http://keithweiner.posterous.com
It is now the second anniversary of a campaign to “crash” JP Morgan by encouraging people to buy silver (see max Keiser http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4IBUTHyROs). The idea is that JP Morgan has a large naked short position in silver. If people buy physical silver it will drive the price up and deprive JP Morgan of the metal it would need to cover its short position, thus causing prices to rise further until JP Morgan collapses.
I don’t want to waste any more electrons debunking this conspiracy theory. I have written many times on this topic, most recently in my (Open Letter to Ted Butler).
I want to call attention to something else. There is an old cliche in America, “cutting off your nose to spite your face.” It is usually said in admonition when someone is doing something out of spite, and he will be the primary victim.
If it were true that JP Morgan had a huge short position in silver, and a rising price could cause them to “crash” then is this something that people should want to occur? To answer that, everyone should be clear on two things. First, what happens when a company collapses? And second, who are JP Morgan’s creditors?
When a company collapses, it defaults on its debts. The creditors of JP Morgan are “we the people” including our bank accounts, our employers’ payroll accounts, our pension funds, our insurance funds, our annuities, our brokerage accounts. Creditors also include farms, grain elevators, food processing plants, the electric power companies, etc. Other banks are creditors of JP Morgan as well; it is implausible that any would survive the collapse of JP Morgan.
Without any money in the bank, and without a job to earn more, how will you buy food? What happens when everyone else faces the same desperate circumstances?
If you want to buy silver, go buy silver. It is one of the two monetary metals. It won’t cause any banks to collapse. The silver price may rise or fall in the short term, though it is in a long-term rising trend.
We face a serious crisis. While the banks have played their role and it may be tempting to wish ill upon them, causing a banking collapse is not a serious solution. Many of us are working to avoid collapse. Accelerating collapse does no good for anyone.
Keith Weiner
Nov 21, 2012