Update 11.18.08: The Glenn Beck site has the transcript. the US News site are playing it down saying the G-20 “was no Bretton Woods II” but the rest of the world is already picking our bones clean.
Do a little reading on the Bretton Woods system. Go on. I’ll wait.
The chief features of the Bretton Woods system were an obligation for each country to adopt a monetary policy that maintained the exchange rate of its currency within a fixed value—plus or minus one percent—in terms of gold and the ability of the IMF to bridge temporary imbalances of payments. In the face of increasing strain, the system collapsed in 1971, following the United States’ suspension of convertibility from dollars to gold. This created the unique situation whereby the United States dollar became the “reserve currency” for the nation-states which had signed the agreement.
That’s the important part right now. When people talk about the “US going off the Gold Standard”, they are talking about a pretty big deal. Way back in the day the world got together and made some financial agreements. That was after WWII when the US was emerging as a world power. We fell into debt during the Kennedy administration and the Bretton Woods agreement was renegotiated – or something – but we still came out ok because:
“keeping the dollar was still more desirable than holding gold because of the dollar’s ability to earn interest.”
That? That sentence you see above this sentence? That is no longer true. If someone could please find out what the G-20 was up to this weekend, that would be great! I’d really appreciate the MSM – you know – actually getting in there and doing thier job right now – for a change. You got Obama elected, now get back to work please. Because. I think our world is about to change a whole helluvalot in the next few weeks and I think that meeting this past weekend was the end of the US as a world super power financially at least and that kind of matters to the future of our economy. So. You know. It would be nice to get someone’s expert opinion on this before we are finally flushed down the toilet.
I mean. I realize we are just the working shmos who will be paying the price for this crap when all is said and done, but I am hearing rumors about the formation of a … well … an entity other than the one we elected controlling how we save and spend our money. Glenn Beck touched on it briefly today but I can’t find anything else related to it.
Anyone? Anyone? Beuller?
Just … keeping an eye on history as it happens so I can explain it to my grandkids someday. Maybe they’ll listen to me the way I didn’t listen to my grandparents.
Related Quotes in the news:
“Finally, all the countries agreed that we need to make collective decisions to avoid policies taken by one country hurting another.” ~Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
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“Conceding that aggressive efforts taken so far have been insufficient, the leaders agreed to take “whatever further actions are necessary to stabilize the financial system.” ” ~ USAToday
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“The declaration and plan of action that were approved include the following actions:
First. Stabilize financial markets and reactivate economic activity, in addition to establishing a reform plan to correct financial systems and redefine the architecture of international financial organizations.
We decided to boost international coordination within the sphere of macroeconomic policies as a means of reversing the recessive trends of the world economy.
We also pointed out the importance of offsetting the effects of the crisis on financial markets and the real economy of developed and emerging countries.
We therefore underlined the need to adopt special measures to enable the economies of emerging countries to continue to have access to the resources of international financing funds, to the extent that they need.
We decided to review the regulatory and monitoring framework governing financial institutions in order to make them more transparent and to strengthen accountability mechanisms to achieve greater control that will prevent future crises without reducing the dynamism of these markets.
A fundamental agreement I would like to stress is the commitment to reform the institutions that resulted from Bretton Woods, such as the Financial Stability Forum, so that they will adequately reflect the new realities of the world economy, particularly the specific importance of emerging countries such as Mexico.
We leaders acknowledged the fact that any solution to this crisis must be based on economic liberalization and free trade. We therefore agreed on a 12-month moratorium on the imposition of new barriers to trade and investment, and pledged to redouble efforts to conclude the Doha Round negotiations before the end of the year.
Lastly, in order to achieve these goals, we adopted a plan of action consisting of approximately 50 key measures that must be implemented over the next few days and in the medium term.” ~ Mexican President Summarizes Results of the G-20 Meeting Press Statement by President Felipe Calderón
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BoR: How much does it suck that the best information we can get is coming from Mexico? And from Canada:
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“Mr. Hu, who carries the trump card of $2-trillion (U.S.) worth of reserves, added that any reforms should be geared toward creating a “new financial order that is fair, just, inclusive and orderly.”"
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BoR: Yeah. That China holding a huge amount of our debt, that IS a wee tad of a problem. Screw National Security, btw. But this next piece is where we lose control:
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“ON REGULATORY RULES
Establish supervisory “colleges” for major international financial institutions
Review how compensation packages affect risk-taking
Ensure credit rating agencies meet high global standards and provide greater disclosure
Improve accounting standards
More disclosure on complex financial products” Again from Canada
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BoR: They are talking about an International entity that will control the way financial institutions will operate. From China:
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” Britain, which will chair G20 starting January, deemed the summit a start of the “road to the new Bretton Woods,” referring to the 1944 meeting in New Hampshire, the United States, where the international monetary protocols were created to govern trade, banking and other financial relations among nations.
“There is a clear determination on the part of world leaders in every continent to take the necessary action to move economies out of difficult period,” he said. ”
~ G20 leaders hail global financial summit, vow to salvage economy
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BoR: Please pay attention, people. This is important to YOUR future. Can we stop it? No. This quote pretty much sums up where we are right now:
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At a certain point — and we have probably passed it already — not even the taxpayers can do it. We’re entering the realm of imaginary numbers, a place where the bill has gone so high that no one can credibly calculate how to repay it. And these same taxpayers just elected an administration and a Congress that wants to create even more entitlements, making the crisis even worse, rather than finding ways to extricate the American government from the financial trap set over the last few decades.
~ Sanford: Don’t bail me out, bro! by Ed Morrissey
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BoR: The rest of the world is taking away our keys to the car – and we deserve it.
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