Category Archives: Finance

SUPERCLASS – Book Review

ClearNFO Rating: 2 / 5 Stars
SUPERCLASS: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making
by David Rothkopf  (March 3, 2009
)
Paperback 361 pages
Available at Amazon and other book resellers

Superclass by David Rothkoph On this review, I venture into the world of the establishment to read about the SUPERCLASS in the hope of uncovering some heretofore unknown pearl of wisdom or unexplored fact.  So …  how establishment is Mr. Rothkopf anyway?  Very, with favorable reviews from the likes of Time, The Economist and Joseph E. Stiglitz you can bet Rothkopf is a ‘made-man’ and would be invited to Davos and other elite gatherings.  He is part of the establishment for sure and it is unseemly  important to him that you understand this simple fact ad nauseam.  But more to the point, he is a member of the CFR (Council on Foreign Relations), ex-managing director of Henry A. Kissinger’s Kissinger Associates and was part of the Clinton Administration in 1993 as Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Policy and Development.

If you are looking for facts and new information on the truly elite, your time would be better spent with Carroll Quigley’s The Anglo-American Establishment or one of Anthony C. Sutton’s books than with Rothkopf’s ‘SUPERCLASS’. ‘SUPERCLASS’ in my view is akin to a pleasant vacation with Robin Leach of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.  David Rothkopf is a brilliant writer and very knowledgeable about rich and powerful  but unfortunately, he confuses the wealthy and powerful technocrats who are minding the garden, with the truly elite who control the technocrats.  How this is accomplished is brilliantly exposed in Quigley’s ‘Anglo-American Establishment’.

Lifestyles_of_the_Rich_&_FamousDespite Rothkopf’s obvious intelligence and his establishment credentials, it is clear to me that he has never had the benefit of reading any of Carroll Quigley’s excellent work documenting the real power brokers Quigley called the ‘network’; or if he has, has chosen not to communicate the real sources and methods of the network of control; rather, he seems dazzled by the rich and powerful CEOs and the kings, queens and dictators of the world, not realizing that Quigley’s network need neither money nor title to exert its power and influence as demonstrated by the Milner group, now almost extinct. So what we have with this book is a book not about the ‘Super-duper’ Superclass but a book about their technocrats who manage the estate for the real superclass.

I found this reader-review from Palo Alto on Amazon particularly insightful and common.  Because of Roghkopf’s need to belong to the power-elite, he seems to have missed the very point of his own book:

This book takes a LOT of time to say very little. In summary, here’s what the author takes several hundred pages to tell us:

a) The world is ruled by an informal group of about 6,000 people;
b) I [the author] am one of them! Aren’t I special?
c) I know who the others are—but I’m not going to tell you!
d) They all get together once each year in Davos;
e) Davos is quaint, and has good restaurants, but inadequate lodging; and,
f) Oh, did I forget to tell you? I’M one of the Davos world elite! I AM special!

Had I not read Quigley’s ‘Anglo-America Establishment’, I would likely be subject to the same limited view that we find in SUPERCLASS; that is, I would be without the ability to see past the CEO or Monarch into the real power structure they serve. I call this limited view, the Walled-Garden of History and Politics where the establishment players and the unwashed masses are allowed to play within the walls surrounding the garden as long as there is a tacit agreement to certain unexamined assumptions. The Walled-Garden’s walls are mostly invisible but retain their structure and are created from the assumptions we take for granted as well-established facts and thus most of us including David Rothkopf never take the time to reexamine these assumptions for consistency against Empirical evidence.  For example, there are many misstatements of fact:  J.P. Morgan and Jamie Diamond did not help rescue the financial markets in their day; rather they were both part of the problem and in J.P. Morgan’s case created the problem that he later received credit for solving; and the IMF is not about helping the poor and underdeveloped countries as Rothkopf would have us believe.   And to rescue the SUPERCLASS from all the conspiracy theorists, Rothkopf digs up the discredited Jewish straw man conspiracy by ridiculing the tin foil hat wearers for thinking that the Jews are responsible for the secret societies and hidden groups who really control the world. After all –Rothkopf reasons– Hitler exterminated quite a few of the Jews how silly is it to say then that the Jews are behind this hidden conspiracy? Of course I have never thought the Jews were behind Quigley’s network and no serious open –source investigator has either; so Rothkopf scores an empty point for the establishment. Though many in the original Milner network were Jews, not all were and their Jewishness had nothing to do with their position of power.  A better use of Rothkopf’s time and energy and his great facility with the English language would be to discover the real source and methods used by the ‘Anglo-American Establishment’ and then provide an update on their current intellectual progeny.

