DB Briefs: Undermining Bitcoin and the American Justice System / Desperate Bankers Damp Lending in China / Does a Clean Environment Preempt a Healthy

Undermining Bitcoin and the American Justice System

Bitcoin: FBI Admits To Engaging In Infiltration, Disruption and Dismantling of Competing Currencies ... In a March 18, 2011 press release regarding the Liberty Dollar case, the FBI admitted to waging a secret war against any private currency system that competes against the US Dollar. In the press release, the FBI equates the use of sound money to an act of domestic terrorism. The FBI states that it uses methods of infiltration and disruption against private citizens engaged in the use of voluntary currencies. – Libertarian News

Dominant Social Theme: The FBI is a good and patriotic organization.

Free-Market Analysis: The author of this article believes the FBI has declared war on Bitcoin, using the rationale enunciated in the Liberty Dollar Case. He writes, "I think this open admission by the FBI that it engages in acts of domestic terrorism against private currency systems bears a particular importance for users of the Bitcoin monetary system. If we look at the history of Bitcoin since it gained notoriety, we see a slew of hacking attacks against major exchanges that have indeed disrupted and undermined the currency system."

Regardless of the specifics regarding Bitcoin, there is no doubt that the FBI in particular is being increasingly used by the powers-that-be to cover up America's growing authoritarianism and the federal government's role in imposing it. In Columbine, more than 100 eyewitnesses saw numerous gunmen and bombers invade the school, but years later there still hasn't been a significant re-investigation. 9/11's problematic official story virtually begs for additional clarification, but the US's federal policing efforts won't be turned in that direction. The FBI top brass just announced that they would not bother to look for videos in their possession that might show the Oklahoma bombing was the work of more than one bomber.

There is a suspicion that such events might be labeled "false flag" if they were re-examined. Whether or not this is so, the lack of official zeal in following up on additional leads only provides people with yet more reasons to be cynical. Ultimately, this is not a stable situation. Post-Internet, too many people know that something is not right with American justice and federal policing. This will have significant ramifications over time.

Desperate Bankers Damp Lending in China

China Central Bank Moves in Secret to Curb Lending ... Unconfirmed Central-Bank Memo Changes Bank-Reserve Formula; Stark Contrast From West's Openness, Easing ... BEIJING – As policy makers from the U.S. and Europe gathered in Jackson Hole, Wyo., to discuss ways to revive a fragile global recovery, China's central bank was issuing a secret memo to further rein in lending in the world's second-largest economy. The tightening move by the People's Bank of China, which was reported Monday by the official Xinhua news agency, highlights two key points about China's economic management: how starkly it is diverging from that of other big economies – which continue to seek ways to pump money into the financial system – and how it remains shrouded in secrecy that some call unbefitting such an important global player. – Infowars

Dominant Social Theme: They know what they're doing and who is the West to question it?

Free-Market Analysis: We've been writing a lot about China lately – maybe because as with the EU, we believe that something may happen to the economy sooner rather than later. Obviously, top Chinese central bankers agree with us, because according to Xinhua, rates are being tightened again. Presumably this is because food prices remain very high, because real estate is all but unaffordable in major cities or even because China's serious problems in dealing with broad civic unrest haven't eased.

We don't believe that China's bankers are in charge of the economy anymore, or are able to "manage" it successfully. These days the ChiComs raise and lower rates with the desperation of those who are looking unsuccessfully for a magic key that will unlock perpetual prosperity. In fact, images of the bust that is to come must haunt every top level apparatchik. It may be staved off for a while but, in our view, come it will.

Does a Clean Environment Preempt a Healthy Economy?

Obama's proposed regs would cost billions annually ... President Obama told Speaker John A. Boehner in a letter Tuesday that his administration is considering seven regulations that would each cost the U.S. economy more than $1 billion per year, although he added that these rules are "merely proposed." All told, the seven proposed rules cited by Mr. Obama would cost companies at least $38 billion per year and could cost as much as $100 billion annually. "Before finalizing any of them, we will take account of public comments and concerns and give careful consideration to cost-saving possibilities and alternatives," Mr. Obama wrote to the Ohio Republican. – Washington Times

Dominant Social Theme: It is important to pass more laws to clean up the environment.

Free-Market Analysis: This is really an incredible story. With the US teetering on the edge of Hurricane Reality, President Barack Obama apparently wants to continue digging a hole from which the American economy may never emerge.

It is not enough that the administration recently loaded on an even more socialist health care system, or that its latest financial and accounting rules have further damped what little entrepreneurship was taking place. Now the administration is contemplating various regs that will further erode the ability of businesses to expand and thus begin to drive the economy upward.

The president listed four proposed Environmental Protection Agency rules and three in the Department of Transportation as having potential cost. An EPA regulation on air quality standards could cost between $19 billion and $90 billion per year.

The Obama administration has countered criticism by pointing out that President George Bush also enacted costly regulations during his administration. This is true, but it does not excuse what is going on. In fact, it would only tend to confirm that the leaders of both parties are engaged in the ongoing, wholesale destruction of the US economy and that both are two sides of a controlled conversation.

Only when the US is entirely weakened and its citizens virtually bankrupt will the powerful banking families of the world be able to proceed efficiently and quickly toward their goal of world government. Time and the indignation of US citizens will determine if their momentum can be halted.