This week I will talk of the coming bond market crash and the schemes the Federal and state governments have in place to take public wealth and people's assets. Many Americans do not know their Congressional pols passed laws that will allow Wall Street to confiscate the American people's money placed in banks when the economy crashes next year from the bond market collapse. Below you see an article that speaks to how the TROIKA and IMF used this in Europe to force money from a nation for the deliberate debt built by corrupt government officials and banks in what WAS FRAUD. Rather than recover the fraud---they took people's money from accounts ALL UNDER THE GUISE OF STABILIZING THE BANKS AND ECONOMY. So, while Clinton neo-liberals claimed Bush Republicans did all the damage of last decade's frauds and corruptions-----Obama and Clinton neo-liberals did the exact same thing because they are not Democrats and Republicans---they are GLOBAL CORPORATE TRIBUNAL PARTY POLS.
'Reading the Fine Print
The 15-page FDIC-BOE document is called "Resolving Globally Active, Systemically Important, Financial Institutions." It begins by explaining that since the 2008 banking crisis, it has become clear that some other way besides taxpayer bailouts are needed to maintain "financial stability." Evidently anticipating that the next financial collapse will be on a grander scale than either the taxpayers or Congress is willing to underwrite, the authors present this alternative':
This is saying that the Wall Street banks that go bankrupt as they did in 2008 own your money when you deposit it. If a bank fails then the creditors can seize those deposits as payment regardless of FDIC laws. So, when the government is maxed to the gills with debt as Federal, state, and local governments are----DELIBERATELY PUSHED INTO THE DEEPEST OF DEBT WITH corporate fraud----then the government cannot bail out the failing banks and those deposits become the global investment firm's money. That is what IMF and TROIKA has been doing in Europe and that is what they will do in the US with this coming bond market crash.
Keep in mind this is one long scheme----through Reagan/Clinton and Bush/Obama by neo-liberals and neo-cons so it is deliberate, willful, and done with malice which is why it is fraud and illegal no matter what they pretend. The Republicans did not make your pols pass laws that allow the FDIC to confiscate your deposits in Wall Street banks when they collapse this time around----they did it because they are Clinton neo-liberals working for wealth and corporate profit with Republicans.
The problem is much larger-----the FED policies have allowed for what will be huge interest and inflation rates that will make the money we bury in our back yard of little value-----think Mugabe and Mozambique and it is deliberate---these are real sociopaths. The goal is to create the conditions of first world nations like Europe and US to move to third world status with people having no money.
It Can Happen Here: The Confiscation Scheme Planned for US and UK Depositors
Posted: 04/03/2013 11:11 am EDT Updated: 06/03/2013 5:12 am EDt Huffington Post
Few depositors realize that legally, the bank owns the depositor's funds as soon as they are put in the bank. Our money becomes the bank's, and we become unsecured creditors holding IOUs. (See here and here.) But until now, the bank has been obligated to pay the money back as cash on demand. Under the FDIC-BOE plan, our IOUs will be converted into "bank equity." The bank will get the money and we will get stock in the bank. With any luck we may be able to sell the stock to someone else, but when and at what price? Most people keep a deposit account so they can have ready cash to pay the bills.
Reading the Fine Print
The 15-page FDIC-BOE document is called "Resolving Globally Active, Systemically Important, Financial Institutions." It begins by explaining that since the 2008 banking crisis, it has become clear that some other way besides taxpayer bailouts are needed to maintain "financial stability." Evidently anticipating that the next financial collapse will be on a grander scale than either the taxpayers or Congress is willing to underwrite, the authors present this alternative:
An efficient path for returning the sound operations of the G-SIFI to the private sector would be provided by exchanging or converting a sufficient amount of the unsecured debt from the original creditors of the failed company [meaning the depositors] into equity [or stock]. In the U.S., the new equity would become capital in one or more newly formed operating entities. In the U.K., the same approach could be used, or the equity could be used to recapitalize the failing financial company itself--thus, the highest layer of surviving bailed-in creditors would become the owners of the resolved firm. In either country, the new equity holders would take on the corresponding risk of being shareholders in a financial institution. [Emphasis added.]
No exception is indicated for "insured deposits" in the U.S., meaning those under $250,000, the deposits we thought were protected by FDIC insurance. This can hardly be an oversight, since it is the FDIC that is issuing the directive. The FDIC is an insurance company funded by premiums paid by private banks. The directive is called a "resolution process," defined elsewhere as a plan that "would be triggered in the event of the failure of an insurer and would facilitate [the failed bank's] resolution in a controlled manner, avoiding systemic disruption and use of public funds." The only mention of "insured deposits"is in connection with existing UK legislation, which the FDIC-BOE directive goes on to say is inadequate, implying that it needs to be modified or overridden.
An Imminent Risk
If our IOUs are converted to bank stock, they will no longer be subject to insurance protection but will be "at risk" and vulnerable to being wiped out, just as the Lehman Brothers shareholders were in 2008. That this dire scenario could actually materialize was underscored by Yves Smith in a March 19 post titled When You Weren't Looking, Democrat Bank Stooges Launch Bills to Permit Bailouts, Deregulate Derivatives. She writes:
In the U.S., depositors have actually been put in a worse position than Cyprus deposit-holders, at least if they are at the big banks that play in the derivatives casino. The regulators have turned a blind eye as banks use their depositaries to fund derivatives exposures. And as bad as that is, the depositors, unlike their Cypriot confreres, aren't even senior creditors. Remember Lehman? When the investment bank failed, unsecured creditors (and remember, depositors are unsecured creditors) got eight cents on the dollar. One big reason was that derivatives counterparties require collateral for any exposures, meaning they are secured creditors. The 2005 bankruptcy reforms made derivatives counterparties senior to unsecured lenders. [Emphasis added.]
One might wonder why the posting of collateral by a derivative counterparty, at some percentage of full exposure, makes the creditor "secured," while the depositor who posted collateral at 100 cents on the dollar is "unsecured." But moving on -- Smith writes:Lehman had only two itty bitty banking subsidiaries, and to my knowledge, was not gathering retail deposits. But as readers may recall, Bank of America moved most of its derivatives from its Merrill Lynch operation [to] its depositary in late 2011.
Its "depositary" is the arm of the bank that takes deposits. At B of A, that means lots and lots of deposits. The deposits are now subject to being wiped out by a major derivatives loss. How bad could that be? Smith quotes Bloomberg:... Bank of America's holding company... held almost $75 trillion of derivatives at the end of June...
That compares with JPMorgan's deposit-taking entity, JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, which contained 99 percent of the New York-based firm's $79 trillion of notional derivatives, the OCC data show.
$75 trillion and $79 trillion in derivatives! These two mega-banks alone hold more in derivatives each than the entire global GDP (at $70 trillion).
Smith goes on:
... Remember the effect of the 2005 bankruptcy law revisions: derivatives counterparties are first in line, they get to grab assets first and leave everyone else to scramble for crumbs... Lehman failed over a weekend after JP Morgan grabbed collateral.
But it's even worse than that. During the Savings & Loan crisis, the FDIC did not have enough in deposit insurance receipts to pay for the Resolution Trust Corporation wind-down vehicle. It had to get more funding from Congress. This move paves the way for another TARP-style shakedown of taxpayers, this time to save depositors.
Perhaps, but Congress has already been burned and is liable to balk a second time. Hence the need for the FDIC-BOE resolution. When it is implemented, the FDIC will no longer need to protect depositor funds; it can just confiscate them.
Note that an FDIC confiscation of deposits to recapitalize the banks is far different from a simple tax on taxpayers to pay government expenses. The government's debt is at least arguably the people's debt, since the government is there to provide services for the people. But when the banks get into trouble with their derivative schemes, they are not serving depositors, who are not getting a cut of the profits; and by no stretch of the imagination are the depositors liable for the losses. Taking depositor funds is simply theft. What should be done is to raise FDIC insurance premiums and make the banks pay to keep their depositors whole, but premiums are already high. The FDIC is a government agency, but like other regulatory agencies it is subject to regulatory capture. Deposit insurance has failed, and so has the private banking system that has depended on it for the trust that makes banking work.
Note too that imposing losses on depositors is not a "wealth tax" but is a tax on the poor, since wealthy people don't keep most of their money in bank accounts. They keep it in the stock market, in real estate, in over-the-counter derivatives, in gold and silver, and so forth.
Are you safe, then, if your money is in gold and silver? Apparently not -- if it's stored in a safety deposit box in the bank. Homeland Security has reportedly told banks that it has authority to seize the contents of safety deposit boxes without a warrant when it's a matter of "national security," which a major bank crisis no doubt will be.
The Swedish Alternative: Nationalize the Banks
Another alternative was considered by President Obama in 2009 but was rejected: nationalize failed banks. In a February 2009 article titled "Are Uninsured Bank Depositors in Danger?," Felix Salmon discussed a newsletter by Asia-based investment strategist Christopher Wood, in which Wood wrote:
It is... amazing that Obama does not understand the political appeal of the nationalization option... [D]espite this latest setback nationalization of the banks is coming sooner or later because the realities of the situation will demand it. The result will be shareholders wiped out and bondholders forced to take debt-for-equity swaps, if not hopefully depositors.
On whether depositors could be forced to become equity holders, Salmon commented:
It's worth remembering that depositors are unsecured creditors of any bank; usually, indeed, they're by far the largest class of unsecured creditors.
President Obama acknowledged that bank nationalization had worked in Sweden, and that the course pursued by the U.S. Fed had not worked in Japan, which wound up instead in a "lost decade." But Obama opted for the Japanese approach because, according to Ed Harrison, "Americans will not tolerate nationalization."
That was four years ago. When Americans realize that the alternative is to have their ready cash transformed into "bank stock" of questionable marketability, moving failed mega-banks into the public sector may start to have more appeal.