BACKCOVER: Each of them is one in a million. They number six thousand on a planet of six billion. They run our governments, our largest corporations, the powerhouses of international finance, the media, world religions, and, from the shadows, the world’s most dangerous criminal and terrorist organizations. They are the global superclass, and they are shaping the history of our time.

Today’s superclass has achieved unprecedented levels of wealth and power. They have globalized more rapidly than any other group. But do they have more in common with one another than with their own countrymen, as nationalist critics have argued? They control globalization more than anyone else. But has their influence fed the growing economic and social inequity that divides the world? What happens behind closeddoor meetings in Davos or aboard corporate jets at 41,000 feet? Conspiracy or collaboration? Deal-making or idle self-indulgence? What does the rise of Asia and Latin America mean for the conventional wisdom that shapes our destinies? Who sets the rules for a group that operates beyond national laws?

Drawn from scores of exclusive interviews and extensive original reporting, Superclass answers all of these questions and more. It draws back the curtain on a privileged society that most of us know little about, even though it profoundly affects our everyday lives. It is the first in-depth examination of the connections between the global communities of leaders who are at the helm of every major enterprise on the planet and control its greatest wealth. And it is an unprecedented examination of the trends within the superclass, which are likely to alter our politics, our institutions, and the shape of the world in which we live.

Who the International Aid Agencies Serve

by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | November 22, 2014

How International Aid Agencies really work 

  1. Country “X” is identified as being financially weak, yet has valuable assets like natural resources or has geopolitical value
  2. Country “X” is then targeted by the USAID, IMF & World Bank for loans.
  3. Representatives are sent into Country “X” to do studies to prove up (by exaggerated estimates) what this or that infrastructure will do for the economy of Country “X”.
  4. This inflated estimate for money is then included as part of a loan request to the bank.  This is the cover.
  5. Loan is committed
  6. Heads of State of Country “X” siphon off much of the money to private bank accounts
  7. Most of the work for the infrastructure improvements goes to well-connected multinational corporations not to local companies.
  8. Country “X” cannot pay loan back
  9. Bank offers additional money to help Country “X” if they will implement “austerity measures” which effectively puts the bankers in charge of running the country.
  10. Country “X”, still cannot make payments on loan.
  11. Bank takes control of assets and natural resources of Country “X”
  12. Bank sells assets, natural resources of Country “X” or provides monopolies to multinational corporations at pennies on the dollar, which still does not satisfy the debt.

NOTE: Much of this is coordinated with the help of the US, CIA, NATO and the EU.  If Country “X” will not go along with the loan, then Operation Gladio is implemented with the aid of NGOs such as NED (National Endowment for Democracy) to destabilize Country “X” for regime change.

STATED GOALS OF IMF, WORLD BANK & USAID:

The IMF is a self-described “organization of 188 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.”

The World Bank’s official goal is the reduction of poverty. According to its Articles of Agreement, all its decisions must be guided by a commitment to the promotion of foreign investment and international trade and to the facilitation of capital investment.

USAID has adopted as its mission statement “to partner to end extreme poverty and to promote resilient, democratic societies while advancing the security and prosperity of the United States.” USAID operates in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.

Read more here:

The Kerry-Abdullah Secret Deal

Folks, if you seek to understand the geopolitics at play and cut through the MSM fog, you must apprise yourself the benefit of articles like the one below.

