page-loading-spinner

Wall Street

by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • The Deep State, and its dawning realization that Wall Street is a foe vs an ally
  • Why Wall Street's threat to the dollar hegemony is of such concern
  • History gives us many examples to predict a 'war of elites' (e.g. Wall Street vs the Deep State) is highly likely
  • Who will lose? And what implications will it have for the rest of us?

If you have not yet read Have We Reached Peak Wall Street?, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, I sketched out why the financial sector—the Fed, Wall Street and “too big to fail” banks—pose a strategic threat to the nation, as their policies threaten one key foundation of American pre-eminence, the U.S. dollar.   Should money and credit creation cause the dollar to lose its reserve status, the nation would lose the fundamental advantages that go with being able to print a reserve currency.

I then suggested that the Deep State might eventually wake up to the strategic threat posed by a self-serving financial sector, and this would lead to a showdown between the financial Elites and the Deep State.

The Systems-Level view: the S-Curve works on Wall Street, too

Long-time readers know that I often refer to systems-level dynamics, one of which is the S-Curve, which traces the rise, maturation and decline/crash of systems both natural and human-designed. An astonishing array of systems has been found to follow an s-curve, from the spread of infectious diseases to financial bubbles.

Why would Wall Street be uniquely immune to these systemic forces? I submit that Wall Street’s power has topped out and is about to decline precipitously, just like any other system which has over-reached by sucking its habitat dry.

I think we can chart Wall Street’s S-Curve thusly…

The Implications of a ‘War of Elites’
PREVIEW by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • The Deep State, and its dawning realization that Wall Street is a foe vs an ally
  • Why Wall Street's threat to the dollar hegemony is of such concern
  • History gives us many examples to predict a 'war of elites' (e.g. Wall Street vs the Deep State) is highly likely
  • Who will lose? And what implications will it have for the rest of us?

If you have not yet read Have We Reached Peak Wall Street?, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, I sketched out why the financial sector—the Fed, Wall Street and “too big to fail” banks—pose a strategic threat to the nation, as their policies threaten one key foundation of American pre-eminence, the U.S. dollar.   Should money and credit creation cause the dollar to lose its reserve status, the nation would lose the fundamental advantages that go with being able to print a reserve currency.

I then suggested that the Deep State might eventually wake up to the strategic threat posed by a self-serving financial sector, and this would lead to a showdown between the financial Elites and the Deep State.

The Systems-Level view: the S-Curve works on Wall Street, too

Long-time readers know that I often refer to systems-level dynamics, one of which is the S-Curve, which traces the rise, maturation and decline/crash of systems both natural and human-designed. An astonishing array of systems has been found to follow an s-curve, from the spread of infectious diseases to financial bubbles.

Why would Wall Street be uniquely immune to these systemic forces? I submit that Wall Street’s power has topped out and is about to decline precipitously, just like any other system which has over-reached by sucking its habitat dry.

I think we can chart Wall Street’s S-Curve thusly…

by Chris Martenson

Executive Summary

  • The inequality of the current system is becoming more and more visible, despite efforts to conceal it
  • History shows that control will break as those running the system are forced to compete more directly for a shrinking pie
  • The 3 essential indicators of instability to watch
  • The high price of a collapse of the status quo (and why developing resilience now is your best investment)

If you have not yet read Part I: Bankers Own the World, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

More Equal than Others

Like the pigs in Orwell's Animal Farm, those running the current system are quick to convince us they are doing it out of service, not self-interest (many remember the testimony of Goldman Sachs head Lloyd Blankfein that he sees the bank's efforts as "doing God's work"). The media (most of which is owned by the top 147 companies discussed in Part I) reinforces the perception that the status quo is all that stands between us and economic ruin. 

Of course, there's a much darker side to the story. It requires some digging by the curious mind, but the data is there to be found. As previous mentioned, such a parasitical system inevitably concentrates wealth over time into the hands of fewer and fewer of the most privileged and most powerful. Here's an excellent visualization of how that has already happened in the U.S.:

Note that the actual degree of wealth inequality is much worse than Americans perceive it to be. That's not surprising given the absence of light shined on this in the mass media…

The Indicators of Instability to Watch For
PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

Executive Summary

  • The inequality of the current system is becoming more and more visible, despite efforts to conceal it
  • History shows that control will break as those running the system are forced to compete more directly for a shrinking pie
  • The 3 essential indicators of instability to watch
  • The high price of a collapse of the status quo (and why developing resilience now is your best investment)

If you have not yet read Part I: Bankers Own the World, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

More Equal than Others

Like the pigs in Orwell's Animal Farm, those running the current system are quick to convince us they are doing it out of service, not self-interest (many remember the testimony of Goldman Sachs head Lloyd Blankfein that he sees the bank's efforts as "doing God's work"). The media (most of which is owned by the top 147 companies discussed in Part I) reinforces the perception that the status quo is all that stands between us and economic ruin. 

Of course, there's a much darker side to the story. It requires some digging by the curious mind, but the data is there to be found. As previous mentioned, such a parasitical system inevitably concentrates wealth over time into the hands of fewer and fewer of the most privileged and most powerful. Here's an excellent visualization of how that has already happened in the U.S.:

Note that the actual degree of wealth inequality is much worse than Americans perceive it to be. That's not surprising given the absence of light shined on this in the mass media…

by JHK

Executive Summary

  • The prevailing trends of the next several decades: contraction, down-scaling & re-localization
  • How these trends will manifest in commerce, politics, employment & infrastructure
  • Those who adapt now will be positioned to thrive
  • Act now – ask forgiveness, not permission

If you have not yet read Part I: We've Dug a Pretty Damn Big Hole for Ourselves, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

We may never again restore trust in giant institutions ranging from the U.S. government to Harvard University to The New York Times. They have probably squandered their credibility and their legitimacy.

Anyway, the trends now moving human affairs are taking us away from both gigantism and the growth imperative that these things represent. The trends of the present moment in history are contraction, down-scaling, and re-localization.

Managing contraction is the only safe reality-based political response to the situation, and there is no constituency for it – though contraction is emphatically underway whether we like it or not, and it would be advantageous if we could manage our way through it rather than let it become a disorderly rout in which people starve and the rule of law disintegrates altogether.

As for re-localization and downscaling, there is a highly visible, easily identifiable constituency…

Fixing the Mess We’ve Made
PREVIEW by JHK

Executive Summary

  • The prevailing trends of the next several decades: contraction, down-scaling & re-localization
  • How these trends will manifest in commerce, politics, employment & infrastructure
  • Those who adapt now will be positioned to thrive
  • Act now – ask forgiveness, not permission

If you have not yet read Part I: We've Dug a Pretty Damn Big Hole for Ourselves, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

We may never again restore trust in giant institutions ranging from the U.S. government to Harvard University to The New York Times. They have probably squandered their credibility and their legitimacy.

Anyway, the trends now moving human affairs are taking us away from both gigantism and the growth imperative that these things represent. The trends of the present moment in history are contraction, down-scaling, and re-localization.

Managing contraction is the only safe reality-based political response to the situation, and there is no constituency for it – though contraction is emphatically underway whether we like it or not, and it would be advantageous if we could manage our way through it rather than let it become a disorderly rout in which people starve and the rule of law disintegrates altogether.

As for re-localization and downscaling, there is a highly visible, easily identifiable constituency…

Total 37 items