Island, ein Volk am Rande der Klapsmühle
DIE PRESSE: Im Land der Geysire kocht die Wut über die Finanzkrise über. Doch ehe es besser wird, dürfte es noch schlechter werden.

In ihrer Garage hält Hrafnhildur Thorarinsdottir Ausverkauf: Alles kostet nur ein Viertel des Preises, den sie in ihrem Laden in Reykjaviks Einkaufsmeile verlangt hätte. „Ich bin mit hohen Schulden ausgestiegen, und die Schulden wachsen weiter“, sagt die 30-jährige Jungunternehmerin. Denn sie hat auf Anraten ihrer Bank einen Fremdwährungskredit aufgenommen, wegen der günstigen Zinsen. Jetzt, im Island der Finanzkrise, hat die isländische Krone zwei Drittel ihres Werts verloren, und die Kreditsumme hat sich verdreifacht. „Ich habe mein Haus verpfändet, also muss ich weiterzahlen, sonst nehmen sie uns das Haus weg.“

„Wie eine Naturkatastrophe“ habe die Krise Island getroffen, sagt Solveig Olafsdottir, Sprecherin des Roten Kreuzes. „Wir sind ein Volk im Schockzustand.“ Die Banken sind pleite, die Baukräne stehen still, die Arbeitslosigkeit hat sich verdoppelt und wird im nächsten Jahr auf zehn bis 20 Prozent hochschnellen. Und das in einem Land, in dem „Arbeit heilig“ war, wie der Schriftsteller Einar Mar Gudmundsson meint.

Der Verfall der Krone macht das früher so teure Island zu einem Schnäppchenland für Touristen. Für die Isländer ist die Wirklichkeit eine andere. Die sehen eine Inflation, die auf 20 Prozent zusteuert, und Lebensmittelpreise, die sich teilweise verdoppelt haben. Die Isländer, die sonst wahllos kauften, was sie haben wollten, schauen jetzt auch beim Diskonter sehr genau auf die Kosten.

Samstag für Samstag strömen die Menschen zu den Protestkundgebungen vor das Parlament, zuletzt 6000. Das ist enorm in einem Land mit 320.000 Einwohnern. In Windjacken und Pelzmänteln, mit Hund und Kinderwagen, alt und jung, mit schwarzen Anarchistenfahnen und den blauen der EU. Alle sind sie da, alle ballen die Fäuste, alle stimmen jubelnd ein, wenn die Redner den Rücktritt von Notenbankchef und Ministerpräsident fordern.

Der Zorn wächst. „Wie die DDR vor dem Fall der Mauer“, meint Gudmundsson, der Dichter, einer der führenden Köpfe des Aufruhrs. „Das politische System hat alle Glaubwürdigkeit verloren.“ Mit der Liberalisierung der Banken habe es begonnen, als die Politiker „den Reichtum des Volks ihren Freunden schenkten“, die Banken dem Land über den Kopf wuchsen, das Zwölffache des Sozialprodukts war ihre Bilanzsumme zuletzt. Bis alles zusammenkrachte wie ein Kartenhaus. >>> Hannes Gamillscheg, Reykjavik | 28. November 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe) >>>

Russian Rates Up as Rouble Falls
BBC: Russia's central bank increased its key interest rate to 13% from 12% in an attempt to help stop currency losses.

The rouble headed for its largest weekly fall in five years, and has fallen approximately 1.9% this week.

For the second time this week, Bank Rossii, the country's central bank, widened the rouble's trading band by about 1% or 30 kopeks.

Russia's has spent $148bn (£96.4bn) of its foreign currency reserves since August to stop a fall of the rouble.

The central banks aims to keep the rouble stable against a two-currency basket that is made up of 55% US dollars and 45% euros. Against the dollar, it is down 16% since August. >>> | November 28, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Zawahiri Blames Global Financial Crisis on 9/11 in Latest Al-Qaeda Video
THE TELEGRAPH: Al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has said in a new internet video that the international financial crisis is the result of a US war on Muslims and the Sept 11 attacks.

Zawahiri also claimed the recent security gains made by US forces in Iraq were only temporary and Afghan President Hamid Karzai's offers to negotiate with Taliban elements were a sign of his regime's weakness.

The comments in a new internet video come a week after Zawahiri compared US President-Elect Barack Obama to a "house negro" implying he did the bidding of whites.

The video, "Al-Azhar – The Lions' Den", was posted on jihadist websites earlier this week according to the SITE intelligence group, which monitors online Islamist militant propaganda.

Zawahiri said: "This crisis is one of ... the series of American economic haemorrhages after the strikes of September 11... And these ... will continue as long as the foolish American policy of wading in Muslim blood continues."

"The ones shouldering the burden are taxpayers, whose money was spent to rescue senior capitalists and to protect the fraudulent interest-based system from collapse." >>> By Ben Farmer in Kabul | November 28, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Former Chancellor Geoffrey Howe Attacks Gordon Brown
THE TELEGRAPH: Former Conservative Chancellor Lord Geoffrey Howe has said Britain could be headed for depression as a result of Gordon Brown's economic mismanagement


Lord Howe, who was Chancellor between 1979 and 1983, said the economy was "very badly managed" under Mr Brown's Chancellorship and a lack of fiscal prudence stripped Britain of readiness to face the "crisis" sweeping world economies.

"I think the recession is going to be deeper than it is now, almost every day we get news that underlines that. It's probably moving towards a depression, and the British economy has been so mismanaged that it is very ill prepared for it," he told Telegraph TV.

Lord Howe said Mr Brown is personally responsible for the fate of the economy. "Gordon Brown believes he has been working economic miracles during his ten years as Chancellor, we've all heard him saying it is the end of boom and bust... and we are at the threshold of a golden age, but that is miles from the truth." >>> By Robert Miller and Rupert Neate | November 28, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

China Slashes Interest Rates as Panic Spreads
THE TELEGRAPH: The People's Bank of China cut interest rates by more than 1pc point as the economy crumbles and millions of jobs are predicted to go ahead of Christmas.

The move came just one day after the World Bank predicted that China would grow by 7.5pc next year. The level of growth may appear robust by Western standards, but it would represent the slowest economic expansion in China for the last two decades.

It is also perilously close to the 7pc minimum level of growth that Chinese economists believe is necessary in order to create enough jobs for the 6m university graduates who will enter the jobs market next year.

It is the fourth interest rate cut from the Chinese central bank in the last ten weeks as the government desperately battles an evident economic collapse. "China is out to save itself here," said Patrick Bennett, an analyst with Societe Generale in Hong Kong.

The PBOC reduced its main borrowing rate by 1.08pc points to 5.58pc, the biggest one-off cut since the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997.

In recent weeks, a series of riots across central and southern China have flowered as disgruntled employees aired their grievances at the downturn.

Today, around 500 protesters rioted at the Kai Da toy factory in Dongguan in the Pearl River delta, flipping over a police car and trashing computers in a dispute over payoffs to 80 fired workers. Tens of thousands of factories across the region have already shut their gates.

