Economy

Elite Puppet Central Banksters To Bailout Elite Puppet Banksters Worldwide

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– Fire Bad! Free Money Good! Traders React to Global Central Bank Bailout (Yahoo News/The Daily Ticker, Sep. 15, 2011):

Stocks surged in the U.S. and Europe early Thursday while Treasury prices tumbled on news of a coordinated easing by global central banks.

“The Governing Council of the European Central Bank has decided, in coordination with the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank, to conduct three US dollar liquidity-providing operations with a maturity of approximately three months covering the end of the year,” the ECB said in a statement.

Translation: The world’s central bankers will provide as much money as necessary until year-end to stem a brewing funding crisis among European banks. The move follows a report yesterday that two European banks were unable to get short-term dollar funding in private markets and were forced to tap the ECB for $575 million.

Read moreElite Puppet Central Banksters To Bailout Elite Puppet Banksters Worldwide

UBS Unaware That Rogue Trader Had Lost $2 Billion Until He Blew The Whistle On HIMSELF – UBS Shares Plummet 10%

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Oh, sure!

More BS we can believe in!

In other news:

– Alleged rogue trader costs UBS $2bn (Guardian):

A 31 year old man has been arrested by City of London Police on suspicion of fraud in connection with the alleged rogue trading incident that has cost Swiss bank UBS around $2bn (£1.3bn).

The Zurich-based bank uncovered the incident as recently as the last 24 hours and suffered a near 10% fall in share price in early trading after it revealed the loss could push the bank into the red for the current financial quarter.

– Bank unaware that ‘rogue trader’ had lost £1.3bn until he blew the whistle on HIMSELF (Daily Mail, Sep. 15, 2011):

  • UBS were only alerted to the staggering losses when Kweku Adoboli ‘confessed about the dealings’
  • Privately educated Adoboli was a ‘work-hard play-hard’ trader who entertained a string of attractive women at his luxury flat in East London
  • Shares in Swiss bank UBS slump 10% following the scandal
  • Adoboli’s boss ‘quits’ as questions surface over his supervision of staff
  • Credit ratings agency Moody’s said it will review UBS’s rating

The trader arrested on suspicion of a staggering £1.3billion fraud at UBS is believed to have blown the whistle on himself about the unauthorised deals.UBS’s internal controls were unaware of the the huge losses allegedly generated by ‘rogue trader’ Kweku Adoboli, 31, who allegedly confessed to bosses about the huge losses.

UBS are then believed to examined his trading positions and called City regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the police, according to the BBC.

After his arrest at his desk in the early hours of Thursday, Adobli has hired City experts Kingsley Napley, the law firm which advised Nick Leeson, the man who brought down Baring’s Bank in the 1990s, according to Sky News.

Read moreUBS Unaware That Rogue Trader Had Lost $2 Billion Until He Blew The Whistle On HIMSELF – UBS Shares Plummet 10%

Obama Stimulus Plan To Cost $312,500 Per Job (Vote) Created Or Saved (And Guess Who Is Paying It)

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“Change you can believe in?
More like bullshit you can take a bath in, if you ask me.”
– Prof. Dr. David Michael Green (Dec.19, 2009)

Elite puppet President Obama, also known as Obama bin Bush, is even worse than war criminal, traitor and elite puppet Bush.

– George Carlin: The American Dream

Americans never had a choice.

– Ron Paul 2012: The Only One We Can Trust

– Why Ron Paul Can Beat Teleprompter, Liar and Traitor Obama In 2012

– The Cost Of Obama’s Stimulus Plan: $312,500 Per Job (Vote) Created Or Saved (And Guess Who Is Paying It) (ZeroHedge, Sep. 12, 2011):

For those eager to put some math to the rhetoric coming from the White House over the president’s jobs creation plan, and that should be everyone, here is a quick and dirty estimate based on the numbers being thrown around of a 2% GDP increase in year 1 and 1.9 million jobs created or saved… most saved, as in those you can’t really quantify. Said otherwise, roughly a $300 billion increase in GDP yields 1.9 million jobs. So far so good.  Now since the president is proposing to pay for the program over 10 years, let’s assume the $475 billion in direct expenses is financed for 10 years at 2.5% which adds roughly $120 billion to the total cost of the program. In other words, as the calculations detailed and show below elaborate, the overall AJA plan will cost $250,000 per job created (excluding the interest expense) and $312,500 per union job, er job created (including interest). And that’s how much it costs for Obama to purchase one vote… created or saved. Keynesian efficiency strikes like a Swiss watch yet again.

As for the just as troubling question of who ends up footing the bill of this “fully paid” for stimulus act, here are the details.

Read moreObama Stimulus Plan To Cost $312,500 Per Job (Vote) Created Or Saved (And Guess Who Is Paying It)

UK Unemployment Rises By 80,000 To Hit 2.51 Million

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– Unemployment Rises By 80,000 To Hit 2.51 Million (Huffington Post, Sep. 14, 2011):

Unemployment jumped by 80,000 in the three months to July to reaching 2.51 million, the largest increase in two years, official figures have revealed.

The Office For National Statistics said the jobless rate now stands at 7.9 per cent, with figures showing a sharp spike in youth unemployment of 78,000, taking the total to 973,000.

Read moreUK Unemployment Rises By 80,000 To Hit 2.51 Million

Moody’s Downgrades French Bank Ratings

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– French bank ratings downgraded by Moody’s (BBC News, Sep. 14, 2011):

Credit rating agency Moody’s has downgraded two French banks after reviewing their exposure to Greek debt.

Credit Agricole was cut from Aa1 to Aa2 and Societe Generale from Aa2 to Aa3.

A third bank, BNP Paribas, was kept on review for a possible downgrade.

Read moreMoody’s Downgrades French Bank Ratings

US: Only 1.75 Full-time Private Sector Workers Per Social Security Recipient

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– Only 1.75 Full-time Private Sector Workers Per Social Security Recipient (The Patriot Update, Sep. 13, 2011):

There were only 1.75 full-time private-sector workers in the United States last year for each person receiving benefits from Social Security, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Social Security board of trustees.

That means that for each husband and wife who worked full-time in the private sector last year there was a Social Security recipient somewhere in the country taking benefits from the federal government.

Read moreUS: Only 1.75 Full-time Private Sector Workers Per Social Security Recipient

Idiocy Just Hit Record Highs: BNP Paribas Asked AMF To Investigate WSJ Opinion Piece

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– Because The First Amendment Does Not Reach Across The Atlantic… (ZeroHedge, Sep. 13, 2011):

The idiocy just hit record highs:

  • BNP PARIBAS SAYS IT ASKED AMF TO INVESTIGATE WSJ OPINION PIECE – BLOOMBERG

What next: the AMF dispatches black choppers to round up all those trop-beaucoup criminal bloggers?

In other news:

– BNP Paribas seeks AMF enquiry on WSJ column (Reuters, Sep. 13, 2011):

(Reuters) – BNP Paribas said on Tuesday that it had asked French market regulator AMF to open an enquiry about a Wall Street Journal opinion piece claiming that France’s largest bank could face a dollar funding crunch.

BNP Paribas, whose shares slumped more than 10 percent in early trading but later rebounded to gain 7.2 percent, said it had requested the enquiry earlier in the day after what it called the “false” report.

– BNP Paribas Asks French Market Watchdog To Probe “Erroneous” News In WSJ (Wall Street Journal, Sep. 13, 2011):

PARIS (Dow Jones)–BNP Paribas SA (BNP.FR, BNPQY) on Tuesday said it had asked the French stock-market watchdog to open a probe following the publication of an opinion column in The Wall Street Journal that contained “erroneous information.”

The Autorite des Marches Financiers, or AMF, the stock-market watchdog, wasn’t immediately available to comment.

US Poverty Rate Swells To Nearly 1 In 6

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In other news:

– Record Number Americans, Or 46.3 Million, Lived In Poverty Last Year; 49.9 Million Without Health Insurance (ZeroHedge, Sep. 13, 2011)

See also:

– Bank of America Cutting 30,000 Jobs – ‘Welcome to the Recovery’

– ‘Welcome To The Recovery’: The US Jobs Crisis Worsens – Unemployment Report Bleak On All Counts

– ‘Welcome To The Recovery’ – Collapse: Dying Detroit Looting Itself – Unemployment Estimated At Up To 50 % – Officials: More People In Poverty Than Cars On The Street – Capital Of Scrap

Flashback:

– Welcome to the Recovery (New York Times, by Timothy Geithner, August 2, 2010)

‘Recovery’ is the ‘Greatest Depression’.

– Census: US poverty rate swells to nearly 1 in 6 (AP, Sep. 13, 2011):

WASHINGTON (AP) — The ranks of America’s poor swelled to almost 1 in 6 people last year, reaching a new high as long-term unemployment left millions of Americans struggling and out of work. The number of uninsured edged up to 49.9 million, the biggest in more than two decades.

The Census Bureau’s annual report released Tuesday offers a snapshot of the economic well-being of U.S. households for 2010, when joblessness hovered above 9 percent for a second year. It comes at a politically sensitive time for President Barack Obama, who has acknowledged in the midst of a re-election fight that the unemployment rate could persist at high levels through next year.

The overall poverty rate climbed to 15.1 percent, or 46.2 million, up from 14.3 percent in 2009. The official poverty level is an annual income of $22,314 for a family of four.

Read moreUS Poverty Rate Swells To Nearly 1 In 6

Germany Is Getting Ready To Give Up On Greece

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Censored Forbes article:

– Greek Euro Exit: 60% Currency Devaluation, Default, Banking Sector Collapse

Got physical gold and silver?

– Germany Readies Surrender Over Greece (Blooomberg, Sep. 12, 2011):

Germany may be getting ready to give up on Greece, as measures in the credit markets signal growing concern about the smaller nation’s ability to repay investors.

Yields on Greek two-year notes rose above 60 percent today for the first time. Credit-default swaps to insure the country’s five-year bonds and to speculate on government securities closed at an all-time high of 3,500 basis points on Sept. 9, according to CMA. The contracts are the highest in the world and more than three times the 1,134 basis points for Portuguese debt.

