Trade Wars & Mark Carney Takes Over Canada

Trade Wars & Mark Carney Takes Over Canada

 

OTTAWA — Incoming prime minister Mark Carney says he has put all his assets other than his “personal real estate” into a blind trust after months of Conservative questions about his potential conflicts of interest.

 

In a statement Tuesday, spokesperson Audrey Champoux confirmed that Carney had set up a blind trust and provided the confirmation document to the federal ethics commissioner when the Liberal leadership results were announced Sunday evening.

-             Carney puts assets into blind trust as he prepares to become prime minister, National Post

 

By Gregg Wall (3-15-2025)

 

The last two weeks have been manic, even by Trumpian standards.  Trump appears hellbent on a trade war.  If Trump’s tariffs stick, they could drive the U.S. economy, and potentially trading partners’ economies, into recession. But recession maybe exactly what Trump, Musk are aiming for, both at home & abroad: not only as a potential tool for annexing targeted countries; but also, as a tool to drive down interest rates and debt service loads on America’s catastrophic national debt.  As the U.S. national debt climbs ever higher, and corporate greed (what the establishment likes to call ‘inflation’) remains part of the fabric of our lives, now entering year six… the national debt service load climbs higher, due to growing debt and the higher interest rates set by the Federal Reserve & markets in an effort to combat inflation.  The higher interest rate regime has proven troublesome not just for government but also for America’s financialized economy, that is private sector endeavors and industries that our beneficiaries of and reliant upon cheap debt & finance.

 

Towards the end of the Biden presidency, there was plenty of articles out on how the interest to service the national debt was climbing by approximately a trillion dollars every 100 days.  Hence, Musk & DOGE and the relentless attack upon the government, government employees, regulatory agencies, and government expense… hoping that Wall St and bond underwriters will come down on ten year Treasury yields.  So far, Wall St is not biting from the DOGE angle.

 

Rates are coming down since the inauguration, not due do DOGE, but rather, because markets are anticipating a full-blown trade war may tank the economy and send America into ‘technical recession.’  As the stock market tanks, as a result of doubts and a lack of consistency surrounding tariffs, there’s been a flight to quality & safe haven assets, like gold and Treasuries.  I say 'technical recession' because tens of millions of Americans are already living in an economic slowdown, on the edge of existence & precarity, a growing number homeless and in poverty.  The recession by the way could make things a hell of a lot worse for everyone, cut consumer spending, stave off CAPEX and investment in onshoring businesses back to America due to diminished demand … and may possibly send the nation’s debt higher, despite possible cuts to interest rates, prospective cuts to government spending, via DOGE, simply because the economic slowdown will drive down tax revenue and receipts.  Obviously, there’s a trade-off:  lower debt service loads driven by prospective FED rate cuts – as a result of a recession, versus lower tax revenue driven by lower GDP, income, jobs numbers, productivity, and recession (factor in potential tax cuts for the wealthy, pending in congress, and this idea that America could end up in a worse fiscal, debt, and deficits position… as a result of a recession…  is not a stretch, given the abject failure of trickle-down tax cuts).  The more severe the recession the less tax revenue coming in.  Caught in the middle are the American people, as well as, potentially, the citizens of nations targeted by Trump for tariffs & trade conflict.  It’s just one more way the elite and the oligarchy have screwed over American children, families, labor, and the public (those who aren’t privileged enough to be filthy rich), after 45 years of deregulation, globalization, industry consolidation & offshoring, laissez-faire, neoliberalism, privatization scams, supply-side and trickle-down economics.  In a world of many possible solutions to America’s growing poly-crisis, including but not limited to taxing the rich and great wealth… always look for the establishment and the obscenely wealthy to stick it to We, The People.

 