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This is what O'Malley and Maryland Assembly and the pols in your neck of the woods using huge amounts of credit bond debt and allowing the government to be starved of revenue resources are building with these politicies----as in Baltimore, Baltimore citizens will be wiped out with these policies all Baltimore pols voted to install.
Remember, Wall Street is using leverage by bets with no real money to crash the economy and then comes to claim people's REAL money for their own. This is how they are making everyone poor and it is all illegal. We keep allowing Clinton neo-liberals to run in primaries and need to get REAL progressive labor and justice into these primary races. By the time this article was written I had shouted out to the Baltimore Brew and all media and pols what these goals were----and nothing was written.
'Bank of America's holding company... held almost $75 trillion of derivatives at the end of June...
That compares with JPMorgan's deposit-taking entity, JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, which contained 99 percent of the New York-based firm's $79 trillion of notional derivatives, the OCC data show.
$75 trillion and $79 trillion in derivatives! These two mega-banks alone hold more in derivatives each than the entire global GDP (at $70 trillion)'.
Below you see an article written at the time Baltimore's City Hall and Maryland pols pushed bills written by Johns Hopkins to create all this bond debt in Baltimore to prepare for this coming bond market crash. The question was not-----why are we going back to Wall Street for more financial deals when we know they are systemically criminal-----they question is why was more leverage not used in poor communities----THE ANSWER IS ALL OF THIS LEVERAGE IS MEANT TO MOVE ASSETS TO THE RICH----NOT FUND REAL DEVELOPMENT.
YOUR POLS KNOW THESE DEALS ARE MEANT TO TAKE YOUR ASSETS AND GOVERNMENT ASSETS! GET RID OF THEM BY ENGAGING IN POLITICS AND BEING THE CANDIDATES IN DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES-----DEMOCRATS DO NOT STEAL FROM LABOR AND JUSTICE----THE RICH WITH REPUBLICANS DO.
This is the problem the citizens of Baltimore have in their media outlets. Below you see a major media outlet decrying the fact that bond leverage was not used to help black institutions and not educating that bond leverage policy is meant to bring Baltimore into bankruptcy killing all public wealth and handing institutions tied to credit bonds into the hands of private investors. Private investors want our Walters Art Museum and BMA and public school buildings and real estate----they do not want Blacks in Wax Art Museum. Does WOLB know the goal of this coming bond market crash? My organization has shouted to media in Baltimore for years this is coming----and it is why Baltimore media works with Johns Hopkins to keep all real progressive labor and justice out of Baltimore Democratic primary elections!
21st-CENTURY BUILDINGS FOR OUR KIDS: - Baltimore... http://www.baltimorecityschools.org/cms/lib/MD01001351/Centricity/Domain/8784/PDF/2013January-21stCenturyBuildingsForOurKids.pdfFile format:Adobe PDFJan 8, 2013 ... leverage to sell bonds to support implementation of the plan. A powerful ... urgency rooted in the belief that they have waited too long for the education they deserve. Now, in ... progress over a year by as much as 25 percent.
Opinion: Bond questions on tomorrow’s ballot reflect skewed priorities Why no support for black cultural institutions or neighborhoods beyond the harbor, a talk show host asks
Patrick Henderson, a composer and record producer, is the host of “Meet the People” on Radio One’s WOLB 1010 AM and Spirit 1400. He is also chair of the Dolfield Stakeholders Committee in Northwest Baltimore.
Patrick Henderson November 3, 2014 at 11:00 am
Signage over 36th Street in Hampden calls on voters to approve bond issues on tomorrow’s ballot.
“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.”
Nelson Mandela knew the apartheid system well – he was forced to spend half of his life in prison fighting for justice and liberation for his people. He is a light to our path.
If we look at Baltimore’s long history of racial disparities, we should not be shocked by the fact that a veiled apartheid system still plays out in the everyday decisions and priorities in city government.
A case in point are the bond issues presented on tomorrow’s ballot.
The Mayor and City Council need the approval of the public to borrow millions of dollars for capital improvements, which include aid for the Baltimore Aquarium, Port Discovery Children’s Museum, Walters Art Museum and other tourist attractions located at the Inner Harbor or downtown.
These aforementioned attractions are certainly part of the Baltimore iconography, but they do not paint the full picture of the rich culture – and pressing needs – of this city.
Beyond the Harbor
Not one black cultural institution is cited as a recipient of the bond proceeds, such as the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum on North Avenue. It is the nation’s only museum of its kind. It gets more than 150,000 visitors a year, the vast majority coming from outside of Baltimore.
In other words, it is a perfect candidate for building cultural tourism beyond the harbor. To attract more visitors, it desperately needs new frontage and signage and support for ongoing maintenance. Yet in a city that is 65% black, the Great Blacks Museum takes a back seat to such projects as rebuilding the perfectly-sound McKeldin Fountain at Harborplace or fixing up the waterfront promenade for Harbor East residents.
The Arena Players Theater, the oldest black theater for the performing arts in the U.S., needs central air and heat, new seating, better stage lights. It has been brought to the brink of bankruptcy many times because the public good has been overshadowed by the ethnicity of the establishment. Who wants to go to a theater or a museum where benign neglect greets you at the front door?
There should also be ways to use bond money to help the city’s youth. For example, there is unused acreage in the backwoods of the Baltimore Zoo, so instead of penalizing our young people with jail time for sitting on a dirt bike, why not build them a field with bleachers, then hold rallies on the weekends for them, their families and friends to come out and enjoy?
The biggest argument I’ve heard against this idea is, “The city will not back the enterprise due to the high cost of insurance.” Yet after the community of Hampden complained about kids on skateboards on their sidewalks and streets, $150,000 was found to build them a skateboard park. I never heard insurance brought up.
Investing in All Kids
When white teens exercise their liberty and freedoms in ways that are disruptive, it is called a right of passage. When black kids do the same thing, it is called deviant behavior. Is this another manifestation of veiled apartheid?
For the past two decades, water fountains in city schools have been rendered inoperable because of ancient lead pipes, while massive amounts of water is purchased at a hefty cost to the taxpayer. What about using the bond issue for infrastructure to fix those pipes?
“A boy or girl without a mentor is like an explorer without a map,” it’s said. After-school programs and mentors have proven track records of good influence into the lives of our children. Why not appropriate more funding for these much needed and beneficial programs?
In speaking about the lack of investment in the black community, I cannot ignore the fact that over the last 25 years, the top elected officials, including mayors, have been predominately black. Is this what Franz Fanon meant by ”black skin, white masks?”
MIA: Accountability
When I consider my vote for these bond issues, yes, I am cynical because many of the largest proposed expenditures are placed in very general categories – “school loan” and “recreation and parks and public facilities loan” – with no earmarks for their specific use.
In fact, the wiggle room allotted for such spending is pretty extraordinary. Question B, for example, suggests that $47 million will be used for desperately-needed rec centers and parks. But the language in the ordinance will permit the Mayor and City Council to use the bond money for the Enoch Pratt Library, for tree planting, for property acquisition and “for doing any and all things necessary, proper or expedient in connection therewith” (my emphasis).
We have learned, especially from reporting in The Brew, that too often city funds are used at the discretion of the mayor and her minions, with little accountability and no auditing.
City Hall’s use of road-paving money to subsidize the Grand Prix, not to mention its inept handling of millions of dollars in homeless funds, raises the suspicion that bond proceeds may be deployed poorly or “lost” like those bus shelters that figured in last week’s indictment of the head of the Charm City Circulator.
We need debate and transparency when it comes to understanding the $130 million that the city has placed on tomorrow’s ballot. Instead, we’ve gotten banners, hoisted above a few streets, proclaiming that a “yes” vote will magically “grow” the city.
Voters have approved the same sort of bond measures in the past, and I still see far too many of them living in neighborhoods overgrown with vacant houses, busted schools, trash and hopelessness.
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If you look at who will have all their money in a bank for this coming economic crash that will lead to bank accounts being confiscated-------the State of Maryland and City of Baltimore have gone to direct deposit for employees-------direct deposit for social benefits-----as has many employers under the guise of cost savings. Who will not have their money in these banks as the crash approaches? The pols that pass these policies and the affluent who have known this was coming years ago. The FDIC and FED will state well before the actual crash that people cannot exit from their accounts. YOUR ACCOUNTS WILL BE FROZEN. IT IS THE WORKING/MIDDLE CLASS THAT WILL HAVE NO CONTROL OVER FUNDS BEING DIRECTLY DEPOSITED INTO THESE BANKS AS WILL ALL SOCIAL SERVICE AND SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS.
'I authorize the State of Maryland to deposit my net salary to the bank and account named above. This authorization is to remain in force until the State of Maryland receives written notification from me of its termination in time and manner that allows the State and the bank a reasonable opportunity to act upon it. In the event that the State of Maryland notifies the bank that funds to which I am not entitled have been deposited to my account in error, I authorize and direct the bank to return said funds to the State as soon as possible. If the funds erroneously deposited to my account have been drawn from that account so that return of those funds by the bank to the State is not possible, I authorize the State to recover those funds by setting off the amount erroneously paid me from any future payments from the State until the amount of the erroneous deposit has been recovered, in full'.
THE STATE OF MARYLAND AND CITY OF BALTIMORE IS ONE GREAT BIG FINANCIAL CARTEL FOLKS----THEY PREY ON CITIZENS AS THEY MOVE ALL THAT MONEY TO THE RICH IN THE STATE WITH STATE ATTORNEY GENERALS AND STATE'S ATTORNEYS THAT IGNORE FRAUD AND CORRUPTION.
When you suck all the wealth in the world up to a few people at the top who will then be the only ones with cash to move around amongst themselves----you create a cashless society and this is the goal of Wall Street, the FED, and your Clinton neo-liberal and Bush neo-con pols. They are literally creating policy that has a goal to suck all cash out of our pockets and government coffers.
