Goldman Sachs- Cheney: A conspiracy theory (off topic)

In conspiracy theory mode here: Goldman Sachs and Mr. Paulson conspired with Mr. Cheney and oil-interests to game the financial regulatory regimes for purposes consistent with the Project for the New American Century.

In this blog over the past year, I’ve marveled about poseurs in high positions (here are posts under the category “greed”).   Let’s review the premise: Corporate Machiavellian poseurs are basically incompetent, and they usually go down in flames. People may say, “No, Swivelchair, these guys always get away with it,” but I don’t think that’s the case in this day of instant mass communication. They don’t have propaganda control anymore. And, we’ve now seen that about 1/3 of the industrial world economy is based on “bigger fool theory” . (Briefly, bigger fool theory or greater fool theory is the premise for investing based on a profitable exit by selling the investment at a higher price to someone else — the bigger fool. ) The current grand, sweeping failure in the economic systems, it is truly a thing to behold. A horrible “touched by evil” thing to behold.

Now let’s put on our aluminum hats -  here’s where the conspiracy theory comes in: GS conspired with the US gov’t in a ginormous power grab for the world’s wealth and oil.

Now to tee up the conspiracy theory with some news:

In  2004, Goldman, along with other major investment banks, went down I-95 to the Securities and exchange Commission and asked Mr. Cox, the boss, if they could please lift the capital requirments for large investment banks. Capital requirements are a useful thing where you don’t know how your leveraged positions are going to pan out. Keep enough to pay your gambling debts, especially where it’s other people’s money.  “Sure,” said Mr. Cox.

But even before that (oversimplified), Goldman was asking the government nicely if it could be exempt from the rules everyone else had to live with. In a series of de-regulatory-ish moves since 1991, GS asked whether it could have its own way of handling commodity futures contracts. The government regulates commodity futures so that we aren’t caught without any pork bellies or winter grain or orange juice. Or oil.

GS wanted to have its own (with some other investment banks) futures trading club, with no reporting. So the US had no idea who was buying and selling contracts. All you could see what that the price of oil was going up.

Bidding up commodity futures on a GS- index fund was just playing a paid shill. If you bid up oil futures – $100 for next months oil — no $110 — no $115 — and so on, you make money selling the futures contracts to the “bigger fool.”

GS’s meetings are thorny given that its former president Mr. Paulson, our Treasury Secretary, minder of the US piggy bank, who is now the architect of the “bailout”.  VP Cheney and his secret Energy Task Force seems key to many policy decisions.

The whole thing seems like one ginormous power grab.  Was this was to bid up the futures contracts of oil — so Iraq would have the surplus outside of the US budget? No wonder they picked Gov. Palin — she is ignorant (I’m not commenting on intelligence, only on knowledge and access to the Cheney crowd).

As far as removing capital requirements to get leverage in these financial instruments, was this to get control of sovereign wealth of other countries, which was pouring into the US investments in the 2000s?

All of this is consistent with the aims of Project for the New American Century, a neoconservative thinktank, now probably defunct, for US Supremacy.

A ha. A full blown conspiracy, and you heard it here first I was going to say you heard it hear first but, alas, those much more knowledgable then moi have already thought of this. (Removing aluminum foil hat now).

OK, I’m done being dramatic. I had a bunch of other posts actually related to neuroscience, alors, ils sont disparu in the WordPress Drafts – has anyone else had this problem?

I do want to gloat about predicting that the Obama camp should have a Billy Joel concert — a ha! They’re having a Billy Joel/Bruce  Springsteen concert (see the full post about the “Clinton neuron” here). Sen. Obama team, you can thank me later.

Tags: 700 million, cftc, cheney and paulson, cheney energy task force, cheney paulson conspiracy, energy task force, gingrich paulson cheney, goldman sachs, oil speculation, paulson bailout, politics