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Recapitulation: a precise summary.
Fifty years ago a plot was hatched to put the United States into the catbird seat in the world economy, where we are now. It followed from the experience accumulated during the 30s depression/war. First the depression, then the war. So first how to throw the world into depression? One way is to get everyone deep into debt, so that all their spendable money goes to debt payments, and not consumption. That goes for governments as well as individuals.
Consider the 1st World War. The US made a lot of money selling commodities and war material to the Europeans before we swept in and raked their nuts out of the coals. After the war, credit was easy, and the Roaring 20s took off, on borrowed money. People got rich betting on Wall Street, on borrowed money, which worked ok as long as the market was rising. (Just like the housing market at the heart of this story.) When the market became overvalued in someone’s mind the sell off began.
Once the drop begins, people who bought stocks “on margin”, that is credit, would have to add money to their account or the broker could sell their stock as collateral. Selling stocks into a falling market depressed the market prices further, and a downward spiral starts.
Before the 1929 Wall Street crash, there had been years when the bull market had been kept alive through low interest loans. If you could borrow money at X%, and Wall Street was paying X plus whatever %, and maybe more, it was a popular bet. Then it ended. 1931 is when the Depression started hitting home.
F D Roosevelt took office in 1933, and his New Deal programs held the economy in check. The Depression threw the world to the political right. Whenever the pie gets smaller, you fight over it. Japan needed raw materials, and invaded China in the late 30s. The US embargoed oil in response, and Japan could either capitulate or fight.
Meanwhile, the Germans too, were enjoying cheap interest rates, building small town opera houses and swimming pools. Nice while it lasted, but then some rich guy bought Hitler a newspaper, and the Nazis took over. Hitler was the mark in a con to seduce Germany into a war it could not win.
France surrendered to Hitler practically without a fight, giving him an intact war industry. This, along with the British heavy equipment surrendered at Dunkirk, gave Hitler the confidence to invade Russia. The US provided Germany with war material until very late into the game. The absolute destruction of Germany and Japan ensued.
The same pattern is being followed currently. By enticing the world into a permanent growth scenario that it cannot continue, many countries and individuals are taking on debt that can only be repaid under favorable circumstances. The trap is now being sprung. On an individual or collective basis, all you can do is pay the interest on your loan, making you a debt slave. Or go to war. The 3rd world can hardly do other than accept slavery. The 2nd world, could accept war, beguiled by the perceived American weakness, whether it be under Carter or Obama. In any event, Russia and China are being pushed into the war zone.
The west would very much like to reclaim the communist’s ill gotten gains, lest they encourage the others. The question is, which first, China or Russia? Enter the prisoner’s dilemma of game theory. Russia or China could team up with the USA, and make an unbeatable partner. Trump is playing one off against the other, and may the higher bidder win. Will China bid N. Korea against Russia’s Crimea?