Corrupt capitalism: Banks are throttling Economic Recovery

The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, today accused Britain's banks of "throttling" the economic recovery because of an anti-business culture which focuses on short-term profits. 

Speaking on the BBC1's Andrew Marr Show, the business secretary said: "The real problem at the moment is that the banks – because of their existing culture which is frankly anti-business, obsession with short-term trading profits, not focusing on the long term – are throttling the recovery of British industry."

The business secretary blamed the banks for undermining the multibillion-pound quantitative-easing programme by the Bank of England to inject liquidity into the economy.

He said: "There has been a breakdown in the mechanism, in the transmission. It just doesn't get through to companies. We are going to ensure that the new money that the chancellor and the governor of the Bank of England talked about at the mansion house does actually directly reach the companies.

"Given that our leading banks are, frankly, throttling recovery by not making business-lending available, particularly to small-scale companies, we now have to focus single mindedly on that task. How to make sure that the additional money gets through to business."

However talk is cheap ... as he/his party voted against a wide ranging judicial inquiry into the culture and practices of banks. His limited understanding of the level of corruption involved is also deeply worrying (n.b. the banks actually create/counterfeit over 90% of the money supply in the UK, not the Bank of England, and given this they are able to decide how they want to spend/gamble it).

We need to i) take back control of money supply (off the private banks), ii) separate casino banking and retail banking fully (i.e. not just 'ring-fencing') and iii) tax financial (casino bank) transactions just like any other form of gambling.

Only by doing these things will real businesses start to thrive and the UK economy start to flourish. Unfortunately Cable doesn't understand this, and the Labour party doesn't either (given their parallel announcements today)! 

No wonder Cameron and Osborne were desperate to stop a wide ranging judicial review ... as it would have started to expose/explain everything to them!

Corrupt Capitalism ... Triumphs over Democracy

When potential collusion/corruption became apparent within the media, police and government ... MP's were quick (and right) to conclude that the only course of action possible was a public judicial inquiry (Leveson) - with an independent judge able to go wherever the evidence takes them.

However when it came to corruption/fraud within banks (and possible collusion with politicians/regulators), Cameron and Osborne fought tooth and nail to avoid an independent public judicial inquiry.

Osborne, like a typical 'out of touch' posh boy, ignored any discussion/debate and chose to immediately go on the offensive ... with disgraceful and unprecedented personal attacks (targeted at the shadow chancellor) ... and amazingly trying to claim that those demanding the forensic inquiry were the ones trying to cover things up! ... you couldn't make this stuff up (again)!

... and why did Cameron and Osborne pull rank, and 'whip' their MP's to vote how THEY wanted ... because THEY wanted to cover things up!!!

If a full judicial inquiry had been instigated then they would have found it very difficult to control (in terms of its scope and level of scrutiny) ... and they would have quickly seen a full/frank exposure of how private banks control politicians - e.g. through vested interests, lobbying and party funding (i.e. Conservative party funding).

A judicial inquiry would have also exposed/questioned the mass counterfeiting of money by private banks, which the Government still allows because of the 'illusion of growth' it creates (e.g. inflated asset prices, artificial 'house price booms' and money for speculation).

The printing of 'paper money' is limited to the 'Bank of England', but 'electronic money' is not ... and private banks 'create' electronic money by simply placing a number in a spreadsheet ... and then demanding 'interest' on it (real 'money for nothing')!

Private banks also channel the money (i.e. and hence the 'means of production') to wherever they want it to go ... thus bankers control the economy, and the areas within the economy allowed to grow (i.e. this is not carried out by representatives of the people, for the people)!

Manufacturing collapsed, with little/no interest paid by politicians, as those in control of money supply (i.e. the private banks!) chose to channel all the money into 'money for nothing' schemes instead e.g. fuelling asset prices and gambling on currencies/derivatives/financial 'products', instead of supporting the creation of real assets (e.g. new houses, new/real products we could sell/export)!

Banks poured money into these 'schemes' in pursuit of short term profit and 'greater returns' - with investment in real businesses sidelined and/or frowned upon (as these require time, effort and resources). 

