Hello folks,

Just to let you know that I will no longer be maintaining this profile which means that i'll no longer be posting A View From Space. I know a lot of you are loving the show but fear not for there are other ways to get the show.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/garythespaceman/files/

You can get the latest shows from that link and also many past shows BUT you do have to join the group, which is no bother really.

For those of you who are familier with torrents, you can also get the show from Conspiracy Central.


My reasons for leaving are that I have just recently found out that I am going to be a dad and also that I will somewhat soonish be getting married so obviously these things are priority and i'll no longer be able to afford the internet.

Anyway, take care and i'll see you on the front lines when it hits the fan!

Adios

-Extreme Radio for Extreme Times-


A View from Space w/ Gary Bell aka The Spaceman

Gary Bell has been kicked off radio stations for airing the information on
his show. The Spaceman or Space, talks mostly about history, but woven
with a Biblical and a conspiratorial view, he involves his audience in the show to
depths others only aspire to.

www.640toronto.com/station/station_schedule.cfm

DOWNLOAD HERE

This week Spaceman talks about the Great Depression, Montagu Norman, the Federal Reserve, fiat money, gold, the Bank for International Settlements, inflation/deflation, the train wreck financial crisis and many more related topics.

Enjoy!

Contact the Spaceman:
spaceman@640toronto.com

moneynews.com


By: Gene J. Koprowski

A new economic world order is emerging and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may be at the center of global policymaking as a kind of mega-central bank which would "manage" all economies, according to a report in The Washington Post.

President Obama and other G-20 leaders recently empowered the IMF to inject liquidity into global markets in a way once limited to major central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The radically transformed IMF — which was largely an advisory body in recent years — is now coming together through internal IMF documents, interviews, and think-tank reports.

Finance ministers from major nations are going to finalize the IMF's new powers this weekend when they confer in Washington for the fund's assembly.

The changes may take months, even years to be enacted. But, according to The Washington Post, the IMF is all almost certain to take a central role in managing the world economy.

Accordingly, Washington is poised to become the power center for global financial policy, much as the United Nations has long made New York the world center for diplomacy.

"The IMF is changing, and with it, there will be a sea change in the way the world economy is run," said C. Fred Bergsten, director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and a former Clinton administration insider.

"Their role will dramatically shift. You're talking about monitoring fiscal stimulus, moving toward tighter regulations for financial institutions. You're talking about global economic management in a way we have never seen."

Created after World War II to maintain stability in global currency markets, the IMF later became known as the lender of last resort for nations in crisis, particularly as financial fires raced across Asia and Latin America in the 1990s.

"The fund is supposed to take on a more regulatory role, holding accountable even wealthy countries," Moshin Khan, the IMF's former Middle East and Central Asia director, told The Washington Post.

This kind of government interventionism is exactly what got the U.S. and the global economy into trouble, critics note.

"The conventional wisdom blames our plight on an over-reliance on the free market, on too much deregulation. The truth is exactly the opposite," writes Peter Lewin, a professor of finance and managerial economics in the University of Texas at Dallas School of Management, in an article in The Freeman, a free market economics journal.

"The current debacle is the result of multiple overreaching government regulations and interventions. At the very base of the problem is the Federal Reserve, which has attempted to fine-tune the economy and guide it delicately through ups and downs," Lewin writes.

Sydney Morning Herald

Consumers are increasingly shunning credit cards and using debit cards instead to pay for purchases as they err on the side of financial responsibility because of the economic downturn, MasterCard Australia says.

MasterCard Australia executive vice-president, Australasia, Eddie Grobler said the company was noticing a change in the way consumers chose to pay for items.

"We've seen a change in terms of behaviour," Mr Grobler told AAP after an address at the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia on Wednesday.

Unlike a credit card where the user goes into debt after a purchase, debit cards can only operate if there is sufficient funds in the card account to finance a purchase.

"There is a slowdown in credit card usage but we've also witnessed an increase in usage of our debit card products," Mr Grobler said.

"It seems to me the consumer is more comfortable to access (their) own funds now."

Mr Grobler said Australia would eventually become a cashless society, with all purchases being made by card.

"We are currently still a cash-dominated society, where 70 per cent of all payments in the retail environment are done by cash.

"Over a period of time we will move to become a less cash-based society and eventually, over time, to a cashless society."

Mr Grobler said the payment systems of the future would include products such as MasterCard PayPass and Prepaid MasterCard.

PayPass is a "contact-less" way to pay for small purchases where the credit card is tapped against a reader at the checkout.

