Free Republic

War On Banks: Attorney General Eric Holder has opened up a new front against car lenders and has forged an alliance with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to frame them for racism, too. We don't use the term "frame" capriciously, certainly not like Holder uses the charge of racism. His department and the president's new consumer credit watchdog agency, CFPB, have announced a new settlement with Ally Bank for nearly $100 million. It's the largest fair lending deal against the auto industry and the third-largest ever to resolve charges of lending discrimination. Throw in four new mortgage-lender settlements over equally...

“Carrying such large amounts of cash is a terrible risk that freaks me out a bit because there is the fear in my mind that the next car pulling up beside me could be the crew that hijacks us,” he said. “So, we have to play this never-ending shell game of different cars, different routes, different dates and different times.”

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Chairman of the Economic Growth Subcommittee, sent a harsh letter to Attorney General Holder Wednesday accusing the Department of Justice of abusing its power and intimidating banks through its "Operation Choke Point." In the letter, Issa and Jordan stated, "[t]he [House Oversight and Government Reform] Committee is concerned that both the goal and mechanisms of Operation Choke Point may constitute a serious mismanagement and abuse of the Department´s FIRREA [Financial Institution Reform and Recovery Act of 1989] authority." Breitbart News broke the

IMF paper warns of 'savings tax' and mass write-offs as West's debt hits 200-year high ... Debt burdens in developed nations have become extreme by any historical measure and will require a wave of haircuts, warns IMF paper. The paper said policy elites in the West are still clinging to the illusion that rich countries can chip away at their debts with a blend of austerity cuts and growth. – UK Telegraph Dominant Social Theme: The West is out of control and only taxes can save it. Free-Market Analysis: The UK Telegraph has discovered that the IMF wants to inflict...

Caught by his tinted windows:A banker who vanished in an apparent suicide in 2012 and was wanted by the FBI in connection with a $20 million wire fraud case has been arrested in Georgia after being pulled over for a minor traffic violation. Aubrey Lee Price, 47, was arrested after being stopped for a tinted window violation on Interstate 95 ... Officers said that it was clear Price was giving them false information during the stop and they were soon able to determine that he was wanted by the FBI. His arrest comes more than a year after a Florida...

Aubrey Lee Price, a South Georgia bank director accused last year of defrauding his bank and clients in his money management business, has been arrested in Brunswick, federal authorities said Tuesday. Price, 47, who has been missing since June 2012, was last seen in a ferry terminal in Key West, Fla. He allegedly had planned to kill himself by leaping off a ferry boat. Price has been indicted on federal charges claiming he defrauded Montgomery Bank & Trust in tiny Ailey, Ga., where he was a director. MB&T failed in July, less than a month after Price disappeared. He said...

Late last week it was learned that some 40 million charge cards were obtained using physical processing systems located in Target retail locations nationwide. Though no details of the how the hack attack was executed have been released by Target, the FBI or other agencies investigating the breach, it is likely that the processing machines themselves were compromised. Target claims that the hack was sophisticated, but on the technical side, once hackers found a way into the credit card processing machines, probably via remote entry from servers somewhere in Eastern Europe or Russia, the theft of credit card data itself...

The Democratic Party gained prominence in the first half of the nineteenth century as being the party that opposed the Second Bank of the United States. In the process, it tapped into an anti-state sentiment that proved so strong that we wouldn't see another like it until the next century. Its adversaries were Whig politicians who defended the bank and its ability to grow the government and their own personal fortunes at the same time. They were, in fact, quite open about these arrangements. It was considered standard-operating procedure for Whig representatives to receive monetary compensation for their support of...

FDR's Raw Deal Exposed August 30, 2003 BY THOMAS ROESER For 70 years there has been a holy creed--spread by academia until accepted by media and most Americans--that Franklin D. Roosevelt cured the Great Depression. That belief spurred the growth of modern liberalism; conservatives are still on the defensive where modern historians are concerned. Not so anymore when the facts are considered. Now a scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute has demonstrated that (a) not only did Roosevelt not end the Depression, but (b) by incompetent measures, he prolonged it. But FDR's myth has sold. Roosevelt, the master of the...

So who really controls the world? The Illuminati? Freemasons? The Bilderberg Group? Or are these all red herrings to distract your prying eyes from the real global elite? The answer, like most topics worth exploring, is not quite so simple. Have no doubt, there are secretive global powers whose only goal is to keep and grow that power. But it really may not be as secretive as you would think. And that is what makes it even more nefarious. But don't take my word for it, we have both science and insider testimony to back it up. We are going...

