'End of recession' greeted with joy in defiant Notts … The end of Britain's longest double-dip recession since the 1950s has been welcomed by leading figures in Notts. The Office for National Statistics yesterday issued a preliminary estimate of GDP growth for the third quarter of 1 per cent – outperforming City expectations. The rise is the largest quarterly increase since 2007, and means the UK has escaped its recession after three successive quarters of growth. John Dowson, head of policy and representation at Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce, said the news was not surprising. Chamber research had shown no indications that the economy in Notts was in a double-dip recession. "Indeed, the latest survey found that confidence levels for firms are at their highest level in five years, with as many as 80 per cent planning to grow their business turnover over the next 12 months," he added. – This Is Nottingham

Dominant Social Theme: Thank goodness Britain is recovering. The world is next!

Free-Market Analysis: No. It's just not true. There is no real recovery in Britain or anywhere else in the world, for that matter.

The banking elites that caused this rolling depression are in full cry about the struggles they are taking to cure it. In doing so, they reinforce the meme that the current system is helpful when, in fact, it is the cause of the problem.

Those that run central banks meet in expensive chambers to plot how much money to print. Then they walk downstairs to the microphones and grimly declare that they are worried about "inflation."

What they mean is price inflation but they just use the word inflation as a rhetorical trick to cover up the money printing that IS inflationary. Having done the deed, they portray themselves as disturbed by it.

And none of them can ever say how much is too much.

How do they know? They don't. The history of central banking is one of blood, tears and poverty. There is no recovery from its great grimness. There won't be, either, no matter how any times it is announced in how many places. And, boy, do they try! Here's more from the article excerpted above:

… He also said: "There are still challenges ahead, with weak global growth and the ongoing Euro zone crisis creating difficulties for many firms. Moreover, whilst the national GDP figures are positive for the manufacturing and service sectors, the construction sector – which is also the least positive sector locally – recorded a decrease of 2.5 per cent in the quarter.

"Despite increased confidence levels, access to finance still seems to be holding back investment plans by local businesses. We believe that with the right measures, together with meaningful deregulation, the Government can help to put the economy firmly back on the road to recovery."

Councillor Graham Chapman, deputy leader of Nottingham City Council and portfolio holder for economic development, resources and regeneration, echoed those views, saying: "There are signs of improvement in the city. We are getting more enquiries about developments and there are four to five potential developments in the pipeline.

"However, it is premature to say that the recession has ended. There is still insufficient demand in the economy to create the confidence to invest and the banks are still far too cautious. But we as a council are doing our utmost to try to counter it."

Yesterday's announcement also referred to how the Olympics and Diamond Jubilee bank holidays had helped with the bounce-back. However, Stuart Isbister, owner of gardening and outdoor store The Worm That Turned in Derby Road, said he had not seen any improvement for his business.

"I've been running this shop for eight years and this year has been one of the worst," he added. "This news is obviously positive but I was very surprised by it. I've not been seeing any signs of the economy picking up. I didn't experience any benefit from the Olympics and Jubilee bank holidays nationally."

You can see the memes churning here quite deliberately. First, the top people in Britain announce the "recession" is over … and then the powers-that-be attribute its ending to the Diamond Jubilee and the English-hosted Olympics.

These are fairytales. The world's current downward spiral is the quite deliberate result of money printing that causes first booms and then busts. Too much money always distorts the economic system. It's an old banking trick, from what we can tell, but aided immeasurably by modern monopoly central banking.

First they expand. Then the economic rubber band snaps back, leaving people dazed and bleeding. And then those responsible begin to point fingers.

We are supposed to believe a bunch of people sailing up the Thames somehow alleviated the monetary misery of billions. We are supposed to believe that because athletes raced each other in big stadiums, the monetary madness of the modern age has been assuaged.

Central banks may have dropped an aggregate of US$5O TRILLION into the world's markets over the past four years to try to alleviate the current downturn they initially caused. We are supposed to believe that boats sailing up the Thames carrying the Queen and her consort have somehow made THE difference.

Even if there is some sort of "recovery" it can't last. The recovery will be a monetary one just as it was in the 1970s. And when all those trillions start to circulate central banks will be forced to raise rates fast and hard, cutting off whatever "recovery" has been mounted.

In the 1970s Paul Volcker had to raise rates to 20 percent. But the central banks of the day hadn't printed nearly the amount of money they have now. What will it take today? Will rates have to go to 30 percent, or 40? Or even more? Can fiat-using governments really tolerate US$5,000 gold and US$300 silver?

No! We've written over and over that the dollar reserve system died in 2008. What is coming in the future is most likely Something Else. A state-run gold standard. A global basket of currencies. SDRs. Whatever is coming will be more global in scale. The idea is obviously to build a more global government along with a more international money.

After Thoughts

People's misery be damned.