Why The Powers That Be Are Pushing A Cashless Society
Posted on May 4, 2015 by WashingtonsBlog
We Can’t Rein In the Banks If We Can’t Pull Our Money Out of Them
Martin Armstrong summarizes the headway being made to ban cash, and argues that the goal of those pushing a cashless society is to prevent bank runs … and increase their control:
The central banks are … planning drastic restrictions on cash itself. They see moving to electronic money will first eliminate the underground economy, but secondly, they believe it will even prevent a banking crisis. This idea of eliminating cash was first floated as the normal trial balloon to see how the people take it. It was first launched by Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University and Willem Buiter, the chief economist at Citigroup. Their claims have been widely hailed and their papers are now the foundation for the new age of Economic Totalitarianism that confronts us. Rogoff and Buiter have laid the ground work for the end of much of our freedom and will one day will be considered the new Marx with hindsight. They sit in their lofty offices but do not have real world practical experience beyond theory. Considerations of their arguments have shown how governments can seize all economic power are destroy cash in the process eliminating all rights. Physical paper money provides the check against negative interest rates for if they become too great, people will simply withdraw their funds and hoard cash. Furthermore, paper currency allows for bank runs. Eliminate paper currency and what you end up with is the elimination of the ability to demand to withdraw funds from a bank.
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In many nations, specific measures have already been taken demonstrating that the Rogoff-Buiter world of Economic Totalitarianism is indeed upon us. This is the death of Capitalism. Of course the socialists hate Capitalism and see other people’s money should be theirs. What they cannot see is that Capitalism is freedom from government totalitarianism. The freedom to pursue the field you desire without filling the state needs that supersede your own.
There have been test runs of this Rogoff-Buiter Economic Totalitarianism to see if the idea works. I reported on June 21, 2014 that Britain was doing a test run. A shopping street in Manchester banned cash as part of an experiment to see if Brits would accept a cashless society. London buses ended accepting cash payments from July 2014. Meanwhile, Currency Exchange dealers began offering debt cards instead of cash that they market as being safer to travel with. The Chorlton, South Manchester experiment was touted to test customers and business reaction to the idea for physical currency will disappear inside 20 years.
France passed another Draconian new law that from the police parissummer of 2015 it will now impose cash requirements dramatically trying to eliminate cash by force. French citizens and tourists will then only be allowed a limited amount of physical money. They have financial police searching people on trains just passing through France to see if they are transporting cash, which they will now seize. Meanwhile, the new French Elite are moving in this very same direction. Piketty wants to just take everyone’s money who has more than he does. Nobody stands on the side of freedom or on restraining the corruption within government. The problem always turns against the people for we are the cause of the fiscal mismanagement of government that never has enough for themselves.
In Greece a drastic reduction in cash is also being discussed in light of the economic crisis. Now any bill over €70 should be payable only by check or credit card – it will be illegal to pay in cash. The German Baader Bank founded in Munich expects formally to abolish the cash to enforce negative interest rates on accounts that is really taxation on whatever money you still have left after taxes.
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Complete abolition of cash threatens our very freedom and rights of citizens in so many areas.
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Paper currency is indeed the check against negative interest rates. We need only look to Switzerland to prove that theory. Any attempt to impose say a 5% negative interest rates (tax) would lead to an unimaginably massive flight into cash. This was already demonstrated recently by the example of Swiss pension funds, which withdrew their money from the bank in a big way and now store it in vaults in cash in order to escape the financial repression. People will act in their own self-interest and negative interest rates are likely to reduce the sales of government bonds and set off a bank run as long as paper money exists.
Obviously, government and bankers are not stupid. The only way to prevent such a global bank run would be the total prohibition of paper money. This is unlikely, both in Switzerland and in the United States because the economies are dominated there by a certain “liberalism” to some extent but also because their currencies also circulate outside their domestic economies. The fact that but the question of the cash ban in the context of a global conference with the participation of the major central banks of the US and the ECB will be discussed, demonstrates by itself that the problem is not a regional problem.
Nevertheless, there is a growing assumption that the negative interest rate world (tax on cash) is likely to increase dramatically in Europe in particular since it is socialism that is collapsing. Government in Brussels is unlikely to yield power and their line of thinking cannot lead to any solution. The negative interest rate concept is making its way into the United States at J.P. Morgan where they will charge a fee on excess cash on deposit starting May 1st, 2015. Asset holdings of cash with a tax or a fee in the amount of the negative interest rate seems to be underway even in Switzerland.
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The movement toward electronic money is moving at high speed and this says a lot about the state of the financial system. The track record of the major financial institutions is nearly perfect – they are always caught on the wrong side when a crisis breaks, which requires their bailouts. The fact that we have already seen test runs with theory-balloons flying, the major financial institutions are in no shape to withstand another economic decline.
For depositors, this means they really need to grasp what is going on here for unless they are vigilant, there is a serious risk of losing everything. We must understand that these measures will be implemented overnight in the middle of a banking crisis after 2015.75. The balloons have taken off and the discussions are underway. The trend in taxation and reduction of cash seems to be unstoppable. Government is not prepared to reform for that would require a new way of thinking and a loss of power. That is not a consideration. They only see one direction and that is to take us into the new promised-land of economic totalitarianism.
People can’t pull cash out of their bank accounts – for political reasons, because they’ve lost confidence in the bank, or because “bail-ins” are enacted – if cash is banned.
The Financial Times argued last year that central banks would be the real winners from a cashless society:
Central bankers, after all, have had an explicit interest in introducing e-money from the moment the global financial crisis began…
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The introduction of a cashless society empowers central banks greatly. A cashless society, after all, not only makes things like negative interest rates possible, it transfers absolute control of the money supply to the central bank, mostly by turning it into a universal banker that competes directly with private banks for public deposits. All digital deposits become base money.
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It is no coincidence that Baltimore is also ground zero for this new no cash currency-------it is home of NEW WORLD ORDER HOPKINS after all. It is packaged as cool-----as green-----as getting out of the Wall Street banking scene but this policy was written at the top with the goal of where people would be moved once all of the cash was sucked from society. THIS IS A DAVOS SWITZERLAND 1% SOCIETIAL CHANGE POLICY.
These policies are often marketed by college students who may not know the goal behind all this----they may think it an act of rebellion. It is simply returning Americans to the days when people were too poor to deal in cash----they bartered. Remember my last post on taxes that I stated was third world tax system----where you pay the royals by grains of barley and not cash-----THAT'S WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT.
It is much more easy to simply GET RID OF CLINTON WALL STREET GLOBAL CORPORATE NEO-LIBERALS AND BUSH NEO-CONS-----REINSTATE RULE OF LAW AND BUILD A DOMESTIC ECONOMY THEN ALLOWING THEM TO CONTINUE TO TAKE THE US, MARYLAND, AND BALTIMORE TO THE DAYS OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE!
Did you know that government watchdog organizations for justice have estimated that EVERY SINGLE CITIZEN IN THE US IS OWED OVER $250,000 DOLLARS IN CORPORATE FRAUD? THAT IS A MILLION DOLLARS FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR. Simple Rule of Law has the American middle-class richer than when the last two decades took all their wealth. LET'S GO THAT WAY AND NOT THE MEDIEVAL ROUTE! There has never been anything wrong with alternative currency systems----but we need to know that this time it is the 1% telling us we will have no access to money -----
The BNote: Green Currency in Baltimore
Jeff Dicken and Michael Tew • 4 years ago •
Where are we now, and how did we get this far?
The energy is building. Even before we have printed a single note, everywhere we go in
Baltimore people have already heard of the BNote, and businesses are
signing on to accept them when we launch next year. We are finding that people are very receptive to the idea of an alternative economic system – one that will benefit people instead of corporations. Google searches now show blogs and internet media referencing Baltimore’s new local currency, and we’re starting to get coverage in the local press and on the radio. Our currency design contest went global when other sites starting picking us up on the net. When the BNote arrives in Baltimore, only the birds will be surprised.
In less than a year, we have managed to build this idea into an organization that is on track to create a strong local currency with broad participation. Much of this progress has to do with the diversity and positive vision that the Evolver movement has already been able to foster in its local groups.
The first Baltimore spore on local currencies happened in mid-2009. Damien Nichols, who attended, suggested to his friend Michael Tew that he come to the next spore and meet the people there, who seemed to be working to achieve similar goals. Michael had background in both microfinance and legislative lobbying, and had been looking for an opportunity to advance alternative economic systems on a community level. Michael attended the food spore, and on the strength of his participation in the discussion that night, he was invited to make a short presentation at the 2012 spore on the subject of microfinance. There, he put forth the idea that, by the end of 2012, a micro-finance based economy (which is fundamentally different from the Capitalist economy in many important ways) would be the dominant form of economic organization for the majority of the people on planet earth. And that Baltimore would be a very good place to bring microfinance and local currency together.
At the end of that spore, Michael met Jeff Dicken, a long-time supporter of microfinance efforts with an IT systems and arts background. Through this and subsequent conversations, the idea of a local currency being a necessity for a resilient community and city, in the face of the economic meltdown and further upheaval to come, began to take root. Soon after, Jill Harrison brought her own social justice and non-profit background to the endeavor. After some informal meetings over the winter, Michael moved to Baltimore in March 2010, and a series of regular meetings was established. At first, there were just two or three of us, but as we continued to talk with other Evolvers about the effort, we started to attract people willing to help, and by the end of June we had an increasingly effective and growing team of enthusiastic volunteers.