With the apparent 'illusion of growth' the Government (and the Bank of England) were not only complicit, they were more than happy to help! ... e.g. by agreeing to remove house prices from the inflation figures (which would have otherwise kept house prices in check)!

Politicians are currently controlled by the banks (e.g. lobbying, threats to growth and/or moving abroad) and/or in the pockets of banks (party funding, ex bankers, future bankers ... just look at Tony Blair who is now getting $2m+/year from J P Morgan) ... 

... and politicians such as Cameron and Osborne are the worst kind ... as they are not only controlled by the banks ... they are also in the pockets of them too (nb they bankroll the Conservative Party, and Cameron's family wealth, and Eton education, were a direct result of banking too).

Labour would be quite rightly accused of being controlled/ manipulated by the banks, but they would not be accused of being in the pockets of them (except for Tony Blair). One cannot say the same for the corrupt Conservatives however, who refused to give the British people a proper inquiry (and justice) by minimising its scope, independence and level of scrutiny (n.b. they now control the scope, chairmanship, and membership of the committee of MP's who will investigate them)!

Cameron and Osborne will go down in history for their abject failure to protect the British economy against corrupt bankers, and when the next crash happens (which it undoubtedly will, as they have still done nothing to fix it!) they should be arrested, have any/all their assets confiscated ... and they should then be tried for treason!

An independent forensic investigation would have uncovered the scale of corruption involved ... and would have resulted in the 'control of money supply' being taken away from private banks and returned to representatives of the people ... it would have also re-enforced the need for a full separation of casino banking from retail banking (i.e. a "Glass-Steagall" type act, and not just 'ring-fencing') ... as earlier reports recommended (but were subsequently watered down/ignored, due to heavy pressure and lobbying by the banks)!

Corrupt capitalism has triumphed over Democracy ... and made a mockery of our 'democracy' once again!

"When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes... Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain."

Napoleon Bonaparte, 1815

Corrupt capitalism: Fraudulent bankers are running amok!

Following recent posts, and on from my many previous posts about the immoral and corrupt practices of bankers, today we got yet more of a glimpse into the culture of investment (casino) banking and what they really get up to ... in their immoral pursuit of profit ...

... they are running amok, creating 'money out of nothing' ('electronic money') so they can gamble on rates, derivatives, assets and currencies etc ... and they are also fraudulently ensuring the 'casino wheels' are 'rigged' in their favour! ... and how do they do this ... well today it emerged they've been fraudulently rigging the 'rates' (e.g. reported libor/euribor rates) ... that they themselves have gambled on ... to make sure all their bets 'win' (... and sharing the 'profit' between them)!

You couldn't make this stuff up ... and there are clearly lots more scandals still come out too!

The case for taking back control of money supply (i.e. the creation of 'electronic money'), and separating casino banking from retail/commercial banking, should now be absolutely clear to everyone. These are both imperative to i) take back control of our economy (and off of the banks!) ... and to ii) ensure we do not give money (either directly or indirectly) to casinos! 

Without a tie to our personal and business accounts, the taxpayer would not have had to bailout/subsidize casino banks ... as they could go bust ... without affecting the accounts of voters or businesses.

Moreover, gambling/financial transactions should be taxed, to fall into line with other forms of gambling! All 'money for nothing' schemes should be outlawed (i.e. banks creating 'electronic money' themselves) and gambling heavily taxed, to subsidize tax reductions to activities that 'add real value' to our economy and society.

Yet Cameron and Osborne actively boycott any such proposals, and vehemently oppose the introduction of a financial transaction (gambling) tax on their immoral betting ... 

Cameron and Osborne also appear to have given up on the economy in terms of trying to create jobs/growth ... and are now set on slashing benefits and blaming the poor ... instead of tackling the corrupt actions of bankers, or reversing flawed policies currently destroying jobs/growth!

They are also slashing public services and raising taxes for hardworking people ... whilst incredulously cutting tax for the rich ... and allowing/overseeing widespread tax avoidance by the rich too (schemes where the ultra-rich pay less than 1% cf the 30-40% tax paid by the vast majority)!

