Just like American politicans crying wolf, politicians around have world have a favorite word when the going gets tough.
No, it’s not “just” or “ask” like the northern Europeans did this week.
The safe word is “emergency”. And it’s how they steal your bank account, among other atrocities.
As Cypriots are standing twenty-deep in ATM lines to withdraw a meager 250 euros, the government and European Central Bank are debating the latest in a string of plans to open banks back up. It’s the third delay in the week.
Now they’re saying banks may stay closed even past next Tuesday. And even when they do open, they’ll impose capital controls so you can’t get your money.
After all, it’s an emergency.
With seven billion euros – and probably more – ready to be moved out of the banking system once it finally re-opens, European officials are demanding that capital controls be imposed to prevent the entire system from collapsing.
Why? Well, because of course, the Cypriot government doesn’t have 100,000 euros to insure every depositor with.
Long after the tragic events of 9/11, the effects of War on Terror on you continue on. Remember the color-coded terror chart? Did it ever change colors in the years it existed? Not really. In fact, in the UK, their terror “threat level” hasn’t much changed in years, either. Surprise, surprise.
As a result, you can’t be trusted to wear shoes at the airport. Can’t be trusted to go through security unmolested. And you certainly can’t be trusted to deposit $10,000 into your bank or open and then close your account. Sure, we’re trampling on your personal and economic freedoms, but it’s an emergency. Even twelve years later.
After the 1933 Reichstag fire, Hitler pushed the President to sign the Reichstag Fire Decree, “suspending” the Weimar Constitution. Funny how that lasted through the entire Third Reich. Hitler didn’t have to carve up or destroy the constitution, just “suspend” it.
But hey, it was an emergency.
From Argentina to the Soviet Union, governments have used “emergency” to trample on your freedoms, stop the free flow of your capital, and impose their will on you. As long as you believe what happened then won’t be happen again, they’ve got it made.
The American Banking Association is tripping over itself this week to remind US depositors that in case their bank does fail – and many have in recent years – that the government’s FDIC deposit insurance is “strong” has a sterling track record of paying back depositors.
I wouldn’t exactly classify having less than half of one percent of insured deposits as “strong”, but that’s just me. As long as you believe that Cyprus – with its own EU-mandated deposit insurance – is the outlier and only keeping its people without their money because its an “emergency”, then you’re good.
But what about the FDIC? Gerald Celente recently proposed on my radio show that if the American banking system were to sustain a big hit, the government would find something with the North Koreans to blame for the whole mess. And create… you guessed it. An emergency.
Funny how history tends to repeat itself.
