NOVEMBER 20
1910 — DEATH OF LEO TOLSTOY, RUSSIAN WRITER AND SOCIAL REFORMER
“Money is a new form of slavery, and distinguishable from the old simply by the fact that it is impersonal, there is no human relation between master and slave. ”
2014 – UK PARLIAMENT DEBATES MONEY CREATION FOR FIRST TIME IN 170 YEARS
From a press release from the UL group, Positive Money
“Parliament places huge scrutiny on how taxpayers’ money is spent. But for the last 170 years, parliament has ignored the question of how money is created in the first place. This will change on Thursday 20th November when MPs will attend a debate on money creation and society.
Money creation affects almost every aspect of our lives and is directly connected to almost all public policy, including public and private debt levels, house prices, and rising inequality, but it’s very poorly understood. A recent poll found that 7 out of 10 MPs believed that only the government could create money, when in fact banks create 97% of money when they make loans, as recently confirmed by the Bank of England.
There is cross party support calling for a debate on money creation. The problems resulting from private money creation have not been debated in Parliament since 1844, when Sir Robert Peel brought in the Bank Charter Act, forbidding the private banks from printing paper money. In light of the financial crisis, we welcome this debate to discuss the foundations of the economy: the monetary system.”
[NOTE: Lack of basic understanding of money creation is no doubt as much a reality of U.S. Senators and Representatives as English MP’s. Needed is a similar debate in the U.S. Congress to increase their monetary literacy and raise the issue for public discussion.]
NOVEMBER 21
1933 – PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT — FINANCIAL ELEMENTS OWN THE GOVERNMENT
“The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson — and I am not wholly excepting the Administration of W.W. (Woodrow Wilson). The country is going through a repetition of Jackson’s fight with the Bank of the United States — only on a far bigger and broader basis.” – Franklin Roosevelt, letter to Presidential advisor Col. Edward Mandell House
1939 – BIRTH OF MARGRIT KENNEDY, AUTHOR OF “OCCUPY MONEY”
“But we humans, not God, created our monetary system. And we are the ones who can change it. We must go beyond blaming the greedy bankers and investors whom we hold responsible for the ongoing financial disaster. Our own ignorance, comfort, and insecurity are part of the problem. To awaken from our slumber, we must expand our knowledge and shake off our fears.”
1944 – BIRTH OF DICK DURBIN, US SENATOR, ILLINOIS
“And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.”
Interview on WJJG 1530 AM’s “Mornings with Ray Hanania,” April 2009
[NOTE: The FIRE sector — Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate — is the #1 sector of political campaign investments (mistakenly called “contributions” or “donations”) to federal political candidates. They also employ hundreds of lobbyists who often write the laws and regulations on financial issues.]
NOVEMBER 22
1879 – BIRTH OF RALPH HAWTREY, FORMER SECRETARY OF TREASURY, ENGLAND.
“Banks lend by creating credit. They create the means of payment out of nothing.”
NOVEMBER 23
1910 – JEKYLL ISLAND MEETING TO PLAN FOR US PRIVATE CENTRAL BANK
Attending this secret meeting were US Senator Nelson Aldrich; A. Piatt Andrew, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury; Frank Vanderlip, president of the National City Bank of New York; Henry P. Davison, senior partner of J.P. Morgan Company; D. Norton, president of the Morgan-dominated First National Bank of New York; Benjamin Strong (a lieutenant of J.P. Morgan); and Paul Warburg, connected to the banking house of Kuhn, Loeb. The meeting would lead to the Aldrich bill, which eventually led to the Federal Reserve Act, passed in 1913.
2000 – WRITTEN ANSWER TO LORD BEAUMONT OF WHITLEY, HOUSE OF LORDS, BY JAMES ROBERTSON, CO-AUTHOR OF “MONETARY REFORM – MAKING IT HAPPEN”
“Many people, even in government and parliament, don’t know how new money is now created, and what the consequences are. Most people find it hard to believe, if they think about it at all, that almost all the money in circulation has been created by commercial banks at profit to themselves. In reply to questions, a government spokesman may say that the funds which banks lend to customers ‘must either be obtained from depositors or the sterling money market, both of which usually require the payment of interest’ – thus appearing to deny that banks are allowed to create new money and to profit from doing so.”
NOVEMBER 24
1911 – AMERICAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION ENDORSES SO-CALLED “MONETARY REFORM” PLAN
The ABA at their annual conference in New Orleans endorsed a “monetary reform” plan by U.S. Senator Nelson Aldrich. The plan was actually to deform the ability of citizens to create and distribute their/own own money (see above November 23, 1910 entry).
NOVEMBER 25
1874 – GREENBACK PARTY FOUNDED
The Greenback Party was founded on this day at a convention in Indianapolis. Many of its members were farmers hurt by the financial Panic of 1873 (also known as the “Crime of ‘73”). The party supported “Greenback” paper money (U.S. Notes) issued and spent into circulation by the Lincoln administration. They opposed all money systems backed by any precious metal, believing that those who owned gold or silver (banks and corporations) would possess the power to define the value of products and labor. Government control of the US money system would also ensure sufficient quantity of money was in circulation to help small businesses and farmers. Twenty-one independent congressmen, mostly Greenbackers, were elected in 1878.
2008 – QUANTITATIVE EASING (QE) PROGRAM ANNOUNCED BY THE FEDERAL RESERVE
The Fed announced that on December 1 it would create money and use it to purchase $500 billion in toxic mortgage backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and an additional $100 billion of debt from both entities. This phase of QE (called QE1) extended until March 2010. Two additional rounds, QE2 and QE3, followed it. A total of $4.4 trillion from the Fed was issued. It went disproportionately to financial corporations (Wall Street), not “Main Street” (for small businesses) or to “Side Streets” (to bail out homeowners facing foreclosures). QE money was also spent to purchase US Treasury bonds (debt) following the decline of purchases by other nations as a means to stimulate the economy. At its peak, $85 billion per month in Treasury debt and mortgage backed securities was purchased. Many within the financial industry have since admitted that QE contributed to the rising gap between rich and poor and the rise and size of too-big-to-fail banking corporations.
NOVEMBER 26
1865 – “ALICE IN WONDERLAND” BY LEWIS CARROLL PUBLISHED IN THE US
The establishment of a European Monetary Union in 1993 was a bold experiment. It created a single monetary system overlaying individual nation states with their own political systems. William Buiter, member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, said ‘It’s a bold step into the unknown. Not unlike Alice [in Wonderland]’s leap down the rabbit hole.”
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Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt? Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice. This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini, Deb Jose and Greg Coleridge helped in its development. Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, email monetarycalendar@yahoo.com
To see the calendar year-to-date, go to https://monetarycalendar.wordpress.com/
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