Earlier today, the Justice Dept. and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced the largest auto loan discrimination settlement in U.S. history with the news that Ally Bank has agreed to pay $98 million, including $80 million in refunds to settle allegations that it has been charging higher interest rates to minority borrowers of car loans.

There are conflicting stories among Bitcoins’ supporters about why a Japanese programmer or team of Japanese programmers, who are known by a pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, developed the original idea for the Bitcoins software. The primary justification for Bitcoins among libertarians is the prediction that Bitcoins will become an alternative currency to all existing central bank currencies. Bitcoins are seen as a first-stage revolt against central bank money. In this essay, I’m going to make a series of arguments. I’m going to tell you in advance what my arguments are. You can then judge whether or not I have been successful...

The Financial Times reports that “the U.S. Federal Reserve is considering the possibility of arbitrarily cutting the amount of interest it pays on money that it borrows from private commercial banks.” Private banks, of course, make a great deal of money this way. But should the Fed make this decision, banks which have historically paid their customers a small amount of interest for the use of their money may well begin “…charg[ing] private individuals and businesses for the privilege of “parking” their money in an account for a time.” Could such a policy create a bank run? That’s what happened...

The good news. Real GDP growth was revised for Q3 up to 3.6%. The bad news. Personal consumption expenditures fell to 1.4% for Q3. There has been a steady decline in personal consumption expenditures since 1998. The good news. Private investment in residential real estate rose 13.0% in Q3! And nonresidential structures grew at 13.8%. The bad news. Real median household income (only through 2012) continues to decline. We have a “GINI Paradox.” Since 2007, real median household income has fallen while income inequality (GINI) has risen. AND we have rising residential real estate investment? The US needs real GDP...

The anti-corruption stance of Pope Francis has riled Italy’s powerful mafia groups, according to a prosecutor who specializes in mob cases. State prosecutor Nicola Gratteri – who works in the southern Italian region of Calabria, where the ‘Ndrangheta mafia is active – told the Italian daily Fatto Quotidiano that Francis’ statements on transparency and dismantling economic power in the Vatican are making mobsters “nervous and agitated.” “I cannot say if the organization is in a position to do something like this, but they are dangerous and it is worth reflecting on,” Gratteri said. “If the godfathers can find a way...

Switzerland will vote on Sunday on whether to limit the salaries of top executives so they don't earn more in a month than the lowest paid workers earn in a year, a move that could mean big pay cuts for business leaders earning millions. The so-called 1:12 initiative for Fair Pay, the latest attempt to narrow a growing wage gap in one of the world's wealthiest nations, was brought about by the youth wing of the Social Democrats (JUSO), who gathered the 100,000 signatures needed to force a nationwide vote. Despite its high standard of living, Switzerland is a generally...

Part 3. At the end of the day, any currency is backed not by physical commodities or a collective abstraction called “a government”. No. A currency is backed by the character and integrity of men that constitute the issuing nation or body. In short, WE ARE THE GOLD. We are the bearers of the “full faith and credit” which backs our Federal Reserve notes today. And that, dear readers, is why this country is not going to turn itself around anytime soon, and is almost certainly doomed in the short-run. Every text I read over the last few days always...

Kate Berry has a nice article entitled “Lenders’ Dilemma: Invest in Tech or Exit Mortgage Business.“ The cost to originate a home loan is skyrocketing as lenders try to comply with stricter rules to catch problem loans, and some community banks and independent mortgage lenders are now facing a stark choice: invest in technology that would help automate the loan process or exit mortgage lending entirely. Origination costs are expected to rise 11% this year from a year ago, to nearly $5,900 per loan, as lenders scramble to meet tough new requirements from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal...

in The Physics arXiv Bloghttps://medium.com/the-physics-arxiv-blog/5e1dd9d1642 The True Size of the Shadow Banking System Revealed (Spoiler: Humongous) The shadow banking system is vastly bigger than regulators had thought, say econophysicists who have developed a powerful new way to measure its hidden impact In most parts of the world, the banking system is closely regulated and monitored by central banks and other government agencies. That’s just as it should be, you might think. But banks have a way round this kind of regulation. For the last decade or so, it has become common practice for banks to do business in ways...

In a bizarre and unexpected move, Chase is notifying customers that after November 17th the bank will ban all international wire transfers and place limits on the amount of transfer activity that can occur within a billing cycle. Chase claims this new policy is coming in to play to minimize risks. The letter being sent to customers says the following. Dear Business Customer, Starting November 17, 2013: - You will no longer be able to send international wire transfers. You will still be able to send domestic wires and receive both domestic and international wires. We’ll cancel any international wire...