The card has a built-in chip and antenna technology that communicates with the terminal and does not require a signature or personal identification number.

Mr Grobler said its prepaid cards were used in sectors such as the airline industry and among charities, and were becoming increasingly popular.

"Airlines use prepaid cards to compensate their customers for lost baggage or to give their flight crews an allowance that is accepted in any country."

He said charities were increasingly using prepaid cards.

"Charities are able to issue prepaid cards on the spot to victims of natural disasters, for example, who have no access to their bank accounts."

Ian Parker-Joseph

For those who still believe that the Credit Crunch, the Global meltdown downturn
recession and the drive towards Global governance is unique and
unplanned, just get out those history books, because we have been here
before.....

Those Who Are Ignorant of Cartoons...

Jim Myers passes along the following which is apparently an actual 1934 political cartoon:

Thanks to Bob Murphy.


And we all know where 1934 led to, directly into 1939.....especially in Europe.

People followed like sheep then, and people are following like sheep now, most of them.

However, there is an economic strategy
that can get us out of this mess, if enough people will support it. You
see, Capitalism only works properly when you use Capital, not Credit.
Whilst the economy is credit/debt based with central government control
you only have one way to go, and that's down, with ever more credit,
ever more mountains of debt.

Switching our economy from a
Savings based economy to a credit/debt based one was essential for this
centralised planning to work, making every one of us a slave to
taxation, currently £40,000 worth of debt from the moment you are born.
Is that what you want for your children? We need to reverse that tide.

So no matter what Brown says, It is CREDITISM that has failed, not Capitalism.

Huliq News

In a press conference after the plenary session the British PM Gordon Brown read the communique of the G-20 leaders where the heads of the states have agreed to make six pledges to improve the world economy and emerge a "new world order."

Brown says that the world leaders have pledged to take global actions together and that a consensus is reached. One trillion dollars will be made available through the International Monetary Fund to boost the world economy

G-20 will take essential actions to rebuild confidence and trust in the financial system. There are no quick fixes, but the leaders pledge to act together to work things out.

The leaders will regulate credit rating agencies so they provide better pictures of economies and companies around the world helping investors to make wiser decisions. The leaders will end tax heavens and will bring end to banking secrecy.

Banking secrecy must come to end, says Gordon Brown. Tough standards and sanctions will be taken against those who don't come to light in the future.

IMF and the world bank will have a major role to play in the new world order and in the rebuilding of the world economies. IMF will provide the early warning mechanisms in the future.

G-20 leaders have agreed to implement new rules on executive pay and bonuses. The countries will encourage corporate responsibility.

Cleaning the Banks

G-20 takes action toward cleaning the banks and make them to act more responsibly.

G-20 pledges to restore global growth and hasten recovery to combat unemployment. These actions will create confidence. IMF is called to monitor their progress and warn when needed.

Leaders pledge to stengthen the independence of international financial and economic institutions. The pledge also includes giving emerging markets and developing markets greater responsibilies. The heads of the international institutions should be named based on merit.

The G-20 leaders pledge to kick start the international trade. Successful and growing international trade will boost global economy substantially. 250 billion will be provided in the next 2 years to aid this this goal. However, it was not clear if it will be in dollars or British Pounds.

The G-20 leaders pledge to make this global recovery fair and sustainable. There will be no walking away from the world's poorest. 50 billion will go to the poorest countries. Again from PM's speech it was not clear in what currency.

G-20 decided to meet later this year to measure the progress. The venue is not clear yet, but will be announced within few days. Today's decisions will not immediately solve the crisis, but the process has begun and this is a start.

The most important thing is that the largest countries in the world have agreed on a plan to aid the global economy. This G-20 will provide the biggest increase in resources in the history of the international institutions.

Gordon Brown made a very important announcement noting that "I think a New World order is emerging." The leaders expect it to be more sustainable and more open and more fairer global society.

In regard to the question about the international currency Brown said "we are reviewing the future of IM and WB and their role in the future. Issues about international currencies have not lead to detailed reports and proposals. Yes we will look at any proposal that comes forward. Right now the goal is to build confidence and recover."

Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — China is calling for a new global currency to replace the dominant dollar, showing a growing assertiveness on revamping the world economy ahead of next week's London summit on the financial crisis.

The surprise proposal by Beijing's central bank governor reflects unease about its vast holdings of U.S. government bonds and adds to Chinese pressure to overhaul a global financial system dominated by the dollar and Western governments. Both the United States and the European Union brushed off the idea.