The basic questions on starting a currency were raised: debit system or paper money; what organizational form to adopt; how to go about designing and printing the currency; how to enroll people in participating, and so on. Notes from each meeting, including links to relevant Internet resources, were distributed among the group. Keeping everyone communicating was one of the keys to forming a committed, ongoing project, and many of the system’s features – the “BNote” name, the approach of issuing only 1- and 5-dollar value notes the first year, etc. – were discussed informally via email between meetings before being adopted by the group. The Lewes (England) Pound site’s guide to starting a currency and Peter North’s book Local Money provided invaluable guidance as we started to put together the strongest features of other currencies already in existence.
We decided that our currency would be convertible to and from U.S. Dollars, and that we would restrict ourselves to a specific, identifiable geographic neighborhood for a pilot project. Both Jeff and Ian McDonald had realized independently that the Hampden community in Baltimore would be a strong launching place for the BNote, and as we looked more closely, we found that the area had many features that are important for the strong adoption of a local currency:
Small-business support. The Hampden Merchant's Association lists 162 independent businesses as members. There are very few chain stores in the neighborhood, and Hampden residents tend to do a greater amount of their shopping locally than in many other Baltimore neighborhoods.
Defined geographic area. Hampden is in the heart of Baltimore city, bounded by the Jones Falls waterway (and expressway) on the West and Hopkins University on the East, with clear boundaries to the North and South as well.
Community. Historically, the area was originally populated by immigrant mill workers. Although in recent years there has been much gentrification, a strong sense of community identity exists, and there are many longstanding community organizations. At the same time, there is a wave of young, progressive Baltimoreans moving into the neighborhood, opening businesses, and providing new energy.
To encourage residents to think about the nature of money, and to inspire a continuing dialogue that will shape the details of the system we are setting up, we are having a series of community presentation and discussion sessions. These generally start with videos on currency and general economic subjects, followed by discussion of our system and any questions or suggestions that are raised, and we encourage people to sign up for our monthly email newsletter, the BNote Buzz. We are in the process of identifying useful books and publications, and we have developed a small circulating library of these materials. We are also making animations and movies to explain the various aspects of our vision, and to communicate ideas that stimulate interest in our project.
To encourage community participation, we decided to solicit designs for the notes from the community. We launched our currency design contest at the annual HampdenFest in September, where we had a booth staffed all day by our volunteers.
System Finances
We have decided on converting U.S. dollars into BNotes at a 10% discount – $10 will buy 11 BNotes, which circulate equivalent to a dollar. In this way, people get a real benefit from adopting the currency, and merchants who are able to spend their BNotes with other businesses or residents in the system do not see any negative financial impact. Merchants can use the BNotes they accept in a number of ways. They can use them to buy stock or services for their business, from others in the network. They can pay themselves and/or their employees partially in BNotes. They can give them as change, to encourage circulation. They can use them for their own purchases. And if, after all that, they have the need to exchange some back for dollars, they may be redeemed at the same rate: 11 BNotes for $10. There is a clear financial benefit to using the notes, and this speeds up the circulation.
The more extensive the network of storefront businesses, independent service providers, artisans, and residents who accept BNotes, the longer the notes will circulate (ideally indefinitely), and the stronger the system will be overall.
With no spread between the purchase and redemption rates to benefit us, we will rely on other sources of income to fund the administration of the system. While we expect to rely on contributions and grants to fund the initial expenses, we will also be able to partially support our organization through the dynamic of local currency “leakage,” which occurs when the currency is bought and then withdrawn from circulation by collectors and souvenir hunters. This will include sales of mint and withdrawn notes to collectors through an organized marketing campaign.
Another source of revenue will come from sales of artwork based on the BNote, such as postcards, T-shirts, and posters, and from commissions on sales of original local artwork through our website.
In addition, the money on deposit to back the notes in circulation, amounting to 90% of the face value of the circulating BNotes, will generate a small amount of interest and will act as a micro-loan fund secured against cash flow, enabling us to make hybrid micro-loans.
Micro-funding
It is important to note that the capital amassed as a result of currency conversion can be used to give loans for the creation and expansion of local micro-businesses. In our view, this can be accomplished successfully if the micro-entrepreneurs are among the poorest and most disadvantaged members of the community. Traditional charities generally do not reach this sector because it is difficult, time consuming, and usually not a high priority (and banks avoid poor people like the plague).
A secondary, but important feature of this process is the filling in of supply and service chains, which enable merchants to use the currency rather than cash it in. This, in turn, will build a stronger currency, enabling the bills to stay in circulation, and also reduce the need for goods to be brought in from longer distances, reducing the area’s carbon footprint – another contribution to sustainability.
Looking Forward
We have accomplished a lot in just a few months, but a great deal remains to be done. We are now developing a formal Mission Statement and will move forward with the process of incorporating. We are also setting up an advisory board to be comprised of leaders from Hampden and other communities where the notes will circulate, as well as experts in currency, microfinance, and social business. And we will continue to enlist businesses to participate in the rollout next Spring.
The limited communication we have had with other east coast currencies has been very helpful, and we are planning both conference calls and road trips to establish stronger ties. We are building a Google Group for alt-currency organizers, to share our experience and help to create stronger systems.
If you are interested in the alternative currency systems starting across the Evolver network, and elsewhere around the world, send a message to BaltimoreGreenCurrency@gmail.com and join the dialogue. With more experience and a greater level of communication, the quality and stability of these currencies will continue to strengthen, enabling localization projects and helping our economies become more social and sustainable.
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It is no accident that Baltimore leads the nation in trying to install this NEW WORLD ORDER bartering and alternative cash systems------remember, Hopkins is the giant squid that has sucked all of the money out of Baltimore's and much from Maryland's economy to the top and they are bent on sending all Baltimore citizen's into third world poverty.
There is a private corporate non-profit for that of course and you can bet the students as VISTAs et al have no real interest in what all this leads to----they simply volunteer to do community service and this area is one offered by Baltimore's corporate funders!
I have been a barterer all my life so again, these are progressive policies. Again, as always progressive policies in the hands of Clinton neo-liberals and Bush neo-cons become repressive and so too is the goal of MAKING PEOPLE SURVIVE ON THESE ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC SYSTEMS.
The Zeitgeist group are this DAVOS societal change by the 1% ------making it cool and 'green' to move back to Medieval Times where the 'masses' have no access to cash. If you think this targets only today's poor as social services and public programs end-----you had better think of the goal of the 1%----and no middle-class. Your children and grandchildren will likely fall into this archaic mess.
THIS IS ALL NEW WORLD ORDER PROPAGANDA-----AND ALL WE NEED DO IS ENGAGE IN POLITICS AND BE THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY CANDIDATE THAT OPTS FOR A DEVELOPED WORLD ECONOMY.
Trade secrets: Bartering on the riseCash is not always king when you're willing to swap what you do for something you want
In addition to cash, he's received flat-screen TVs, car audio equipment, jewelry, laptops, cell phones and more. About four weeks ago, a happy client not only helped spread the word on his business, but gave him a $1,200 Teacup Yorkie puppy he named Tank.
This does not strike him as unusual.
"Bartering has become very popular lately. I find a lot of people are more willing to trade goods and services instead of cash," Joseph said. "Bartering is a lot more personal because you are taking something you love — in my case, my art — for something someone loves."
Judging from scattered statistics and stories such as Joseph's, there's evidence that bartering is on the rise. A spokeswoman for Craigslist told Chicago's RedEye that the site's bartering listings have "been doubling year by year."
Bartering — like layaway, pawning and thrift stores — seems to be a means of commerce that's enjoying a comeback as the economy stumbles. It's particularly suited to the Web age; though community organizations and even groups of friends organize swap events, bartering benefits from the Web's ability to help strangers connect.
"We view consumer swapping/bartering to be the oldest form of commerce on the planet. Despite the establishment of global currencies, markets and trade, swapping persists today," said Jeff Bennett, CEO of Boston-based site swap.com. "Swapping happens all around us between friends, family and neighbors."
Founded in May of 2010, swap.com has seen its transactions double, from approximately 1.3 million swaps to about 2.67 million so far in 2011. Bennett's site, which mainly swaps goods rather than services, charges participants for the cost of postage but nothing else. Other bartering-specific sites, such as swapmamas.com, have paid and free options.
After sorting through the perverts and spambots, some small-business owners and others looking to trade services for goods or other services have come to use Craigslist.
Melissa Dunn, 31, owner of DuNn Designz in Columbia, says she began bartering as a way to help other local businesses while hers grew. Through Craigslist, Dunn has found graphic design, web design, social media and marketing gigs around Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Her most recent bartering interaction, she says, saved each side at least $1,500.
"I have tried other bartering sites with no luck as the websites were new and they just did not have enough foot traffic in our area," Dunn said in an email. "However, Craigslist is a free, valuable, and well known resource. Bartering on Craigslist has been very successful for myself and my clients."
Baltimore native Ethan Giffin, a consultant and CEO of Groove Commerce, an ecommerce firm in Canton, recognizes the growing force of bartering on the online level. However, he points to two elements that he says online communities have neglected.
"First, you have to still put the revenue earned from bartering on the books," Giffin said from his own experiences. "You also have to have a clear set of deliverables on both sides. I have bartered three or four times in the past with businesses that I respect and trust. Sometimes with great results, other times not.
"The major factor in this success was making sure both sides had clear expectations. You can't go into it thinking that you will be able to cut corners when servicing the other party."
Once a full-time photographer, Laurie DeWitt is doing one-off assignments while she goes back to school. Despite several attempts, the Fallston resident says she has had only one successful Craigslist transaction, in which she received crown moulding installation in her living room for a family photo session.
"People don't seem to take trading seriously," she says. "It's like they think it's not legit or maybe they aren't sure how they can ensure they don't give a service without getting a service back.
"I have had people email me and say they're interested in trading, but then they never call back or respond," said DeWitt, who says she has had trouble finding goods or services comparable to the value of work she offers.