Yin Weimin, China's Social Security minister, has revealed that employment is the Communist Party's number one concern in the downturn and said the "situation is critical". Unemployment is expected to rise from 4pc to 4.5pc by the end of the year and anecdotal reports have suggested that 3m people have already been fired in the industrial province of Zhejiang alone. >>> By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai | November 26, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US) >>>

Recession: When the Money Goes, So Does the Toxic Wife
Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: As the recession worsens, a lot of rich men are finding their gold-digging wives are taking to their heels

'You loser!" screamed Katie, aiming a vase at her husband. "You've destroyed my life,'' she continued, hurling it. "Just look at my hair, look at my nails! You loser, you jerk, you nobody."

Katie's husband, Jack, whose property portfolio disintegrated in the financial crash, had just told his wife that she would have to cut back on her thrice-weekly visits to Nicky Clarke, the nail salon in Harvey Nichols, and the oxygen facials, chemical peels and seaweed wraps at Space NK.

Not only that, but they no longer had the money to pay for an army of bullied Eastern Europeans to wait on her hand and foot.

Worse was to come – the brow-lift would have to be cancelled; her black Amex card would have to be snipped in half; and there was no way, he told her, that he could carry on spending £28,000 a year on Henry's school fees at Eton.

Chloe, too, would have to leave the marginally cheaper (only £25,000 pa) Wycombe Abbey immediately.

Such was the aggression and verbal and physical abuse that followed that Jack was left with cut lips and blood streaming from a broken nose.

Their eight-year-old child, not yet at boarding school, sat cowering in a corner and dialling 999. When they arrived, they had to restrain Katie forcibly from attacking her husband.

An extreme and isolated example of the global economic meltdown hitting the £1 million home? Sadly no. When the super-rich feel the pinch, inevitably, the Toxic Wife heads off. >>> By Tara Winter Wilson | November 26, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
How to Spot a Toxic Wife on the Prowl: Five tips on how to distinguish a g[o]ld digger from a genuine love interest. >>> | November 26, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Woolworths and MFI Collapse: Is This the End of the High Street?
THE TELEGRAPH: As Woolworths and MFI go into administration, Gordon Rayner delivers a stark warning to the retail world: adapt or die

In the space of just 40 minutes last night, Britain's high streets changed forever with the announcements that Woolworths and MFI, two famous names with 144 years of history between them, had gone into administration.

Woolies, founded in 1909, had survived the Great Depression, two world wars and several recessions, but even with a price tag of just £1 for its 820 stores, there was no way back from the Crash of 2008.

Meanwhile, retail giants including Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and House of Fraser have started slashing prices weeks before Christmas in a desperate attempt to reverse their plunging sales figures. The collapse of more than a dozen other retail chains in the past few months, including Rosebys, SCS, Ilva and New Heights, has left no doubt that this is, for many companies, a fight to the death.

And all this comes at a time when shops traditionally record their biggest profits of the year; no one in the retail industry wants to contemplate what will happen in January and February, when the pre‑Christmas spending splurge is over.

One thing is for sure: according to every economic forecast, 2009 will be even worse than 2008 for retailers as the credit crunch and rising unemployment drive down sales. Town centre stores are also under attack like never before from supermarkets and internet shopping, and many more of them are likely to fail in the months ahead.

Are we, in fact, witnessing the death of the high street as we know it? Will our town centre stores become boarded-up relics of bygone times, while we all stay at home hunting online bargains or drive to shiny, soulless shopping malls with their own motorway junction? >>> By Gordon Rayner | November 26, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

Happy Thanksgiving to You All!
Wishing all my visitors a very BLESSED and HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

Photo courtesy of Google Images

'Brown Is Like a Drunk Who Lost Family Silver Playing Roulette': Boris Johnson's Extraordinary Attack on PM
MAIL Online: The Mayor of London launched an extraordinary personal attack on Gordon Brown's handling of the financial crisis today.

Boris Johnson accused the Prime Minister of behaving like a drunk taking a "frantic and unprecedented gamble" with the economy.

"He is like some sherry-crazed old dowager who has lost the family silver at roulette, and who now decides to double up by betting the house as well," the Mayor said.

His attack came as City figures warned that the measures unveiled in the mini-budget posed a grave threat to the future prosperity of London.

One said the new 45 per cent tax rate on earnings above £150,000 would trigger a disastrous "brain drain" of the talent drawn to London during the boom years.

In an article in the London Evening Standard today, Mr Johnson's director of strategy, Anthony Browne, writes: "Alistair Darling has done far more to redistribute wealth here than anywhere else... It is almost as though the budget is the revenge of England on the affluent of Kensington and Chelsea.

"Even at first glance, London has little to cheer from this budget. Whatever the macro-economic arguments about a need for a fiscal stimulus to stave off recession, for the capital this is not really a spend now, pay later budget."

The Mayor described the Prime Minister as a "manic meddler" who was desperately trying to boost the economy to improve his own electoral fortunes.

He accused Mr Brown of treating Londoners like "a bunch of overweight and exhausted laboratory rats" who he hoped would do his bidding. >>> By Jonathan Prynn and Pipa Crerar | November 25, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

’Worst Crisis Since World War II’: German Auto Industry Facing the Abyss
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: More than 1.5 million workers in Germany depend on the automobile industry for their jobs. But that industry is now facing one of its worst crises ever. Respected giants BMW and Mercedes are particularly exposed as sales plummet.

It was time for Martin Winterkorn to relax. The exhausted chairman of the VW Group was sitting in a leather seat on the company jet, coming from a conference in Berlin where he warned attendees of the consequences of the financial crisis. It had been a long day. It was 9 p.m. and he was still in the air.

"We have never before seen this kind of a crisis," Winterkorn, 61, said at the conference. The German auto industry, he told his audience, must prepare itself for a "tough, prolonged dry spell." It would not be possible to avoid "difficult cuts" and "painful" measures, Winterkorn said.

Even after the conference, sitting in the company jet, the head of VW was still preoccupied with the question: "How bad is it really?" Winterkorn has been in the industry for decades, and he has weathered many a crisis. But now he too is baffled. "I don't know what else is going to happen," he said.

According to Dieter Zetsche, the CEO of Daimler, there are those in the industry who believe that "up to 100,000 jobs will be lost in the German auto industry in the next 10 years." Some, says Zetsche, are even suggesting that this is "the worst crisis since World War II." >>> By Dietmar Hawranek | November 25, 2008

NZZ Online: Porsche drosselt Produktion: Absatzeinbruch erwartet

Der Sportwagenbauer Porsche erwartet im laufenden Jahr einen Absatzeinbruch und drosselt seine Produktion. Aufgrund des weltweiten Nachfragerückgangs hätten im Stammwerk Zuffenhausen erstmals am vergangenen Freitag die Bänder stillgestanden, teilte das Unternehmen am Dienstag in Stuttgart mit. >>> | 25. November 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Muslims to Be Offered Sharia-compliant Pensions by Government
The game must now surely be about up! - ©Mark
THE TELEGRAPH: Muslims are to be offered Sharia-compliant pension funds by a new Government body.

The scheme to provide retirement funds for millions who do not already have a company pension is likely to include a special option that would not invest in companies deemed sinful under Islam.