The world economic crisis shows the "inherent vulnerabilities and systemic risks in the existing international monetary system," Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan said in an essay released Monday by the bank. He recommended creating a currency made up a basket of global currencies and controlled by the International Monetary Fund and said it would help "to achieve the objective of safeguarding global economic and financial stability."

Zhou did not mention the dollar by name. But in an unusual step, the essay was published in both Chinese and English, making clear it was meant for a foreign audience.

China has long been uneasy about relying on the dollar for the bulk of its trade and to store foreign reserves. Premier Wen Jiabao publicly appealed to Washington this month to avoid any response to the crisis that might weaken the dollar and the value of Beijing's estimated $1 trillion in Treasuries and other U.S. government debt.

For decades, the dollar has been the world's most widely used currency. Many governments hold a large portion of their reserves in dollars. Crude oil and many commodities are priced in dollars. Business deals around the world are done in dollars.

But the financial crisis has highlighted how America's economic problems — and by extension the dollar — can wreak havoc on nations around the world. China is in a bind. To keep the value of its currency steady — some say undervalued — the Chinese government has to recycle its huge trade surpluses, and the biggest, most liquid option for investing them is U.S. government debt.

To better insulate countries from the ills of one country or one currency, Zhou said the IMF should create a "reserve currency" based on shares in the body held by its 185 member nations, known as special drawing rights, or SDRs.

He said it also should be used for trade, pricing commodities and accounting, not just government finance.

In Washington, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner both rejected China's call for a global alternative to the U.S. dollar's role as the international reserve currency.

And the European Union's top economy official said the dollar's role as the international reserve currency is secure despite China's proposal.

"Everybody agrees also that the present world reserve currency, the dollar, is there and will continue to be there for a long period of time," EU Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said Tuesday after a meeting of the European Commission.

Zhou also called for changing how SDRs are valued. Currently, they are based on the value of four currencies — the dollar, euro, yen and British pound. "The basket of currencies forming the basis for SDR valuation should be expanded to include currencies of all major economies," he wrote.

Beijing has been unusually bold in recent months in expressing concern about Washington's financial management and pushing for global economic changes. That reflects both its relative financial health and growing concern that increased globalization means missteps abroad could harm its own economy.

Zhou's comments are also part of China's longstanding push to reform the IMF, World Bank and global financial system to give greater voice to China and other developing economies — another theme that will be heard from China, Brazil, Russia and India at the summit of Group of 20 major economies next week.

"Overdue reforms should give proper representation to and increase the say of the emerging and developing economies," Yi Xianrong, a researcher with the Institute of Economics and Finances at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think-tank, wrote in the government newspaper China Daily.

"Proper representation and a bigger voice for the developing countries are the need of the hour. For instance, being the world's third-largest economy and the largest foreign reserves holder, China should get its due place in the monetary body."

Another idea Yi raised was that the U.S. and Europe should give up their traditional privileges of appointing the heads of the World Bank and the IMF.

The idea of a creating a new global reserve currency isn't new. But analysts say the proposal isn't likely to gain much traction because it faces major obstacles. It would require acceptance from nations that have long used the dollar and hold huge stockpiles of the U.S. currency.

"There has been for decades talk about creating an international reserve currency and it has never really progressed," said Michael Pettis, a finance professor at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management.

Managing such a currency would require balancing the contradictory needs of countries with high and low growth or with trade surpluses or deficits, Pettis said. He said the 16 European nations that use the euro have faced "huge difficulties" in managing monetary policy even though their economies are similar.

"It's hard for me to imagine how it's going to be easier for the world to have a common currency for trade," he said.

The Economic Times

An expert UN commission headed Joseph Stiglitz has recommended that a new global super body called the Global Economic Council be set up to
replace the G20, under the aegis of the UN, with wider powers to tackle global issues and independent of the security council.

Key recommendations of the expert panel argue that the new body should include about 20 to 25 members, and should not be subject to the veto powers of the developed nations.

The panel has also called for a reserve system that would provide support to developing countries on an ongoing basis, and set aside up to 1% of their fiscal stimulus plans to spend in developing countries.

Meanwhile, the Chinese leadership has come out with its idea of a new global monetary system, calling for an expansion in the role and use of SDRs (special drawing rights) to replace the dollar as the world’s main reserve currency.

The SDR, a super soverign reserve asset created by the IMF is currently limited by the rules on its allocation and scope. The governor of the People’s Bank of China, the Chinese central bank, in a speech called for an international reserve currency that is disconnected from individual nations.

China, it is known, has long been unhappy about the volatitility of the dollar, and is expected to press its case strongly in future global forums.