ARIZONA AND UTAH LEGISLATING FOR SPECIE…

Last Thursday on my News and Views from the Nefarium I noted something of major geopolitical consequence as major Japanese banks were joining the CIPS (China International Payment System) of financial clearing, bypassing SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) and therefore the US dollar. This, in my opinion, was a geopolitical-financial earthquake. We have yet to see the fall0ut from this, but over the next few years I suspect we will, as other nations in the BRICSA bloc join and participate. China will couple this (obviously) to its Silk Road project, so one can except individual nations to participate, particularly those involved in China's Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank. Watch for Great Britain to do the same, thus straddling both the Western and Asian systems.

All this is to say that "something is up" in the financial world. For example, there's the story that Germany has completed its gold repatriation, three years ahead of time. Some who sent me this article suggested that this "speed up" may be due to the pressures on Germany's largest, and one of the world's largest, banks, Deutsche Bank. But there are other clues that "something is up". Recall that last year we occasionally blogged about the story that the American state of Texas had legislated the creation of a state bullion depository, and additionally, that Texas was, like Germany, seekiing to repatriate its own bullion stocks from the Fed to the state, presumably to its bullion depository.

Well, now you can add Arizona and Utah to that mix - at least, tentatively:

Utah Bill Sets Stage For State Gold Depository, Further Encourages Use Of Metals As Money

If both states pass their measures, the this would be two American states with state bullion depositories, and Arizona would join several states which have passed bills reaffirming that specie money is constitutional money and legal tender; most of those states that have passed similar measures, if memory serves me correctly(!), are in the upper plains states.

In any case, the real question here is what all of this means. And here I suspect that your high octane speculation is as good as mine. Firstly, there is the view that would hold that these states, like Germany, sense "something is up" and are building hedges and fences to insure their continued financial security. Secondly, there is a view that would see these moves as more indications that the US federal "one size fits all" political and financial institutions are breaking down, and that these states are taking measure to protect themselves. There is much to commend this view, as already state and municipal retirement pension funds are under severe pressure. In California the mathematics is undeniable, notwithstanding the make-believe world that Sacramento seems to live in: the state is facing a long-term financial "Situation" that is not good. The word hasn't been used yet, but think "Greece" and "tonsorial parlors" and you get the idea. Thirdly, closely allied with this view is that idea which holds that the union is, indeed, breaking apart under a variety of pressures, many financial, and many the much more intangible but profound cultural divisions. A glance at the county-by-county maps of past federal elections tells the story: the progressive left thrives on the coasts and in the urban centers, while the more traditional right thrives in the rest of the country, in mid-sized urban areas and rural areas. Fourthly, and now entering the world of "high octane speculation," bullion depositories and specie strike a direct blow not only against the centralized banking and financial system of the west, but the "cashless society" plans of Mr. Globaloney, for such money protects individual privacy and sovereignty. But specie also promotes not only anonymity, but given the fact that these states are in the US southwest, they could be positioning themselves for a much bolder presence on the global stage, for like it or not, even Mr. Globaloney likes bullion. Specie enable international trade, especially in an environment when there is increasing pressure on the US dollar's reserve currency status. Fifthly, and also in the realm of "high octane speculation," there is also a diametrically opposite possibility: by opening depositories, the could be a covert scheme to have all the bullion in private hands deposited... and then seized in those "tonsorial parlor" maneuvers we've seen before in history: the banksters have a variety of euphemisms for the procedure, but in the end it amounts to mere theft.

And a final thought: in the wake of the US elections, there is now open talk of secession, and of course, it originates (this time, anyway), not in the South, but in California:

Officials announce proposal that would establish California as separate nation

Now, the real question is why such moves would be openly touted, especially since a certain war about a century and a half ago supposedly settled the issue (it didn't, of course, but that's at least the "standard narrative'). Well, consider: if your Mr. Globaloney and you've piled up billions in commitments through government pensions and retirement plans, and have been raiding them for decades, how do you avoid paying it all back? Well... there are two methods to do so: (1) dissolve the union that entered into those commitments, or (2) revise the constitution so you don't have to pay it back. But, as Ms. Catherine Austin Fitts wisely observes, why have a constitutional convention to revise a constitution that you do pay any attention to to begin with? Answer: because under the current system, you're still legally liable...

Here as with so much else going on right now, time will tell. But this is also a case of "you tell me."