Other examples of the wealthy shafting essential Americans: one, higher interest rates as a way to address corporate greed driven, supply-side inflation, which drives up car loans, credit card service loads, and mortgages for American families; two, endless corporate consolidation and monopoly formation with the resulting monopsony power crushing small business owners and workers’ wages & benefits (there’s zero excuse for any of this and the extraordinary power monopolies & utilities hold over economies & governments); three, current administration efforts to suppress dollar strength and interest rates, which diminish the dollar’s purchasing power particularly on imported goods (i.e. making the affordability crisis even worse); and four, the pending wave of tariffs, which is a regressive tax upon the American people and will also make life considerably less affordable at a time many Americans are tapped out after five years of greedflation.  Et al.  There are, of course, alternative solutions to these challenges, like windfall taxation to contain corporate greed, crush all incentives for businesses to price gouge, and force businesses home; but per the usual, the oligarchy, Dem & GOP politicians, and Wall St. have targeted the disenfranchised, essential Americans for abuse and often very blunt & crude policies.  Policies which may not work.  And the end result, greater transfer of wealth to the rich, via pending tax cuts, while literally skinning the public alive.  Has DOGE recommending any cuts to: endless corporate welfare; eliminating the kleptocracy’s tax code that often allows wealthy corporations and individuals to dodge taxation altogether; eliminating privatization scams; or ending endless colonialism and for-profit wars that only serve bankers, big oil & gas/mining companies, defense contractors, multinationals, and the rich?  Not once, that I am aware of, has Musk and Trump suggested regulatory, spending, & taxation reforms to the oligarchy’s entitlements, that have played an outsized role in running up America’s national debt, including future Wall St bailouts – at a time Musk is pushing for greater deregulation.

 

Meanwhile, here in Canada, Mark Carney became Prime Minster of Canada.  Mr. Carney was sworn-in after a brief intra-party campaign, where Carney ran as an outsider and the voice of change.  What could the Liberal party be thinking?  Moreover, what could the Liberal party faithful have been thinking to place Trudeau’s primary economics and financial advisor, a private equity chairman, a central banker for the BOC & BOE, and Mike Bloomberg’s partner in running GFANZ into a position of power and running the Canadian federal government?  GFANZ, by the way, is a banker/private finance initiative, arguably, established to conquer the world through a spin on all too familiar debt slavery.  That is, while providing green finance to poor nations in exchange for said nation surrendering their sovereignty, adopting neoliberal reforms, accepting privatization of state assets, enacting endless austerity, subjecting themselves to corporate courts, and bowing to complete domination and control by Western banking concerns.  Whitney Webb’s piece... UN-Backed Banker Alliance Announces “Green” Plan to Transform the Global Financial System… and her website, Unlimited Hangout, are an outstanding place to read up on some of Mark Carney’s recent endeavors, after serving as head of the BOE and BOC.  Presently, Mark was chair of Brookfield Asset Management, with scandals already erupting from his tenure there: as Mark was involved in moving the head office of Brookfield from Toronto to New York; and allegations of Brookfield tax avoidance are also in the news.  

Here is man freighted in baggage, in addition to the obvious connection to the deeply unpopular Trudeau.  But apparently, not well-known baggage, as Liberal party voters do not appear to be caught up on the mercenary activities of central banks and private equity firms?  Yesterday’s coronation speech and press conference was a classic example of the imperiousness of a man, who has led a privileged existence for a great deal of his professional career, an authoritarian & corporate existence (where private sector leadership isn't often questioned).  In his press conference yesterday, Carney attempted to distance himself from Trudeau and shield himself from any criticism by admonishing against any ‘negativity’ (attempting to read Carney's mind,‘negativity’ being code for any democratic attempts to hold Mark accountable, preemptively block any merited criticism of the Liberal government, and head off any debate or ‘negativity’ on Liberal government performance, as a federal election draws near?).  What is that famous motto among Liberals: now, is not the time?  The West, of course, has been to this dance before… bankers like Draghi, Macron, Sunak as heads of state… all of them, predictably, keepers of austerity’s, globalization’s, and neoliberalism’s flame.  All of them booted from power, with Macron still clinging to office, despite his party’s loss in the last election.  And now comes Carney with his connections to central banks, massive global investments at Brookfield & considerable personal wealth & personal investments, American & fossil fuels investments, the private equity industry, and presumably, affiliation and some allegiance to great power and privilege… not to mention inherent conflicts of interest from a private equity firm he will likely return to someday (possibly, depending upon how short-lived his career as prime minster).  

 

Does Carney sound like the grand outsider and an agent of change to you?  