Ministers are keen to get Muslims saving with the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority, as many who have low-paid jobs or who have moved to Britain in recent decades are unlikely to have put away much for their old age.

The decision to provide a Sharia-compliant pension fund is another sign of the growing influence of Islamic law in British public life and in particular the country's finance industry.

The prospect of some aspects of Sharia law such as divorce proceedings and dispute resolution being enshrined in the English legal system – raised by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chief Justice this year – remains highly controversial because of fears that the system discriminates against women and that a two-tier approach would be divisive.

But more and more financial products are being tailored to cater for Britain's population of 2million Muslims.

The religion's holy book, the Qu'ran, forbids Muslims from making money from money, so they cannot use products that involve the charging of interest nor invest in traditional financial services firms.

Gambling, drinking and pornography are also seen as immoral under Islam, so Muslims cannot put their money into companies that promote these activities.

The Islamic finance market is estimated to be worth £500million already and is growing rapidly.

Families can already get Sharia-compliant baby bonds under the Government's Child Trust Fund scheme while the UK is likely to become the first Western country to issue Islamic bonds in order to raise money from the Middle East.

This year has also seen the launch of Britain's first Islamic insurance company and pre-paid MasterCard. There are a handful of wholly Islamic banks in the country and several more that offer alternatives to mortgages which do not involve the charging of interest. >>> By Martin Beckford, Social Affairs Correspondent | November 21, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Libia - Figlio Gheddafi: Tripoli pronta a investire negli Usa
VIRGILIO: Fondo sovrano "ha evitato lo tsunami" e ha scelto l'America

New York, (Ap) - La Libia è pronta a investire negli Stati Uniti parte del suo fondo sovrano, pari a circa 100 miliardi di dollari. Lo ha confermato il figlio di Muammar Gheddafi, Seif al Islam, senza precisare l'entità della cifra che Tripoli intende stanziare per i suoi investimenti.

"Siamo brave persone, piacevoli. Ci piace lavorare. Investiremo. Abbiamo amici negli States e apriremo un nuovo capitolo nelle nostre relazioni" con gli Stati Uniti, ha detto Seif al Islam Gheddafi in un'intervista all'Associated Press.

Il figlio del leader libico ha confermato che il fondo sovrano di Tripoli "intende investire in America" nonostante l'attuale crisi finanziaria. Senza precisare la cifra, Seif al Islam ha aggiunto che il fondo sovrano libico "ha evitato lo tsunami" finanziario perché si tratta di un fondo nuovo. "Siamo sfuggiti al rischio e adesso siamo in una buona posizione per investire", ha aggiunto.

Seif Gheddafi ha anche spiegato perché la Libia ha scelto gli Stati Uniti. "Questo è un grande paese con la maggiore economia al mondo e offre grandi opportunità", ha commentato. [Origine: Virgilio] APCOM | 22.11.2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Italy)

Nationalisation Threat to Banks
THE INDEPENDENT: Banks are told to do their bit for the economy / Downing Street considers 'nuclear option' to make lenders release cash

The Government is using the threat of a wholesale nationalisation of banks in an attempt to force institutions to lend billions to small companies struggling to survive as Britain slips into recession.

Downing Street yesterday made plain its fury over high street banks which refuse to use the massive injection of taxpayers' money they have received to come to the rescue of businesses hit by the credit crisis. Lenders have also faced criticism over interest rates charged to homeowners and for stepping up repossessions.

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown dismissed suggestions that he should take advantage of his reviving popularity by calling a June general election, insisting he was fully focused on steering Britain out of the downturn, starting with Monday's pre-Budget report.

It will spell out plans for tax cuts and assistance for the country's 4.7 million small firms. The aid will be funded by increases in government borrowing, which is on course to exceed £100bn next year. Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, will also announce that taxes will have to rise in the medium term to reduce the national debt. The financial stimulus package is designed to breathe new life into the economy but Mr Darling fears the behaviour of the banks could undermine the moves.

He is expected to announce controlson the interest rates charged on small business loans, as well as measures to stem the rising tide of repossessions.

Ministers are irritated that banks the Treasury bailed out are dragging their feet over passing on the money. The Treasury took stakes in HBOS, Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland in return for £37bn of public funds. The banks promised to return lending to last year's levels. John McFall, the chairman of the Treasury select committee and an ally of Mr Brown and Mr Darling, raised the prospect of state control, saying: "If the banks do not play ball, and will not resume lending, then the demand for full-scale nationalisation may well grow."

No 10 refused to rule out such a step, regarded by officials as the "nuclear option". Mr Brown's spokesman said: "In these circumstances, of course we have got to look at all the options. But we want to work constructively with the banks to ensure they fulfil the commitments they have entered into."

Asked a second time about full nationalisation, he replied: "It would clearly be foolish for anybody to rule out specific options at this stage."The Government has made little effort to disguise its frustration at the behaviour of banks towards small businesses and mortgage-payers. >>> By Nigel Morris, Deputy Political Editor | November 22, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Yemen 'Faces Crisis as Oil Ends'
BBC: Yemen is facing an economic and political crisis as the country's oil resources near exhaustion, a report by a London-based think-tank says.

The Royal Institute for International Affairs warns that instability there could expand a zone of lawlessness from northern Kenya to Saudi Arabia.

It describes Yemen's democracy as "fragile" and points to armed conflicts with Islamists and tribal insurgents.

One diplomat says that the country's prospects get worse every month.

The World Bank predicts that Yemen's oil and gas revenues will plummet over the next two years and fall to zero by 2017 as supplies run out.

Given that they provide around 90% of the country's exports, this could be catastrophic.

An unnamed energy expert is quoted in the report as saying that this points to economic collapse within four of five years time. >>> By Martin Plaut, BBC News | November 20, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Wann ist der Boden erreicht?: Eine Umfrage am Bankenplatz Zürich
NZZ Online: Eine Umfrage unter Ökonomen und Anlagestrategen zeigt, wie schwierig derzeit die Einschätzung der Marktlage ist. Der Konsens geht momentan dahin, dass die Börsen im ersten Halbjahr 2009 den Boden finden werden.

Umfrage: Marco Metzler

NZZ Online hat den Research-Abteilungen der an der Zürcher Bahnhofstrasse ansässigen Banken die Fragen gestellt, die derzeit den Anlegern unter den Nägel brennen:

Wann ist an den Börsen der Boden erreicht? Welche Faktoren drücken weiterhin auf die Kurse? Welche Faktoren könnten eine Trendumkehr einleiten? Befragt wurden Ökonomen und Strategen der Zürcher Bankenwelt. >>> | 21. November 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe) >>>

Recession Fears Hit Stock Markets
BBC: European and Asian markets have fallen sharply on fears that the world economy will enter a protracted downturn.

London's FTSE 100 index was down 1.7% around midday, with mining shares hardest hit. French and German markets also lost ground.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei index ended 6.8% lower and Hong Kong's main index fell more than 4%.

The slide comes after the Dow Jones share index in New York fell to its lowest level in five years. >>> | November 20, 2008

TIMESONLINE:
Shares Dive as US Jobless Adds Another 542,000 >>> Suzy Jagger, New York | November 20, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

US Shares Plunge to Five-year Low
BBC: Wall Street plunged more than 5% on Wednesday to its lowest level in over five years on rising economic worries.

