Most Americans have heard some version of what happened during the Great Depression in history classes, but a new book by David Webb presents an alternate take on what occurred. The former hedge fund manager explains in the book and a documentary by the same name, "The Great Taking," why he believes it was all a setup – and why history could be about to repeat itself.
According to Webb, the central banking systems have quietly enacted collateral confiscation schemes that place everyone at risk when a financial collapse occurs – and one is certainly coming. He explains in his documentary and book how legal, regulatory and financial changes have set us all up for “the greatest crime ever contemplated … the planned confiscation of everyone’s global securities assets.”
He outlined how central bankers have set up a system in which they can take all bank deposits, securities and property financed with debt.
He states: “It is now assured that in the implosion of the derivatives complex, collateral will be swept up on a vast scale. The plumbing to do this is in place. Legal certainty has been established that the collateral can be taken immediately and without judicial review, by entities described in court documents as ‘the protected class’. Even sophisticated professional investors, who were assured that their securities are ‘segregated’, will not be protected.”
Webb has been studying financial systems around the world and warning about the impending “Great Taking” collapse for more than two decades. His work is informed by his experience working with hedge funds and the insight he gleaned into money flows and the type of systemic risks that lead to an orchestrated crash.
He told CHD.TV’s Mary Holland that analyzing historical events such as gold confiscation and bank closures during the Great Depression era have given him a clearer picture of the “playbook used by powerful banking interests during times of financial turmoil.”
Webb compared the current hyper-financialized economy to the state of the American economy just before World War I broke out, and he says that both periods are marked by “looting” during the late phase of an economic bubble just before a crash.
Systems have been laying the groundwork for decades
One major topic he explores is how the Uniform Commercial Code, the laws that govern commercial transactions in the U.S., was changed to make asset ownership a security entitlement, which means personal property is little more than a contractual claim, with the entitled party being a “beneficial” owner rather than a legal one. He explains how commercial banking statutes and definitions of ownership have been changing little by little over the years in order to lay the foundation for revoking the property rights of investors during defaults.
“The underpinning of the entire securities infrastructure in the U.S. is the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, and this is the entity that was first formed to dematerialize all securities in the U.S.,” he noted, adding that he believes it was a CIA project.
He pointed to the Lehman Brothers failure during the financial crisis of 2008, which he believes was used to strengthen new precedents that enable creditors to seize their clients’ assets.
He told Holland: “The bankruptcy judge said that J.P. Morgan was under ‘safe harbor’ and could take the client assets” and, as one of the largest banks, it was “certainly a member of the ‘protected class.’ And those words are used in the decision.”
Webb also said that in the event of widespread insolvency, big banks and funds will take everything they can, and it will affect everyone around the world.
“Central banking should be a public utility. The very idea that it should be controlled by private interests, that is the source of all the problems for humanity,” he cautioned.