General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Leveraged Buyout of America
Giant bank holding companies now own airports, toll roads, and ports; control power plants; and store and hoard vast quantities of commodities of all sorts. They are systematically buying up or gaining control of the essential lifelines of the economy. How have they pulled this off, and where have they gotten the money?
by Ellen Brown
In a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke dated June 27, 2013, US Representative Alan Grayson and three co-signers expressed concern about the expansion of large banks into what have traditionally been non-financial commercial spheres. Specifically:
We are concerned about how large banks have recently expanded their businesses into such fields as electric power production, oil refining and distribution, owning and operating of public assets such as ports and airports, and even uranium mining.
After listing some disturbing examples, they observed:
It seems like there is a significant macro-economic risk in having a massive entity like, say JP Morgan, both issuing credit cards and mortgages, managing municipal bond offerings, selling gasoline and electric power, running large oil tankers, trading derivatives, and owning and operating airports, in multiple countries.
A macro risk indeed not just to our economy but to our democracy and our individual and national sovereignty. Giant banks are buying up our countrys infrastructure the power and supply chains that are vital to the economy. Arent there rules against that? And where are the banks getting the money?
more
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/26-2
MindMover
(5,016 posts)Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)Beat me to it.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Hydra
(14,459 posts)The Banksters know that if they own everything, they also own everyone.
Everything is for sale, and when they have access to free money, why not?