The Kerry-Abdullah Secret Deal
Oil-Gas Pipeline War On Iran, Syria And Russia

By ​​​​F. William Engdahl
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40089.htm

The PNAC agenda: “New Pearl Harbor”

by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | October 18, 2014

After the fall of the Soviet Union on December 26, 1991, the “Military-Industrial Complex”  President Eisenhower warned American Citizens about was in search for a new enemy and a “New Pearl Harbor” in PNAC’s own words to sustain the flow of funds.
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PNAC’s Founder Dick Cheney

PNAC’s first public act was to release a “Statement of Principles” on June 3, 1997.  In this statement of principles, you will find the following statement . . .

Section V of Rebuilding America’s Defenses, entitled “Creating Tomorrow’s Dominant Force”, includes the sentence: “Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event––like a new Pearl Harbor”  [emphasis mine].

Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor_Japanese_planes_view
The Attack on Pearl Harbor from a Japanese plane view

On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, America got her “New Pearl Harbor” and her new enemy which happened to be funded and armed by the CIA.


President Eisenhower warns America of things to come

PNAC Signatories

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How it really works …

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by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | October 18, 2014

“Old John D. Rockefeller and his 19th century fellow-capitalists were convinced of one absolute truth: that no great monetary wealth could be accumulated under the impartial rules of a competitive laissez faire society. The only sure road to the acquisition of massive wealth was monopoly: drive out your competitors, reduce competition, eliminate laissez-faire, and above all get state protection for your industry through compliant politicians and government regulation. This last avenue yields a legal monopoly, and a legal monopoly always leads to wealth.

This robber baron schema is also, under different labels, the socialist plan. The difference between a corporate state monopoly and a socialist state monopoly is essentially only the identity of the group controlling the power structure. The essence of socialism is monopoly control by the state using hired planners and academic sponges. On the other hand, Rockefeller, Morgan, and their corporate friends aimed to acquire and control their monopoly and to maximize its profits through influence in the state political apparatus; this, while it still needs hired planners and academic sponges, is a discreet and far more subtle process than outright state ownership under socialism. Success for the Rockefeller gambit has depended particularly upon focusing public attention upon largely irrelevant and superficial historical creations, such as the myth of a struggle between capitalists and communists, and careful cultivation of political forces by big business. We call this phenomenon of corporate legal monopoly—market control acquired by using political influence—by the name of corporate socialism.”

Antony C. Sutton
Wall Street and FDR
(Page 72, THE ORIGINS OF CORPORATE SOCIALISM)

 

Anglo-American Establishment

by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | Sep 02, 2014


Tha Anglo American Establishment by Carroll Quigley

Anglo-American Establishmen
by Carroll Quigley (June 1, 1981) Paperback: 354 pages

One of the most important books I have ever read.  There is no review that can do justice to the sheer magnitude and gravitas of this book.  It unashamedly and unabashedly builds fact upon fact, detail upon detail in a raw presentation of the names, dates, relationships, methods, sources, strategies and tactics of the predominant powers who were behind the scenes creating the world we live in today.  If geopolitics appears confusing to you today, many of the missing pieces of the puzzle will fall nicely into place after a reading of this book.  You may not have known or heard of many of the people in this book, but these were the men pulling the strings behind the historical personalities historians prattle about and study today.   Moving continents, people and resources like pieces on a chess board;  controlling heads of state; starting wars or making peace when convenient; making deals with Hitler, Stalin and others … these methods, organizations, societies and minds are the foundation of today’s world.   Within this book you will discover the importance of Cecil Rhodes and the  Rhodes Scholarship and what it means today.  You will discover the origins of the CFR and its older sister the RIIA and much, much more.

