Posted on 11/16/2009 7:01:35 PM PST by FromLori
The full SIGTARP report on AIG and its counterparty payments has been released. It contains all you need to know about the NYFED's bailout of Goldman Sachs. We are currently going through the report, and will post our findings as we have them.
Key timeline events:
AIG's collateral postings:
Total taxpayer subsidies: (FOR SOME REASON THIS GRAPH WON'T SHOW UP SO AT SITE)
Historical and current AIG CDS exposure:
THIS ONE WON'T SHOW UP EITHER SO SEE AT SITE
And the most critical conclusion presented by Neil Barofsky: The SIGTARP blasts the Fed's ongoing desire to keep everything hidden and under a layer of opacity, as it keeps on lying to taxpayers that all is fine with the US economy, and urges investors to part with their hard-earned dollars and "invest" in toxic husks of zombie companies, when it knows full well that the entire financial system is constantly on the cusp of yet another collapse, and the market ponzi scheme could collapse at any minute.
The now familiar argument from Government officials about the dire consequences of basic transparency, as advocated by the Federal Reserve in connection with Maiden Lane III once again simply does not withstand scrutiny. Federal Reserve officials initially refused to disclose the identities of the counterparties or the details of the payments, warning that disclosure of the names would undermine AIG's stability, the privacy and business interests of the counterparties, and the stability of the markets. After public and Congressional pressure, AIG disclosed the identities. Notwithstanding the Federal Reserve warnings, the sky did not fall; there is no indication that AIG's disclosure undermined the stability of AIG or the market or damaged legitimate interested of the counterparties. The lesson that should be learned - one that has been made apparent time after time in the Government's response to the financial crisis - is that the default position, whenever Government funds are deployed in a crisis to support markets or institutions, should be that the public is entitled to know what is being done with Government funds. While SIGTARP acknowledges that there might be circumstances in which the public's right to know what its Government is doing should be circumscribed, those instances should be very few and very far between.
Audit the Fed already.
PING
RELATED
The market took about 10 minutes
to discern that Bernanke's "concern" was BS,
and now has pushed in the chips - "all in" -
breaking key support below 75 - and still going.
It appears the FX market intends to
force Bernanke (and Geithner) to either
defend the dollar or allow it to collapse.
Who is going to bail out the United States Government
if and when the FX markets and carry traders
cause a disorderly collapse in the dollar?
There is tremendous global finger-pointing today. Liu Mingkang, head of China’s CBRC, said that the combination of a weak dollar and low U.S. interest rates has spawned: "A huge carry trade” that was having a “massive impact on global asset prices … [It] is boosting speculative investment in stock and property markets and will pose new, real and insurmountable risks to the global recovery and particularly to the recovery in emerging markets."
Mr. Liu implied that the U.S. was purposely inflating away its massive debt. On the other hand IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn suggested that China must float her currency to ease the pain of her Asian neighbors and the European Union countries.
There are no "best" alternatives. Raising interest rates in the U.S. would be extremely painful and would derail the recovery. The U.S. needs at least 5% growth in GDP to support its huge and increasing debt load. Raising U.S. rates to defend the dollar is political nonstarter.
Did you know Alan Greenspan is buying Gold Bars?
http://bluelori.blogspot.com/2009/11/greenspan-buying-gold-barsmax-kaiser.html
Works great until there is a true malignant deflation
Malignant deflation is connected to weak demand that causes a downward spiral in prices. Insufficient demand, coupled with excess capacity, means firms are forced to reduce prices to move their inventories. Profits decline, and the demand for labor decreases. As unemployment soars, wages fall with prices, and the downward wage-price spiral continues.
Commodities go to H.ll
they are non-income producing,
and you can't eat them
So true I don’t have a lot of gold just a bit but I concentrated more on having no bills, having supplies, etc. I figure if things actually do get that bad some supplies could also be used to trade.
Thanks for the post & related link. Great commentary at both. Thanks to the terrific posters/researchers/linkers/educators at zerohedge.
Ping.
Your welcome you might find this good as well
http://www.humblelibertarian.com/2009/11/national-security-alert-us-dollar-is-in.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.