I love that picture of Putin in the opening post...He's such a sweet looking guy...Beady eyes and all. I have a theory about eyes. The wider set, the more understanding and thoughtful. The closer set, the more predatory. I know that's a throwback to Nazi phrenology but nobody is perfect, not even Putin.
I checked for Putin's statements regarding 'the Rothschild Banking system' and couldn't find anything. Propaganda is evil, no matter the source. I fully understand that we live in broken economic system, doomed to failure because of its inherent and fundamental flaws, BUT:
More Machiavelli than Adam Smith
The Russian banking crisis may well be largely psychological. The failure of a few small banks does not justify the current run on deposits at Alfa Bank, the largest private institution. But psychology is an extremely important tool of government. And President Vladimir Putin is a clever leader. He is well on the way to getting what he wants – an economy that depends entirely on the state’s goodwill. International investors have to accept that the government rules.
It is too early to tell how far the Russian bank crisis will spread. The banking system has recovered since its 1998 collapse, but it is still weak and corrupt. Indeed, most observers believe that as many as 90% of the 1100 privately owned banks should be closed.
From the state’s perspective, the private banking system is at best a mixed blessing. It does finance commerce, but it also supports crime and capital flight. The government is particularly suspicious of banks owned by big industrial groups, for example Alfa Bank. As oil company Yukos has learned, independent wealth is seen as a potential political threat. And the government has a banking alternative. Its own banks already have most of the retail deposits and finance most of the international trade.
Certainly, the government’s actions do not suggest great concern for the private bank sector. Its tighter regulation precipitated the crisis. It has been tepid in providing regulatory relief and indirect support for threatened banks. And when Guta Bank, a mid-sized institution, failed, it was the government-owned Vneshtorgbank that came to the rescue. Effectively, that is a nationalisation.
The current problems in the private banking sector are best understood as part of the Putin economic strategy. He wants the state to retain close control of everything important in the economy. Central planning has been abandoned as an economic tool, but nothing like economic-political autonomy is going to be tolerated. The prime goal of the Russian government is not increased consumption but centralised stability.
International investors in Russia would prefer a government that put their interests first. Foreigners want to deal with powerful businessmen who can keep promises. But in the new Russian system, only the government has that power