By Brandon Smith
For many years now I have been examining the policies and behaviors of the Federal Reserve because they are in fact the most powerful institution in the US, with far more influence over the fate of America than any single president or branch of government. They have the power to end the economic life of our country in a matter of moments. They hold their finger on the button of multiple financial nuclear bombs, and to this day there are people that still pretend as if they are a mere moderating presence subservient to the White House or Congress.
This is a fallacy proven by history and the admissions from central bankers own mouths. The Fed answers to no one in our government. They answer to a different set of masters, and the blame for the consequences of their policies falls to them and their cohorts.
Last year I published an article titled ‘The Fed’s Catch-22 Taper Is A Weapon, Not A Policy Error.’ In that article I predicted that the Fed would embark on a hiking spree on interest rates in response to inflationary/stagflationary events. I noted that:
“We are now at that stage again where price inflation tied to money printing is clashing with the stock market’s complete reliance on stimulus to stay afloat. There are some that continue to claim the Fed will never sacrifice the markets by tapering. I say the Fed does not actually care, it is only waiting for the right time to pull the plug on the US economy.”
At the time I received a lot of resistance to the idea. The usual argument was: “The fed will never raise rates and put stock markets at risk. Why would they destroy the golden goose?”
This position showcases a common misconception about the central bank and its purpose. You see, a lot of people think the Fed exists to keep the US economy afloat, and specifically to keep stock markets afloat. This is incorrect. Every single policy of the Fed since its inception has been a long train of abuses designed to slowly and scientifically whittle down the US economy and bring it to the point of extinction.
The next most common argument is: “Wouldn’t the fed sabotaging the economy eventually destroy them as well?”
The answer is YES, and they don’t care. If you have read my previous work on this issue then you know that the Fed is inexorably tied to the Bank for International Settlements (the “central bank of central banks”) and that they call the shots in terms of coordinated global banking initiatives. The BIS is a globalist institution, not an American one, and its agenda is ideologically globalist in nature. The Fed is a servant of globalism; and if the US economy or our currency need to be brought down through a controlled demolition in order to make the globalist dream of a one world socialist “Utopia” come true, that is exactly what the Fed will do.
I was able to predict that the Fed would continue onward with its interest rate hikes and hawkish position only because I acknowledge what the Fed really is: A suicide bomber. And, they have decided the time is ripe to hike interest rates into economic weakness, just like they did at the onset of the Great Depression.
At the beginning of the Depression the Fed increased interest rates after years of artificially stimulating markets with low cost debt. This prolonged the deflationary crash for many years after. It was not until decades later when former Fed chair Ben Bernanke gave a speech celebrating economist Milton Friedman’s 90th birthday that a central bank official finally admitted that the organization was culpable for the Depression debacle.
“In short, according to Friedman and Schwartz, because of institutional changes and misguided doctrines, the banking panics of the Great Contraction were much more severe and widespread than would have normally occurred during a downturn.
Let me end my talk by abusing slightly my status as an official representative of the Federal Reserve. I would like to say to Milton and Anna: Regarding the Great Depression. You’re right, we did it. We’re very sorry. But thanks to you, we won’t do it again.” – Ben Bernanke, 2002
What Ben Bernanke did not admit to was that the engineered deflationary crisis greatly benefited the allies of the Fed – The international corporate bankers. Companies like JP Morgan and Chase National were suddenly in a prime position to seize unlimited power in the US.
So, they’ve done it before, why wouldn’t they do it again?
The next argument that I hear constantly is that the Fed is “ignorant” and they don’t know what they are doing. This is nonsense. Jerome Powell knows EXACTLY what he is doing, and here is the proof – In October of 2012 the Fed held a meeting in which Powell warned that markets and corporations had become addicted to the Fed’s easy money policies. If they decided to taper their stimulus measures and raise rates, there would be potentially disastrous blowback. Powell argued that:
“…I think we are actually at a point of encouraging risk-taking, and that should give us pause. Investors really do understand now that we will be there to prevent serious losses. It is not that it is easy for them to make money but that they have every incentive to take more risk, and they are doing so. Meanwhile, we look like we are blowing a fixed-income duration bubble right across the credit spectrum that will result in big losses when rates come up down the road. You can almost say that that is our strategy.” – Jerome Powell
As he admitted, it is indeed their strategy. Powell was not the Fed chairman at the time, so he may not have been aware of the full agenda, but he is certainly aware now. Why would Powell undertake the exact policy action he once warned would result in a full spectrum implosion of the credit bubble? Probably because he was told to.