 

Note: Private equity and its partners in crime, central banks and easy money, are notorious for crushing companies, destroying jobs, thrashing opportunity, underfunding CAPEX and innovation, wielding chainsaws against customers, products, and services… all so that a handful of fat cats can make a fortune by looting company balance sheets.  Private equity are agents of M&A, corporate consolidation, monopoly & cartel, agents of extinguishing competition and markets (if for no other reason than many of their enterprises end up bankrupt, stripped down for parts, & ultimately, dead).  Private equity companies are known for opaque accounts, private accounting, a complete lack of regulatory oversight.  Not so ironically, Mr. Carney is said to want to introduce and maintain two books, two ledgers for the Canadian government.  Nice.  The primary vehicle by which private equity carries out acquisitions is via easy money and low bond yields, easy money flooded into markets by central banks.  Mark, apparently, after years of guidance & service, directly & indirectly, to Bay Street, The City in London, Team Oligarchy, and perhaps even less directly Wall St -- as a central banker -- went in through the revolving door to private equity’s Brookfield (not the first high profile player to take this or a similar career path and certainly not the last) … presumably, Carney earned the top slot at Brookfield for his connections, knowledge & expertise, services rendered to finance at large, and a deep knowledge of central banks, markets, rules, and regulations.  For the connected and powerful, Carney, during his tenure at the BOC and BOE, would have held the keys to the kingdom on advance information concerning rate moves and central bank policies, a vast treasure trove of invaluable information.  None of this is to suggest Carney skirted any laws, rules, or regulations in anyway, during his tenure at the BOC and BOE.

 

Please tell me again, does a Goldman Sachs banker -- with a net worth estimated by some at $100 million -- really seem like he’s going to overhaul the Canadian economy, attack globalization, address failed neoliberalism, cut the private sector tax of commodities speculation & monopoly, that has left one in four Canadians living in poverty?  Is Carney really going to rollover on the global financial elite, crush and break up Canadian monopolies, demand that offshored, globalized businesses return to Canadian shores to pay Canadian taxes and employ real Canadians… demand that the minimum wage be increased by the provinces, push & achieve greater funding for Medicare, restore well-paying jobs to Canada, at a time of Trumpian crisis?   Or will Mark, more than likely, protect banks, bankers, monopolies, oligarchs, privatization, profits, and continue to crush businesses’ greatest expense: labour?  Canadian labour, arguably, obliterated by Trudeau, our current Bank of Canada governor, Tiff Macklem, and presumably, by Trudeau’s primary advisor… the star of today’s essay, Mark Carney… as I wrote about last year under the title, Trudeau’s contempt for Canadians & Labour.  Seems that the Canadian elite/the Liberal party have been exploiting and flooding Canada with highly inexpensive immigrant labour to hold wages and benefits in check, send food and rent prices soaring (or at least provide the excuse for such price hikes), while ensuring existing Canadian labour had their legs cut out from under them in terms of wages and opportunity, due to a surfeit of new immigrant arrivals.

 

And I couldn’t help but think, as I watched Carney giving his victory speech yesterday: of all the Canadians and British citizens screwed over by central bank policies; the bankers, politicians, & men of finance bailed out and aided by central bank policies, while the general public receives no such direct benefit; the bourses boosted by easy money & central bank backstops, the stocks and assets classes of the rich levitated to ever more extreme valuations; the jobs and opportunity eradicated thanks to corporate consolidation, monopsony power, and private equity, again facilitated by central bank governors.  I couldn’t help but think of the Canadian dollar deliberately suppressed, currencies manipulated, purchasing power crushed due to central bank actions & easy money policies, the soaring greedflation now entering year six… the financialization of global economies, the transfer of wealth to a predatory few - via ubiquitous & financed bailouts, corporate welfare, financed tax cuts for the chosen ones.  Couldn’t help but think of the militarization & weaponization of finance and central bank activities, as an extension of foreign policy and war (and the Global South and Western citizens who all too often pay the price for targeted actions of central banks and their governors).  Perhaps it’s the way these individuals hold themselves, the air of confidence, the air of superiority, while failing to acknowledge that corporatism, neoliberalism, & ultra-accommodative monetary policy have been an unmitigated disaster for the West, the planet itself, and the vast majority of the West’s citizens. 

 

Moreover, will the powerful ever acknowledge the role central bank easy money and money printing played in creating a global oligarchy that is presently pushing & underwriting fascism, the capture of democracies, the desecration of free speech and attacking academic freedom on college campuses… will the powerful acknowledge the role central bank money and financial institutions have played in financing & funding colonialism, wars, a pandemic of financially engineered poverty, as the clearest manifestation of necro economics & politics and population control?  Acknowledge the debt slavey and indentured servitude that has accompanied global finance?  And more recently, green initiatives & finance as a way for banks to gain hegemonic control over poorer nations & nature itself, and the subjugation, ultimately, aimed at all peoples.  As a result of greed.  

 

As a direct & indirect result of the actions & policies of bankers and private equity mavens, not unlike Mark Carney, now Prime Minster of Canada.

 

Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2025