The Dow Jones average fell 427 points to close at 7,997.28, below the 8,000-level for the first time since 2003.

A record fall in October consumer prices and uncertainty over a possible rescue for US carmakers reinforced fears of slowdown.

Adding to the gloom, the Federal Reserve slashed its economic growth forecasts for 2009.

"It's certainly the Fed confirming what the market has realized - that the recession is here," said Bruce Zaro, of Delta Global Advisors in Boston. >>> | Novemebr 19, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

I’m Glad You Think So Paulson! Mr Poulson, ALL You People Are Out of Your Depth!
Photo of Henry Paulson courtesy of the BBC
BBC: US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has clashed with members of Congress over the $700bn US financial bail-out plan.

Mr Paulson told a Congressional committee that injecting cash into banks was the most effective way to stabilise the financial system.

However critics on the committee said that more of the money should be used to help struggling homeowners avoid losing their homes. Clash over $700bn Bank Bail-out >>> | November 18, 2008

Watch BBC video: Henry Paulson's testimony on the bail-out >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

Government Seen Helping Islamic Finance
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: KUALA LUMPUR: Islamic banking is set to rise from its modest 2 percent share of bank assets as the government encourages growth and Muslims overcome their suspicion, sharia lender Gatehouse Bank said on Tuesday.

Islamic finance, which rejects interest-based lending and speculation in favour of profit and loss sharing between venture partners, has been in Britain since the 1970s, but only a small number of Muslims have embraced it.

In recent years, Britain has been viewed as the European leader in providing Islamic financial services, aiming to serve both domestic Muslim markets as well as tapping into the vast wealth of Gulf investors.

"The government is very keen on social inclusion and economic inclusion and it feels that still there are areas of the UK where there's not enough economic inclusion," Gatehouse Chairman Richard Thomas told reporters on the sidelines of an Islamic finance forum in Malaysia.

"So they feel that if they open up alternative finance such as Islamic finance then that will allow people to be included in the British economy in a way they weren't before."

He did not give estimates for the Islamic finance industry's growth.

Britain intends to issue its own sovereign sharia-compliant sukuk debt in a rolling programme worth around 2 billion pounds, although it has said legal barriers still remain and it will make a final decision later. >>> Reuters (Reporting by Liau Y-Sing) | Novemebr 18, 2008

THE GUARDIAN: Standardisation Moves to Help Sharia Finance-scholar

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Efforts to standardise the reading of the sharia will not stifle the Islamic finance sector, a leading sharia scholar said on Tuesday, dismissing concerns that the industry risks being smothered by too much regulation.

A lack of standardisation in Islamic finance contracts is one of the biggest complaints among bankers in the $1 trillion industry, but there are also worries that a growing effort to harmonise across the globe could create a one-size-fits all approach in structuring deals.

"In Islamic law we encourage debate, research, scholarship and it is an ongoing process which cannot be stopped by anybody," Sheikh Nizam Yaquby, a highly regarded scholar, told reporters on the sidelines of an Islamic finance forum.

"However, for the purpose of standardisation, it is important to have certain prudential rules and basic contracts especially repetitive ones to be accepted among a group."

Sharia scholars are experts in Islamic law and international finance. They are seen as the industry's gatekeepers as they sit on the Islamic boards of institutions and rule on whether or not proposed products are sharia compliant.

Islamic law is open to diverse interpretations, resulting in some financing structures that aren't accepted by all Islamic markets.

An Islamic finance structure called bai bithaman ajil that is popular in Malaysia, for example, is not accepted by Middle East markets as Islamic.

Under bai bithaman ajil, a bank purchases an asset for its customer and sells it to him at a profit, with the sum to be repaid in instalments.

Recent attempts to harmonise industry standards include a plan by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association to launch standards next year for over-the-counter sharia-compliant derivative contracts. >>> Reuters, Tuesday November 18 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

Summit Shows Times Have Changed
BBC: The G20 summit in Washington was a striking event first of all for who was there.

Global economic meetings used to mean the G7 and then the G8.

It was a rich-country affair with Russia invited in during in the 1990s - but that was to tackle international political issues, not for the sake of a contribution to the economic discussions.

How times have changed. A global economic problem needed a presence from developing country leaders.

The G20 was already up and running as a forum for finance ministers with the big developing economies as members - China, India, Russia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and others.

And so they came to Washington, as countries hit by the developed world's financial crisis and, in some cases, as countries that might be able to help fix it.

Co-ordinated response

The communique issued after the summit is not on its own going to change the world.

The political machinery of the global economy is not going to be turned upside down, although those big developing countries at the summit are beginning to get a tentative grip on the levers. >>> By Andrew Walker, BBC News, Washington | November 16, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)

Citigroup Job Cull to Hit 75,000
BBC: US bank Citigroup has announced plans for about 52,000 new job cuts, on top of 23,000 cuts already made this year.

Citigroup said the 75,000 job cuts represented a reduction of about 20% of its staff, leaving it with 300,000 jobs worldwide "in the near term".

The cuts will come from redundancies, the sale of units and natural wastage, the bank said.

Citigroup has lost more than $20bn (£13.6bn) in the past year because of the global financial crisis.

It has posted four straight quarterly losses and some analysts believe the bank will not make a profit again until 2010. >>> | November 17, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

A Short Note to My Visitors
I should like to inform my visitors that I do not agree with, or endorse, everything I place up on this website. It is important to remember this.

These pieces are brought to you because I find them interesting, or controversial, or thought-provoking, etc., and because I believe you will find them so, too.

An editor of a newspaper does not agree with all stories published in his newspaper. Similarly, I do not always agree with all stories published on this blog. To know what an editor thinks on a matter, you have to read his editorials. Likewise, to know what I think on a particular matter, you have to read my essays or comments. Only then will you know what I believe.

I try to keep an open mind on all subjects. That is why my posts are catholic in nature. What I do not want this blog to be is the blog of a bigot. I believe that it is important for us all to keep our minds open, and to close them only when we are absolutely sure of our ground.

The thrust of this website is the danger of Islam to Western civilization; however, I should like my visitors to note that whilst this is the thrust of my website, from time to time you will find many other things which are of interest and importance in the world today. – Mark

A Message from Obama

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

Bekenntnis zur Regulierung am Weltfinanzgipfel: Staaten beschliessen Massnahmen bis Ende März
NZZ Online: Am Weltfinanzgipfel in Washington wollen sich die Staats- und Regierungschefs in einem Grundsatzdokument zu einer effektiven Finanzkontrolle bekennen. Es soll sichergestellt werden, dass alle Finanzmärkte, Finanzprodukte und Finanzmarktteilnehmer einer Regulierung oder angemessenen Überwachung unterworfen werden.

Die Unterhändler der Staats- und Regierungschefs haben sich auf dem Weltfinanzgipfel auf das Abschlussdokument verständigt. Das erfuhr die Deutsche Presseagentur dpa am Samstag in Washington.

