With respect to Jon Stewart, John Oliver and even the likes of Kai Rysdal & the team at Marketplace, they have examined MMT. When Stephanie Kelton's book came out she made the rounds. Many heads knodded. And then they wholly ignored what they had learned.
“ Some observers mistakenly consider the Federal Reserve to be a private entity because the Reserve Banks are organized similarly to private corporations. For instance, each of the 12 Reserve Banks operates within its own particular geographic area, or District, of the United States, and each is separately incorporated and has its own board of directors. Commercial banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System hold stock in their District's Reserve Bank. However, owning Reserve Bank stock is quite different from owning stock in a private company. The Reserve Banks are not operated for profit, and ownership of a certain amount of stock is, by law, a condition of membership in the System. In fact, the Reserve Banks are required by law to transfer net earnings to the U.S. Treasury, after providing for all necessary expenses of the Reserve Banks, legally required dividend payments, and maintaining a limited balance in a surplus fund.”
The post goes on to note that, "holding this stock does not carry with it the control and financial interest given to holders of common stock in for-profit organizations," and lists other restrictions on the stock.
But banks make money off their holdings in the various Federal reserve banks. They receive dividends on their stock holding, bank executives are paid large honoraria's to attend board meetings and provide other services and the information obtained when participating in board governance provides substantial benefits when board members return to their primary banking jobs.
And the various Fed's still charge interest on the money they lend to governments. That's why interest payments on government debt is tracked by government accountants.
The various Fed's admit all this on their websites. They also insist that the Fed is both "private and public," because of the uniqueness of their structure.
That admission seems perhaps a little more honest than your blanket statements insisting that the Fed is not privately owned.
That is not accurate. The federal reserve is not privately owned. It was created as an act of Congress.
The share ownership of regional federal reserve banks is a legal obligation and is not about banks telling people; government or even the federal reserve what to do.
Lots of private sector companies have been created and or influenced by Congressional legislation.
The private sector energy companies which developed through the legislated breakup of the Standard Oil Company in the early years of the 20th century are an example of this.
I agree and the federal reserve act was passed during
WINTER RECESS on Dec 23.
The ones who run that grift are appointed and we have seen how they instituted trickle down bullshit over and over, like TARP and the COVID "bail out".
Non profit, yes, but we know how non profits play the finances to extract money.
I started doubting John Stewart when he didn't go against the clear corruption of COVID after getting his hand slapped. He did try and point out the lab leak thing in front of the absolute NPC Colbert. That was kind of funny....
But since then he's been an absolute moron elitist sycophant.
And then that idiot pinned a medal on a Ukrainian Nazi....
The lab leak theory is baseless. It’s an extraordinary claim that requires extraordinary evidence and there is none.
Pandemics are natural disasters and they have always led to mass panic, protests, riots. None of the arguments in favour of the lab leak hold up. I worked with an infectious disease facility during the H1N1 pandemic.
Even when I don’t agree with people, grifters are people who are selling scams they know are ripping people off, and in law and in morality being culpable requires both a bad act and a guilty mind.
There is a big difference between wealth and high income.
People who are wealthy and own lots of property or businesses get income whether they work or not. Celebrities, whether they are in entertainment or sports, have high incomes which drop to zero when they’re not working.
Trustworthiness has nothing to do with who a person is or does. It’s how reliably and accurately what they are saying matches up to what’s happening.
Having a show where people talk about ideas is not a grift. Telling people something that is safe is dangerous so you can make money from it is a grift.
"Unless Musk is willing to step down from all of his companies and put them in a blind trust, putting Musk in charge of picking and choosing $2-trillion in government spending cuts is the arguably one of the greatest conflicts of interests in history."
Sure, you remove the actual conflict of interest. But just as surely, there is nothing stopping Musk continuing to favour his companies' interests, is there?
I just did a search on Fed Reserve yearly dividends to shareholders. Here's what I found:
The Federal Reserve pays a 6% dividend to member banks on their capital investment. The amount of dividends paid depends on the size of the member bank's assets:
Member banks with assets under $10 billion receive a 6% dividend. Member banks with assets over $10 billion receive a dividend rate that is the smaller of 6% or the 10-year Treasury note rate at the last auction before dividend payment
After paying dividends, the Federal Reserve retains excess earnings as surplus capital. Any remaining net earnings are sent to the U.S. Treasury. The Federal Reserve's Annual Report includes the cumulative payments to the Treasury, for those who'd like to do further research.
It's worth noting that dividends are normally defined as "a payment to a company's shareholders out of its earnings after tax (not profits).
Dividends are a way for shareholders to earn a return based on the amount of risk they have taken. Company dividends are often paid in accordance with a dividend policy. However, they are approved and declared by the board of directors.
With respect to Jon Stewart, John Oliver and even the likes of Kai Rysdal & the team at Marketplace, they have examined MMT. When Stephanie Kelton's book came out she made the rounds. Many heads knodded. And then they wholly ignored what they had learned.
Families owe money to single banks and finance companies.
Countries own money to the Federal Reserve, a private corporation with major banks as shareholders.
Both the Federal Reserve and individual banks loan money for interest to governments and/or families.
Both influence what you can and cannot do as a family and as a government.
I'd rather not have a bank influencing my governments spending policy.
“ Some observers mistakenly consider the Federal Reserve to be a private entity because the Reserve Banks are organized similarly to private corporations. For instance, each of the 12 Reserve Banks operates within its own particular geographic area, or District, of the United States, and each is separately incorporated and has its own board of directors. Commercial banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System hold stock in their District's Reserve Bank. However, owning Reserve Bank stock is quite different from owning stock in a private company. The Reserve Banks are not operated for profit, and ownership of a certain amount of stock is, by law, a condition of membership in the System. In fact, the Reserve Banks are required by law to transfer net earnings to the U.S. Treasury, after providing for all necessary expenses of the Reserve Banks, legally required dividend payments, and maintaining a limited balance in a surplus fund.”
