CFR Insiders Confirm that anAlarming Economic Crisisin the U.S. is Imminent

by Jeremy James

All major policy decisions affecting the United States are made on the basis of analysis and recommendations by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). It is, ineffect, the principal organisational entity for directing and controlling the US.Congress is merely the visible mechanism for implementing its decisions.Founded in 1921, the CFR was initially very secretive about its existence. It is only inrecent years that it has allowed itself to feature in the mainstream media. For example,Hilary Clinton and other significant power-brokers are sometimes interviewed oncamera before a CFR back-drop. The CFR also publishes a monthly magazine,

Foreign Affairs

, which runs a range of articles promoting its globalist agenda.In light of this, when an article appears which effectively predicts an imminentfinancial catastrophe in the US, and by extension in the world at large, we ought to pay serious attention. The fact that one of its co-authors, Richard Haass, is presidentof the CFR – an extremely prestigious position among the American Illuminati – should tell us that this is less a prediction than a grim prognosis.The article, which appeared in the November-December 2010 issue of

Foreign Affairs

, might be summarised as follows: America is vastly over-stretched, bothmilitarily and financially. There is not the slightest prospect that it will ever be able torepay its rapidly expanding burden of debt. Even if its rivals on the world stage,notably China, do not exploit this dire situation to their own advantage, the fiscaladjustment that will be required to restore some semblance of stability to its financeswill be so severe that a sharp fall in living standards and serious economic distresswill be unavoidable. Indeed, they suggest that Congress will be unable to take thetough political decisions that will be required to bring their spiralling budget deficitunder control and that an even more calamitous situation could emerge, the nature of which they are reluctant to specify.The article is reproduced below.Reading between the lines – as one must do with an article as sensitive as this one – the authors would seem to be warning the American people that the US government(a) will continue to expand its military influence in world affairs, (b) has no intentionof taking any meaningful steps to restore order to the public finances and (c) is preparing for a major war with its rivals. Whether they genuinely expect this war tomaterialise is unclear, but their paper contains so many hints of this nature – note, for example, their comment regarding a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan – that itmust be seen as part of the ‘message.’1

The following excerpts give a flavour of their assessment of this impending calamityand its impact on the American people:“debt addiction...sharp and punitive adjustment... historically unpre-cedented ...profound

consequences... interest expense would rivaldefense expenditures... [t]he U.S. Treasury would need to borrow astaggering $5 trillion every single year, both to finance deficits and torefinance maturing debt. Yet the real outlook for deficits and debt ismuch worse than these forecasts...State and local governments [are]deeply distressed... downright apocalyptic...Why is this scenario sodangerous?... China and the other lenders have no strategic reason tocontinue holding U.S. dollars...it is precisely because this fiscaloutlook is so frightening... history strongly suggests that today's calmwill not last in the face of the United States' disastrous fiscal outlook... No category of spending or taxpayers will be spared... the coming plunge into austerity... Both defense spending and all aspects of domestic discretionary spending would need to be reduceddramatically... The bottom line is that it will be extraordinarilydifficult to pass a deficit-reduction program of the requiredmagnitude... The American people and their elected representatives postpone solving the country's debt addiction at their great peril.”Please remember that their paper was published in late 2010. Since then Congress hastried to reduce the projected budget deficit in 2011 by a meaningful amount, butended by making a cut that was less than one tenth of one per cent. The US has alsoattacked another sovereign state, namely Libya, without provocation of any kind andwithout even bothering to explain its intended actions before the internationalcommunity. Rampant fiscal and military expansion are set to continue, to the pain anddetriment of the American people. The crash, when it comes, will be truly frightening.The social unrest that will ensue could easily destabilise the US and usher in someform of dictatorship.History will probably record that World War Three began on 17 March 2011 whenthe UN Security Council approved (via Resolution 1973) the use of “all necessarymeasures to enforce compliance” in a NATO-led airborne attack on Libya.If you are not already reconciled to Christ, then please reflect carefully on your spiritual situation. Even the most abject sinner can find salvation in the LORD, provided he repents. But this is a word that we seldom hear today. In the turmoil thatlies ahead we will all need to proclaim as never before the power of repentancethrough the cleansing blood of Christ.“Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent.” – Revelation 2:5 _________________

Jeremy JamesIrelandMay 8, 2011

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American Profligacy and American Power: TheConsequences of Fiscal Irresponsibility

By Roger C. Altman and Richard N. Haass November/December 2010

ROGER C. ALTMAN

is Chair and CEO of Evercore Partners. He was U.S. DeputyTreasury Secretary in 1993-94.

RICHARD N. HAASS

is President of the Council onForeign Relations. He was Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department in2001-3.

Summary:

The U.S. government is incurring debt at an unprecedented rate. If U.S. leaders do notact to curb their debt addiction, then the global capital markets will do so for them,forcing a sharp and punitive adjustment in fiscal policy. The result will be an age of American austerity.The U.S. government is incurring debt at a historically unprecedented and ultimatelyunsustainable rate. The Congressional Budget Office projects that within ten years,federal debt could reach 90 percent of GDP, and even this estimate is probably toooptimistic given the low rates of economic growth that the United States isexperiencing and likely to see for years to come. The latest International MonetaryFund (IMF) staff paper comes closer to the mark by projecting that federal debt couldequal total GDP as soon as 2015. These levels approximate the relative indebtednessof Greece and Italy today. Leaving aside the period during and immediately after World War II, the United States has not been so indebted since recordkeeping began,in 1792.Right now, with dollar interest rates low and the currency more or less steady, thisfiscal slide is more a matter of conversation than concern. But this calm will not last.As the world's biggest borrower and the issuer of the world's reserve currency, theUnited States will not be allowed to spend ten years leveraging itself to theseunprecedented levels. If U.S. leaders do not act to curb this debt addiction, then theglobal capital markets will do so for them, forcing a sharp and punitive adjustment infiscal policy.3