This amazing book by historian and insider Carroll Quigley provides an eye-opening front-row seat to the secret machinations of power. Quigley is such a through, detailed researcher providing excellent documentation, that he has a reputation of having few claims or statements of fact disputed. After reading this book, what historian would dare put in the detail or the effort to challenge such precise accounting? What an amazing trip through the many relationships of the very secret inner circle of the Milner Group and the Cecil Bloc with their many levers of power and propaganda and their interrelationships: Oxford Colleges of Balliol College; All Souls College; New College and others; the second ring, the Kindergarten, Cecil Rhodes, the Round Table, the Times, RIIA (Royal Institute of International Affairs) which is the British version of the CFR, the CFR, Rhodes Scholarship, Rockefeller Foundation,  J.P. Morgan, Lord Rothschild, the Rhodes Trust, the Beit Trust, the Carnegie Trust, etc, etc, etc ….

The immense power of the Milner group started by Toynbee and Milner lasted from 1875 to 1945 and is still in existence today but lost most of its political power after some very bad decisions in India and their ill-fated support of Hitler in the run up to WWII. Nonetheless, there are real gems in this reading that can be had nowhere else like a true accounting of Hitler’s real power leading to WWII or the lies and deception used to terrorize the British public. I think the best information for me is an understanding of the roots of today’s power centers which gained their start with the Milner group and that they have yet to give up the dream of a one world government. Other benefits include the methods and techniques of how real power is wielded in private behind closed doors. The politicians we see in the media are there for show and to communicate what has already been decided by those who have the real power and know how to use it.

More on this topic here:

History… Connected: Cecil Rhodes and the Anglo American Establishment redux

See also:

Tragedy and Hope 101 by Joseph Plummer

Interesting Labor Day thoughts from PCR:

 Paul Craig Roberts

Labor’s Demise Is America’s Demise
Thoughts for Labor Day by Paul Craig Roberts

The labor unions provided the Democratic Party with a financial base in labor that served as a countervailing power to the Republican base in manufacturing and finance.

Whether it was a plot or unintended consequence, jobs offshoring wrecked the industrial and manufacturing unions and destroyed the Democrats’ independent financial base.

The two-party system that had maintained a reasonable balance was transformed into a one-party system in which both parties were dependent on the same monied interests and thus answered to the same masters.

http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/08/31/labors-demise-americas-demise-paul-craig-roberts/

Book Review: Tragedy and Hope 101

Tragedy and Hope 101: The Illusion of Justice, Freedom, and Democracy by Joseph Plummer, Introduction by G. Edward Griffin (Apr 24, 2014)

T and Hope 101 front-RCLEARNFO Rating: 5 / 5 Stars
203 Pages (Paperback)
Available at Amazon and other book re-sellers
Also available at no charge from Mr. Plumber’s web site HERE

Don’t have time to read 1,300 pages?  Joseph Plummer’s ‘Tragedy & Hope 101’ is for you.

There is no question in my mind that one of the seminal books that authoritatively exposes the predominant power structure’s manipulation of world events is Carrol Quiqley’s ‘Tragedy & Hope’; but it is over 1,300 pages of incredible detail, which most of us don’t have time to read.  This is why ‘Tragedy & Hope 101’ is such an important book.

Without an understanding of statecraft, it’s nearly impossible to make sense of the chaos in our world. Carroll Quiqley’s books are the on-ramp to this understanding.

To give you a taste of what you can expect from Plummer’s new book, here is a short excerpt from the Introduction to ‘Tragedy & Hope 101’ by G. Edward Griffin . . .

“Knowledge of who Carroll Quigley was and the deceptions that he revealed is essential for understanding the real world of today. His close relationship with the Network and his approval of its aims made it possible to provide an insider’s analysis of the minds and methods of the global elite. Without this knowledge, the actions of those who dominate the U.S. government and the Western world do not make sense. With it, everything falls into place.

Be forewarned. The journey you are about to begin is not for the faint hearted. If you are comfortable with the illusions that currently pass for political reality, this book is not for you because, once you discover how the deceivers perform their magic, the comfort of ignorance is no longer possible. Once the bell is rung, it cannot be unrung.

The bell starts ringing on the next page.”