Im Gegensatz zu früheren Entwürfen wird auch ein ausdrückliches Bekenntnis dazu abgegeben, Hedge-Fonds zu regulieren. Eine entsprechende Formulierung wurde verschärft. >>> sda/dpa | 15. November 2008

Watch BBC video: President Bush statement; Crawford calls! This statement is most unconvincing! >>> | November 15, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe) >>>

Saving Car Giants Will Cause Havoc, Gordon Brown Warns US
TIMESONLINE: Tensions at the start of the G20 summit run high as Prime Minister deems return to 1930s policies ‘unacceptable’

In a veiled warning to the next American President, Gordon Brown described protectionism as the “road to ruin” yesterday as international tensions surfaced at the start of the G20 summit in Washington.

As world leaders assembled for dinner at the White House last night at the start of the two-day meeting, the backdrop was one of plunging sales and surging unemployment. The New York stock market dropped 350 points after official data showed that US retail sales had fallen by 2.8 per cent in October, the biggest slide for 16 years.

The mood was darkened further with confirmation that the eurozone was now in the grip of recession for the first time since the creation of the single currency in 1999.

The news will add impetus to calls for internationally co-ordinated tax cuts, public infrastructure projects and other measures to stave off a severe global recession. Although some measures to reform international financial oversight are set to be agreed at the G20 meeting this weekend, no substantial deals are expected before the inauguration of Barack Obama in January. >>> Francis Elliott in Washington, Suzy Jagger in New York and Gary Duncan, Economics Editor | November 15, 2008

LE MONDE: Le G20, théâtre de la discorde franco-américaine

Derrière le communiqué commun percent deux conceptions fort différentes de l'économie et de la finance. Le sommet de Washington qui réunissait, vendredi 14 novembre pour un dîner et samedi 15 novembre, les dirigeants des vingt pays les plus riches de la planète, le G20, a appelé à une relance économique, une réforme de la surveillance financière mondiale et des institutions internationales. Il a aussi révélé l'écart qui sépare la France des Etats-Unis.

Première divergence : le modèle économique mondial. Nicolas Sarkozy appelle depuis des semaines à une refondation du capitalisme. Les Américains ne veulent pas en entendre parler. "Cette crise n'est pas l'échec de l'économie de marché. Et la réponse n'est pas de réinventer ce système", avait lancé le président George Bush à la veille de la réunion. Il a enfoncé le clou vendredi : "Tous nos pays doivent rejeter les appels au protectionnisme, au collectivisme et au défaitisme face aux défis présents", a expliqué M. Bush, qui voulait que soit fait mention de l'objectif de conclure d'ici à la fin de l'année le cycle de libéralisation commerciale de Doha, en dépit des réticences françaises. >>> | 15.11.08

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

Hands Up If You Made Billions of Dollars Out of the Credit Crisis
THE INDEPENDENT: Hedge fund 'masters of the universe' face Congressional grilling over their role in the global credit crunch

The five best-paid hedge fund managers – who between them made $12.6bn last year, even as the financial world began to crumble around them – were hauled before the US Congress yesterday and assailed over their huge salaries, their tax perks and their contribution to the credit crisis that has engulfed the globe.

In a piece of public theatre that reflected not just the present crisis, but also a decade or more of vastly increased income inequality, the five men declared themselves innocent of causing the market meltdown and insisted that their riches reflected hard work and investment insight.

As one Congressman, Elijah Cummings, put it, "these are five citizens who have more money than God", and he proceeded to tear into them over rules that have allowed them to pay a fraction of the tax an ordinary teacher, firefighter or plumber might pay.

Philip Falcone, whose Harbinger Capital is one of the world's biggest hedge funds, stressed his humble beginnings as one of nine children living in a three-bedroom home in Minnesota. "My father was a utility superintendent, my mother worked in a local shirt factory," he said. "I take great pride in my upbringing and it is important for people to know that not everyone who runs a hedge fund was born on Fifth Avenue."

Although many hedge-fund managers live lives of conspicuous consumption, they prize their privacy as tightly as they cling to the rules – or lack of them – that enable them to keep their trading strategies secret. Their testimonies under oath in the giant, high-ceilinged, oval committee room on Capitol Hill yesterday took them out of their natural habitat, and for all their status as masters of the universe, several seemed intimidated.

John Paulson – who suddenly joined the ranks of billionaires after betting in 2005 that Wall Street was awash with overpriced investments in mortgages that millions of Americans would ultimately be unable to pay – was told more than a dozen times to speak up so he could be heard. Jim Simons, the mathematical genius whose Renaissance Technologies is among the most respected fund groups in the world, was told to stop "mumbling".

The hearing was the latest in what wags on Wall Street are calling the Waxman Witch Trials. The House oversight committee, whose chairman, Henry Waxman, has subpoenaed all the main players in the crisis, previously humbling Dick Fuld, chief executive of collapsed Lehman Brothers, and the bosses of credit rating agencies who, according to Mr Simons, "allowed sow's ears to be sold as silk purses". >>> By Stephen Foley in Washington | November 14, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

U.S. Interest in Shariah Finance Opens Dangerous Doors, Critics Say
FOX NEWS: Shariah-compliant banking, sometimes called Islamic banking, is growing in popularity in the Western and Islamic worlds. But critics say American interest in the system at a time of economic crisis is opening the door to increased Islamic influence in the American banking system. Worse yet, some fear the banks may be helping to finance international terrorism.

In Shariah-compliant banking, lenders may not charge interest and investors cannot make money from forbidden industries like gambling, alcohol, pork and pornography. Selling debt, devising derivatives and short selling are also prohibited, and investments must be closely tied to actual assets.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones Islamic Index tracks Shariah-compliant companies and funds, and funds have sprung up like the Amana Mutual Funds Trust and the Azzad Asset Management.

American investment funds, like those offered by TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab, can invest in Shariah-compliant companies, and those companies can offer investments in American companies. Top holdings in the Azzad Ethical Midcap Fund, for example, include Western Digital Corp., Southwest Electric Co. and Apple Computer, Inc.

But allowing Shariah-compliant finance in the U.S. is green-lighting a seditious system that supports jihad, said Frank Gaffney, founder and president of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C.

"If you understand what Shariah is, you understand that it is a pretty awful system. Not something that you'd want insinuated in your society and becoming a major feature of your economic system," Gaffney said.

Shariah (Islamic law as dictated by the Koran) governs all aspects of life, from the personal practice of the faith to how you relate to your family to how you relate to your business partners, to your community ... all the way up to how the world is run, and it is all one seamless program. You can't say 'I'll take the personal pietistic practice ... and skip the beheading and the flogging and the stoning and the global theocracy,'" he said.

Punishments for some crimes under Shariah law include amputation and stoning to death. On Tuesday it was revealed that a 53-year-old Egyptian doctor had been sentenced under Shariah law in Saudi Arabia to 15 years in prison and 1,500 lashes for allegedly getting a Saudi princess in his care addicted to drugs.

But despite Islamic banking's association with Shariah's harsh practices, the U.S. government is taking an interest in it. >>> | November 13, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

'We Can No Longer Stand Passively By'
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: On the eve of the financial summit in Washington D.C., Chancellor Angela Merkel told a German newspaper that it is time for systemic reform. Warnings that the state should stay out of financial markets, she says, are unwelcome.