Powell knows the history of the Great Depression and he knows what will happen when the Fed raises rates into economic weakness and he is doing it anyway. He already tried a test run of rate hikes back in 2018 and the results were not hard to figure out; markets began to tank. We should never forget that the central banks are fully cognizant of the effects of their endeavors. As I stated back in February:
“The rate hikes of 2018 were a test run for a more aggressive and deliberately engineered crisis down the road. The Fed has its own agenda, it does not care about protecting U.S. markets, nor does it even care about protecting the U.S. economy in general.
I hold that the Fed is a weapon for social and political change within America and part of its job is to greatly reduce the standard of living of the population while making it appear as if this decline is a “natural” consequence of the U.S. System.”
This leads us to the final question – What happens next?
That’s easy to answer: The fed continues to hike rates well into next year and will not reverse course or capitulate and return to stimulus. The dovish predictions were wrong. The people that said the Fed would not raise rates were wrong. The people that said the Fed would never remove support from stock markets were wrong. This process is ongoing and the effects will grow as the months pass, but those that were hoping for a manic return to the days of bailouts and QE are going to be deeply disappointed.
This is a stagflationary crash, and as such we are going to experience the worst of both deflationary and inflationary worlds. Prices will remain high while GDP goes negative. Sales will decline and jobs will decline as we enter into the end of this year. There is no way around this. The Fed will have all kinds of theories and misdirections on why these things are happening, and they will try to distract the public as much as possible in the meantime.
What the Fed will never do is admit that a crash is happening until it is too late for people to act. They will never warn the populace of the dangers and they will never tell people to prepare. Watch as they tap dance and tell the public that all the pain is “transitory.” Then, watch as the dust settles and they tell people that “no one could have seen this coming.” It’s all very predictable, because it’s all been done before.
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Psychopaths, including the “snakes in suits” (the intelligent and camouflaged moral morons infiltrated in government or other key positions of power and control) know what they are doing, they just don’t care (for the victim, whom they see as a guinea pig or natural prey).
Hey Onno, actually I think they do care…they relish and enjoy seeing the little guy suffer — while at the same time virtue signaling otherwise.
Interesting piece, as always.
I did read some good news about a “bumper wheat crop” in the US. And somebody on YouTube claims to have debunked the supposedly upcoming global food crisis. Could you give an update on that topic? Thanks.
The food issue is more about supply chain disruptions rather than crop production. Also, it will hit third world countries first. No one has “debunked” the existence of the threat, it’s just a fact of the global economy now. Your local store will have shortages, guaranteed. They will offset this by raising prices and trying to sell you other things. Instead of turkey, they’ll sell extra pork, etc.
I’ve been wondering if it’s fear porn. Just so hard to find the truth anymore!!!
I believe your theory about a purposefully engineered collapse, but my question is, Why did they decide to take SO LONG to effect what might have been accomplished in the 1930s? I mean, didn’t the author of The Creature from Jekyll Island write that the globalists have sought after this utopia ever since some kind of a coalition or marriage of interests was made between Cecil B. Rhodes and the Fabians, if I remember right?
You have to consider this is a global take over. The old money of Europe had to be consolidated and that largely occurred during WWII. All the money and power went to the USA and USSR. The USA was then designated “Good Cop” and USSR “Bad Cop” and they split the world in two. Much as they are doing with the BRICS today. Always in two. Black and white. Easy and convenient.
Taking down the USA a few notches is just another leg of that old endeavor. It’s not so much about the USA as it is about global governance. The “Good Cop” has been re-branded and is now scheduled for retirement. Will we go gently into that good night?
Because social engineering takes time. It’s not just about the economy collapsing – That’s easy. The hard part is getting Americans to submit to global authoritarianism after the collapse. The Depression was about consolidating banking power and removing independent competition. Then there was WWII which led to the creation of the UN and the IMF. They had to spend several decades injecting the idea of globalism into our society while also convincing younger generations to hate American principles and history. It’s ALL about social engineering.
