Paul Craig Roberts on the collapse of the ruble and the meaninglessness of markets

Paul Craig Roberts - Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury

Former Assistant Treasury Secretary Dr. Paul Craig Roberts thinks the only thing that explains the plunge in the Russian ruble is that it is being attacked by America. Roberts contends, "It is not a currency crash in the sense there are no economic reasons for the ruble's fall. Unlike the United States, which has a massive trade deficit, and if the currency markets were not rigged, the dollar would be collapsing, the Russian economy has a trade surplus. Therefore, there is no pressure on its currency for economic conditions." Dr. Roberts goes on to say, "This is not some independent action of market forces. So, it's either hedge funds, currency speculators like Soros, or it's an Act of War on behalf of the United States government by the Federal Reserve or the Exchange Stabilization Fund. . . or possibly both hedge funds working with the federal government."

Manipulating the markets, any market, is supposed to be illegal, but don't count on the bankers going to jail. Dr. Roberts, who has a PhD in economics, thinks,

"The big banks, the big Wall Street money, are essentially agents of the government. This is why they don't get prosecuted. This is why they can break all kinds of laws, commit felonies and settle with a fine. This is what we've been watching in the financial arena. When these financial gangsters are caught, instead of being indicted and put on trial, they pay money."

How could the Russians retaliate? Dr. Roberts says,

"If the Russians wanted to do payback, it's very easy for them. The next time all of these contracts, paper gold contracts, are dumped on the futures market, the Russians need to go and buy them all up, then demand delivery because there is no gold to deliver. The whole system would collapse. So, the Russians could cause a gold squeeze here anytime they want. . . . They would blow the system wide open because they can't make delivery."

On war, Dr. Roberts says recent resolutions passed in Congress certainly point to it. Dr. Roberts explains,

"These resolutions demonize Russia and define it as a great threat. They call on Obama to arm the Ukrainians so we can use the Ukrainians to fight Russia. In other words, we are going to fight Russia down to the last Ukrainian. Of course, the Ukraine can't fight Russia. The whole purpose of this is to have the Russians slap them down, then we can go to the Europeans and say see, see the Russians invaded and look how dangerous they are. You're next. They will be in Berlin tomorrow. They'll be in London by the end of the week. Paris will fall, and Rome will burn. We can't wait to tell the Europeans this because the whole purpose of this is to completely break every kind of relationship, economic, political and cultural, between Russia and Europe. That's what Washington's goal is. That's what it's all about. This includes attacks on the ruble and sanctions. They are setting up a war that nobody can win, for what reason? For American superiority? You don't have superiority if the world is awash in radioactive waste and there is nuclear winter. The climate has collapsed. The whole thing is an absurdity."

On the teetering economy and possible economic collapse, Dr. Roberts says,

"We know something serious is wrong. The only provision of Dodd-Frank that has any teeth is the provision that says if the big banks are going to be casinos and gamble on derivatives, they cannot do that in the depository institution where depositors have their accounts. They have to farm it out into subsidiaries. So, if the subsidiaries get into trouble, the subsidiaries have no access to depositors' money. This is the only real reform part of Dodd-Frank. Citigroup got put into the recent spending bill, the repeal of this, so they can gamble on derivatives, and taxpayers and depositors are on the hook for the losses. Why would you do that unless you had a lot of derivatives trouble. It could easily be the oil derivatives. . . . The banks can gamble all they want and they are covered by the FDIC, which has no money. . . . This gives the banks access to depositors' money. . . . This is sick, and it shows the United States government is the most corrupt government on earth, far more corrupt than Russia or China."

Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with economist Dr. Paul Craig Roberts.

(There is much more in the video interview with Dr. Roberts.)

[embedded content]

After the Interview:

Dr. Roberts produces articles every week for the public to read free of charge on his website, PaulCraigRoberts.org. Roberts sells no products and has no advertising. If you would like to contribute to offset the expenses of keeping the site on the internet, please click here.

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog