Financial Parasitism and the Death of Free Markets: A Timeline of Economic Manipulation
Robert David
What if the so-called 'free market' was never free? What if the all-seeing eye that fuels capitalism was a fist squeezing the economy for the benefit of a select few? Influential stakeholders have manufactured financial catastrophes, created monetary regulations, and monopolized markets while masquerading serious competition and meritocratic society.
From the 19th Century's robber barons to today's trillion-dollar asset magnates such as Vanguard, State Street and BlackRock, power has intentionally not been distributed. This timeline breaks down the masterful scheme of capitalism – how the system has been rigged through market deception, manipulation, regulatory capture, and financial parasitism so that the elite do not just continue getting wealthier but assert complete dominance over the system.
It has long been believed that capitalism operates best when the government has no role in the economy, aka free market capitalism. Supply and demand alone should be enough to create prices and provide the necessary products. But reality tells a different tale-one that involves intricate economic subterfuge, a term used to describe the deceptive and underhanded tactics employed by a central power, be it the government, central banks, or powerful oligarchs, to manipulate the economy for their own benefit.
As economists, political scientists, and individuals interested in economic history and inequality, your understanding and analysis of these actions are crucial in addressing the resulting economic divides and systemic weaknesses.
This timeline delves into the history of political and financial American rulers who have persistently manipulated free market principles. It also scrutinizes modern-day oligarchs such as Buffet, Gates, Jobs, Cook, Brin, Ellison, Zuckerberg, Musk, Soros, etc. The piece also investigates the controversial ties these elites have with intelligence agencies like the CIA, FBI, DIA, and NSA, suggesting that their reign is not solely from innovation but also from collusion with the state.
These ties, often kept under wraps, raise serious questions about the independence of these powerful entities and their potential role in perpetuating economic inequality. Furthermore, it examines the role of institutional investment giants like BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard in undermining democracy and aiding oligarchs in dominating the global market and economy.
The outcome has been a systematic transfer of wealth from the lower and middle classes to the elite-a contemporary 'reverse Robin Hood' scenario where policies and financial mechanisms siphon resources from the majority to a privileged few.
The Early Foundations of Economic Manipulation
1. The Mercantilist Era (16th-18th Centuries) Before the emergence of contemporary capitalism, the European powers relied on mercantilism – a highly regulated government approach towards trade that aimed to enrich nations. Governments placed heavy tariffs alongside providing subsidies and monopolies, typically off the backs of colonies and enemy nations.
Domination over the trade routes facilitated the establishment of oligarchic forms of economic control, in which states gave influential businesspeople and banking families undue control over resources. The consolidation of wealth to establish a foundation of economic power systematically excluded the working class from any form of vertical social movement.
2. The South Sea Bubble (1720) One of the earliest instances of fraudulent financial practices, known as The South Sea Bubble, occurred when the British government partnered with the South Sea Company to inflate share prices artificially. The investors suffered greatly when the bubble burst, left to deal with the dire consequences of government schemes that distort markets for a specific group of people.
This event mirrors most modern financial crises, where renowned institutions use government connections to create steep economic fluctuations and extract profits before the market, ultimately issuing significant losses to the financial world. Much like today, smaller investors and the middle class suffered, with everything damaging their economic status, while those who constructed the scheme became better off.
The 19th Century: The Rise of Central Banking and Industrial Oligarchs
3. The Creation of Central Banks (19th Century) Banks such as The Bank of England (1694) and The Federal Reserve (1913) represent a persistent shift in how economies are controlled. While these institutions were designed to stabilize economies, they frequently became methods to oversee money, credit, interest rates, and the overall supply.
Economies could be shaped by holistic actions taken by central banks, often resorting to serving the immediate needs of society's upper class instead of the holistic society. Influential firms such as BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard have treated their investments in leading corporations as strongholds to central bank policy, ensuring that the central banking policy neglects the state of the economy and prioritizes the inflation of assets.
Interest rates are held at an abnormally low level, leading to an inflation of asset prices. Those with a high volume of shares benefit greatly, and the lower classes find it harder and harder to invest, accumulate wealth, or even purchase housing.
4. The Robber Barons and Monopolies (Late 19th Century) The Industrial Revolution saw the emergence of influential figures such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J. P. Morgan, who possessed astonishing wealth and influence. These oligarchs shaped entire markets through their powerful authority over the government, crowning themselves with harsh tariffs, immense subsidies, and relaxed anti-trust laws.
Their merciless approaches toward business gave birth to the dreadful combination of economic and political capitalism. Financial companies such as BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard use the same tactics with the strength of multi-trillion-dollar investments under their control. These firms dictate policies of various industries and sit in the boardrooms of these companies. This shift and concentration of power results in a lack of competition, wage stagnation, and systematic wealth extraction from the working class, further contributing to the dwindling economic power of the lower and middle classes.
The 21st Century: Central Bank Dominance, Technological Disruption, and Oligarchic Control
5. Quantitative Easing and Zero Interest Rate Policy (2008-Present) The 2008 crisis saw central banks initiating completely new policies, such as QE and ZIRP, in bold moves to solve the problem. These measures increased the price of technological assets, making Apple and Google wealthier, which did nothing to reduce economic inequality. Instead, this created a stronger modern oligarchical society.
BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard became some of the largest beneficiaries of this policy as they bought massive amounts of equity and real estate, executing it well, increasing their wealth even more, along with the enormous gap between the rich and the poor.
If the robber barons of the 19th Century were the grandmasters of monopolistic chess, then BlackRock, State Street, Vanguard, and their ilk have transformed the game into a private casino where they own the dice, the dealer, and the vault. Oligarchy Markets are not capitalism; what you see today is a cunningly rigged machine aimed to serve a playground of financial parasites who present themselves as market innovators.
Financial Parasitism and the Death of Free Markets: A Timeline of Economic Manipulation
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© 2025 Robert David