Bartholomew's Notes

Hal Lindsey drinks from the well of paleo-wingnuttery, in a tirade against international bankers:

I am not an economist, nor a banking expert.

Since when has the small matter of “expertise” ever been known to keep Hal quiet?

But I believe there are certain things that are driving our world economy today that can be understood by some simple logic. One thing I do know – where Bible prophecy predicts the economy is headed. And it’s right on course.

So what’s the problem?

The entire economy is built on an illusion. I realize that sounds like the rantings of a lunatic – especially when it is written out in words – but it is nonetheless true.

Well, if you want me to be honest…

…Legislation tends to expose how the economy works and, most importantly, whom it benefits – the bankers who run it.

All that being said, it is still the only game in town. Those who would expose the Money Trust don’t really want to break the banker’s [sic] stranglehold – that would launch a global economic depression that would make the 1930s look like an economic boom. The Money Trust has set up a system that is so insidious, that once in place, it cannot be removed without bringing the whole global economy down.

“The Money Trust”? Time for a quick history lesson, courtesy of The Columbia Electronic Encylopedia:

Pujo, Arsène Paulin , 1861–1939, U.S. congressman…He became chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee in 1911, and, dissatisfied with the monetary commission’s report, he obtained congressional authorization in 1912 to investigate the “money trust.” The hearings of the Pujo committee…uncovered evidence that a few financial leaders had achieved an unhealthy control of the nation’s money and credit. The committee’s disclosures helped create a climate of public opinion that led to the passage of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914.

But that wasn’t enough for one man, who saw the 1913 Federal Reserve Act as itself a tool of the mysterious “Money Trust”: Congressman Charles Lindbergh Senior, who wrote a book called Banking and Currency and the Money Trust. This was in 1918; today, Lindbergh’s thoughts on the subject of the “Money Trust” appear pretty well confined to crank conspiracy sites (a fair few of which are anti-Semitic, although, based on a few searches within the text, Lindbergh’s book does not appear to be aimed against Jews).

However, Lindsey himself is probably drawing on Cliff Ford’s 1998 book Blood, Money, & Greed: The Money Trust Conspiracy. According to the blurb:

For more than 200 years an international banking cartel has literally bought the world. Conspiracy Theory? No! Conspiracy Fact! Author Cliff Ford draws upon his extensive background in international finance to document how this group’s plan to control the world’s monetary system has progressed and how near they are to achieving their diabolical objective. Discover why a group of men whose combined assets represented one sixth of the world’s wealth met secretly on Jeckyll Island, South Carolina in 1910 and how that meeting affected the course of history. Discover how the most powerful men in government during World War I were part of the same banking firm controlling both the German Secret Service and British Intelligence while on opposite sides. Discover who financed Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich and how they later became highly placed officials in the US Government. Discover what the Federal Reserve is – and what is not. And last, discover what inflation really is (hint: it’s not what you think it is).

Sounds like Pat Robertson’s infamous New World Order book – lots of rhetoric about international bankers and shadowy 200-year conspiracies, with no acknowledgement of the pedigree of this kind of paranoid conspiracy-mongering (i.e., in anti-Semitism). Once again, so much for Christian Zionism.

As noted above, Ford touts himself as being an expert in international finance; he and Lindsey co-hosted a show called the International Intelligence Briefing. They also once wrote a book together; here’s our pair of experts back in 1999:

FACING MILLENNIAL MIDNIGHT

The Y2K Crisis Confronting America and the World

There is less than one year to prepare for what will be the technological and social equivalent of a worldwide earthquake. The exact date and time of this earthquake are already known-the stroke of midnight December 31, 1999.

World-renowned prophecy author Hal Lindsey and international economics expert Cliff Ford present the whole Y2K scenario in non-computer nerd language. they explain the potential magnitude and scope of the year 2000 crisis and its impact on federal, state and local governments; the banking and finance industries; public utilities; and the personal computer. In addition, they offer practical advice to prepare for the year 2000 crisis as well as specific actions that you can take now to protect youself and your family from crisis.

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