Between 2010 and 2015 Valeant increased the monthly price of Syprine from $650 to $21,000. During the same period Valeant’s value grew from £2.3 billion to $78 billion. ibid. caption
‘Valeant was very good at creating an illusion that they were growing.’ ibid. short seller
Daraprim: Outrage After Pill Increases 5,000%. ibid. CNN banner
‘The pharmaceutical Enron.’ ibid. short seller
In one month Valeant stock fell 59%. The company lost $26 billion in value. ibid. caption
US insurance premiums have gone up 43% since 2008. ibid.
Money that was being laundered from Mexican drug cartels. Dirty Money IV: Cartel Bank
Indifference to the people it was doing business with. ibid.
Banco Bital had a great presence in Mexican territory prior to this, particularly in Sinaloa, which is an area of drug production. ibid.
They [HSBC] have these branches that were taking in some cases of hundreds of thousands of dollars a day of questionable money from certain customers, and they were being exposed to tremendous risk.’ ibid.
The Federation owes us a lot of money. They will turn us all into criminals. Dirty Money V: The Maple Syrup Heist, Maple syrup producer
About 30 times the price of oil. And if you want to work with maple syrup you have to deal with the Federation of Maple Syrup Producers. ibid.
I fight so producers can regain their freedom from this mafia. ibid.
Around 9,561 barrels had been discovered stolen worth more than $18 million. ibid. lawyer
This enforced quota that tells producers how much maple syrup they can make in any season. ibid.
Avik Caron 6 years in jail, $1.7 million fine; Richard Valliers 8 years in jail, $10 million fine; Etienne St Pierre 2 years home imprisonment, $1.03 million fine. ibid. captions
He’s P T Barnum.’ Dirty Money VI: The Confidence Man, critic
We are now all living in a Simpsons episode. ibid.
Historically bad at judging risk and reward. ibid.
Fred Trump was authentically self made. ibid.
Donald Trump has been party to over 4,000 lawsuits, involving every area of his business empire. Since becoming president, he has been sued over 130 times. ibid. caption
The Taj Mahal was the worst casino opening in the history of gambling … A financial disaster. ibid. critic
By the early 1990s, the Trump Organization was facing over $3 billion in debt. The Taj Mahal, Trump Castle and Trump Plaza casino all went bankrupt. ibid. caption
The Apprentice overnight re-positioned him.’ ibid. critic
‘They start doing business with some of the sketchiest people in some of the sketchiest countries.’ ibid.
Trump has had a business interest in over 140 companies across 25 countries including United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Philippines, Qatar, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan. ibid. caption
‘Trump University was a fraudulent scheme.’ ibid. litigation document
‘The president has spent roughly one third of his time in office at Trump Properties.’ ibid. television news
I need some bread, dad. I only need a thousand. The Mechanic 1972 starring Charles Bronson & Jan-Michael Vincent & Keenan Wynn & Jill Ireland & Linda Ridgeway & Frank Dekova & James Davidson & Lindsey Crosby & Steve Vinovich et al, director Michael Winner, pretty boy son
I’m going to make money and I’m going to make it fast. The Frightened Man 1951 aka Rosselli & Son starring Dermot Walsh & Barbara Murray & Charles Victor & John Blythe & Michael Ward & Thora Hird & John Horsley & Annette Simmons & Martin Benson & Ballard Berkeley & Peter Bayliss et al, director John Gilling, him to her
Money’s got no value in itself. Money only represents the goods you can buy with it. You’ve got to have money otherwise we’d be back to bartering and running round the bush with no clothes on. Meantime 1983 starring Marion Bailey & Phil Daniels & Tim Roth & Pam Ferris & Jeffrey Robert & Alfred Molina & Gary Oldman & Tolly Vosburgh & Paul Daly & Leila Bertrand & Peter Wight et al, director Mike Leigh, Aunty Barbara
Dough. That’s the only thing that’ll cover up the stink of the city dump. The Hoodlum 1951 starring Lawrence Tierney & Allene Roberts & Marjorie Riordan & Lisa Golm & Edward Tierney & Stuart Randall & Angela Stevens & John de Simone & Tom Hubbard & Eddie Foster et al, director Max Nosseck, Vincent
All the money literally disappeared in a couple of months without a single school, hospital or bridge ever being built. PSTV.tv – New American Century
How is money created? Where does it come from? Who benefits? And what purpose does it serve? For centuries the mechanics of the monetary system have remained hidden from the prying eyes of the populace. 97% Owned: Economic Truth, 2012
In 2010 the total UK money supply stood at £2.15 trillion. 2.6% of this total was physical cash. ibid.
Seigniorage: Profit made by a government by issuing currency. The difference between the face value of notes and coins, and their production costs. ibid.
When banks issue loans to the public, they create new commercial bank money. ibid.
‘It’s basically an accounting trick … banks create money.’ ibid. Professor Richard Werner
Between 1998 and 2007 the UK money supply tripled. ibid.
Banks are no longer restricted by how much they can lend. ibid.
‘It’s generally speaking when you have debts owned by the poor to the rich that suddenly debts become a sacred obligation more important than anything else.’ ibid. Dave Graeber, interview Democracy Now
The [indebted] country becomes a vassal state, allowing large corporations to exploit its natural resources and workforce. ibid.
The system is neither stable nor fair … The system is designed to make certain people very rich. ibid.
The banks caused the financial crisis and now the rest of us are being asked to pay for it. ibid.
Death is better than life with no money. 54 Hours: The Gladbeck Hostage Crisis II, gangsta, BBC 2018
1999: ‘The one thing that’s missing that will soon be developed is a reliable e-cash.’ Bitcoin: Beyond the Bubble, Milton Friedman, Amazon 2018
Beneath all the hype and hysteria lies what could be the most important technology of our lifetimes. ibid.
It’s a digital currency, much like the electronic currency we use today. But it’s also the payment network which facilitates the transfer of this new digital currency from one person to another. ibid.
The Bitcoin network is decentralised. ibid.
All Bitcoin transactions are crytographically verified by thousands of computers on the Bitcoin network. ibid.
Bitcoin hits $11,000 as cryptocurrencies fuel renewed interest. ibid. RT news header
Bitcoin jumps 1,000% this year. ibid. CNN news header
Never before has there been as much money as there is today. And rarely has money been so cheap. And yet the central banks continue to pump money into the world … Running up debts is practically free of charge. The Money Deluge: How the Rich Get Richer: Money in the World Economy, DW 2017
The result is a massive concentration of wealth right at the top. ibid.
Cheap money endangers the entire economy and promotes increasing levels of debt. ibid.
At some point it will inevitably fall apart. ibid.
Welcome to a world in which we can be our own bank. We take it for granted that money creation is controlled by governments and banks. But there’s a community of people who don’t see this as a given and who get quite worked up about it. This community is switching to what they think is a better monetary system. The Bitcoin Gospel, VPRO 2015
‘It is not a system based on debt. It is a system based on ownership.’ ibid. Andreas Antonopoulos