ClearNFO gives ‘Tragedy & Hope 101’ 5 out of 5 stars for a well researched, written and organized book that does more than summarize Quigley’s ‘Tragedy and Hope’; it makes this important knowledge accessible to the average person.  ClearNFO recommends this book as a primer for Quigley’s T&H and perhaps more importantly as a companion for Quigley’s ‘Ango-American Establishment’.

As a Bonus Mr. Plummer is offering a 90 percent reduced “excerpts” version of ‘The Anglo-American Establishment’ and ‘Tragedy and Hope’, where you can find a few hundred pages from the two books here: Tragedy & Hope 101 – Bonus Material

Additional Information on this topic:
The Quigley Formula – G. Edward Griffin lecture

From The Naked Capitalist, Skousen’s review of Carroll Quigley’s Tragedy and Hope:

“Power from any source tends to create an appetite for additional power… It was almost inevitable that the super-rich would one day aspire to control not only their own wealth, but the wealth of the whole world.” “As I see it, the great contribution which Dr. Carroll Quigley unintentionally made[…]was to help the ordinary American people realize the utter contempt which the network leaders have for ordinary people. Human beings are treated en masse as helpless puppets on an international chess board where giants of economic and political power subject them to wars, revolution, civil strife, confiscation, subversion, indoctrination, manipulation and outright deception as it suits their fancy and their concocted schemes for world domination.”

MORE NFO: Excellent commentary and summary of Carroll Quigley’s Tragedy & Hope can be found at the link below. T&H is perhaps the most important book of the 20th Century. Don”t neglect Quigley’s ‘Anglo-American Establishment’. Excellent reading list below in the show notes including critical books by Antony C Sutton. An understanding of the contents of these books will make current national and geopolitics crystal clear. All these books are sourced and based on documented fact that today’s educational systems have been rigged to obfuscate.

Peace Revolution episode 018: (Podcast)

A History of the World in Our Time / Origins of Tragedy and Hope  (Duration: 1:09:40)

What Capitalism is not

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by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | August 22, 2014

Just a reminder … capitalism is NOT crony capitalism or corporatism. Crony capitalism and corporatism are in fact a form of fascism not capitalism.  For capitalism to operate effectively, there must be free markets. When corporations cozy up to the government to get special favors or pass laws to limit their competition, you have a merger of corporations and the state which is fascism. Even though central banks are corporations and privately held, they have achieved the ultimate merger with the state. They have inserted a straw directly into the blood of their host and can drink freely engorging themselves while the body suffers.

Asset-Stripping Ukraine

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by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | August 20, 2014

Let the ass-raping begin … anyone who has studied the history of the IMF fully realizes and can easily recognize the IMF’s tried and true method of operation when they see it. BTW, the IMF is a tool of the ‘Predominant Power Structure’ which controls the US State Department, Geopolitics and media. Our friendly bankers at the IMF come bearing false gifts of good tidings & money to help needy countries; only to load them up with massive debts that they can never, ever repay. Once they can’t pay back the first traunch, the fun begins. To get more money to help them out of an even more desperate situation, the host country –in this case Ukraine– must then turn over the control of their country to their new money masters at the IMF. History shows that a large portion of the funds go to the private Swiss bank accounts of the heads of state of the host country and rarely to the stated purpose: people or infrastructure. Bottom line is that the bankers create money out of nothing and then use this money as a tool to take control and then asset-strip third-world countries across the globe. This my friends is how the sausage of US Foreign policy is really made. If you don’t have a clue, get a clue. If you can’t afford a clue rent one from me. Do your homework and quit falling for every 10 second headline spewing from the mouths of the gatekeeper press.

Additional Information  …

Who the International Aid Agencies Serve
BFP Exclusive- “The EU and IMF Rape of Ukraine Agriculture”

William Engdahl | August 20, 2014 Ukraine’s rogue regime lifts the ban on sale of farm land and to open its rich agriculture to Monsanto, DuPont & the GMO agribusiness cartel.
Ukraine Crisis Continues — Paul Craig Roberts | August 20, 2014
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (Book) — December 27, 2005 by John Perkins


John Perkins “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”Extended Interview 2008