Despite complaining that, "If I want something done, I'm just going to have to pay for it," DeWitt's is still posting ads on Craigslist, still looking for that next good trade.
Despite the unfortunate stories, companies like DuNn Designz and Dreamteam Ink have seen major growth in tough economic times.
Young entrepreneurs like Dunn and Joseph are able to pursue their dreams as artists, rather than being cemented to a cubicle. Not to mention, it helps pays the bills.
"I pay my mechanic in tattoos," Joseph said.
'Reading the Fine Print
The 15-page FDIC-BOE document is called "Resolving Globally Active, Systemically Important, Financial Institutions." It begins by explaining that since the 2008 banking crisis, it has become clear that some other way besides taxpayer bailouts are needed to maintain "financial stability." Evidently anticipating that the next financial collapse will be on a grander scale than either the taxpayers or Congress is willing to underwrite, the authors present this alternative':
This is saying that the Wall Street banks that go bankrupt as they did in 2008 own your money when you deposit it. If a bank fails then the creditors can seize those deposits as payment regardless of FDIC laws. So, when the government is maxed to the gills with debt as Federal, state, and local governments are----DELIBERATELY PUSHED INTO THE DEEPEST OF DEBT WITH corporate fraud----then the government cannot bail out the failing banks and those deposits become the global investment firm's money. That is what IMF and TROIKA has been doing in Europe and that is what they will do in the US with this coming bond market crash.
Keep in mind this is one long scheme----through Reagan/Clinton and Bush/Obama by neo-liberals and neo-cons so it is deliberate, willful, and done with malice which is why it is fraud and illegal no matter what they pretend. The Republicans did not make your pols pass laws that allow the FDIC to confiscate your deposits in Wall Street banks when they collapse this time around----they did it because they are Clinton neo-liberals working for wealth and corporate profit with Republicans.
The problem is much larger-----the FED policies have allowed for what will be huge interest and inflation rates that will make the money we bury in our back yard of little value-----think Mugabe and Mozambique and it is deliberate---these are real sociopaths. The goal is to create the conditions of first world nations like Europe and US to move to third world status with people having no money.
It Can Happen Here: The Confiscation Scheme Planned for US and UK Depositors
Posted: 04/03/2013 11:11 am EDT Updated: 06/03/2013 5:12 am EDt Huffington Post
Few depositors realize that legally, the bank owns the depositor's funds as soon as they are put in the bank. Our money becomes the bank's, and we become unsecured creditors holding IOUs. (See here and here.) But until now, the bank has been obligated to pay the money back as cash on demand. Under the FDIC-BOE plan, our IOUs will be converted into "bank equity." The bank will get the money and we will get stock in the bank. With any luck we may be able to sell the stock to someone else, but when and at what price? Most people keep a deposit account so they can have ready cash to pay the bills.
Reading the Fine Print
The 15-page FDIC-BOE document is called "Resolving Globally Active, Systemically Important, Financial Institutions." It begins by explaining that since the 2008 banking crisis, it has become clear that some other way besides taxpayer bailouts are needed to maintain "financial stability." Evidently anticipating that the next financial collapse will be on a grander scale than either the taxpayers or Congress is willing to underwrite, the authors present this alternative:
An efficient path for returning the sound operations of the G-SIFI to the private sector would be provided by exchanging or converting a sufficient amount of the unsecured debt from the original creditors of the failed company [meaning the depositors] into equity [or stock]. In the U.S., the new equity would become capital in one or more newly formed operating entities. In the U.K., the same approach could be used, or the equity could be used to recapitalize the failing financial company itself--thus, the highest layer of surviving bailed-in creditors would become the owners of the resolved firm. In either country, the new equity holders would take on the corresponding risk of being shareholders in a financial institution. [Emphasis added.]
No exception is indicated for "insured deposits" in the U.S., meaning those under $250,000, the deposits we thought were protected by FDIC insurance. This can hardly be an oversight, since it is the FDIC that is issuing the directive. The FDIC is an insurance company funded by premiums paid by private banks. The directive is called a "resolution process," defined elsewhere as a plan that "would be triggered in the event of the failure of an insurer and would facilitate [the failed bank's] resolution in a controlled manner, avoiding systemic disruption and use of public funds." The only mention of "insured deposits"is in connection with existing UK legislation, which the FDIC-BOE directive goes on to say is inadequate, implying that it needs to be modified or overridden.
An Imminent Risk
If our IOUs are converted to bank stock, they will no longer be subject to insurance protection but will be "at risk" and vulnerable to being wiped out, just as the Lehman Brothers shareholders were in 2008. That this dire scenario could actually materialize was underscored by Yves Smith in a March 19 post titled When You Weren't Looking, Democrat Bank Stooges Launch Bills to Permit Bailouts, Deregulate Derivatives. She writes:
In the U.S., depositors have actually been put in a worse position than Cyprus deposit-holders, at least if they are at the big banks that play in the derivatives casino. The regulators have turned a blind eye as banks use their depositaries to fund derivatives exposures. And as bad as that is, the depositors, unlike their Cypriot confreres, aren't even senior creditors. Remember Lehman? When the investment bank failed, unsecured creditors (and remember, depositors are unsecured creditors) got eight cents on the dollar. One big reason was that derivatives counterparties require collateral for any exposures, meaning they are secured creditors. The 2005 bankruptcy reforms made derivatives counterparties senior to unsecured lenders. [Emphasis added.]
One might wonder why the posting of collateral by a derivative counterparty, at some percentage of full exposure, makes the creditor "secured," while the depositor who posted collateral at 100 cents on the dollar is "unsecured." But moving on -- Smith writes:Lehman had only two itty bitty banking subsidiaries, and to my knowledge, was not gathering retail deposits. But as readers may recall, Bank of America moved most of its derivatives from its Merrill Lynch operation [to] its depositary in late 2011.
Its "depositary" is the arm of the bank that takes deposits. At B of A, that means lots and lots of deposits. The deposits are now subject to being wiped out by a major derivatives loss. How bad could that be? Smith quotes Bloomberg:... Bank of America's holding company... held almost $75 trillion of derivatives at the end of June...
That compares with JPMorgan's deposit-taking entity, JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, which contained 99 percent of the New York-based firm's $79 trillion of notional derivatives, the OCC data show.
$75 trillion and $79 trillion in derivatives! These two mega-banks alone hold more in derivatives each than the entire global GDP (at $70 trillion).
Smith goes on:
... Remember the effect of the 2005 bankruptcy law revisions: derivatives counterparties are first in line, they get to grab assets first and leave everyone else to scramble for crumbs... Lehman failed over a weekend after JP Morgan grabbed collateral.
But it's even worse than that. During the Savings & Loan crisis, the FDIC did not have enough in deposit insurance receipts to pay for the Resolution Trust Corporation wind-down vehicle. It had to get more funding from Congress. This move paves the way for another TARP-style shakedown of taxpayers, this time to save depositors.
Perhaps, but Congress has already been burned and is liable to balk a second time. Hence the need for the FDIC-BOE resolution. When it is implemented, the FDIC will no longer need to protect depositor funds; it can just confiscate them.
Note that an FDIC confiscation of deposits to recapitalize the banks is far different from a simple tax on taxpayers to pay government expenses. The government's debt is at least arguably the people's debt, since the government is there to provide services for the people. But when the banks get into trouble with their derivative schemes, they are not serving depositors, who are not getting a cut of the profits; and by no stretch of the imagination are the depositors liable for the losses. Taking depositor funds is simply theft. What should be done is to raise FDIC insurance premiums and make the banks pay to keep their depositors whole, but premiums are already high. The FDIC is a government agency, but like other regulatory agencies it is subject to regulatory capture. Deposit insurance has failed, and so has the private banking system that has depended on it for the trust that makes banking work.
Note too that imposing losses on depositors is not a "wealth tax" but is a tax on the poor, since wealthy people don't keep most of their money in bank accounts. They keep it in the stock market, in real estate, in over-the-counter derivatives, in gold and silver, and so forth.
Are you safe, then, if your money is in gold and silver? Apparently not -- if it's stored in a safety deposit box in the bank. Homeland Security has reportedly told banks that it has authority to seize the contents of safety deposit boxes without a warrant when it's a matter of "national security," which a major bank crisis no doubt will be.
The Swedish Alternative: Nationalize the Banks
Another alternative was considered by President Obama in 2009 but was rejected: nationalize failed banks. In a February 2009 article titled "Are Uninsured Bank Depositors in Danger?," Felix Salmon discussed a newsletter by Asia-based investment strategist Christopher Wood, in which Wood wrote:
It is... amazing that Obama does not understand the political appeal of the nationalization option... [D]espite this latest setback nationalization of the banks is coming sooner or later because the realities of the situation will demand it. The result will be shareholders wiped out and bondholders forced to take debt-for-equity swaps, if not hopefully depositors.
On whether depositors could be forced to become equity holders, Salmon commented:
It's worth remembering that depositors are unsecured creditors of any bank; usually, indeed, they're by far the largest class of unsecured creditors.
President Obama acknowledged that bank nationalization had worked in Sweden, and that the course pursued by the U.S. Fed had not worked in Japan, which wound up instead in a "lost decade." But Obama opted for the Japanese approach because, according to Ed Harrison, "Americans will not tolerate nationalization."
That was four years ago. When Americans realize that the alternative is to have their ready cash transformed into "bank stock" of questionable marketability, moving failed mega-banks into the public sector may start to have more appeal.
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This is what O'Malley and Maryland Assembly and the pols in your neck of the woods using huge amounts of credit bond debt and allowing the government to be starved of revenue resources are building with these politicies----as in Baltimore, Baltimore citizens will be wiped out with these policies all Baltimore pols voted to install.
