DRUG CARTELS POWER THE ECONOMY

I wonder how long Ottawa, like Washington, will keep supporting the world's
drug cartels.

Catherine Austin Fitts, former assistant secretary of housing in the first
Bush administration, estimated that $200 billion a year is funnelled into
American banks from illegal drug sales throughout the world.

The U.S. banks suck up the drug funds like a vacuum cleaner and, due to the
"fractional reserve" money ratio formula used in banking today, for each
drug dollar deposited, they can lend $10.

Fitts showed the damage to the economy when this vast pool of money is
invested in the stock market. For example a publicly traded company worth
$2 million is worth $4 million if an extra $100,000 is funnelled through
that company illegally because a stock trades at 20-30 times its annual income.

Thus prohibition is a controlling factor in the value in the stock market.
If all drug dealers were to quit today we would have a stock market crash
as stocks plummet to there real non-narco value.

Fitts described the effect of this vast pool of money on the U.S. political
system as politicians compete for money that has its origins in illegal
drugs, with or without their knowledge.

The way our narco-economy is built, it can only keep expanding by turning
our streets into a prohibition war zone. And with the amount of drug cash
that finds its way into politics, the stock market, and banks to finance
the U.S. deficit -- we are stuck in a vicious circle that can only be
solved one way.

Make the government the supplier or accept the fact that drug cartels will
own our economy, our politicians, our legal businesses, the stock markets,
banks and future.

Chuck Beyer,

Victoria.