Yes not operate on a profit... Just like NGOs.
But they're allowed to pay themselves salaries etc.
I recall many non profits that funnel their revenues through "expenses" for their friends etc.
The fed is no different.
It's a grift that was passed during Christmas break and signed into law by Wilson....
I'm open Dougald,
But as outlined on the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis website post, "Who Owns the Federal Reserve Banks?" at https://www.stlouisfed.org/in-plain-english/who-owns-the-federal-reserve-banks, member banks "hold stock in the Federal Reserve Banks and earn dividends."
The post goes on to note that, "holding this stock does not carry with it the control and financial interest given to holders of common stock in for-profit organizations," and lists other restrictions on the stock.
But banks make money off their holdings in the various Federal reserve banks. They receive dividends on their stock holding, bank executives are paid large honoraria's to attend board meetings and provide other services and the information obtained when participating in board governance provides substantial benefits when board members return to their primary banking jobs.
And the various Fed's still charge interest on the money they lend to governments. That's why interest payments on government debt is tracked by government accountants.
The various Fed's admit all this on their websites. They also insist that the Fed is both "private and public," because of the uniqueness of their structure.
That admission seems perhaps a little more honest than your blanket statements insisting that the Fed is not privately owned.
That is not accurate. The federal reserve is not privately owned. It was created as an act of Congress.
The share ownership of regional federal reserve banks is a legal obligation and is not about banks telling people; government or even the federal reserve what to do.
It was created during a Christmas break when many were not around to vote for it.
Passed on Dec 23, two days before xmas, like the scumbags like to do. And the crooked Wilson signed it into law.
These days, why do we need an intermediary of unelected banksters in charge of monetary policy?
They just enable corruption.
The Fed is owned by private sector bankers.
Lots of private sector companies have been created and or influenced by Congressional legislation.
The private sector energy companies which developed through the legislated breakup of the Standard Oil Company in the early years of the 20th century are an example of this.
I agree and the federal reserve act was passed during
WINTER RECESS on Dec 23.
The ones who run that grift are appointed and we have seen how they instituted trickle down bullshit over and over, like TARP and the COVID "bail out".
Non profit, yes, but we know how non profits play the finances to extract money.
I started doubting John Stewart when he didn't go against the clear corruption of COVID after getting his hand slapped. He did try and point out the lab leak thing in front of the absolute NPC Colbert. That was kind of funny....
But since then he's been an absolute moron elitist sycophant.
And then that idiot pinned a medal on a Ukrainian Nazi....
https://thegrayzone.com/2022/08/31/jon-stewart-pentagon-ukrainian-nazi-disney/
I don't trust celebrities that are wealthy and still need to grift.
He's wealthy, why the fuck is he still meddling around?
The lab leak theory is baseless. It’s an extraordinary claim that requires extraordinary evidence and there is none.
Pandemics are natural disasters and they have always led to mass panic, protests, riots. None of the arguments in favour of the lab leak hold up. I worked with an infectious disease facility during the H1N1 pandemic.
Even when I don’t agree with people, grifters are people who are selling scams they know are ripping people off, and in law and in morality being culpable requires both a bad act and a guilty mind.
There is a big difference between wealth and high income.
People who are wealthy and own lots of property or businesses get income whether they work or not. Celebrities, whether they are in entertainment or sports, have high incomes which drop to zero when they’re not working.
Trustworthiness has nothing to do with who a person is or does. It’s how reliably and accurately what they are saying matches up to what’s happening.
Having a show where people talk about ideas is not a grift. Telling people something that is safe is dangerous so you can make money from it is a grift.
"Unless Musk is willing to step down from all of his companies and put them in a blind trust, putting Musk in charge of picking and choosing $2-trillion in government spending cuts is the arguably one of the greatest conflicts of interests in history."
Sure, you remove the actual conflict of interest. But just as surely, there is nothing stopping Musk continuing to favour his companies' interests, is there?
I just did a search on Fed Reserve yearly dividends to shareholders. Here's what I found:
The Federal Reserve pays a 6% dividend to member banks on their capital investment. The amount of dividends paid depends on the size of the member bank's assets:
Member banks with assets under $10 billion receive a 6% dividend. Member banks with assets over $10 billion receive a dividend rate that is the smaller of 6% or the 10-year Treasury note rate at the last auction before dividend payment
After paying dividends, the Federal Reserve retains excess earnings as surplus capital. Any remaining net earnings are sent to the U.S. Treasury. The Federal Reserve's Annual Report includes the cumulative payments to the Treasury, for those who'd like to do further research.
If nothing else, a 6% annual dividend on Fed Reserve ownership is a particularly high dividend in the private sector. In October 2023, the Fed was valued at approximately 8.7 Trillian US dollars according to https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/May-2023-Federal-Reserve-Balance-Sheet-Developments.htm.
Most of this information came from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System post on "The Federal Reserve's balance sheet" at https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_fedsbalancesheet.htm.
It’s a dividend, which means if there’s no profit, there’s no payment.
It's worth noting that dividends are normally defined as "a payment to a company's shareholders out of its earnings after tax (not profits).
Dividends are a way for shareholders to earn a return based on the amount of risk they have taken. Company dividends are often paid in accordance with a dividend policy. However, they are approved and declared by the board of directors.
https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/entrepreneur-toolkit/templates-business-guides/glossary/dividends#:~:text=A%20dividend%20is%20a%20payment,by%20the%20board%20of%20directors.
I'd also suggest you revisit the Federal Reserve balance sheet I provided you in my earlier comment.
You might find something you didn't know before.