Remember, Wall Street is using leverage by bets with no real money to crash the economy and then comes to claim people's REAL money for their own. This is how they are making everyone poor and it is all illegal. We keep allowing Clinton neo-liberals to run in primaries and need to get REAL progressive labor and justice into these primary races. By the time this article was written I had shouted out to the Baltimore Brew and all media and pols what these goals were----and nothing was written.
'Bank of America's holding company... held almost $75 trillion of derivatives at the end of June...
That compares with JPMorgan's deposit-taking entity, JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, which contained 99 percent of the New York-based firm's $79 trillion of notional derivatives, the OCC data show.
$75 trillion and $79 trillion in derivatives! These two mega-banks alone hold more in derivatives each than the entire global GDP (at $70 trillion)'.
Below you see an article written at the time Baltimore's City Hall and Maryland pols pushed bills written by Johns Hopkins to create all this bond debt in Baltimore to prepare for this coming bond market crash. The question was not-----why are we going back to Wall Street for more financial deals when we know they are systemically criminal-----they question is why was more leverage not used in poor communities----THE ANSWER IS ALL OF THIS LEVERAGE IS MEANT TO MOVE ASSETS TO THE RICH----NOT FUND REAL DEVELOPMENT.
YOUR POLS KNOW THESE DEALS ARE MEANT TO TAKE YOUR ASSETS AND GOVERNMENT ASSETS! GET RID OF THEM BY ENGAGING IN POLITICS AND BEING THE CANDIDATES IN DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES-----DEMOCRATS DO NOT STEAL FROM LABOR AND JUSTICE----THE RICH WITH REPUBLICANS DO.
This is the problem the citizens of Baltimore have in their media outlets. Below you see a major media outlet decrying the fact that bond leverage was not used to help black institutions and not educating that bond leverage policy is meant to bring Baltimore into bankruptcy killing all public wealth and handing institutions tied to credit bonds into the hands of private investors. Private investors want our Walters Art Museum and BMA and public school buildings and real estate----they do not want Blacks in Wax Art Museum. Does WOLB know the goal of this coming bond market crash? My organization has shouted to media in Baltimore for years this is coming----and it is why Baltimore media works with Johns Hopkins to keep all real progressive labor and justice out of Baltimore Democratic primary elections!
21st-CENTURY BUILDINGS FOR OUR KIDS: - Baltimore... http://www.baltimorecityschools.org/cms/lib/MD01001351/Centricity/Domain/8784/PDF/2013January-21stCenturyBuildingsForOurKids.pdfFile format:Adobe PDFJan 8, 2013 ... leverage to sell bonds to support implementation of the plan. A powerful ... urgency rooted in the belief that they have waited too long for the education they deserve. Now, in ... progress over a year by as much as 25 percent.
Opinion: Bond questions on tomorrow’s ballot reflect skewed priorities Why no support for black cultural institutions or neighborhoods beyond the harbor, a talk show host asks
Patrick Henderson, a composer and record producer, is the host of “Meet the People” on Radio One’s WOLB 1010 AM and Spirit 1400. He is also chair of the Dolfield Stakeholders Committee in Northwest Baltimore.
Patrick Henderson November 3, 2014 at 11:00 am
Signage over 36th Street in Hampden calls on voters to approve bond issues on tomorrow’s ballot.
“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.”
Nelson Mandela knew the apartheid system well – he was forced to spend half of his life in prison fighting for justice and liberation for his people. He is a light to our path.
If we look at Baltimore’s long history of racial disparities, we should not be shocked by the fact that a veiled apartheid system still plays out in the everyday decisions and priorities in city government.
A case in point are the bond issues presented on tomorrow’s ballot.
The Mayor and City Council need the approval of the public to borrow millions of dollars for capital improvements, which include aid for the Baltimore Aquarium, Port Discovery Children’s Museum, Walters Art Museum and other tourist attractions located at the Inner Harbor or downtown.
These aforementioned attractions are certainly part of the Baltimore iconography, but they do not paint the full picture of the rich culture – and pressing needs – of this city.
Beyond the Harbor
Not one black cultural institution is cited as a recipient of the bond proceeds, such as the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum on North Avenue. It is the nation’s only museum of its kind. It gets more than 150,000 visitors a year, the vast majority coming from outside of Baltimore.
In other words, it is a perfect candidate for building cultural tourism beyond the harbor. To attract more visitors, it desperately needs new frontage and signage and support for ongoing maintenance. Yet in a city that is 65% black, the Great Blacks Museum takes a back seat to such projects as rebuilding the perfectly-sound McKeldin Fountain at Harborplace or fixing up the waterfront promenade for Harbor East residents.
The Arena Players Theater, the oldest black theater for the performing arts in the U.S., needs central air and heat, new seating, better stage lights. It has been brought to the brink of bankruptcy many times because the public good has been overshadowed by the ethnicity of the establishment. Who wants to go to a theater or a museum where benign neglect greets you at the front door?
There should also be ways to use bond money to help the city’s youth. For example, there is unused acreage in the backwoods of the Baltimore Zoo, so instead of penalizing our young people with jail time for sitting on a dirt bike, why not build them a field with bleachers, then hold rallies on the weekends for them, their families and friends to come out and enjoy?
The biggest argument I’ve heard against this idea is, “The city will not back the enterprise due to the high cost of insurance.” Yet after the community of Hampden complained about kids on skateboards on their sidewalks and streets, $150,000 was found to build them a skateboard park. I never heard insurance brought up.
Investing in All Kids
When white teens exercise their liberty and freedoms in ways that are disruptive, it is called a right of passage. When black kids do the same thing, it is called deviant behavior. Is this another manifestation of veiled apartheid?
For the past two decades, water fountains in city schools have been rendered inoperable because of ancient lead pipes, while massive amounts of water is purchased at a hefty cost to the taxpayer. What about using the bond issue for infrastructure to fix those pipes?
“A boy or girl without a mentor is like an explorer without a map,” it’s said. After-school programs and mentors have proven track records of good influence into the lives of our children. Why not appropriate more funding for these much needed and beneficial programs?
In speaking about the lack of investment in the black community, I cannot ignore the fact that over the last 25 years, the top elected officials, including mayors, have been predominately black. Is this what Franz Fanon meant by ”black skin, white masks?”
MIA: Accountability
When I consider my vote for these bond issues, yes, I am cynical because many of the largest proposed expenditures are placed in very general categories – “school loan” and “recreation and parks and public facilities loan” – with no earmarks for their specific use.
In fact, the wiggle room allotted for such spending is pretty extraordinary. Question B, for example, suggests that $47 million will be used for desperately-needed rec centers and parks. But the language in the ordinance will permit the Mayor and City Council to use the bond money for the Enoch Pratt Library, for tree planting, for property acquisition and “for doing any and all things necessary, proper or expedient in connection therewith” (my emphasis).
We have learned, especially from reporting in The Brew, that too often city funds are used at the discretion of the mayor and her minions, with little accountability and no auditing.
City Hall’s use of road-paving money to subsidize the Grand Prix, not to mention its inept handling of millions of dollars in homeless funds, raises the suspicion that bond proceeds may be deployed poorly or “lost” like those bus shelters that figured in last week’s indictment of the head of the Charm City Circulator.
We need debate and transparency when it comes to understanding the $130 million that the city has placed on tomorrow’s ballot. Instead, we’ve gotten banners, hoisted above a few streets, proclaiming that a “yes” vote will magically “grow” the city.
Voters have approved the same sort of bond measures in the past, and I still see far too many of them living in neighborhoods overgrown with vacant houses, busted schools, trash and hopelessness.
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If you look at who will have all their money in a bank for this coming economic crash that will lead to bank accounts being confiscated-------the State of Maryland and City of Baltimore have gone to direct deposit for employees-------direct deposit for social benefits-----as has many employers under the guise of cost savings. Who will not have their money in these banks as the crash approaches? The pols that pass these policies and the affluent who have known this was coming years ago. The FDIC and FED will state well before the actual crash that people cannot exit from their accounts. YOUR ACCOUNTS WILL BE FROZEN. IT IS THE WORKING/MIDDLE CLASS THAT WILL HAVE NO CONTROL OVER FUNDS BEING DIRECTLY DEPOSITED INTO THESE BANKS AS WILL ALL SOCIAL SERVICE AND SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS.
'I authorize the State of Maryland to deposit my net salary to the bank and account named above. This authorization is to remain in force until the State of Maryland receives written notification from me of its termination in time and manner that allows the State and the bank a reasonable opportunity to act upon it. In the event that the State of Maryland notifies the bank that funds to which I am not entitled have been deposited to my account in error, I authorize and direct the bank to return said funds to the State as soon as possible. If the funds erroneously deposited to my account have been drawn from that account so that return of those funds by the bank to the State is not possible, I authorize the State to recover those funds by setting off the amount erroneously paid me from any future payments from the State until the amount of the erroneous deposit has been recovered, in full'.
THE STATE OF MARYLAND AND CITY OF BALTIMORE IS ONE GREAT BIG FINANCIAL CARTEL FOLKS----THEY PREY ON CITIZENS AS THEY MOVE ALL THAT MONEY TO THE RICH IN THE STATE WITH STATE ATTORNEY GENERALS AND STATE'S ATTORNEYS THAT IGNORE FRAUD AND CORRUPTION.
When you suck all the wealth in the world up to a few people at the top who will then be the only ones with cash to move around amongst themselves----you create a cashless society and this is the goal of Wall Street, the FED, and your Clinton neo-liberal and Bush neo-con pols. They are literally creating policy that has a goal to suck all cash out of our pockets and government coffers.