People can clearly now see there are one set of rules for the rich/powerful (i.e. no real rules) ... e.g. the counterfeiting of money, widespread tax avoidance, no criminal prosecution of bankers/executives ... but there are an ever increasing set of rules policing everyone else (e.g. 'big brother', 'police tasers' ...)!

As far as the bankers are concerned we need to hit them hard immediately ... as a trivial fine (i.e. £60m from the FSA ... nb the £290m includes US charges!) is not enough ... we should immediately take back control of money supply (i.e. 'electronic' money as well as 'paper' money - see the excellent Positive Money reports below!) ... and make sure our money is only used to provide carefully regulated loans directed to customers and business (i.e. not for themselves to gamble in pursuit of more profits/bonuses). 

A forensic legal inquiry should also be started to uncover all corrupt practices and to jail the ring leaders (nb which will no doubt quickly spread to the regulators, politicians and Government officials manipulated/'run' by these people!) ... and a complete separation of retail/casino banking should also start immediately too.

Positive Money Report ...

Whenever major decisions are taken about the future of the UK, news cameras will be aimed at reporters standing in front of Parliament. But is Parliament really where the key decisions are being made today, or has power shifted down the river to London’s financial sector, the City?

This news report from Positive Money finds a banking system that has more ‘spending power’ than the democratically elected government, no accountability to the people, and a massive concentration of power in the hands of a few individuals. 

However, the greatest concern is that government has surrendered one of its most important powers — the power to create money and control the money supply — to the private sector, which has exploited this power to blow up housing bubbles and indirectly transfer wealth upwards and inwards, with disastrous results. There has been no democratic debate about this transfer of power, and no law actively sanctions the current set-up.

As the last few years have shown, the banking sector can have a serious negative impact on our lives. Leaving it with such a huge and unaccountable degree of power is no more likely to work in the best interests of society or democracy in the future than it has in the past.

An Overview:

Ceding the Power to Create Money to the Banking Sector

In the current system, banks create the vast majority of money in the UK, in the form of the electronic bank deposits that appear in your bank account. They create this money without regard to how much is needed for the economy and society as a whole to operate effectively, and they put over 90% of this money towards activities that do not contribute to the growth of the real economy.

This power to create money causes inflation that insidiously transfers wealth from savers and those who hold their wealth in cash (i.e. the poor and those on medium incomes) to those who are rich enough to hold their wealth in other assets (such as property). Giving private sector banks a monopoly on the creation of money also means that whenever additional money is needed in the economy, only private banks can provide it. In effect the entire money supply must be rented from the banking sector, at great cost to the economy. The creation of electronic money is a service that could be provided by the government at no cost to anyone.

The business model that permits banks to create money—so far from the popular perception of banks as simple intermediaries between savers and borrowers—is inherently unstable and will systematically require periodic taxpayer-funded bailouts. The cost of these bailouts diverts revenue from the activities that the government was elected to do, compromising its ability to fulfil its democratically mandated objectives.

Leaving this power to create money to the private sector creates a serious democratic deficit: a process that many would consider to be the sole prerogative of the state is in the hands of corporations who have no accountability to the wider public and whose interests are completely at odds with those of society as a whole.

Overstating the True Contribution of the Banking Sector

Politicians and policy makers are misinformed about the true contribution of the banking sector because they are only shown the positive side of the sector’s contribution to government finances, i.e. the taxes they pay. The overall contribution of the UK banking sector to the Exchequer is about 6% of overall tax revenues. In the year that the banking sector paid its highest ever tax, the manufacturing sector paid over three times more.

Society is now acutely aware of the direct cost to the taxpayer of bailing out banks but less attention is directed to the hidden subsidies they benefit from, even in the good times. Firstly, because of both implicit and explicit government guarantees, when a bank borrows money it does so at an interest rate lower than it would be able to otherwise. Secondly, by giving up the power to create money the government forgoes an important source of revenue, which results in higher taxes, lower spending or a bigger national debt. Conversely, the banks benefit financially from the power to create money. These hidden subsidies more than outweigh any taxes paid by the banks.

