JULY 7, 2012 1 THE TRUMPET WEEKLYJU L Y 7 , 201 2 How to sell a radical Islamist to America 3The world’s second most powerful man4Rewriting a shameful history 7Nuking the Bank of England 8Massive harvest failur e coming? 9Will Germany Expl oit Britain’s Banking Scandal? BY BRAD MACDONALD I live outside Britain, you may not be ollowing the colossal scandal that is rocking the British bank Barclays and speedily rippling through other banks and financial institutions on its way to the national government. Y ou probably should, because this could have enormous consequences. Te details a re complex and somewhat tedious. Es- sentially, it was recently discovered that Barclays had been deliberately contributing to the alsification othe L ondon Interbank Offered Rate () , the world’s most impor- tant benchmark interest rate. Te interest rates on roughly in financial transactions, on everything rom mortgages, to credit cards, to car loans, to savings accounts—as well as in securities and swaps—are calculated using the benchmark. Basically, since Ba rclays bankers (among others ) have been meddling (albeit indirectly) with the personal financ- es otens omillions individuals, countless companies and corporations, and ulti mately, entire national economies. All in the pursuit obigger salaries and bonuses. Since the story broke last week it has shown no signs oslowing. In the last seven d ays Barclays has been fined million (almost hala billion dollars), watched the price oits stock plummet, and witnessed the axing oits . Worse yet, nea rly all oLondon’ s bank ing giants, including Lloyds, the Royal Bank oScotland and , have been sucked into the vortex. At least other major banks are currently under investigation, and it appears ma nipulat- ing interest rates had become standard prac tice among Britain’s major banks. It gets worse still. Yesterday, evidence (e-mails) sur- aced hinting that “senior” authorities at the Bank oEngland were not only aware othe financial skull- duggery, but may have even encouragedBarclays and others to alsiy their figures. Te details wi ll be dredged in time, but it looks as ipersonali- ties within the highest echelons oBritain’s national gov ernment will be incriminated. Many experts ear this is the death knell or Britain’s banking and finance industry. ruth is, there is much more at stake than that. Britain’s banking and finance industry is the only healthy organ in a body that is quickly shutting down. Te sector comprises about percent oBritai n’ s entire economy, con- tributes more than see SCANDAL page 12