Why The Powers That Be Are Pushing A Cashless Society
Posted on May 4, 2015 by WashingtonsBlog
We Can’t Rein In the Banks If We Can’t Pull Our Money Out of Them
Martin Armstrong summarizes the headway being made to ban cash, and argues that the goal of those pushing a cashless society is to prevent bank runs … and increase their control:
The central banks are … planning drastic restrictions on cash itself. They see moving to electronic money will first eliminate the underground economy, but secondly, they believe it will even prevent a banking crisis. This idea of eliminating cash was first floated as the normal trial balloon to see how the people take it. It was first launched by Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University and Willem Buiter, the chief economist at Citigroup. Their claims have been widely hailed and their papers are now the foundation for the new age of Economic Totalitarianism that confronts us. Rogoff and Buiter have laid the ground work for the end of much of our freedom and will one day will be considered the new Marx with hindsight. They sit in their lofty offices but do not have real world practical experience beyond theory. Considerations of their arguments have shown how governments can seize all economic power are destroy cash in the process eliminating all rights. Physical paper money provides the check against negative interest rates for if they become too great, people will simply withdraw their funds and hoard cash. Furthermore, paper currency allows for bank runs. Eliminate paper currency and what you end up with is the elimination of the ability to demand to withdraw funds from a bank.
***
In many nations, specific measures have already been taken demonstrating that the Rogoff-Buiter world of Economic Totalitarianism is indeed upon us. This is the death of Capitalism. Of course the socialists hate Capitalism and see other people’s money should be theirs. What they cannot see is that Capitalism is freedom from government totalitarianism. The freedom to pursue the field you desire without filling the state needs that supersede your own.
There have been test runs of this Rogoff-Buiter Economic Totalitarianism to see if the idea works. I reported on June 21, 2014 that Britain was doing a test run. A shopping street in Manchester banned cash as part of an experiment to see if Brits would accept a cashless society. London buses ended accepting cash payments from July 2014. Meanwhile, Currency Exchange dealers began offering debt cards instead of cash that they market as being safer to travel with. The Chorlton, South Manchester experiment was touted to test customers and business reaction to the idea for physical currency will disappear inside 20 years.
France passed another Draconian new law that from the police parissummer of 2015 it will now impose cash requirements dramatically trying to eliminate cash by force. French citizens and tourists will then only be allowed a limited amount of physical money. They have financial police searching people on trains just passing through France to see if they are transporting cash, which they will now seize. Meanwhile, the new French Elite are moving in this very same direction. Piketty wants to just take everyone’s money who has more than he does. Nobody stands on the side of freedom or on restraining the corruption within government. The problem always turns against the people for we are the cause of the fiscal mismanagement of government that never has enough for themselves.
In Greece a drastic reduction in cash is also being discussed in light of the economic crisis. Now any bill over €70 should be payable only by check or credit card – it will be illegal to pay in cash. The German Baader Bank founded in Munich expects formally to abolish the cash to enforce negative interest rates on accounts that is really taxation on whatever money you still have left after taxes.
***
Complete abolition of cash threatens our very freedom and rights of citizens in so many areas.
***
Paper currency is indeed the check against negative interest rates. We need only look to Switzerland to prove that theory. Any attempt to impose say a 5% negative interest rates (tax) would lead to an unimaginably massive flight into cash. This was already demonstrated recently by the example of Swiss pension funds, which withdrew their money from the bank in a big way and now store it in vaults in cash in order to escape the financial repression. People will act in their own self-interest and negative interest rates are likely to reduce the sales of government bonds and set off a bank run as long as paper money exists.
Obviously, government and bankers are not stupid. The only way to prevent such a global bank run would be the total prohibition of paper money. This is unlikely, both in Switzerland and in the United States because the economies are dominated there by a certain “liberalism” to some extent but also because their currencies also circulate outside their domestic economies. The fact that but the question of the cash ban in the context of a global conference with the participation of the major central banks of the US and the ECB will be discussed, demonstrates by itself that the problem is not a regional problem.
Nevertheless, there is a growing assumption that the negative interest rate world (tax on cash) is likely to increase dramatically in Europe in particular since it is socialism that is collapsing. Government in Brussels is unlikely to yield power and their line of thinking cannot lead to any solution. The negative interest rate concept is making its way into the United States at J.P. Morgan where they will charge a fee on excess cash on deposit starting May 1st, 2015. Asset holdings of cash with a tax or a fee in the amount of the negative interest rate seems to be underway even in Switzerland.
***
The movement toward electronic money is moving at high speed and this says a lot about the state of the financial system. The track record of the major financial institutions is nearly perfect – they are always caught on the wrong side when a crisis breaks, which requires their bailouts. The fact that we have already seen test runs with theory-balloons flying, the major financial institutions are in no shape to withstand another economic decline.
For depositors, this means they really need to grasp what is going on here for unless they are vigilant, there is a serious risk of losing everything. We must understand that these measures will be implemented overnight in the middle of a banking crisis after 2015.75. The balloons have taken off and the discussions are underway. The trend in taxation and reduction of cash seems to be unstoppable. Government is not prepared to reform for that would require a new way of thinking and a loss of power. That is not a consideration. They only see one direction and that is to take us into the new promised-land of economic totalitarianism.
People can’t pull cash out of their bank accounts – for political reasons, because they’ve lost confidence in the bank, or because “bail-ins” are enacted – if cash is banned.
The Financial Times argued last year that central banks would be the real winners from a cashless society:
Central bankers, after all, have had an explicit interest in introducing e-money from the moment the global financial crisis began…
***
The introduction of a cashless society empowers central banks greatly. A cashless society, after all, not only makes things like negative interest rates possible, it transfers absolute control of the money supply to the central bank, mostly by turning it into a universal banker that competes directly with private banks for public deposits. All digital deposits become base money.
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It is no coincidence that Baltimore is also ground zero for this new no cash currency-------it is home of NEW WORLD ORDER HOPKINS after all. It is packaged as cool-----as green-----as getting out of the Wall Street banking scene but this policy was written at the top with the goal of where people would be moved once all of the cash was sucked from society. THIS IS A DAVOS SWITZERLAND 1% SOCIETIAL CHANGE POLICY.
These policies are often marketed by college students who may not know the goal behind all this----they may think it an act of rebellion. It is simply returning Americans to the days when people were too poor to deal in cash----they bartered. Remember my last post on taxes that I stated was third world tax system----where you pay the royals by grains of barley and not cash-----THAT'S WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT.
It is much more easy to simply GET RID OF CLINTON WALL STREET GLOBAL CORPORATE NEO-LIBERALS AND BUSH NEO-CONS-----REINSTATE RULE OF LAW AND BUILD A DOMESTIC ECONOMY THEN ALLOWING THEM TO CONTINUE TO TAKE THE US, MARYLAND, AND BALTIMORE TO THE DAYS OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE!
Did you know that government watchdog organizations for justice have estimated that EVERY SINGLE CITIZEN IN THE US IS OWED OVER $250,000 DOLLARS IN CORPORATE FRAUD? THAT IS A MILLION DOLLARS FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR. Simple Rule of Law has the American middle-class richer than when the last two decades took all their wealth. LET'S GO THAT WAY AND NOT THE MEDIEVAL ROUTE! There has never been anything wrong with alternative currency systems----but we need to know that this time it is the 1% telling us we will have no access to money -----
The BNote: Green Currency in Baltimore
Jeff Dicken and Michael Tew • 4 years ago •
Where are we now, and how did we get this far?
The energy is building. Even before we have printed a single note, everywhere we go in
Baltimore people have already heard of the BNote, and businesses are
signing on to accept them when we launch next year. We are finding that people are very receptive to the idea of an alternative economic system – one that will benefit people instead of corporations. Google searches now show blogs and internet media referencing Baltimore’s new local currency, and we’re starting to get coverage in the local press and on the radio. Our currency design contest went global when other sites starting picking us up on the net. When the BNote arrives in Baltimore, only the birds will be surprised.
In less than a year, we have managed to build this idea into an organization that is on track to create a strong local currency with broad participation. Much of this progress has to do with the diversity and positive vision that the Evolver movement has already been able to foster in its local groups.
The first Baltimore spore on local currencies happened in mid-2009. Damien Nichols, who attended, suggested to his friend Michael Tew that he come to the next spore and meet the people there, who seemed to be working to achieve similar goals. Michael had background in both microfinance and legislative lobbying, and had been looking for an opportunity to advance alternative economic systems on a community level. Michael attended the food spore, and on the strength of his participation in the discussion that night, he was invited to make a short presentation at the 2012 spore on the subject of microfinance. There, he put forth the idea that, by the end of 2012, a micro-finance based economy (which is fundamentally different from the Capitalist economy in many important ways) would be the dominant form of economic organization for the majority of the people on planet earth. And that Baltimore would be a very good place to bring microfinance and local currency together.
At the end of that spore, Michael met Jeff Dicken, a long-time supporter of microfinance efforts with an IT systems and arts background. Through this and subsequent conversations, the idea of a local currency being a necessity for a resilient community and city, in the face of the economic meltdown and further upheaval to come, began to take root. Soon after, Jill Harrison brought her own social justice and non-profit background to the endeavor. After some informal meetings over the winter, Michael moved to Baltimore in March 2010, and a series of regular meetings was established. At first, there were just two or three of us, but as we continued to talk with other Evolvers about the effort, we started to attract people willing to help, and by the end of June we had an increasingly effective and growing team of enthusiastic volunteers.
The basic questions on starting a currency were raised: debit system or paper money; what organizational form to adopt; how to go about designing and printing the currency; how to enroll people in participating, and so on. Notes from each meeting, including links to relevant Internet resources, were distributed among the group. Keeping everyone communicating was one of the keys to forming a committed, ongoing project, and many of the system’s features – the “BNote” name, the approach of issuing only 1- and 5-dollar value notes the first year, etc. – were discussed informally via email between meetings before being adopted by the group. The Lewes (England) Pound site’s guide to starting a currency and Peter North’s book Local Money provided invaluable guidance as we started to put together the strongest features of other currencies already in existence.