If you look at the how and why behind the establishment of the Federal Reserve System in 1913 you can see clearly this entity WAS NOT created for the good of the country, but for its detriment and the enrichment of its founders (the book The Creature From Jekyll Island is an excellent resource). Alexander Hamilton, while President, fought mightily against the establishment of a European-style central bank here in the States. The European bankers found a willing subject in the inept Woodrow Wilson… a smart man, but without enough common sense to come in out of the rain. Easily led and brainwashed. Colonel House, his so-called adviser, but really a plant, had a field day with him. 1913… welcome Central Bank and welcome Federal income tax… all with the clandestine passage of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. A year that will live in infamy. Our economy has been on a roller coaster ride ever since.
Except that Hamilton was NEVER a US President. He was Rothschild’s agent in America and his prime mission was to IMPLEMENT the BANK of the UNITED STATES- a US central bank.
Are you really so misinformed that you dont even know the most BASIC FACTS about the banking system??? Skip the Griffin book and read EUSTACE MULLINS. then you’ll get it right
To answer the question as to why the Federal Reserve failed to destroy the economy in 1928 one only needs to read Brandon’s various writings.
Primarily an economy never collapses overnight. This nonsence. It takes time. Each move the Fed makes has a reciprocating effect over time. Like a leaking water pipe in a masonry wall the erosion goes sight unseen so as not to garnet attention until the problem becomes glaringly obvious but by then it’s too late. The Fed cleverly operates in such fashion. Slowly and deliberately so as not to arouse to much attention.
“… the policies and behaviors of the Federal Reserve… they are in fact the most powerful institution in the US… The Fed answers to no one…”
When a Nation has accepted the insanity for well over one-hundred years of allowing a tiny group of Deep State bankers to conjure fake money out of thin air… and then the added atrocity of charging INTEREST on that vaporous thin-air so-called-currency to the Government i.e. real flesh and blood taxpayers… then all the resulting insanities pale in comparison.
When the Social Security Trust fund is raided for its wealth and replaced with relatively worthless IOUs… then other resulting insanities pale in comparison.
And when no one except few courageous souls over the past 100 years point out the fundamental insanity of the Nation’s finances… and millions upon millions of Americans either don’t know or don’t care about it… then insanity starts to install itself as a National habit.
The (not so) Federal (who has no) Reserve(s) only does things to benefit Itself… those tiny group of Deep State bankers… and all those who feed off that endless magic conjured money supply to do their evil deeds.
Do you think the average American might be able to improve their financial position if they could print up pages of ‘money’ in their workrooms and basements? And then go out and spend that ‘money’ on real-World goods and services? Maybe we should ask a few people and see if that idea appeals to them. Or do they prefer poverty or working a jobs that do not reward them properly for their time and effort… especially when Others are just handed ‘money’ for just sitting on their great big ass-ets and doing nothing else?
If you explained this ‘financial system’ to someone from another planet… They would say you must be crazy. No one in the Universe would allow such a ridiculous and fundamentally insane financial system to exist. Well actually, one Planet does just that.
If They can conjure ‘money’ from thin air… maybe the air isn’t as thin as we’ve been lead to believe. Breathe deep… and maybe you’ll be rich, too.
Very sharp, Roundball!!!!
So what are we to do? Many will say buy gold? Or buy something? Or hoard USD? Or people will be frantically looking for ways to convert cash into real estate or some other hard asset?
My understanding of finance is don’t spend more than you make and don’t take out loans that you can’t pay back. Seems we only hear stories of those people in The Great Depression who made it big during the cheap money phase then lost big. Surely there are stories of people who lived within their means that make it out OK? I’m a first gen American from both sides and in those days my family was simply trying to stay alive dealing with the advent of communism.
I had ideas of selling my condo and buying a house but the way prices have been going that may not happen. I’m thinking taking on debt to upgrade to a house in a good area (or for any reason) may not be a good idea. Curious what your thoughts are. Like Kenny Rogers wrote: You gotta know when to hold em; know when to fold em; know when to walk away; and know when to run.
