Economic Hit Man Series

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins, 2004, Excerpts

The United States prints currency that is not backed by gold, Indeed, it is not backed by anything other that a general worldwide confidence in our economy and our ability to marshal the forces and resources of the empire we have created to support us. The ability to print currency gives government immense power. It means that government can continue to make loans that will never be repaid. Much of this debt is owed to Asian countries, particularly to Japan and China.

As long as the world accepts the dollar as its standard currency, this excessive debt does not pose a serious obstacle. However, if another currency should come along to replace the dollar, and if some of the United States’ creditors should decide to call in their debts, the situation could change drastically. The United States would suddenly find itself in a most precarious situation. A decision by OPEC to substitute the euro for the dollar as its standard currency would shake the empire to its very foundations.

The global empire depends on the fact that the dollar acts as the standard world currency, and the United States Mint has the right to print those dollars. Thus, we make loans to countries like Ecuador with the full knowledge that they will never repay them; in fact, we do not want them to honor their debts, since the nonpayment is what gives us our leverage, our pound of flesh.

Wikipedia Bernanke

Ben Shalom Bernanke (born December 13, 1953) is an American economist and current Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve. He was previously Chairman of the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers, and member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. On October 24, 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Bernanke to succeed Alan Greenspan as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Bernanke was sworn in on February 1, 2006 after the Senate's confirmation by a voice vote on January 31, 2006.