The Gods of Money

William Engdahl is an American-German freelance journalist, historian and economic researcher. This lecture is based on Engdahls book The Gods of Money. The dollar financial system of Wall Street was born not at a conference in Bretton Woods New Hampshire in 1944. It was born in the first days of August, 1945 with the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After that point the world was in no doubt who was the power to reckon with. This lecture traces the history of money as an instrument of power; it traces the evolution of that power in the hands of a tiny elite that regards themselves as, quite literally, gods-The Gods of Money. How these gods abused their power and how they systematically set out to control the entire world is the subject. Published on Jun 3, 2014′.

 

G20 in Brisbane: Much Ado About Nothing or What???

‘The summit in Brisbane will focus on boosting world growth, fireproofing the global banking system and closing tax loopholes for giant multi-nationals. But the summit has its own protesters who slam the G-20 leaders for remaining indifferent towards the growing inequality in the world. The meeting is also expected to turn into a ground for showdown between Western leaders and Russia over the crisis in Ukraine. The showdon gained momentum on Thursday when Kiev accused Moscow of deploying toops in eastern Ukraine. Earlier, there were calls by some in Australia to prevent the Russian President Vladimir Putin from attending the summit for what they called Russia’s action in Ukraine (14 November 2014)’.

And here is the Guardian posing the pertinent question, “What is the point of the G-20 anyway?” . . . “The group is a forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies. The members include 19 individual countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, plus the European Union”.

In December 2013, the current Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott declared that “As the chair of the G20 in 2014, I will ask world leaders to come to Brisbane with a commitment to take practical action. It means developed and emerging economies working together. And it means partnership between governments, private enterprise and the community”. The G20 itself then released this handy statement ahead of the big day: “Shifting the dial on growth through structural reform is critical in setting the right foundation to guide the next few years. This year, the G20 is focusing on: 1) Promoting strong economic growth and employment outcomes by empowering the private sector; 2) Making the global economy more resilient to future shocks; 3) Strengthening global institutions”.[1]

And for some more information and a critical appreciation of this lovely get-together of the people-in-power around the world (posted on 13 November 2014).

[1] “PREPARING THE G20 BRISBANE SUMMIT AGENDA” G20. https://www.g20.org/sites/default/files/g20_resources/library/preparing_g20_agenda.pdf.