No Accountability to Customers

Unlike pension funds, banks are not required to disclose how they will use their customers’ money. As 97% of the UK’s money supply is effectively held with banks, this allows them to allocate a larger sum of money than either the entire pension fund industry or the elected government itself. Consequently the UK economy is shaped by the investment priorities of the banking sector, rather than the priorities of society.

Just five banks hold 85% of the UK’s money, and these five banks are steered by just 78 board members whose decisions shape the UK economy. This is a huge amount of power concentrated in very few hands, with next to no transparency or accountability to wider society.

The Close Relationship Between Banking and Government

It is impossible to know how much influence the financial sector has over policy but they certainly devote substantial resources to getting it. The financial sector makes large donations to political parties: the Conservative Party is 50% financed by donors associated with the financial industry, and it offers a ‘backstage pass’ to meet the Prime Minister in exchange for a £50,000 annual donation, raising the question of whether ‘cash for access’ is subverting the political process.

Lobbying is a fact of political life and only the most naïve politician would fail to take account of their naturally biased agenda. However, the resources of banking sector lobbyists far exceed those from other sectors and therefore the views of the banking industry may be drowning out those of civil society.

The close relationship between the banking sector and its chief regulator, the FSA, should be worrying, especially given the record of the last few years.  The revolving door between the banks and their regulators revolves faster in the UK than in any country other than Switzerland and a former Prime Minister now consults for one of the world’s largest investment banks, for a salary approximately 12 times more than he earned as Prime Minister.

Policy Implications

A few economically simple changes to the banking system would return power back to the people and restore some level of democratic control over the economy. These changes are:

1. Make banks ask for permission from their customers before they lend out their money.

2. Make banks disclose how customers’ money will be invested, so that members of the public can refuse to fund activities that they are not ethically comfortable with.


3. Remove the power to create money from the banks and return it to a democratically accountable body.
 
Making these changes would help redress the democratic deficit in banking and limit the ability of the banking sector to damage society. After the experience of the last few years, these are changes that urgently need to be made.

Capitalism - A flawed and corrupt system

Capitalism - where money is allowed in 'free markets' to flow in an unrestricted way ... and without any social/moral compass ... is flawed. In the hands of the greedy, corrupt and power-hungry, money is not used to help people, but to exploit them ... in pursuit of yet more money and power ... and over the last few decades these people have proved themselves to have no conscience or morals whatsoever.

Let's start with those who argue for 'free markets' all around the world. By arguing for this what they really mean is that they should be allowed to invest in whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want, and where they are most able to exploit the workforce/natural resources. If a country tries to defy them, and not allow their people to be exploited, then they will threaten them ... move their money elsewhere ... and force their communities/countries into ruin. 

Does this really happen? ... of course it does! And we see the consequences of this every day! It's why manufacturing moved to China, moving on to Vietnam ... and will eventually move to Africa (which is what China themselves are also starting to do). It's how corporations regularly threaten governments with moving their operations/jobs overseas, unless governments slash their tax bills and give them exactly what they want (e.g. Banks regularly threaten to move their centres of operation overseas to avoid taxes and any regulation restricting their immoral activities, and Vodafone were also recently let off £6bn in tax)!

Corrupt bankers, who created this global crisis, and forced governments to bail them out (using taxpayers money!) resulting in all the sovereign debt crises, are now using this bailout money in the "money markets" to force governments to take yet more bailouts (e.g. Eurozone crisis)! By wielding their power, they are forcing governments to slash public services and slash pay/conditions for the poor, in the form of "austerity programmes" (nb the UK Government is doing this whilst also slashing income tax for the ultra-rich and allowing executive/ bankers pay to soar)! 

The bankers have for decades created money out of thin air (legalized electronic counterfeiting!), lent it out at interest (money for nothing), and made 'debt slaves' of everyone. They have then been gambling this money on the 'money markets', with minimal regulation (and no 'gambling tax', despite every other form of gambling being heavily taxed!) ... where they personally take all the profits, and taxpayers take all of the risk and losses (nb this still hasn't changed)!

