The Hidden Government Guarantee that Props Up the Shadow Banking System by Ellen Brown

by Ellen Brown
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Web of Debt Blog
September 17, 2013

Increased regulation and low interest rates are driving lending from the regulated commercial banking system into the unregulated shadow banking system. The shadow banks, although free of government regulation, are propped up by a hidden government guarantee in the form of safe harbor status under the 2005 Bankruptcy Reform Act pushed through by Wall Street. The result is to create perverse incentives for the financial system to self-destruct.

Collateral Damage: QE3 and the Shadow Banking System by Ellen Brown

by Ellen Brown
Writer, Dandelion Salad
webofdebt.com
July 23, 2013

Image by 禁书网中国禁闻 via Flickr

Rather than expanding the money supply, quantitative easing (QE) has actually caused it to shrink by sucking up the collateral needed by the shadow banking system to create credit. The “failure” of QE has prompted the Bank for International Settlements to urge the Fed to shirk its mandate to pursue full employment, but the sort of QE that could fulfill that mandate has not yet been tried.