John Clayden

In an interview with Kim Iversen, Richard Werner covers a lot of ground . Kim’s first question is “Who really runs the world? I always thought it was the central banks”. 

Richard Werner: “Your instincts are right it is the central banks.” He then gives a résumé of his career starting studying economics at the London School of Economics and doing a doctorate at Oxford. He was disappointed that what he was taught did not have a practical application. He got a job in finance in Japan which at the time had a rapidly growing economy, becoming after the poverty of the immediate post war years a successful manufacturing nation, while not following conventional economic practice. He had concluded that economics was not conducted or theorised in a scientific manner.  A science is inductive, it examines empirical facts to see if they invalidate a given hypothesis which seeks to establish how things are, whereas he found that the way economics was conducted and taught, the central theory was assumed to be correct and only evidence which validated it was accepted. After the war in both Germany and Japan their economies rapidly developed due to the creation of numerous local banks which encouraged the growth of many small local businesses. In China up to the present this is the case, together with one central bank which is controlled by the government. This trend has been reversed by the European Central Bank.

 The ECB has dictatorial powers over all states within the EU. Under Mario Draghi the ECB has closed down 5000 small local banks. Werner says he was interested in credit creation and looked at the three main theories. He did empirical research with the help of a bank and established that when a bank makes a loan it just makes an entry on a ledger and doesn’t have to have any coverage from deposits.

 In Japan he talked to managers of the main banks and they told him they were under instruction from the central bank as to what they were to make loans available for, namely real estate. The World Economic Forum the WEF selected him to join a scheme for young people called Global Leaders for Tomorrow. He asked awkward questions about their preference for genetically modified crops which trapped farmers in third world countries because surplus seed could not be used for future sowing, which stopped farmers becoming prosperous and independent and tied them to the big multinationals which supplied the seed.

 He also questioned someone from the European Central Bank about their prioritising loans to purchase real estate and assets. He found himself excluded from further meetings and the scheme was renamed The Global Leaders for Tomorrow which trained future government leaders like Angela Merkel. Richard Werner quotes Lord Acton who observed “Power corrupts – absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Most people are empathetic and caring except a minority of the unscrupulous, psychopathic and the obsessively greedy and although a minority they tend to get into positions of power. He wondered why the Japanese central bank had concentrated on making money for buying assets and real estate. And why had it not got out of its long recession. He suggested to them if they bought up the real estate in Tokyo which resulted from bankruptcy and built parks and public space the economy would recover. After a while talking to insiders that he knew, he realised it was deliberate. They were creating bubbles and economic crises because that encouraged politicians to give them more power over the economy. They used this power to centralise the economy and destroy the local banks.  A similar thing was happening in Europe with the ECB causing a financial crisis in Spain and Greece. 

Asked who controlled the economy was it the big industrialists or the central banks he said it was largely the latter.  He said the last US government to issue money was under John F Kennedy whose treasury issued notes which had not a reference to the Federal Reserve on them. The Federal Reserve is privately owned by the super-rich. The Reserve’s aim is to achieve total control. Its ambition is to achieve CBDC (Central Bank Digital Control) and to ensure this it will be necessary for the entire population to have digital identity. If this happens the central bank will have access to every transaction. It will have the power to block any transaction or even block access to your account or stop your choices. He says China’s system is different, the central bank has no control over the local banks. As pointed out by Kim Iversen this has already happened in the case of the Truckers convoy when people seeking to help them found their accounts blocked. CBDC would allow much greater control. Crises can and will be created to facilitate the introduction of a universal digital system unless we become aware of the problem and take measures against it. Attempts have been made in the past during the COVID pandemic although people didn’t allow themselves to be panicked. Although banks at present have created money for a specific purpose i.e. asset loans, if they are so directed there is nothing to stop banks issuing money to ensure stable annual economic growth of say 15% without inflation. With full employment. In the past Japan and today China have shown that a central bank can be used for the general good of society. Asked by Kim what measures can we take at present because of this threat, Richard replied it would be a good idea to find alternative local banking services or set up credit unions based on gold or silver. He said he would be happy to offer advice to anyone in need of it. 

There are many videos of Richard Werner explaining economics available to watch. He has a website:  https://professorwerner.org

He recommends that his book “Princes of the Yen” should not be purchased from Amazon as the one on offer there is incomplete. He has also produced a documentary under the same title.