“The Trilateral Commission was formed in 1973 by private citizens of Japan, Europe (European Union countries), and North America (United States and Canada) to foster closer cooperation among these core democratic industrialized areas of the world with shared leadership responsibilities in the wider international system. Originally established for three years, our work has been renewed for successive triennia (three-year periods), most recently for a triennium to be completed in 2012.

When the first triennium of the Trilateral Commission was launched in 1973, the most immediate purpose was to draw together—at a time of considerable friction among governments—the highest-level unofficial group possible to look together at the key common problems facing our three areas. At a deeper level, there was a sense that the United States was no longer in such a singular leadership position as it had been in earlier post-World War II years, and that a more shared form of leadership—including Europe and Japan in particular—would be needed for the international system to navigate successfully the major challenges of the coming years.

The “growing interdependence” that so impressed the founders of the Trilateral Commission in the early 1970s has deepened into “globalization.” …”
…
“There are 390 members of the Trilateral Commission today—160 from Europe, 120 from North American, and 110 from Pacific Asia. They are distinguished leaders in business, media, academia, public service (excluding current national government leaders), labor unions, and other non-governmental organizations from the three regions…”
http://www.trilateral.org/about.htm

Probably, the saddest part of this Story is that the ”rank ‘n file” don’t even know that they’ve been sold down yon’, proverbial, River.

Memo to Investigators: Dig Deep
By William Greider

Congress instructed the Angelides commission to examine lopsided financial flows in the global economy and the global imbalance of savings.] How did China wind up with a mountain of surplus capital while the US economy has had to borrow more heavily from abroad each year just to stay afloat? One obvious explanation is the unbalanced trading system in which the United States has been steadily weakened by serving as “buyer of last resort” for other nations’ exports. During the past two decades, the United States piled up something like $15 trillion in debt from trade deficits, as value-added production and jobs were relocated overseas. Simply put, we import a lot more than we export, goods we buy from abroad that used to be manufactured in the United States.

Political debate usually avoids the links between negative US trade and our weakened condition as a debtor nation, but the consequences are visible through several channels. The out-migration of production and jobs drives the long-running stagnation of industrial wages, roughly stuck at the same level as in 1973. The annual trade deficits, recently as high as 6 percent of GDP, subtract directly from domestic economic growth. These ill effects and others have created a permanent shortfall in aggregate demand–not enough consumers with the money to buy the stuff they need or want. So households rely on borrowing to pay the bills and hang on to their faltering living standards.[/b]

The financial crisis crisply marks an end to that era of false prosperity. The illusion of living well on borrowed money cannot be revived by repairing the banking system. The restoration of prosperity will require wrenching economic changes, including a very different US approach to the global trading system. No one expects the commission to solve the trade problem, of course. But the investigation can restart the debate on more honest terms. Asking deeper questions about the true sources of the calamity is a first step toward developing authentic answers to the nation’s predicament.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091026/greider

I could see this one coming from a mile, I kept telling my Obama loving surroundings but they think I’m a crazy non partisan weirdo.

Speaking with PBS’s Charlie Rose on Monday, Mrs. Pelosi mused publicly about the rising possibility of enacting a value-added tax, or VAT, as part of broader tax reform. “Somewhere along the way, a value-added tax plays into this,” she said. “Of course, we want to take down the health-care cost, that’s one part of it. But in the scheme of things, I think it’s fair to look at a value-added tax as well.”

The allure of a VAT for politicians is that it applies to every level of production or service, rakes in piles of money, and is largely hidden from those who ultimately pay it—namely, consumers…”
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748703298004574457512007010416-lMyQjAxMDA5MDEwMjExNDIyWj.html
~~
Footnotes:

[1] The 31-Year-Old in Charge of Dismantling G.M. by David E. Sanger, The New York Times: May 31, 2009

[2] We don’t want your tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to trash the planet:

The Federal Reserve, 2009 by Robert Singer

[3] Why Joseph Biden will be the Next Vice President of the United States by Robert Singer

[4] October Crashes, Black Monday 10/28/1929, Black Monday 10/18/1987, Soviet Union Black Friday 10/18/1991 and Black Tuesday 10/29/2008
http://www.daily.pk/the-september-employment-rate-is-90-11826/

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hP5X0qPf0d7hibqUqb8f3d2xxlHA

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/household-bills/6284423/Britain-has-worst-quality-of-life-in-Europe-study-says.html

Britain has worst quality of life in Europe, study says

“Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch, said: “There is more to good living than money and this report shows why so many Brits are giving up on the UK and heading to France and Spain.

“We earn substantially more than our European neighbours, but this level of income is needed just to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table and our homes warm. It’s giving us a decent standard of living, but it’s not helping us achieve the quality of life that people in other countries enjoy.”