The October 2013 “shutdown” of the US government, and the financial
climax associated with the deadline for a possible “debt default” by the
federal government, was profitable for Wall Street. As Michael
Chossudovsky reports, powerful corporate lobby groups acting directly or
indirectly on behalf of Wall Street influenced the key actors in the US
Congress involved in the shutdown debate. Major interests on Wall
Street were not only in a position to influence Congress; they also had
inside information regarding the government shutdown impasse. As a
result, Chossudovsky writes, Wall Street was “slated to make billions of
dollars in windfall profits in speculative activities which are
“secure” assuming that they are in a position to exert their influence
on relevant policy outcomes.”
The manipulation of markets is carried out on the orders of major
bank executives including the CEOs of JP Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and
BNP Paribas. The “too big to fail banks” are portrayed, in the words of
JP Morgan Chase’s CEO Jamie Dimon’s, as the “victims” of the debt
default crisis, when in fact they are the architects of economic chaos
as well as the unspoken recipients of billions of dollars of stolen
taxpayers’ money. “These corrupt mega banks,” Chossudovsky writes, “are
responsible for creating the ‘gaping wound’ referred to by Deutsche
Bank’s Anshu Jain in relation to the US public debt crisis.”
Four major Wall Street financial institutions account for more than
90 percent of the so-called derivative exposure: J.P. Morgan Chase,
Citigroup, Bank America, and Goldman Sachs. These major banks exert a
pervasive influence on the conduct of monetary policy, including the
debate within the US Congress on the debt ceiling. They are also among
the World’s largest speculators.
from here
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