These are not 'free-markets', but 'corrupt markets', where the ultra-rich can openly exploit and devour the poor/hard-working. 'Free markets' would have allowed corrupt banks to fail ... they would not have handed them taxpayers money! The banks should pay the cost of 'insuring' themselves against failure, and be taxed accordingly (nb which would naturally be far greater than any traditional gambling tax)! However the Government are not doing this (nb a financial transaction tax is being vehemently opposed in the UK), as they are 'in the pockets' of the bankers and the ultra-rich ... and even if they weren't ... they would be continually threatened by them (e.g. with moving their operations overseas, moving their money, and/or forcing 'a run' on their currency/country).

If anyone has any doubt about the corrupt way in which capitalism is working ... one only needs to look at recent actions of the Bank of England and George Osborne. In the past they pumped an additional $325bn into the banks, via their so called 'Quantatitive Easing' programme, in the hope it would feed through to businesses and the wider economy ... but the banks lent very little of this out to actual businesses ... preferring to gamble with it and increase their bonuses again!

Because of this Osborne and King have just recently announced a scheme to give them more money ... but this time they are trying to position it as money they can only use to lend to real businesses! Says it all really! One Government minister also admitted this was needed because bankers were 'investing' elsewhere to get better 'returns' (i.e. in 'money for nothing' scams ... e.g. insurance, counterfeiting, gambling with other people's money)!

Moral businesses desperately trying to add value, help others and create jobs have been (and are still being) deliberately starved of money/resources ... by corrupt bankers who couldn't care a jot and are only interested in swelling their own immoral/grotesque fortunes. Adding real value to people's lives takes time, effort and resources/people, all an anathema to bankers ... as they cannot compete with legalized 'money for nothing' schemes ... 

'Free-market capitalism' effectively promotes 'money for nothing' schemes (e.g. 'financial engineering') and results in the systematic destruction of real economies/communities ... it blights communities ... and survives only because of ignorance, apathy and the centralization/control of power and capital (the 'means of production').

Moral businesses create value, corrupt bankers/financiers systematically leech from this and destroy value, and should be stopped from doing so ... We need state run community banking, investing in real business, and out of the hands of immoral bankers (gamblers), where money is invested by the people for the people ... and guess what ... we actually already effectively 'own' two banks as a result of recent bailouts ... so why don't we get on with it and put these to good use ... by putting capable, honorable and trustworthy community stakeholders on boards ... n.b. and we do not want Richard Branson or Philip Green types ... who preach to everyone, but pay no tax themselves)!

Corrupt economics: Destroying Value ... and Communities

The Government is currently promoting the fact that they are shifting their focus onto exports, manufacturing (cf finance) and growth (i.e. job creation).

However this once again appears to be all spin and no substance!

Our current trade deficit is at its worst level for seven years, manufacturing is shrinking (not increasing), and recent figures show that the vast majority of jobs currently being created are in finance (over 60%) - not manufacturing (less than 3%)! 

This Government tries to tell us the financial sector makes up a small part (less than 10%) of the total economy, which is a complete distortion ... this small figure does relate to the manufacturing sector, but not the financial sector ... and the job creation figures provide a truer picture of reality ...

Corrupt 'free market capitalism', is systematically backing/ promoting 'money for nothing' scams ... over 'real' hard-working businesses desperately trying to positively contribute to society and add real value to people's lives ..

It is well known and well documented (e.g. on this blog) that bankers (and finance companies in general) do not add any real value to society ... in fact they're actually systematically destroying value ... hence they need to be reigned in. 

In the future 'adding real value' needs to be positively backed/promoted ... and destroying value needs to be made illegal or, as a minimum, taxed very heavily to replace/cover any value it may destroy (i.e. just like other forms of gambling, tobacco, alcohol etc currently are). This Government is vehemently resisting any financial transaction tax ... which would be a good start to achieving this goal ... and why? ... well, they are 'in the pockets of the bankers', are also threatened by them (e.g. threats to move their centres overseas if they don't like what the Government is doing) ... and they allow this corrupt banking system to counterfeit money and to keep the 'means of production' (i.e. money/capital) mostly in the hands of themselves (over 60% of all new jobs/investment) ... so they can create and exploit yet more 'money for nothing' scams (i.e. 'financial engineering')!

