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Ralph Murphy

(3/2017) Economic and political dealing relative to personal and social stability or growth often require difficult balancing. To presume immediate competence from politicians in their new private sector dealings is often fanciful. World organizations such as the struggling European Union (EU) reflect that problem and could not likely stay active without external support. Such support appears to be coming from the Americans who unwittingly "float" a merger action with what should be overt investment capital, but appears bank theft instead. That linked to "under the table" program maintenance for suspect gain and quantifiable loss.

The Goldman Sachs Group was once a venerated New York City bank founded just after the American Civil War. The operational aspects of what appears a merger of the investment bank with a government alliance has to be reviewed as it may have fostered linked systems to include the EU. Otherwise, they probably could not survive without Goldman's capital and affiliated political support from abroad. The bank doesn't make the top four usually tied to the 2008 Treasury fund access, but has spun off too many top government officials both here and abroad to delay scrutiny as to their actual objectives.

Bipartisan US Treasury Secretaries from Robert Rosen in the late 1990s to Henry Paulsen- and just confirmed candidate Steve Mnuchin were all senior executives at Goldman Sachs. More troubling is the Bank of England's chief Mark Carney- a Canadian, who also was a Goldman Sachs senior leader. The real issue of concern now is the European Central Bank (ECB) head Mario Draghi a Goldman Sachs executive from 2002- 2005 who has maintained his position since 2011. That is, shortly after the Treaty of Lisbon afforded the bank directors virtual, unlimited monetary management and presumed debt relief powers. Those are finance links, but the group even includes politicians such as Australia's Malcolm Turnbull who worked there before his Prime Minister post.

Goldman Sachs Director Lloyd Blankfein testifying before a Congressional Financial Crisis Inquiry Committee In 2010 claimed that the Sachs group’s objective was a market where near term profit was secondary. In the Goldman Sachs case it appears they established the market, as the EU and others passed the financial dealing to other banks. This to include Citigroup with access of about $ 1.7 trillion in assets. That funding level was almost twice Goldman's 2015 $861 billion. Loans appeared for Greece, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Portugal and most all of the then 28 EU members who needed help. Europe simply lacked the coordination capital or expertise to afford the money. Much of it was American- most of it as debt, and Blankfein was good to his word in that no profit from production in investments of any scale was registered.

Other banks such as North Carolina's Bank of America with over $2.18 trillion In post 2008 assets were probably used for the EU project money. The other top US banks such as J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo with combined assets of over $ 4 trillion dollars last year appeared more exposed to the American western states and Far East. That government, private sector banking arrangement needed political support to facilitate the transactions and it does appear to have been allowed. Last year, however, it made a troubling turn as the Panama Papers were broached from the legal firm of Mossac Fonseca to a German news magazine. Fonseca had managed many of the suspect accounts.

The report implicated over 45 heads of state and governments as well as their families for allowing or investing (what appears illegal bank funds) in " shell companies, for fraud, kleptocracy, tax evasion, and the avoidance of international sanctions". The issues were very serious, but the legal sanction had to generally be sponsored by the politicians’ host system unless extradition was tried, and few arrests were made. However, It did leave a lasting series of political scars and may have contributed directly to hasten the exits of leaders such as Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron and Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner- both of whom quickly stepped down from power. There were other factors that could have contributed to their early departure, but the issues were still standing.

The reports also directly implicated the Spanish Royal family perhaps because they had "ground work" in the very unusual show trial of Princess Caroline tied to email issues and unwitting influence peddling. She relinquished her title. The report demurred on the British Royals although their exposure to revenue in question is listed as the largest in 21 jurisdictions of mostly British territories that controlled up to $2 trillion dollars. The ceremonial power structure then had military and paramilitary support as well as possible global syndicate links. Britain's domestic economy includes mostly small and medium sized enterprises (SME's) with often high- quality goods but which yield, low earnings. In varying degrees SME dominance remains the standard for most all of the developed world except for the Americans, Germans and Japanese who dominate large enterprises (LE) as well. So, the money level was probably an alliance scheme with the finance branches who controlled far more and almost none of it was invested. Almost all of it can be sourced for return.

The EU can't long survive without American bank help. That's ironic as the organization was initiated in an attempt at host resource control. They can however work gainfully and independently on a small or medium (SME) scale. There are exceptions, but they can't seem to bring together the resources for competitive large industry without mostly US investments. A strong work ethic is often lacking amid cultural restraints. An aversion to mental adaptation when selecting inputs for needed product change is routinely the case as well for Old Europe.

If Goldman Sachs were to pull out of the EU along with their bank affiliates, it would probably quickly collapse. The SMEs would however be enough to comfortably float the European economies until conventional, over-the-table dealings s have investment potential on that debt-formed, theft alliance. It's likely to happen as the New York bankers now appear to view the Obama-era as an aberration that was out of touch with the systems and standards of the communities they once served. A rough patch probably is ahead but the Europeans should allow experts to invest in areas of their expertise and sever the links of intrusion and manipulation that tie the current appearance of propriety.

Ralph Murphy is a former member of the CIA Headquarters Staff in Langley, VA.