The solution is found at the beginning. The income tax was imposed as a temporary measure under the guise of a “victory tax” but when the war subsided, the politicians refused to remove it. The government has never produced one ounce of evidence supporting their claim that individual citizens are required by law to file a tax return or pay an income tax based solely upon wages or earnings. The Supreme Court has already ruled that the income tax is a tax on gains or profits from corporate activity. There is NO LAW that overturns that ruling! See “Freedom to Fascism” by Aaron Russo. If anyone is serious about imploding the FED and emancipating their country from the tyrannical clutches of the central banking mobsters, then simply REFUSE TO PAY the income tax that supports their fraudulent and corrupt monetary system.
Perhaps not in that detail, but I have heard that argument before. Now, I’m pretty sure what the end result will be if any one of us – or ten thousand of us – simply refuse to pay income tax. Gray bar hotel.
I like what you say and often said the simple way to get the attention of the gov’t is for an unprecedented majority of people to simply do whatever it takes to not pay personal income tax. Out of 330m people perhaps 250m people all at once decide not to pay. Literally keep the money. The logistics of that would be hideous and not sure if its even possible without violating a bunch of other laws in the process that surely can get you in so deep that you wish you just paid the taxes.
Most of us are doing the life gig for about 50 years and what has been accomplished so far? More and/or higher taxes along with an ever increasing cost of living. I’ll add that population control and surveillance has ramped up considerably thanks to Google and other platforms marketed as convenience and efficiency. We are frogs being boiled very slowly.
Yes, you called it as far as the remorseless rate hikes at the worst time. What remains to be seen, however, is if the stock and bond markets truly are allowed to crash (at least 40% decline), or if they use counterfeiting and that high frequency trading tech to buy (themselves or via proxies) up everything, essentially foreclosing on the planet. Digital trillions to all cronies to buy every company and everything on the planet, with only a 25-30% decline in the major indices. If they buy everything, then what’s to stop them from suspending mark-to-market like they did with real estate and declaring stocks to be worth whatever they say they are and suspending public trading forever? I know it sounds crazy, but we just witnessed the whole covid thing and the spontaneous redefinitions of pandemic, vaccine and recession for political convenience. I find when trying to forecast these assholes’ next move, its best to ask,”what would Eric Cartman do?” Seriously. We’ve been taking Emperor’s new clothes to extreme levels for 2 years now. It’s getting interesting, that’s for sure.
They already own everything that matters. This crash is not about buying more, this is about consolidating global power, erasing the constitution and introducing the “Shared Economy” and a global digital currency system. I’m not saying they will succeed, only pointing out what their goals are.
How wold they implement a global digital currency?. It seems like a MASSIVE undertaking?
They are already doing it. Dozens of major central banks are introducing CBDCs or are getting ready to introduce them. All of them will be tied together under the IMF or the BIS, most likely under the SDR basket system. The difficulty in implementation would be in getting the public to accept such a system. That’s why they are crashing multiple economies right now – to force the public to accept the global “Reset” currencies and reduced economy.
yes, and the WEF’s social credit score ESG. They are using that system already as they sanctioned Russia. All they had to do is pressure the private sector to sanction a country and in turn caused the sanctions to hit us. Two birds with one stone. But what it really accomplished was to get private companies to participate and learn how to be controlled and do as they are told or they will cease to exist. As you said, Social engineering.
In January 2019, Greta Thunberg spoke at the World Economic Forum in
Davos. Her message was terrifying and revealing. “I don’t want you to be hopeful,”
she said, “I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then
I want you to act.”
203
Notice that her message was not focused on determining the best path
forward based on logic and reason; it was focused simply on taking action based
on emotion and fear. This fear infects virtually every aspect of the modern climate
change narrative and is frequently used to justify extreme actions, including those
that would destroy the global economy and require massive government
takeovers.
“Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes it’s laws” — Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild….I think he said that. Sounds about right.
–Mentioned that I read/listen to Tom Luongo. He seems to think the Fed is at war with Davos. While I think that I would like it to be true, I cannot agree with that. Seems to me the Fed will go with whoever is pulling the strings. The reason is simple, No One, and I mean no one will miss Powell if he falls down the stairs; or any other banker for that matter. Getting him to fold would be almost too easy from where I sit. And we know the people capable of such acts are the ones calling the shots. Admittedly, I have no clue as to what kind of security the man has around him so I could be missing something.