They are systematically stealing taxpayers money, plundering and destroying communities, and stealing people's future ... by burdening communities with debt slavery for decades to come. 

Capitalism is better described as the 'economics of exploitation' ... and this is not being tackled because we also have a mockery of a democracy.

As Aristotle once said ...

"Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers"

... and ...  

"In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme" ... 

Partners in Crime ... Debt Slavery and Wage Slavery

It is well known that greed, self-interest and the reckless gambling of bankers caused the current crisis, as Governments were forced to bail out banks in order to stop ordinary hard-working people from losing their savings.

Government debt resulting from this subsequently saddled their nation (i.e. people) with massive interest payments (to service these debts), whilst bankers continued to reward themselves with massive bonuses (at taxpayers expense again)!

Banks are still legally allowed to counterfeit money too, by printing 'electronic money' and lending it to others at interest ... a real 'money for nothing' scam of epic proportions (which is why 'runs on banks' were possible in the first place ... as they never had the money/capital they were lending out)!

This process is very important to those in power, because when people are in huge debt they are more easy to control, manipulate and abuse (by the process often termed 'Debt Slavery'). Fictitious money can also create fictitious booms in an economy (e.g. housing market), which is why successive Governments have pandered to banks and not done anything to stop it (n.b. in the US J F Kennedy was assassinated when he started to challenge debt slavery ... and as a result no President or political leader has attempted to do so since).

In the UK the Government is continuing to help banks drive people into debt slavery, by pushing graduates to immediately take on debt by tripling tuition fees (and trying to stop them paying debts off early), before they even have a job and prior to going into massive debt in order try to put a roof over their head (n.b. inflating house prices is also part of the scam)!

And we can now see the next scam ... Wage slavery. The Government has been working hard to deflect blame away from bankers and onto those who can't find a job ... so they can use this environment to bypass the minimum wage (£6/hr) and allow big business to boost their profits by getting job-seekers to work for them for free (and at tax payers expense).

With the slashing of public sector jobs, and the private sector struggling due to the global crisis, we currently face the worst conditions for generations in terms of jobs and these changes will only make things worse. The few new jobs created by the private sector have mostly been part-time low paid jobs, with massive competition for positions and extra hours difficult to come by. With big business now able to get people to effectively work for free now too, the negative effect on jobs growth (be it part time and low paid) and on overtime available will only be made worse!

Governments have for a long time pandered to big business, and actively allowed a massive influx of people into the country to keep pay/salaries down. The massive amount of immigration that has occurred has also pushed up housing demand and house prices ... to the delight again of the bankers and politicians reliant on more 'debt slavery'.

The Government has 'spun' this new scheme as giving people the chance to 'get work experience', but when it displaces additional part-time jobs (and overtime) that would otherwise have been created ... the smoke-screen, just like all the others, quickly evaporates.

Debt Slavery and Wage slavery are partners in crime ... and underpin a cruel and immoral strategy best described as 'the economics of exploitation'. So how come the Government is getting away with this?

Ignorance, Apathy and/or 'Clever Collusion' of those in Power (including the media)?

NB and the next scam after this? ... these same people are now starting to argue the need for 'trickle down economics' again ... and the need to reduce the top rate of tax for the ultra-rich (e.g. bankers, executives) ... to try to stop them avoiding tax and for money to 'trickle down' to the poor ... you couldn't make this stuff up!

Blaming rogue traders ... so the bankers can continue to counterfeit and gamble

Vince Cable recently referred to the City as a "source of systemic instability, unfettered greed and industrial-scale tax dodging" but appeared to blame the problem on a small number of rogue institutions. The use of a minority scapegoat to cover up wide spread illegality, immorality and abuse of power is a particularly favoured tactic in the financial sector (alongside threatening behaviour).

