Anybody over the age of 35 is liable to remember living through the economic crisis of 2007/8 when the world’s banking system collapsed sending many an average person into the financial abyss.
One of the over-used phrases at the time was “bailing out the banks” – the relatively simple process of governments putting the taxpayer on the hook for the heinous indulgencies of the money-makers, or should that be money-takers, who had worked tirelessly behind the scenes to rig the financial system in their favour.
Money printing
These excesses were covered by the taxpayer. The banks were deemed too big to fail, so the overwhelming majority of all the biggest banks stayed open. And the banksters who orchestrated the most voluminous taking of public money ever recorded walked away not only scot-free – but with salary hikes and gargantuan bonuses. The money printers moved through the gears to inflate the currency by hundreds of billions, and hey presto, can kicked firmly down the road.
Legislators ensure the taxpayer is protected
The governments of the US and UK were so concerned about having to expose the taxpayer to this kind of obligation again that legislation was changed, so in any future financial crisis (it was obviously going to be inevitable if legislation was to be required) the obligation would be shifted to somebody else – anybody who had money in a bank account (bear in mind this means you if you have money in a bank account).
Bail in, bail out – same difference
So, rather than the government taxing your money from you at the highest rate since World War Two and then handing it over to the banksters, to avoid any further ill will from the tax-paying public, the government kindly took itself out of this rotten equation and legislated to volunteer your hard-earned wages to be bailed in (stolen by the bank) and reconstituted as shares of said bank. As the banks have stolen your money, which is nothing but inflated fiat with very little actual value, you are now the proud owner of shares of banks that have, to all extents and purposes, gone bankrupt. They have negligible reserves of anything of real value. They have stolen your currency that has very little value. Congratulations and the best of luck to you, me, all of us.
Can you avoid this?
The argument goes that the FCA are able to compensate depositors in such circumstances, a total of up to £85,000 per bank account, providing the accounts in question come under different banking groups. The FCA have no such legal obligation. Banks can legally take your money. In other words, there are no legal grounds to object to being robbed by your own bank.
One route to take
But there is a way to avoid being wiped out. Firstly, have some available cash outside the banking system tucked away somewhere, preferably in a safe at home. Secondly, swap your useless fiat currency for valuable commodities such as gold, silver, platinum, oil, whisky – whatever you are an expert in and have researched, buy it and store it safely.
The main point for the reader to take away: the banks are not your friend, they are designed to indebt you and relieve you of wealth. Be diligent, take action, do not be left standing with a bag of worthless shares.
DISCLAIMER: This piece is the opinion of this author and should in no way be taken as impartial investment advice.