How radically is the world ready to change the global financial markets? That is the question many are asking on Friday as heads of state and government from teh [sic] world's 20 leading economies head to Washington D.C. for this weekend's financial summit. And German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for her part, seems ready to push for far-reaching change.

In an interview published in the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Friday, Merkel said that she was expecting difficult negotiations -- talks, she said, which would last far beyond this weekend's meeting. But it was time, she told the paper, for greater oversight on the financial markets. "For a long time, we had a situation where very few understood the risks aside from those who wanted to earn money from (complicated new financial) products," Merkel said. "That won't happen again; that can't be allowed to happen again."

To make sure that it doesn't, Merkel is heading to the US armed with a sheaf of proposals and ideas developed for her by a team of Germany's leading economists, headed up by Otmar Issing, the former chief economist at the European Central Bank (ECB). She is expected to float the idea of creating a global risk map which will collate national data on large bank loans and investments as a tool to identify concentrated risk. The paper also argues for greater transparency when it comes to ratings agencies and for complex, structured financial products. International oversight, Merkel says, must be strengthened. >>> cgh | November 14, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Pound Sinks to Record Low against the Euro
THE INDEPENDENT: First property. Then shares. Now sterling is slumping. Sean O'Grady explains what the decline means for us

In July, £1 would still buy $2; lower than its recent record of $2.11 set last November, but healthy enough for shopping trips to New York to make sense. Yesterday, sterling was trading at about $1.48, a six-year low. Macy's and Sachs of Fifth Avenue may soon notice a sharp decline in the number of British accents at the tills.

Our currency has also been bouncing along the bottom against the euro, which is now worth about 84p, its highest since the single currency was launched in 1999.

Suddenly the idea of parity – £1 = €1 – hoves into view. Broadly speaking, sterling has had a more violent battering in recent months than it endured after it famously fell out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism on "Black Wednesday", 16 September 1992. The pound has fallen 25 per cent against the dollar and 15 per cent versus the euro this year. It has, you might say, had a bit of a pounding.

The reasons for sterling's weakness are not difficult to see. To some extent, it is simply an adjustment to the way the pound has been overvalued for years: its fair value is about $1.50, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

What's more, the UK is evidently headed for recession and the Bank of England is predicted to cut interest rates to historically low levels, maybe even below 1 per cent over the course of next year – the lowest level since the Bank was granted its charter in 1694. Such meagre prospective rewards for investors and the general belief that sterling assets have further to fall has prompted a sharp sell-off in the currency. >>> Sean O'Grady | November 14, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH: Europe Is in Recession after Bank Meltdown

Europe has fallen into its first recession in 15 years, after the global banking crisis and a decline in exports brought growth to a shuddering halt.

The Eurozone economy - made up of the 15 countries that use the euro - contracted by 0.2pc in the third quarter and it follows a 0.2pc fall in GDP in the second quarter.

The contraction underlines the escalation of the financial crisis that began in the US sub-prime mortgage market into a full-blown economic downturn. The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development and the International Monetary Fund have both warned in the past two weeks that the US, Europe and Japan will also be in recession next year for the first time since World War II.

"The latest data and survey evidence indicate that the fourth quarter is likely to see a sharper fall in GDP as the financial crisis bites harder," said Howard Archer, chief economist at Global Insight. The European Central Bank is likely to slash rates from 3.75pc to 2pc by the middle of 2009, according to Mr Archer.

The move would represent a u-turn for the ECB's policy makers who in July increased rates to combat the threat of inflation. Inflation in the region slowed to 3.2pc in October from 3.6pc in September.

Germany, the biggest economy in Europe, confirmed yesterday it was in recession, with a 0.5pc contraction in GDP. The country has been hard hit because of its position as the world's largest exporter, as economies around globe slow. The UK and US economies both contracted in the third quarter. >>> By Amy Wilson | November 14, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Unemployment Reaches 11-year High
THE TELEGRAPH: Unemployment has risen to its highest level in 11 years, according to official figures.

The number of people out of work has climbed to 1.825 million - the most since November 1997, according to the Office for National Statistics.

An extra 140,000 people were out of work in the three months to September, pushing the unemployment rate up by 0.4 per cent to 5.8 per cent and prompting economists to predict that the jobless total would exceed 3 million as the economic downturn worsens.

The ONS also found that the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance increased by 36,500 to 980,900 last month - the largest rise since 1992.

The figures came as further signs of the British economy's deterioration. Soon after, Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, announced that the country is entering a deeper recession that had previously been thought, suggesting more lay-offs will follow. >>> By Jon Swaine | November 12, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Bank Rates Head for Zero Per Cent
Photo of Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, courtesy of the Evening Standard
EVENING STANDARD: THE Bank of England said today it is prepared to slash interest rates to zero to save the economy.

Governor Mervyn King said the official cost of borrowing would be cut to “whatever level is necessary” to boost confidence and stave off a long and deep recession.

Interest rates in Britain have never fallen below two per cent since the foundation of the Bank of England in 1694.

The prospect of “free money” was raised on yet another bleak day of economic news:

● The Governor said in his November inflation report that Britain is already in recession and warned that the economy will be shrinking by two per cent a year by early next year.

● He said “confidence has been shaken badly” by the worst financial and banking crisis in almost a century.

● Inflation is now expected to drop to one per cent next year and prices could even start to fall because of the lack of economic activity.

● Unemployment jumped to an 11-year high of 1.8 million. The total is forecast to hit two million by Christmas and could reach three million by 2010.

● The pound fell to a new record low against the euro of 82.1p and also lost value against the dollar.

Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics, said: “Another cut in interest rates of at least 0.5 per cent next month now looks very likely, with further moves in the following months, perhaps bringing interest rates down to one per cent by the middle of next year.

“But like Mr King, we would not rule out the possibility that interest rates have to fall all the way to zero.” >>> Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Affairs Editor | November 12, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Asian Economists Warn Barack Obama Policies Could Make Downturn Worse
THE TELEGRAPH: Senior Asian economists fear the incoming US administration of Barack Obama could drag their economies deeper into the global downturn with protectionist policies.


Ammar Siamwalla, one of Thailand's leading economists, said that recessions in the West will hit Thailand's export dependent economy next year.

"The best that can be expected [from this weekend's summit of world leaders] is for them to go against protectionism," he said. "Given the recent change in the US, that's a little bit worrisome."

Many in Asia fear Mr Obama, who struck a protectionist tone during the campaign, will adopt policies designed to protect American jobs.

That in turn would impose more "made in America" problems on export dependent Asian economies already struggling with the fallout from the Wall Street crisis.

"I think protectionism will increase," said Anton Gunawan, chief economist at Indonesia's Bank Danamon.

The concerns were raised as finance ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) rich world and developing economies prepare to meet in Washington on Saturday.

The G20 was created in 1999 to contain the Asian financial crisis, which began in Thailand in 1997. This time around, regional economists fear that south east Asia's relatively healthy economies will catch a dose of "American flu".

