Currency wars

[Nice-Gook]

A Very Interesting Article by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad


http://chedet.cc/blog/?p=723#more-723

1. I have been reading a book by James Rickards entitled ”Currency Wars.

2. He writes that he participated in War Games at the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) located near Washington, D.C.

3. Set up in 1942, after the Pearl Harbour attack, APL brought applied science to improving weaponry.


4. In 2009 the war game was about a global financial war using currencies and capital markets instead of ships and planes. This financial war games was the Pentagon’s first effort to see how an actual financial war might evolve and to see what lessons might be learnt.

5. James Rickards presented a paper on “the new science of market intelligence, which involves analysing capital markets to find actionable intelligence on the intentions of market participants”.

6. The stated purpose was “to examine the impact of global financial activities on national security issues”.

7. Rickards also gave a presentation on futures and derivatives to explain how these leveraged instruments could be used to manipulate underlying physical markets, including those in strategic commodities such as oil, uranium, copper and gold.

8. He writes, “There is a far more insidious scenario in which currencies are used as weapons, not in a metaphorical sense but in a real sense, to cause economic harm to rivals. The mere threat of harm can be enough to force concessions by rivals in the geopolitical battle space”. (Globalisation and State Capital – page 145)

9. When the Ringgit depreciated in value, the financial and economic experts including those in Malaysia, blames it on bad financial management and contagion. When I suggested that it was due to deliberate action on the part of currency traders to devalue the Ringgit to undermine the Malaysian economy, this was dismissed.

10. Had we failed to handle the crisis, had the economy collapsed, the Government would have to resign. The action taken by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance at that time to apply the IMF solution without the IMF would have hastened the collapse. But our unorthodox solution prevented the collapse from taking place and we recovered. Otherwise there could have been a regime change.

11. Whatever, the fact is that the U.S. is aware that a currency war can achieve political objectives just as well as a military war. The idea that the attack against our Ringgit was deliberate is not too farfetched. The Western Press and Government leaders in certain countries had made it clear that they desired to bring down the Government of that time for very many reasons.

12. Towards this end they have used NGOs and funds as they are doing in Egypt now.

 

[theDoors]

In 1971, President Nixon imposed national price controls and took the United States off the gold standard, an extreme measure intended to end an ongoing currency war that had destroyed faith in the U.S. dollar. Today we are engaged in a new currency war, and this time the consequences will be far worse than those that confronted Nixon.

Currency wars are one of the most destructive and feared outcomes in international economics. At best, they offer the sorry spectacle of countries' stealing growth from their trading partners. At worst, they degenerate into sequential bouts of inflation, recession, retaliation, and sometimes actual violence. Left unchecked, the next currency war could lead to a crisis worse than the panic of 2008.

Currency wars have happened before-twice in the last century alone-and they always end badly. Time and again, paper currencies have collapsed, assets have been frozen, gold has been confiscated, and capital controls have been imposed. And the next crash is overdue. Recent headlines about the debasement of the dollar, bailouts in Greece and Ireland, and Chinese currency manipulation are all indicators of the growing conflict.

 

[Nice-Gook]

Currency wars are one of the most destructive and feared outcomes in international economics.

Spot on.Colonization is still alive and kicking.Caucasians still call the shots.Where guns and battleships are not best used,they use trade and currency wars.The war is waging on all fronts.Psychologically Islam-phobia is cooked up so there is a visible and tangible enemy for common folks. And US goes to physical wars with feeble enemies like Iraq and Iran so that a notion of self-made bravado is spun for for local consumption.It also gives a boost to local arm industries.

Countries that refuses to toe US lines are dealt with UN sponsored and backed agencies and others like IMF and World Bank.Larger economies with military muscles like,China,Russia,India and Brazil are dealt differently.Institutions in Wall Streets takes care of them.China,however rich is holding huge US treasuries bills which becomes mere papers if US defaults.

US is holding all most all countries by their balls.

 

[Nice-Gook]

And what is interesting here is that a third world retired statesman like Dr.Mahathir actually blogs about such issues that interest international audiences.Where ordinary folks like us can actually exchange ideas.Or even expose his lies and he is open to our criticisms.

Contrast this with Singapore's strongman LKY.Both Mahathir and LKY are almost are of the same age.But LKY prefers to talk down and preach to his plebeians thorough his PAP controlled MSM.Where our rights to reply is denied.Let alone whether he is prepared to debate his thoughts with netizens.

And what is even more glaring is the subject matters.When LKY opens his mouth it's always about dooms day scenario if we don't follow his wisdom.Lately LKY talks about nothing but his foreigners first policy.Whereas Mahathir also blogs about larger international issues when he is not campaigning for UMNO.

Hence there is a remarkable difference in the styles of these two dictatorial rulers.