The figure of the rogue is evoked to apportion blame and ask for forgiveness. It's always just one or two rogue individuals, states or institutions that emerge as the unique source of blame for an entire system's failure. The rogue is blamed but ultimately the system that produces it is forgiven.

When the figure of the rogue is evoked, it stops us asking more challenging questions. What if the rogue institutions in the City that caused the financial crisis of 2008 and now avoid paying their taxes are simply the best, and most profitable, example of everything that is wrong with capitalism today; merely the product of a system that rewards greed and exploitation?

Let's hope that the rogue institutions of the City are not allowed to fulfil the promise of their epithet – for their transgressions to be forgiven and ignored. These rogues are products of greater forces at work. Let's stop treating them like inexplicable anomalies and start to understand the conditions that make them and their misdemeanours possible. Then, perhaps, we can do away with the figure of the mischievous but forgivable City rogue altogether.

An increasingly unequal country where people are definitely not 'all in this together'

Income inequality has risen faster in Britain than in any other rich nation since the mid-1970s, according to a report by the OECD. 

The think-tank says the gap has come about due to the rise of a financial services concentrating wealth into the hands of a tiny minority and has warned about the rise of the top 1% in rich societies and the falling share of income going to poorer people.

This trend is especially pronounced in Britain*, where the dramatic rise in inequality has been fuelled by the creation of a super-rich class. The share of the top 1% of income earners increased from 7.1% in 1970 to 14.3% in 2005.

Just prior to the global recession, the OECD says the very top of British society – the 0.1% of highest earners – accounted for a remarkable 5% of total pre-tax income, a level of wealth hoarding not seen since the second world war.

At the same time as accumulating great wealth, the rich have seen tax rates fall. The top marginal income tax rate dropped from 60% in the 1980s to 40% in the 2000s, before its recent increase to 50% (which the current Tory leadership is trying hard to scrap).

Cameron is also going to the EU Summit with the sole aim of 'protecting' his 'friends' in the City ... the people who helped to bankrupt our nation, who are still not lending to small business, and who are now busy speculating on commodities/currencies and trying to bankrupt the nations (and taxpayers) who bailed them out!

* The OECD report re-enforces previous reports of FTSE100 executives receiving 50% pay rises (on already multi-million pay packages), whilst the vast majority of hard-working people are facing pay freezes/cuts and/or redundancy.

Legalized counterfeiting ... followed by legalized theft!

Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers have gone on strike today out of frustration ... over theft (in broad daylight) of their future livelihoods!

The Government have already forced staff, without consultation, to pay 3% more into their pension, and they are now looking to pay them much less in retirement* and make them work a lot longer for it too. 

The Government says pension schemes are still unaffordable, but current public pension schemes in the UK are nowhere near the levels of places such as Germany ... whose economy is doing very well indeed! Many of the pension schemes are not in deficit either ... and have arrangements already in place for contributions to rise in line with any shortfall anyway! 

It is clear that public sector workers are being forced to pay more, not because of any pension scheme deficit, but because the Government wants to raid pensions again and take money off hard-working public sector workers in order to pay for the cost of bailing out the banks (and going by the public response ... e.g. on Question Time ... the public are becoming increasingly aware of the scam).

To try to get away with their scam, the Government are trying (but failing) to pitch private sector against public sector ... Following legalized raids by the Government on the pensions of poorly-paid private sector workers, they are arguing that public sector workers should get minimal pensions too ... i.e. rather than putting an initial wrong right ... they want public sector workers to be equally badly treated ... as the rich continue to get lucrative pension deals, with tax loopholes/havens and enjoy £37bn in tax relief on their lucrative pensions! 

It is incredulous (and immoral) that the laws of this country allow legalized theft ... where a politician can impose such measures without a mandate and without consultation ... and allow legalized counterfeiting by bankers** (creating money out of thin air, and charge it out at interest) ... and have politicians force hard-working people to pay for their hefty bonuses (for gambling, rather than lending money to small businesses keen to create real value/wealth) and then the cost of bailing them out (when their gambles fail).

