The Federal Reserve is going to eat you...or is it? 1 of 2

[diomedes39]

All hail the mighty prophet!!!

[tuberesponder]

1)There are no "MONEY CAPITALISTS"

It's the OTHER way around, BANKS needed to SUBJUGATE "Productive CAPITAL", they could NOT do so with MONEY, so they did so with LEGAL TENDER status of "NOTES" and CREDITS.

People didn't want what the banks had: CREDIT. They wanted real PRODUCTS. So the bankers wrote the Federal Reserve Act (with a BOARD OF DIRECTORS, like every other corporation) to give BANKNOTES and CREDIT a "LEGAL TENDER" status

LABOR creates PRODUCTS they expect other people to VALUE.

[tuberesponder]

BAH, you don't even have the conspiracy correct.

The Federal Reserve cartel are not "Capitalists" they are CREDITORS (not "money lenders" either, since there is no money, only LEGAL TENDER and CREDIT.)

What's MORE the Federal Reserve Cartel is ANTI-COMPETITION.

[RedAntLiberationArmy]

I wouldn't say that the Federal Reserve is anti-competition, at least not without showing why. I would say they are to an extent because, 1) it has no competition, which leads to 2) it operates like a monopoly. But, I will say they will competitively operate under certain circumstances, given that the federal reserve is a privately-run bank. So it has to thrive off of some competitive means, at least originally.

[tuberesponder]

The original banks that would become the Federal Reserve District Banks, were private and competitive. However, they abandoned competition in favor of a cooperative cartel, and given special monopoly powers by the government. It exists to be a monopolistic cartel, with government license to commit fraud. Having agreeable cooperation is not bad, however, their activity is not limited to "maintaining the money supply" but also in the distribution of money, and the direction of other industries

[Ilikenuman]

Karl Marx was in the pay of the Rothschilds!!!1 He is freemason/reptilian/tare!!!!!

Lol, cant get enough of these Alex Jones, GEERUP nutjobs

[blaziermissy]

A monetary system basically pits us against each other as workers competing with each other for jobs just to meet our primary needs.

Profit is the bottom line for big business...so the end result of profit where big business goes to Africa for cheap labor/resources and exploits those countries, thus third world status and citizenry of poverty. Billions are starving for their inability to pay..

Capitalism is a FAILURE. All monetary systems are outdated. There are solutions.

[blaziermissy]

Great video.

[blaziermissy]

You should make a video about how money capitalist and productive capitalist collude. It's not a conspiracy (spare us of that media garbage)but a fact and end result of ANY monetary system. This colluding is inevitable, for greed and opportunity to collude is there.

That would make for a very interesting subject matter...in detail......for the middle class and poverty stricken to watch.

[yoransom42]

Simple thought, due to the federal reserve system the wealth of the lower class is melted away. They have no ability to retain savings.

[TheLeftLibertarian]

I would actually be scared to post this video. The whole conspiracy people are really getting out of control on YouTube.

[brendanmcooney]

yes they are. But they also raise good concerns sometimes. Obviously neoliberal ideology cannot answer their questions... questions like: why does the neoliberal ideology of freedom result in more coercive states? What is the role of banking, money and credit in market exchange? Is Hillary Clinton really a shape-shifting lizardman?

Not enough people are creating adequate answers to these questions, at least not in accessible formats. That is why I began this project.

[Questfortruth86]

1:Hume on trade cycles:Assume the gold reserve of nation X was at 1000 ounces, but they expanded credit to 2500, this is an increase of the M2 by 1,500, which is permissible as long as there is no run on the banks. This in turn leads to a general and relative increase in the price level of Xs goods as well as an increase in the overall wage levels. But this makes Xs goods more expensive on the foreign markets, while making foreign products cheaper; leading to a major trade deficit. This trade

[Questfortruth86]

2:deficit leads to a major outflow of gold reserves to foreign countries, further reducing the domestic gold reserves. The banks continue to extend credit upon this dwindling gold reserve, further lowering their liquidity, and perpetuating the boom. Once the banks are worried about a run and their position, they must stop, leading to a complete collapse and reversal of the boom. This causes spiraling deflation, and corrects country Xs balance of payments, as their products become more cheap.

[fattymc20]

I see, privatize profits of banks, and socialize the losses of banks. Thats a great deal for taxpayers.

[hawksstock]

but when the money is not tied to anything it's all fiat.

[brendanmcooney]

it's also credit money. fiat describes a political relation but not really an economic relation- credit money can have a relation to real value or it can't depending on the ability of the economy to produce real value through goods in services in proportion to the amount of credit money created.

[Questfortruth86]

Yes, fiat currency is money which is absent of all intrinsic value.The problem with fiat currencies is that there is nothing preventing the government, and central banks from inflating the money supply. You're video is entertaining and all, but you don't deal with economic monetary theory, or business cycle theory. The FED acts as the lender of last resort, allowing banks to engage in credit expansion, pushing the market rate of interest below the natural rate, disconnecting prices-interest rate

[juliaisafilmbuff123]

@brendanmcooney Isn't gold technically a fiat currency as well?

