“The Bank Was Saved, and the People Were Ruined”
By Jeff Thomas, International Man

The above quote is from William Gouge, commenting on the Panic of 1819.  The panic had been caused when the First Bank of the United States had first expanded the money supply dramatically by offering loans, then contracted the money supply by tightening its requirements for new loans, causing a crash.

This is a useful quote, as, in its simplicity, it states the very nature of crashes brought on by irresponsible banking practices.  In every case in which this occurs, it is possible through the complicity of the government of the day.

The origin of this syndrome goes back to Mayer Rothschild, a very clever fellow who, in the late 18th century, offered financial benefits to politicians in Germany in trade for political support for whatever activities his bank might practice.  Rothschild was a long-term thinker; his method involved the offering of regular emoluments to politicians without their having to provide him with anything immediately.  Then, when he needed a large favour, he would call it in. Continue reading →