The law is clearly in place to protect bankers and the wealthy ... to keep them wealthy ... and to ensure they can continue to increase their wealth ... at the expense of everyone else. And where this does not happen ... the Politicians are lobbied/forced by them to change the law so they do! 

The idea that the rule of law applies equally to everyone, in order to safeguard democracy, is clearly a scam too ... but people are starting to realise this ... and the impact of this ... 

For instance ask yourself the followinq ...

1.  If you printed money in your garden shed ... you'd be locked up ... and

2. If you stole money from people ... you'd be locked up too. 

So why are bankers and politicians getting away with these things every minute ... of every single day!

Given this how much longer will people allow them to get away with this ... judging by the growing number of hard-working people starting to make their voice heard ... not much longer!

And let's see how quickly the Government change the law ... to stop the most basic form of democracy ... the right to withdraw ones labour *** 

* The Government have also already, without consultation, changed their pension schemes so any future increases are in line with the lower rate of inflation too (CPI instead of RPI), and they are now looking to change them to career average schemes too.

** Purely because the law of counterfeit doesn't apply when money "resides" as figures on a computer screen, and no longer relies upon a printing press!

*** The Government have already threatened this, and the Labour party, whose leader Ed Miliband recently told his party that they needed to once again represent hard-working people, have failed at the first hurdle! (which is not surprising really, given it was Gordon Brown's early £100bn raid on pension schemes that started their demise).

Democracy - what Democracy? ... The Government is pushing through reforms that no-one voted for

In an article in the New Statesman the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has warned that the public is gripped by “fear” over the Government’s reforms to education, the NHS and the benefits system and accuses David Cameron and Nick Clegg of forcing through “radical policies for which no one voted”.

Openly questioning the democratic legitimacy of the Coalition, the Archbishop dismisses the Prime Minister’s “Big Society” as a “painfully stale” slogan, and claims that it is “not enough” for ministers to blame Britain’s economic and social problems on the last Labour government.

His two-page critique, titled “The government needs to know how afraid people are”, is the most forthright political criticism by such a senior cleric since Robert Runcie enraged Margaret Thatcher with a series of attacks in the 1980s. Lambeth Palace is braced for an angry response but Dr Williams, who became Archbishop of Canterbury nine years ago, is understood to believe that the moment is right for him to enter the political debate.

The Archbishop warns that Westminster politics “feels pretty stuck”, adding that his aim is to stimulate “a livelier debate” and to challenge the Left to develop its own “big idea” as an alternative to the Tory-Lib Dem alliance.

He said the Coalition is facing “bafflement and indignation” over its plans to reform the health service and education, he writes. “With remarkable speed, we are being committed to radical, long-term policies for which no one voted,” the Archbishop says.

“At the very least, there is an understandable anxiety about what democracy means in such a context.” 

He also went on to say that the Prime Minister’s “Big Society” is viewed with “widespread suspicion” as an “opportunistic” cover for spending cuts, as previous champions resign in protest and given the Government Big Society Tsar has now also stepped down.

Yet arguably the biggest con of all is when Politicians stand up and criticize the lack of democracy in other countries around the world ... and site western democracies as an examplar to follow! Yet in reality, in British democracy, only around 2% of votes in marginal constituencies really count, and even these votes count only once every five years! As a result, Politicians, in-between elections, do what they want in their own self-interest, regardless of what they may have previously promised the electorate (which is arguably both immoral and unethical) ... which is why the Archbishop Canterbury has decided to 'shine a light' on it.

Until ignorance reduces and people stand-up to be counted (i.e. apathy reduces) such misuse of power will continue. Let's see how much longer they'll be able get away with it ... as things continue to get worse, and honest, hard-working people continue to face the harsh reality of paying the price of bailing out the banks and continuing to fund their lavish multi-million pound bonuses. Corrupt bankers and politicians have a lot to answer for ... and the day draws ever closer when they are called to account. 

Aristotle himself said: 

"Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers" 

"In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme" 

"No notice is taken of a little evil, but when it increases it strikes the eye"

"Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime" 

and ... "The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance".

Wise words indeed ... and just as revelant today.