–Great analysis as always. IMHO we are getting VERY close. Something is going to be the catalyst, personally I am not sure it even matters at this late stage. If financial is the driver look for it to happen on a Sunday night according to Andy Schectman (CEO of Miles Franklin).
Great article, thanks Brandon. In 2018, when the FED initially introduced QT, markets crashed and the FED quickly reversed coarse. The pattern I am currently seeing is the dollar destroying everything through a infinite loop due to nobody buying bonds anymore. Further, we have a liquidity crisis through QT.
The FED is no longer buying bonds and banks are maxed out, thus there is an oversupply of bonds in the market with nobody buying them, This oversupply of bonds is resulting in yields going up, and the dollar getting stronger. Japan and China (big buyers of bonds) are also no longer buying bonds, but need to sell them to buy dollars to pay off their debt, which makes the dollar stronger again.
This loop is destroying currencies around the world and is making developed countries look like emerging markets. USDJPY is already in the 140’s, but because their debt/GDP is over 200%, they are letting their currency go via YCC, instead of letting yields run higher as they cannot pay back the debt.
Europe is facing an energy crisis, but cannot print new energy. Instead, they continue with their backward energy green policies.
I am trying to understand whether this is all planned, or coincidence. My questions are as follows:
1) In 2018, when they implemented QT for the first time, and reversed when markets crashed , do you think it was a test run for today? Do you think they will crash and reverse coarse again, and high inflation is seen as the norm to impoverish us, or they actually crash everything for good with the hopes of implementing a new world currency? History shows they always reverse coarse through QE when something breaks.
2) Is the European energy crisis created by stupid politicians, or do they actually know what they are doing? Is the over-reliance on Russian energy, then tension with Russia, planned so that Europeans become more reliant on a central government?
Thank You
Stefan
@Stefan, As wrote Egon von Greyerz in his last article: “ENERGY IS THE KEY TO ECONOMIC GROWTH”. He’s fully right.
Don’t forget or let’s remember this: very (too?!) quickly, at the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the European Union leaders (Mrs. Von der Leyen, at the head, president of the European Commission) “decided” to make numerous sanctions, and especially on double embargo concerning Russian gas and oil. This has been done by design.
They needed a pretext to impose the Green Agenda on the European citizens and by the end, the energy dictatorship.
Another thing, last spring, the French president in tv address to his fellow citizens: “we are entering a “war economy”, to defend “Western values” and therefore Ukraine ( indeed, it is a war, but from globalists vs european and american peoples, specifically). We are there.
Last thing: Switzerland, where I live, “diligently” applies the Davos’ agenda or “recommendations”; Here’s an article by Tyler Durden:
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/swiss-citizens-who-overheat-their-homes-winter-could-face-hefty-fines-nd-3-years-jail
In the U.S, the collapse of the the real economy gets more and more obvious to the general public; even the MSM is publishing some truths about the american economy.
Central bankers know exactly what they are doing, as you pointed out in an article a few years ago. Indeed.
Since 2008, the damage caused by the decisions of the political, financial and economic authorities to “save” the Western economic system is irreversible, we know it and we see it.
The only thing missing was a scapegoat: CV19 and Ukraine war are playing their role very well at the moment. Next scapegoat? A global cyber attack by early next year; in January?
P.s: I still believe that the Eurozone will collapse just before the US system.
The EU’s problems are of a magnitude that are beyond salvation.
This fall, to watch mainly the political, social and economic issues in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, UK.
Federal Bank is a private bank in the banksters hands,
Suicide bomber is an apt metaphor. What drives the man behind the curtain? Most, projecting themselves, would say it’s greed for money and power. Objectivists would say it’s altruism because they’re fixated on this and thinking threatens their dogma. The truth lies elsewhere. The man behind the curtain says what it is but most refuse to hear it. He talks of the Great Reset: to hurl the game board off the table. People are thinking “Reset” means something it doesn’t. What if the man behind the curtain isn’t interested in money, power or sacrifice? What if he’s interested in destruction solely for the sake of destruction? What if he’s driven by nihilism?
The man behind the curtain is the Federal Reserve.