enfoldedblue
11th August 2012, 10:12
I found this on yahoo news today and thought I'd post it for fun :).
Infamous finance conspiracy theories
The economy has sparked a wide variety of truly bizarre conspiracy theories. Despite the fact that they have no basis in truth, people continue to believe them with almost religious zeal.
The internet has given them a wider forum and audience, and has proved to be fertile ground for these ideas to spread.
These are the myths, conspiracy theories, and flat out falsehoods that just won't die.
Here's a couple examples:
The Rothschild's control governments and the banking system.
Origin: The Rothschilds are a powerful banking family, who were particularly influential in the 19th century, with the English branch almost single handedly funding Britain's war against Napoleon. Some believe that the family continues to influence global affairs and the banking system.
The reality: The primary public activity of the Rothschild family is philanthropy. The size of their enterprises is nothing near what it was in previous centuries, and there is no evidence that they secretively control governments. There are many branches of the family, not a singular monolith, and no family members even sit on the board of the largest remaining fund. The basis of the conspiracies is ignorance and anti-semitism.
The Iraq war was started to secure oil for the United States
Origin:
This was a popular conspiracy theory in the run up to the Iraq war, that the real reason was not to find WMDs, but to secure oil supplies.
The reality:
The reasons for going to war with Iraq may have been shaky, but the US doesn't get all that much oil from the country. Americas largest oil trading partners are (by far) Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico. Further, Iraqi crude production really started ramping up as US was leaving, and imports from Iraq have not increased dramatically since the war.
The American Federal Reserve is a private corporation run for the profit of its shareholder banks.
Origin: This one's been kicking around almost since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. It's the subject of a three hour documentary called "The Money Masters".
The reality: Nationally chartered banks do hold stock in their regional Federal Reserve Banks, and receive a small portion (6 percent of their stock) of the profits of their regional banks, which is presumably the origin of this theory.
* That stock confers no control over the Regional bank's activities.
* Last year $1.6 billion in profit went to member banks. The remaining $46 billion was remanded to the Treasury department.
Further, monetary policy is conducted by two entirely different branches of the Federal Reserve System. The Board Of Governors oversees the Regional banks and monetary policy, and is made up of 7 members nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. They conduct monetary policy in the interest of the public by their Congressional mandate.
The closest influence the private shareholders have on the conduct of monetary policy is through their nomination of 6 of the 9 members of regional bank boards. Those boards nominate bank presidents, who must be confirmed by the Board of Governors. 5 regional presidents serve on the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee, which oversees the principal tool of monetary policy, in service of the Federal Reserve's Congressional mandate, not regional shareholders.
If you want to read more spin...
http://au.pfinance.yahoo.com/photos/photo/-/14516938/infamous-finance-conspiracy-theories/14516939/
Infamous finance conspiracy theories
The economy has sparked a wide variety of truly bizarre conspiracy theories. Despite the fact that they have no basis in truth, people continue to believe them with almost religious zeal.
The internet has given them a wider forum and audience, and has proved to be fertile ground for these ideas to spread.
These are the myths, conspiracy theories, and flat out falsehoods that just won't die.
Here's a couple examples:
The Rothschild's control governments and the banking system.
Origin: The Rothschilds are a powerful banking family, who were particularly influential in the 19th century, with the English branch almost single handedly funding Britain's war against Napoleon. Some believe that the family continues to influence global affairs and the banking system.
The reality: The primary public activity of the Rothschild family is philanthropy. The size of their enterprises is nothing near what it was in previous centuries, and there is no evidence that they secretively control governments. There are many branches of the family, not a singular monolith, and no family members even sit on the board of the largest remaining fund. The basis of the conspiracies is ignorance and anti-semitism.
The Iraq war was started to secure oil for the United States
Origin:
This was a popular conspiracy theory in the run up to the Iraq war, that the real reason was not to find WMDs, but to secure oil supplies.
The reality:
The reasons for going to war with Iraq may have been shaky, but the US doesn't get all that much oil from the country. Americas largest oil trading partners are (by far) Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico. Further, Iraqi crude production really started ramping up as US was leaving, and imports from Iraq have not increased dramatically since the war.
The American Federal Reserve is a private corporation run for the profit of its shareholder banks.
Origin: This one's been kicking around almost since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. It's the subject of a three hour documentary called "The Money Masters".
The reality: Nationally chartered banks do hold stock in their regional Federal Reserve Banks, and receive a small portion (6 percent of their stock) of the profits of their regional banks, which is presumably the origin of this theory.
* That stock confers no control over the Regional bank's activities.
* Last year $1.6 billion in profit went to member banks. The remaining $46 billion was remanded to the Treasury department.
Further, monetary policy is conducted by two entirely different branches of the Federal Reserve System. The Board Of Governors oversees the Regional banks and monetary policy, and is made up of 7 members nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. They conduct monetary policy in the interest of the public by their Congressional mandate.
The closest influence the private shareholders have on the conduct of monetary policy is through their nomination of 6 of the 9 members of regional bank boards. Those boards nominate bank presidents, who must be confirmed by the Board of Governors. 5 regional presidents serve on the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee, which oversees the principal tool of monetary policy, in service of the Federal Reserve's Congressional mandate, not regional shareholders.
If you want to read more spin...
http://au.pfinance.yahoo.com/photos/photo/-/14516938/infamous-finance-conspiracy-theories/14516939/