The credit crunch has already made it difficult to finance trade. "There should be some kind of co-ordination to guarantee trade financing," said Mr Gunawan. Indonesian coffee and Thai sugar exports have been hit in recent weeks by fears that buyers will default on payments for the goods they receive.

Grim memories of the Asian financial crisis hang heavily over the region. Many are still resentful of the painful conditions they were forced to accept from the International Monetary Fund in exchange for loans. >>> By Thomas Bell in Jakarta | November 11, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

Ackermann fordert raschen Rückzug des Staates
WELT ONLINE: Deutsche-Bank-Chef Josef Ackermann hat kurz vor dem Weltfinanzgipfel in einem Brief an US-Präsident George W. Bush vor einem zu langen Engagement des Staates im Bankensektor gewarnt. Sobald Finanzinstitutionen und die Märkte wieder normal funktionierten, müsse der Staat wieder aussteigen.

Josef Ackermann, der Chef der Deutschen Bank, hat sich an US-Präsident George W. Bush gewandt. In einem Brief warnte der Topbanker vor einem zu langen Engagement des Staates im Bankensektor. "Hilfspakete dürfen nicht die Grundlage für eine dauerhaft größere Rolle des öffentlichen Sektors im internationalen Finanzsystem sein“, schrieb Ackermann in seiner Rolle als Chef des Weltbankenverbandes IIF.

Der im Internet veröffentlichte Brief ist an Bush und Vertreter der 20 wichtigsten Industrie- und Schwellenländer (G20) gerichtet, die am Samstag in Washington über die Konsequenzen aus der weltweiten Finanzkrise beraten wollen. >>> | 11. November 2008

KURIER: "Krise wird nicht mehrere Jahre dauern"

Europa entkommt der Rezession nicht, sagt IHS-Chef Felderer. Billigeres Öl wird die Konjunktur aber anheizen. 2010 ist wieder Wachstum möglich.

Nach Ansicht von IHS-Chef Bernhard Felderer beruhigt sich die Finanzkrise bereits spürbar, doch steht der Realwirtschaft in Europa eine Rezession bevor. Bereits 2010 könnte es aber schon wieder aufwärts gehen und zwischen ein und zwei Prozent Wachstum am Kontinent geben. "Wenn Westeuropa keine stärkeren Probleme bekommt, wird 2010 ein Jahr der Wende sein, und wir werden in einem normales Fahrwasser kommen", meint Felderer. >>> apa / grü | 11. November 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe) >>>

Pound Drops to Record Low against the Euro
THE TELEGRAPH: The pound has slumped to a record low against the euro amid signs the Bank of England could cut interest rates still further.

At the low point in trading today, one pound bought just under 1.22 euros - marking the currency's weakest point against the European currency since its launch in 1999.

The euro's strength comes in the wake of UK interest rates being slashed by 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent last week by the Bank of England, a move which encouraged investors to seek more lucrative returns abroad. Statistics out today pointed to a sharp slowdown in inflation, suggesting there may be scope for further reductions in borrowing costs in the months to come.

The pound has also taken a battering against the dollar in recent weeks, and is now trading around $1.57 and down from over $2 in July.

With interest rates already at a 50 year low following the sharpest reduction in decades last week, markets are eagerly watching the economic data to see whether there is potential for any further cuts. For the first time since the inception of the Eurpoean Central Bank, UK rates are now lower than in the eurozone. >>> | November 10, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

China Announces $586-billion Stimulus Plan
GLOBE AND MAIL: BEIJING — China announced a $586-billion stimulus package Sunday in its biggest move to stop the global financial crisis from hitting the world's fourth-largest economy.

A statement on the government's Web site said China's Cabinet had approved a plan to invest the amount in infrastructure and social welfare by the end of 2010.

Some of the money will come from the private sector. The statement did not say how much of the spending is on new projects and how much is for ventures already in the pipeline that will be speeded up.

China's export-driven economy is starting to feel the impact of the economic slowdown in the United States and Europe, and the government has already cut key interest rates three times in less than two months in a bid to spur economic expansion.

Economic growth slowed to 9 per cent in the third quarter, the lowest level in five years and a sharp decline from last year's 11.9 per cent. That is considered dangerously slow for a government that needs to create jobs for millions of new workers who enter the economy every year and to satisfy a public that has come to expect steadily rising incomes.

Exports have been growing at an annual rate of more than 20 per cent but analysts expect that may fall as low as zero in coming months as global demand weakens. >>> Scott McDonald, Associated Press | November 9, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Canada) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback – Canada) >>>

Banks Defy Gordon Brown over New Interest Rate Cut
THE SUNDAY TIMES: High Street banks have told Alistair Darling they will not pass on any further interest rate cuts to consumers and businesses.

The banks have warned the chancellor they are “not charities”. They said they could not afford further to reduce mortgage payments and interest rates to businesses if, as expected, the Bank of England continued to cut rates as the economy fell deeper into recession.

The tough line from the banks will anger taxpayers, coming just a month after the government injected £37 billion into Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), HBOS and Lloyds TSB to protect them from the credit crunch. Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley have already been rescued by the taxpayer.

Most main banks have responded to the 1.5 percentage point cut made by the Bank of England on Thursday. The only two big lenders not to have trimmed their rates are HSBC and Barclays, which both avoided the Treasury-backed bailout.

Bankers, who were summoned to a meeting at the Treasury on Friday morning, have told Darling that these latest cuts, which took bank rates to a 54-year low at 3%, represented a “line in the sand”.

“Base rates are now so low that our margins are desperately small,” said one bank executive. “This point was made quite clear to the chancellor by several of the executives — we are not charities.” >>> Robert Watts and Iain Dey | November 9, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

U.S. Treasury Submits to Shariah
FAMILY SECURITY MATTERS: The U.S. Treasury Department is submitting to Shariah – the seditious religio-political-legal code authoritative Islam seeks to impose worldwide under a global theocracy.

As reported in this space last week, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Robert Kimmitt set the stage with his recent visit to Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Persian Gulf states. His stated purpose was to promote the recycling of petrodollars in the form of foreign investment here.

Evidently, the price demanded by his hosts is that the U.S. government get with the Islamist financial program. While in Riyadh, Mr. Kimmitt announced: "The U.S. government is currently studying the salient features of Islamic banking to ascertain how far it could be useful in fighting the ongoing world economic crisis."

"Islamic banking" is a euphemism for a practice better known as "Shariah-Compliant Finance (SFC)." And it turns out that this week the Treasury will be taking officials from various federal agencies literally to school on SFC.

The department is hosting a half-day course entitled "Islamic Finance 101" on Thursday at its headquarters building. Treasury's self-described "seminar for the policy community" is co-sponsored with the leading academic promoters of Shariah and SCF in the United States: Harvard University Law School's Project on Islamic Finance. At the very least, the U.S. government evidently hopes to emulate Harvard's success in securing immense amounts of Wahhabi money in exchange for conforming to the Islamists' agenda. Like Harvard, Treasury seems utterly disinterested in what Shariah actually is, and portends.

