To: westpacific who wrote (3707 ) 5/18/2001 11:12:57 AM From: Ilaine Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 74559 >>out of control<< = free market. Free market doesn't guarantee stability and neither does control. BIS (Bank for International Settlements) is trying to rein in derivatives:bis.org The BIS was the brainchild of Hjalmar Schacht, believe it or not.-g- Dr. Schacht, Hitler's banker, the guy who proudly took credit for crashing the Berlin Stock Exchange in 1927 in order to curb speculation in foreign securities. From Confessions of the "Old Wizard : when the world "experts" were drawing up the Young Plan for German reparations, Dr. Schacht suggested to Owen Young, who was in charge of the plan, "I would suggest that in the Young Plan you assume responsibility for all concerned for the joint founding of a bank through which, on the one hand, the reparations payments shall be distributed and which, on the other hand, shall be entrusted with the carrying out of financial operations offering to the underdeveloped countries the means of exploiting their natural resources and increasing their agricultural products. This financial aid will enable these countries to purchase all industrial equipment - especially in Germany - necessary for increased production. A bank of this kind will demand cooperation between vanquished and victors that will lead to a community of interests which in turn will give rise to mutual confidence and understanding and thus promote and ensure peace." Schacht reports that Young's face "lighted up and his resolve found utterance in the words, "Dr. Schacht, you have given me a wonderful idea and I am going to sell it to the world." What Schacht doesn't mention was that the BIS acted as a clearinghouse for international gold shipments. I am digging here very hard because, by a very strange coincidence, the world's financial system collapsed right around the time the BIS opened its doors for business.