The economic pundits are out in full force this week discussing subprime lending’s imminent (if not present) collapse. I’ve heard ‘em on ABC, NPR, Fox, CNN – they’re everywhere, and some of them are smart enough to realize that the problem stems from America being a host to the disease known as the Federal Reserve (read: we’re not controlled so much by government as we are by a central bank).

I wanted to call your attention to one person in particular. Catherine Austin Fitts:

Catherine Austin Fitts offers a unique perspective on the global financial system and on the political economy. Her background includes: Wall Street: Managing Director and member of the Board, Dillon Read & Co. Inc.; Government: Assistant Secretary of Housing – Federal Housing Commissioner; Entrepreneur: President and founder of Hamilton Securities investment bank. Catherine has designed and closed over $25 billion of transactions and investments to-date and has led portfolio strategy for $300 billion of financial assets and liabilities.

Okay, credibility established – right? I hope you’re sitting down. This is part of what she shared last night on the radio:

Fitts spoke on black budgets—money used by the federal government which is not reported in their financial statements—and how they are used to fund (on a non-transparent basis) corporations performing secret military and intelligence functions. She said the people who control these ‘covert’ cash flows end up manipulating the ‘overt’ world.

She described how money can be laundered through publicly traded companies, using the European Union’s lawsuit against RJR Nabisco as a case study. Fitts explained stock ‘pump and dump’ schemes, pointing out that not only can stocks be pumped up and dumped but so can real estate, countries (Iraq), and even the planet. Fitts noted problems with the central banking warfare model, which she said helped make America successful but is not sustainable and no longer works. She also explained what she calls the ‘tapeworm economy,’ in which a small group of insiders centralize political and economic power to make money in a way that actually destroys wealth.

Fitts discussed the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which she said is being run as a “criminal enterprise.” According to Fitts, HUD reported $17 billion missing in fiscal 1998 as well as $59 billion in undocumented adjustments the following year. The HUD inspector general refused to produce financial statements, she said, noting that it is illegal to spend money that has not been appropriated by Congress. Fitts also talked about the last housing bubble, the current crisis in the housing and mortgage markets and how it was engineered.

I’m still trying to sift through Noam Chomsky’s latest: Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy. I’d imagine it’s right up Catherine’s alley, too. I’m sure the Ron Paul’ites will come out of the woodwork to state that he’s the only presidential candidate who wants to abolish the Fed – which may be true, but I’m more concerned about the other candidates who either (a) don’t have a clue, or (b) are a part of the problem.

[UPDATE: I was going to save this for a later post, but now's a good a time to link to it as any. Cameron Reilly had Noam on G'Day World a while ago, then had me on at a much later date to discuss similar matters. I returned the favor last night, although my video conference with Cam hasn't yet been posted.]

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