Unfortunately, such submission – the literal meaning of "Islam" – is not likely to remain confined long to the Treasury or its sister agencies. Thanks to the extraordinary authority conferred on Treasury since September, backed by the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the department is now in a position to impose its embrace of Shariah on the U.S. financial sector. The nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Treasury's purchase of – at last count – 17 banks and the ability to provide, or withhold, funds from its new slush-fund can translate into unprecedented coercive power.

Concerns in this regard are only heightened by the prominent role Assistant Treasury Secretary Neel Kashkari will be playing in "Islamic Finance 101." Mr. Kashkari, the official charged with administering the TARP fund, will provide welcoming remarks to participants. Presumably, in the process, he will convey the enthusiasm about Shariah-Compliant Finance that appears to be the current party line at Treasury.

As this enthusiasm for SCF ramps up in Washington officialdom, it is worth recalling a lesson from "across the pond." Earlier this year, the head of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, provoked a brief but intense firestorm of controversy with his declaration that it was "unavoidable" that Shariah would be practiced in Britain. Largely unremarked was the reason he gave for such an ominous forecast: The U.K. had already accommodated itself to Shariah-Compliant Finance. >>> By Frank Gaffney Jr

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

Gaffney: Treasury submits to Shariah
WASHINGTON POST / Commentary: The U.S. Treasury Department is submitting to Shariah - the seditious religio-political-legal code authoritative Islam seeks to impose worldwide under a global theocracy.

As reported in this space last week, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Robert Kimmitt set the stage with his recent visit to Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Persian Gulf states. His stated purpose was to promote the recycling of petrodollars in the form of foreign investment here.

Evidently, the price demanded by his hosts is that the U.S. government get with the Islamist financial program. While in Riyadh, Mr. Kimmitt announced: "The U.S. government is currently studying the salient features of Islamic banking to ascertain how far it could be useful in fighting the ongoing world economic crisis."

"Islamic banking" is a euphemism for a practice better known as "Shariah-Compliant Finance (SFC)." And it turns out that this week the Treasury will be taking officials from various federal agencies literally to school on SFC.

The department is hosting a half-day course entitled "Islamic Finance 101" on Thursday at its headquarters building.

Treasury's self-described "seminar for the policy community" is co-sponsored with the leading academic promoters of Shariah and SCF in the United States: Harvard University Law School's Project on Islamic Finance. At the very least, the U.S. government evidently hopes to emulate Harvard's success in securing immense amounts of Wahhabi money in exchange for conforming to the Islamists' agenda. Like Harvard, Treasury seems utterly disinterested in what Shariah actually is, and portends.

Unfortunately, such submission - the literal meaning of "Islam" - is not likely to remain confined long to the Treasury or its sister agencies. Thanks to the extraordinary authority conferred on Treasury since September, backed by the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the department is now in a position to impose its embrace of Shariah on the U.S. financial sector. The nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Treasury's purchase of - at last count - 17 banks and the ability to provide, or withhold, funds from its new slush-fund can translate into unprecedented coercive power.

Concerns in this regard are only heightened by the prominent role Assistant Treasury Secretary Neel Kashkari will be playing in "Islamic Finance 101." Mr. Kashkari, the official charged with administering the TARP fund, will provide welcoming remarks to participants. Presumably, in the process, he will convey the enthusiasm about Shariah-Compliant Finance that appears to be the current party line at Treasury. >>> Frank J Gaffney Jr | November 4, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

Melanie Phillips: Selling Us All to Saudi Arabia
THE SPECTATOR: The Islamisation of the west is proceeding according to plan, as the Times reports:

Gordon Brown claimed success yesterday in his attempt to persuade Saudi Arabia to help stricken economies by pumping more money into the International Monetary Fund... Lord Mandelson, who was also at the dinner at the Royal Palace, said Mr Brown wanted to ensure that the Saudi King was ‘on the same page’ over the causes of the financial problems and the solutions. ‘We are seeking “buy-in” from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to the necessary response that we all need to make to the turmoil of the international financial system. If we don’t get that money we will fail,’ Lord Mandelson said...

Lord Mandelson said that the Saudis and other Gulf states would now expect a bigger role in global institutions in return for their investment.

You bet they will. Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson are delivering Britain and the west into dhimmitude.*

* Definition of ‘dhimmi’ from the Dhimmi Watch site:
Dhimmis, ‘protected people,’ are free to practice their religion in a Sharia regime, but are made subject to a number of humiliating regulations designed to enforce the Qur’an’s command that they ‘feel themselves subdued’ (Sura 9:29). This denial of equality of rights and dignity remains part of the Sharia, and, as such, is part of the law that global jihadists are laboring to impose everywhere, ultimately on the entire human race.

The dhimmi attitude of chastened subservience has entered into Western academic study of Islam, and from there into journalism, textbooks, and the popular discourse. One must not point out the depredations of jihad and dhimmitude; to do so would offend the multiculturalist ethos that prevails everywhere today. [Source: The Spectator] Melanie Philips | November 3, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Brown Seeks IMF Cash from Saudis
Gordon Brown at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, accompanied by Saudi officials. Photo courtesy of Reuters
REUTERS: RIYADH (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Sunday he expected Saudi Arabia to pump money into the International Monetary Fund, part of moves to ensure the lender can bail out economies hit by a global financial crisis.

The worst financial crisis in 80 years, which started when a U.S. housing market boom turned sour, has raised fears of recession which one bank official said would spread across the globe hurting even fast-growing economies in Asia and South America.

China was the latest country to fear it might be hit by the downturn, saying it must maintain a fast pace of growth or risk heightening "factors damaging social stability."

Governments have cut interest rates, propped up banks and stepped up state spending to try to spur their economies, but some countries have been forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other global lenders for help.

Brown urged countries with large financial resources, such as oil-producing Gulf states, to contribute to a new IMF facility and said he expected Saudi Arabia to contribute -- after some time.

"The Saudis, I think, will contribute so we can have a bigger fund worldwide," Brown told reporters in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on a tour of the Gulf to also seek investment and help on oil prices.

"The oil producing countries, who have generated over $1 trillion from higher oil prices in recent years, are in a position to contribute."

He next heads to the gas and oil-producing Gulf Arab state of Qatar. Earlier in Kuwait, the finance minister said the government would base any decision to support international markets on potential returns and investment opportunities. >>> By Matt Falloon | November 2, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

Rescued Bank to Pay Millions in Bonuses
THE GUARDIAN: RBS 'making monkeys' out of the government, says Vince Cable

Royal Bank of Scotland, which is being bailed out with £20bn of taxpayers' money, has signalled it is preparing to pay bonuses to thousands of staff despite government pledges to crack down on City pay.

The bank has set aside £1.79bn to cover "staff costs" - including discretionary bonuses - at its investment banking division for the first six months of the year alone. The same division caused a £5.9bn writedown that wiped out the bank's profits for the same period.

The government had demanded that boardroom directors at RBS should not receive bonuses this year and the chief executive, Sir Fred Goodwin, is walking away without a pay-off. But below boardroom level, RBS and other groups are preparing to pay bonuses to investment bankers who continue to generate profits.

The disclosure drew fierce criticism from Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman.

"The government said they would attach strict conditions on bonuses and it is very clear they are doing nothing of the kind.

"The banks are just making complete monkeys of them." >>> Simon Bowers | November 1, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>