We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Meet the Secretive Group that Runs the World

Click here to access this excerpt from a new book about Bank of International Settlements posted on Zero Hedge.

Our ruling masters hold a lot of secrets, and one of the most successful has been the existence and influence of this key global banking institution. Because it has been described as a central bank of central banks, we activists and wide-awake citizens need to know about it. 

This article is an excerpt (from a book) which mainly focuses on factual material of the history of the bank, but also remarks on its extreme efforts to maintain anonymity and secrecy. Hopefully, the book will delve much deeper into actual operations. This review from Booklist (posted on Amazon) looks promising:
...this is a serious, well-documented story about a very real bank, the Bank for International Settlement (BIS), which predates both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Founded by the governors of the national banks of Britain, France, Italy, and the U.S. in 1930, the bank was created to oversee German reparations payments after WWI. Drawing on previously published sources, original research, and interviews with some of the key players in the story, the author introduces readers to this little-known but highly influential bank and charts its course into the twenty-first century. It’s a story of financial intrigue, secrets and lies, rumor and truth. LeBor, a business journalist (he’s also the author of several thrillers), knows how to make a true story about finance as thrilling as any spy novel. A highly entertaining and informative book about the most powerful bank you’ve probably never heard of. --David Pitt