[RevolutionaryJam]

waht about the fact that under the current legislation banks are allowed to lend time 9 (sometimes more) times as much money as you lodge with them

[brendanmcooney]

because there is so much hype about that on the internet I decided there was no use making another video about that. There are hundreds of people on youtube all pissed about fractional reserve banking and they all watch each others' videos and then make their own citing each other, in this self-referencing libertarian feedback loop. I figured there was no point in adding to that. Instead I wanted to provide a wider context for the role of banking in a capitalist society.

[RevolutionaryJam]

fair enough

[jbryant13]

Fractional reserve banking is the principal modern usury - not interest. The delegation of the money creation power from governments to private banks is carefully hidden, deliberately complicated and esoteric, and generates far more wealth concentration than even interest itself does.

[steblizz]

why don't we stop using money??...I'll do it every monday...the illuminati will die

[lorax2013]

Some good points but overall I feel this vid muddles the issue. Also, there is no reason to associate criticism of the Fed with aliens, etc. and no reason to flash up Ron Paul with conspiracy theorists. IMO you fail to stress the main point - banks create money out of thin air. As long as they can do this and we can't, the bankers will ultimately parasitize and rule us. There is nothing wrong with lending money, just a problem with allowing private individuals to create their own fiat currency.

[brendanmcooney]

The point of the video and others about money, whether or not I succeed in making this clear, is that credit creation is an essential part of capitalist society and that the contradictions in the money form which a central bank is supposed to resolve are a result of much deeper contradictions fundamental contradictions in the measurement and exchange of value in a capitalist society. The creation of money out of thin air is a part of a much larger context some of which I provide here.

[itstakentoo]

Saying it does not legitimize the FED does not make it true. My description of the FED is correct yours is mumbo jumbo designed by the FED to cloud the issue. The FED bankers invented the "science" of economics and bribed ALL of the college's to teach it. They also started several schools when in the begining no school wanted to teach their bullshit.

Your videos suck

[itstakentoo]

All the stupid crap about the lizard men,the NWO, and other stupid shit is designed to marginalize anyone who figures out what is really going on. The fact that you include it and not the loans the FED banks loan the corps they own tells me you not intellectually honest. Economists are some of the ugliest greediest people. The ones who are not are just dumb for falling for the scheme. Shame on you for trying to legitmize these scum.

[brendanmcooney]

this video is not meant to "legitimize" the FED. I am merely attempting to broaden the critique to include a broader critique of capitalism.

[itstakentoo]

Here is a much better description of the FED

A bunh of scum bankers who loan fiat money to the corporations they own so the corporations can buy commodities before the inflation caused by the fiat money takes effect. They then wait for the inevitable inflation before selling the commodities. By doing this they have diminished our savings. The whole purpose of economics is to seperate wealth from the worker and give it lazy scummy greedy bankers. Your explanation just muddies this truth.

[comradepinko]

Since most people are actually in debt wouldn't it be beneficial for inflation to occur for a large number of people? At least assuming they get wage increases. And if your general theory is correct wouldn't we see near constant inflation instead of the bursts of inflation that we are seeing now following many years of stable currency?

[itstakentoo]

Look at any long term inflation graph. If that is not near constant I don't know is

Bill Clinton ran surpluses and did not allow the FED to create as much money. On any inflation graph you can clearly see inflation go down a little in Clintons 2nd term. Of course it skyrockets back up after Bush.

Also it is now happening exponentially. They will need to double the money supply in shorter and shorter timespans from now on.

I think its now a toss up between defaulting or inflating the $

[comradepinko]

Defaulting is not an option.

[Socialgreenman]

Question: If in a socialist society labor time electronic labor credits (vouchers) were used instead of money, would not the labor units measure the socially necessary labor time of production? I understand labor would get their full value and exchange them for commodities at the store and the credits cease to exist after transaction. Of course a sale tax on labor time would pay for health care, education and other social services. Why is this considered Utopian?

[seigneurvoland666]

im glad you brought this one up

[nbm34]

Brilliant Brendon ANOTHER facinating and well presented vid. I like the cartoon imagery as well. You are teaching very complexed and importants subjects in political economy in a interestigg format and somehow you have a gift of lecture that keeps the mind engaged, a rare talent for many academics like you.

Please keep up the good work. going to the rest of your vids now.

Best wishes to you . glad to see your are looking well.

[MariborchanX]

Amazing videos!

btw. the RSS feed on your blog doesn't work. It just shows "welcome to capitalism" and it doesn't update for your new articles. Can that be fixed? I'm used to follow blogs with RSS feeds and I'm probably not the only one, so that would be a nice addition to your website.

[brendanmcooney]

thanks for the alert. I must confess i don't even know what an RSS feed is. I will put this on my list of things to "get hip to" this week. In general, my blog probably needs some editing... hmmm... I'll look into it.

[911truthnc]

Wait a second. You just replied and say you did not refer the FED as being an agency. BS at :30 you refer it is as an "agency". Implication of a federal agency. What is the bullshit about reptilian illuminati? You are spreading propaganda SIR!

[brendanmcooney]

go look up the word "agency". You are digging yourself a hole. Please don't ask me to help dig you out.

[divinejudge1]

Indeed money is debt or debt is "monetized".

You say it with a simplicity that the common person can understand. KUDOS.

[brendanmcooney]

Well, I don't think money is only debt.... but well... check out my video "what the hell is money". That's says some of it.

[TheBigHo111]

I love this presentation! *****