We decided that our currency would be convertible to and from U.S. Dollars, and that we would restrict ourselves to a specific, identifiable geographic neighborhood for a pilot project. Both Jeff and Ian McDonald had realized independently that the Hampden community in Baltimore would be a strong launching place for the BNote, and as we looked more closely, we found that the area had many features that are important for the strong adoption of a local currency:
Small-business support. The Hampden Merchant's Association lists 162 independent businesses as members. There are very few chain stores in the neighborhood, and Hampden residents tend to do a greater amount of their shopping locally than in many other Baltimore neighborhoods.
Defined geographic area. Hampden is in the heart of Baltimore city, bounded by the Jones Falls waterway (and expressway) on the West and Hopkins University on the East, with clear boundaries to the North and South as well.
Community. Historically, the area was originally populated by immigrant mill workers. Although in recent years there has been much gentrification, a strong sense of community identity exists, and there are many longstanding community organizations. At the same time, there is a wave of young, progressive Baltimoreans moving into the neighborhood, opening businesses, and providing new energy.
To encourage residents to think about the nature of money, and to inspire a continuing dialogue that will shape the details of the system we are setting up, we are having a series of community presentation and discussion sessions. These generally start with videos on currency and general economic subjects, followed by discussion of our system and any questions or suggestions that are raised, and we encourage people to sign up for our monthly email newsletter, the BNote Buzz. We are in the process of identifying useful books and publications, and we have developed a small circulating library of these materials. We are also making animations and movies to explain the various aspects of our vision, and to communicate ideas that stimulate interest in our project.
To encourage community participation, we decided to solicit designs for the notes from the community. We launched our currency design contest at the annual HampdenFest in September, where we had a booth staffed all day by our volunteers.
System Finances
We have decided on converting U.S. dollars into BNotes at a 10% discount – $10 will buy 11 BNotes, which circulate equivalent to a dollar. In this way, people get a real benefit from adopting the currency, and merchants who are able to spend their BNotes with other businesses or residents in the system do not see any negative financial impact. Merchants can use the BNotes they accept in a number of ways. They can use them to buy stock or services for their business, from others in the network. They can pay themselves and/or their employees partially in BNotes. They can give them as change, to encourage circulation. They can use them for their own purchases. And if, after all that, they have the need to exchange some back for dollars, they may be redeemed at the same rate: 11 BNotes for $10. There is a clear financial benefit to using the notes, and this speeds up the circulation.
The more extensive the network of storefront businesses, independent service providers, artisans, and residents who accept BNotes, the longer the notes will circulate (ideally indefinitely), and the stronger the system will be overall.
With no spread between the purchase and redemption rates to benefit us, we will rely on other sources of income to fund the administration of the system. While we expect to rely on contributions and grants to fund the initial expenses, we will also be able to partially support our organization through the dynamic of local currency “leakage,” which occurs when the currency is bought and then withdrawn from circulation by collectors and souvenir hunters. This will include sales of mint and withdrawn notes to collectors through an organized marketing campaign.
Another source of revenue will come from sales of artwork based on the BNote, such as postcards, T-shirts, and posters, and from commissions on sales of original local artwork through our website.
In addition, the money on deposit to back the notes in circulation, amounting to 90% of the face value of the circulating BNotes, will generate a small amount of interest and will act as a micro-loan fund secured against cash flow, enabling us to make hybrid micro-loans.
Micro-funding
It is important to note that the capital amassed as a result of currency conversion can be used to give loans for the creation and expansion of local micro-businesses. In our view, this can be accomplished successfully if the micro-entrepreneurs are among the poorest and most disadvantaged members of the community. Traditional charities generally do not reach this sector because it is difficult, time consuming, and usually not a high priority (and banks avoid poor people like the plague).
A secondary, but important feature of this process is the filling in of supply and service chains, which enable merchants to use the currency rather than cash it in. This, in turn, will build a stronger currency, enabling the bills to stay in circulation, and also reduce the need for goods to be brought in from longer distances, reducing the area’s carbon footprint – another contribution to sustainability.
Looking Forward
We have accomplished a lot in just a few months, but a great deal remains to be done. We are now developing a formal Mission Statement and will move forward with the process of incorporating. We are also setting up an advisory board to be comprised of leaders from Hampden and other communities where the notes will circulate, as well as experts in currency, microfinance, and social business. And we will continue to enlist businesses to participate in the rollout next Spring.
The limited communication we have had with other east coast currencies has been very helpful, and we are planning both conference calls and road trips to establish stronger ties. We are building a Google Group for alt-currency organizers, to share our experience and help to create stronger systems.
If you are interested in the alternative currency systems starting across the Evolver network, and elsewhere around the world, send a message to BaltimoreGreenCurrency@gmail.com and join the dialogue. With more experience and a greater level of communication, the quality and stability of these currencies will continue to strengthen, enabling localization projects and helping our economies become more social and sustainable.
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It is no accident that Baltimore leads the nation in trying to install this NEW WORLD ORDER bartering and alternative cash systems------remember, Hopkins is the giant squid that has sucked all of the money out of Baltimore's and much from Maryland's economy to the top and they are bent on sending all Baltimore citizen's into third world poverty.
There is a private corporate non-profit for that of course and you can bet the students as VISTAs et al have no real interest in what all this leads to----they simply volunteer to do community service and this area is one offered by Baltimore's corporate funders!
I have been a barterer all my life so again, these are progressive policies. Again, as always progressive policies in the hands of Clinton neo-liberals and Bush neo-cons become repressive and so too is the goal of MAKING PEOPLE SURVIVE ON THESE ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC SYSTEMS.
The Zeitgeist group are this DAVOS societal change by the 1% ------making it cool and 'green' to move back to Medieval Times where the 'masses' have no access to cash. If you think this targets only today's poor as social services and public programs end-----you had better think of the goal of the 1%----and no middle-class. Your children and grandchildren will likely fall into this archaic mess.
THIS IS ALL NEW WORLD ORDER PROPAGANDA-----AND ALL WE NEED DO IS ENGAGE IN POLITICS AND BE THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY CANDIDATE THAT OPTS FOR A DEVELOPED WORLD ECONOMY.
Trade secrets: Bartering on the riseCash is not always king when you're willing to swap what you do for something you want
In addition to cash, he's received flat-screen TVs, car audio equipment, jewelry, laptops, cell phones and more. About four weeks ago, a happy client not only helped spread the word on his business, but gave him a $1,200 Teacup Yorkie puppy he named Tank.
This does not strike him as unusual.
"Bartering has become very popular lately. I find a lot of people are more willing to trade goods and services instead of cash," Joseph said. "Bartering is a lot more personal because you are taking something you love — in my case, my art — for something someone loves."
Judging from scattered statistics and stories such as Joseph's, there's evidence that bartering is on the rise. A spokeswoman for Craigslist told Chicago's RedEye that the site's bartering listings have "been doubling year by year."
Bartering — like layaway, pawning and thrift stores — seems to be a means of commerce that's enjoying a comeback as the economy stumbles. It's particularly suited to the Web age; though community organizations and even groups of friends organize swap events, bartering benefits from the Web's ability to help strangers connect.
"We view consumer swapping/bartering to be the oldest form of commerce on the planet. Despite the establishment of global currencies, markets and trade, swapping persists today," said Jeff Bennett, CEO of Boston-based site swap.com. "Swapping happens all around us between friends, family and neighbors."
Founded in May of 2010, swap.com has seen its transactions double, from approximately 1.3 million swaps to about 2.67 million so far in 2011. Bennett's site, which mainly swaps goods rather than services, charges participants for the cost of postage but nothing else. Other bartering-specific sites, such as swapmamas.com, have paid and free options.
After sorting through the perverts and spambots, some small-business owners and others looking to trade services for goods or other services have come to use Craigslist.
Melissa Dunn, 31, owner of DuNn Designz in Columbia, says she began bartering as a way to help other local businesses while hers grew. Through Craigslist, Dunn has found graphic design, web design, social media and marketing gigs around Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Her most recent bartering interaction, she says, saved each side at least $1,500.
"I have tried other bartering sites with no luck as the websites were new and they just did not have enough foot traffic in our area," Dunn said in an email. "However, Craigslist is a free, valuable, and well known resource. Bartering on Craigslist has been very successful for myself and my clients."
Baltimore native Ethan Giffin, a consultant and CEO of Groove Commerce, an ecommerce firm in Canton, recognizes the growing force of bartering on the online level. However, he points to two elements that he says online communities have neglected.
"First, you have to still put the revenue earned from bartering on the books," Giffin said from his own experiences. "You also have to have a clear set of deliverables on both sides. I have bartered three or four times in the past with businesses that I respect and trust. Sometimes with great results, other times not.
"The major factor in this success was making sure both sides had clear expectations. You can't go into it thinking that you will be able to cut corners when servicing the other party."
Once a full-time photographer, Laurie DeWitt is doing one-off assignments while she goes back to school. Despite several attempts, the Fallston resident says she has had only one successful Craigslist transaction, in which she received crown moulding installation in her living room for a family photo session.
"People don't seem to take trading seriously," she says. "It's like they think it's not legit or maybe they aren't sure how they can ensure they don't give a service without getting a service back.
"I have had people email me and say they're interested in trading, but then they never call back or respond," said DeWitt, who says she has had trouble finding goods or services comparable to the value of work she offers.
Despite complaining that, "If I want something done, I'm just going to have to pay for it," DeWitt's is still posting ads on Craigslist, still looking for that next good trade.
Despite the unfortunate stories, companies like DuNn Designz and Dreamteam Ink have seen major growth in tough economic times.
Young entrepreneurs like Dunn and Joseph are able to pursue their dreams as artists, rather than being cemented to a cubicle. Not to mention, it helps pays the bills.
"I pay my mechanic in tattoos," Joseph said.
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