset the hit to purchasing power is just blarney. And with both parties committed to some version of austerity, we could easily have the worst of both worlds — increasing inflation coupled with persistent stagnation.

But Ellen, about Japan’s debt ratio, you say in one of your own articles: “…Japan’s debt is twice its GDP only because of an anomaly in how GDP is calculated: it omits government-provided services. If they were included, Japan’s GDP would be much higher and its debt to GDP ratio would be more in line with other countries…”

I personally appreciate your perspective and points of view as a counter to the inflationist views we hear so much in silver & gold communtiy… nothing yet guarantees that we will see inflation, as opposed to deflation, and it does seem that most banks have held onto gov’t bailout monies rather than loan it. But if that is the case (and M3 is as low as indicated in one of the articles on your site), what accounts for the commodity inflation — oil, silver, copper, grains — we have seen this past year?

A number of comments above included the idea that Keynsianism has been disproven. That’s debatable. According to Cambridge professor Ha Joon Chang, author of Bad Samaritans, world-wide both developed and undeveloped countries grew more, had better income distribution, and better stability in the 50’s through 70’s (until interrupted by the oil shock) on Keynsian and more mixed economy models than they did from the 80’s on with the present dominant neoliberal policies of balanced budgets, low inflation, privatization, etc. The statistics paint a clear picture. And countries that have done extremely well, like S. Korea, China, India, Taiwan, Japan, have done it with high protectionism, currency controls, a strong state owned enterprise sector, public banking, a planned industrial policy, etc. Those are facts. Ellen Brown’s articles are full of well-documented facts to back up her views. She knows her stuff. Read them and see.

If all fiat currencies print like mad, to support a life style for its citizens in their respective countries, this is happening now, won’t be stopped. So commodities will rise like gold and silver. My favorities. It’s a no brainer. Thanks

Why should private citizens be taxed for inflation they did not create to pay for it by spendthrift governments? The inflation itself will already lower our standard of living and lower the purchasing power of our money and then governments get to tax us on top of it? One more point to ponder. Anyone quoting statistics from FDR’s government should realize that most of those were lies. FDR’s own Secretary of the Treasury admitted no jobs were created net net and yet the deficit doubled. There may be a few times where government statistics were somewhat accurate and more honest, but in many governments in past US history, and also in foreign governments including Japan, the economic statistics are all bogus or incredibly spun to present a case and a message to however the government wants the statistics.

Japan has (arguably asset price) deflation (non Austrian School definition of deflation) but those assets were overvalued and bubbles were created. How about Japan’s savings rate? The Japanese government stole the savings of the Japanese population the last 2 decades as the Japanese citizens sacrificed their savings the last 2 decades to allow this spending binge. Now Japanese have very low savings rates and what’s worse many middle aged Japanese have had no investment income for 2 decades now so they cannot retire. The cost of living in Japan is very high. If you want to read the counter to Ellen Brown and other deflationists’ arguments about the US turning into the next Japan, read Dan Amerman’s articles on Japan and the Santa Claus Theory of Deflation.

To any of you who got mad at me for having Ellen as a guest on last weekend’s show, I submit that, right or wrong, her comments got everyone thinking and voicing their thoughts. That, in my opinion, is both valuable and constructive.

I thank all of you for contributing. You are all very bright and well-thought individuals and, as I have said numerous times in the past, I consider it a true honor to have participants such as yourselves.

Best,

Big Al

Did I hear Ellen Brown right? Did she really say that the US has killed more innocent civilians the past 10 years than anyone else in history? I think some of her comments may be relevant but this one is so outrageous as to make her an absolute nut. Unless I have my stats wrong, Hitler’s War, a.k.a. WW II, killed at least 12 million innocent people through ethnic cleansing, and let us not forget all those killed in bombings. Chairman Mao, it is said, is responsible for the deaths of approximately 100 million of his own people. Then of course there is Uncle Joe Stalin, who may have murdered up to 50 million of his own people. Others in this distinguished list which have deliberately slaughtered millions are Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge, Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, and all those who throughout history that wiped out entire cities and cultures. Unfortunately Ellen Brown may have had some good information but that comment alone disqualifies her as anything but a lunatic.

PS. Her statements regarding the reasons why we attacked Lybia probably have some merit. It would not surprise me in the least.