CASTLES BUILT ON SAND

INTRODUCTION TO FINANCIAL FRIDAY GUEST BLOGGER

By HARRY BLACKWOOD

My blog is not yet a week old and already I've got a second guest writer.

Financial whizz Julian Sayer has been watching the world's economies go down the pan since the big crash and his prediction is that it's going to get worse. Much worse.

Every week Julian will give us expert insight into the inevitable financial crash.

Stay tuned. Here's Julian first post:

CASTLES BUILT ON SAND

by JULIAN SAYER, Guest Blogger

Make no mistake, we are living through historic times. Countries around the world are rioting, people are dying and personal freedoms are being eroded. The people of Ukraine, Venezuela

and Thailand have taken to the streets and put their lives on the line in order to protest.

This will not be a flash in the pan, this is going to be the norm, we are in worrying times. Brazil, Turkey, Egypt, have all seen mass protests and the list is growing. What is causing this huge uprising of social anger? In a word, economics. One of the dullest subjects you can imagine, but a subject that will change history. Finance, taxation and economics are inherently boring, but they are the very bedrock of the policies and deception shaping the world.

Economics put simply, is broken! The printing presses have been printing money 24/7 for for the last five years, not just a little bit, but trillion upon trillion. China, USA, Japan and the UK have produced more money in this period than has been produced in the entire history of world. All this money is being produced to try to paper over the cracks of a crumbling system. They have printed tens of trillions of dollars over the last five years, and just to put that into perspective how long would it take to spend just one trillion dollars? If you spent,  one dollar every second, it would take you twelve days to spend one million, thirty two years to spend one billion and wait for it, thirty one thousand years to spend one trillion dollars.

Last month, Oxfam produced a report detailing some startling facts about the world's financial affairs. The headline grabber was eighty five people had accumulated as much wealth as half the worlds population (three and a half billion inhabitants).  Inequality is very inefficient and bad for economic growth. The Oxfam report can be read here.

The consequences of this happening can be seen all around us, from the bloody riots in the Ukraine to the roaring printing presses of the Federal Reserve. Over the coming weeks I want to discuss the lies and theft that is going on in the economic world, how it effects the very foundations of our society, and what is needed to bring about change. Because make no mistake, economics is broken.

Even in the UK we have been feeling the effects. The working and middle classes have seen their level of real income reduce over the last decade. In essence we are getting poorer. Inflation has outstripped wage rises, and that's if you are lucky enough to have a job!

Like it or not, the UK follows the USA in policy, in culture and in Government. What is apparent is that both Governments are manipulating economic data to again, paper over the cracks. The most obvious example is the unemployment data, they have taken 100,000s off the unemployment register through one method or another. Zero hours contracts, low pay, reducing benefits and sanctions against those claiming jobseekers allowance. Slowly but surely you are having to work harder just to survive. Bringing up a family in Britain has never been harder in economic terms, houses never more unattainable and food banks are now the norm.

Over the coming years you will see your pension benefits eroded, further pressures on pay, and job security become consigned to history. Why is this happening? Basically, debt and greed. Taxation is at its core, and the biggest factor in magnifying the inequalities around the world. Governments and big business are so intertwined they are no longer fit for purpose. Which ever Government is in power in whichever country, voting has never been more pointless!

The outlook for jobs and stability is poor. It is forecast that 47% of all jobs will be replaced over the next 20 years. That is a frightening statistic in the economic world and has huge ramifications. See the full economic report in the Huffington Post here.

It is such an all encompassing subject, I am going to break it down bit by bit. Taxation, employment, finance, derivatives, pensions, and demographics are all huge subjects in themselves and each warrants a closer look.

Next week, the exciting subject of Quantitive Easing (QE) the biggest theft in history bar none.

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