After almost two years of fighting to contain the region’s debt crisis and providing the biggest share of three European bailouts, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is laying the groundwork for what markets say is almost a sure thing: a Greek default.

“It feels like Germany is preparing itself for a debt default,” Jacques Cailloux, chief European economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London, said in an interview. “Fatigue is setting in. Germany could be a first mover or other countries could be preparing too.”

Read moreGermany Is Getting Ready To Give Up On Greece

Germany And Greece Flirt With Mutual Assured Destruction

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Censored Forbes article:

– Greek Euro Exit: 60% Currency Devaluation, Default, Banking Sector Collapse

Got physical gold and silver?

Bild Zeitung populism has prevailed. Germany is pushing Greece towards a hard default, risking the uncontrollable chain reaction so long feared by markets.

– Germany and Greece flirt with mutual assured destruction (Telegraph, Sep. 11, 2011):

First we learn from planted leaks that Germany is activating “Plan B”, telling banks and insurance companies to prepare for 50pc haircuts on Greek debt; then that Germany is “studying” options that include Greece’s return to the drachma.

German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble has chosen to do this at a moment when the global economy is already flirting with double-dip recession, bank shares are crashing, and global credit strains are testing Lehman levels. The recklessness is breath-taking.

If it is a pressure tactic to force Greece to submit to EU-IMF demands of yet further austerity, it may instead bring mutual assured destruction.

“Whoever thinks that Greece is an easy scapegoat, will find that this eventually turns against them, against the hard core of the eurozone,” said Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos.

Greece can, if provoked, pull the pin on the European banking system and inflict huge damage on Germany itself, and Greece has certainly been provoked.

Germany’s EU commissioner Günther Oettinger said Europe should send blue helmets to take control of Greek tax collection and liquidate state assets. They had better be well armed. The headlines in the Greek press have been “Unconditional Capitulation”, and “Terrorization of Greeks”, and even “Fourth Reich”.

Mr Schauble said there would be no more money for Athens under the EU-IMF rescue package until the Greeks “do what they agreed to do” and comply with every demand of `Troika’ inspectors.

Read moreGermany And Greece Flirt With Mutual Assured Destruction

Irish Euro Exit Could Cost €45,000 For Each Family

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Pressure on currency and fears of its demise mount after Dutch government’s bombshell


NEW RULES: Dutch finance chief Jan Kees de Jager

– Euro exit could cost €45,000 for each family (Irish Independent, Sep. 11, 2011)

THE cost of Ireland leaving the euro could be as much as €45,000 per family in the first year, according to research report for clients of giant Swiss investment bank UBS.

The threat of a break-up of the euro mounted last week when the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, and his finance minister, Jan Kees de Jager, dropped a bombshell by suggesting that countries that persistently break eurozone budget rules should be chucked out of the currency. With the latest Greek bailout deal on a knife-edge, the possibility of Greece leaving the euro has increased dramatically in recent weeks.

Read moreIrish Euro Exit Could Cost €45,000 For Each Family

Bank of America Cutting 30,000 Jobs – ‘Welcome to the Recovery’

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Flashback:

– Welcome to the Recovery (New York Times, by Timothy Geithner, August 2, 2010)

‘Recovery’ is the ‘Greatest Depression’.

– Bank of America cutting 30,000 jobs (CNNMoney, Sep. 12, 2011):

Bank of America said Monday that it plans to eliminate 30,000 jobs as part of a plan to save $5 billion.

The announcement came after Chief Executive Brian Moynihan outlined the bank’s strategy at an investor conference in New York.

Read moreBank of America Cutting 30,000 Jobs – ‘Welcome to the Recovery’

French Banks Shares Plummet As Societe Generale Ditches Assets

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– French banks hit as SocGen ditches assets (Reuters, Sep. 12, 2011):

PARIS (Reuters) – Societe Generale said it would cut costs and sell assets to free up 4 billion euros in fresh capital on Monday, although the surprise move failed to stem a sell-off in French bank shares, driven by fears of a Greek debt default.

A rapid decline in French bank stock prices since the beginning of the summer has led to speculation that the French state may have to intervene and recapitalize its banks, in the same way as the British and other governments were forced to during the first wave of the financial crisis.

Read moreFrench Banks Shares Plummet As Societe Generale Ditches Assets

French Banks May Be Downgraded By Moody’s As Soon As This Week

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– French Banks Poised for Moody’s Downgrade (Bloomberg, Sep 11, 2011):

BNP Paribas (BNP) SA, Societe Generale SA and Credit Agricole SA (ACA), France’s largest banks by market value, may have their credit ratings cut by Moody’s Investors Service as soon as this week because of their Greek holdings, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Moody’s placed the three banks’ ratings on review in June to examine “the potential for inconsistency between the impact of a possible Greek default or restructuring and current rating levels,” the rating company said at the time. Cuts are likely as the review period concludes, said the people, who declined to be identified because the matter is confidential.

Read moreFrench Banks May Be Downgraded By Moody’s As Soon As This Week

Germany Is Said To Prepare ‘Plan B’ To Assist Banks If Greece Defaults On Debt (Bloomberg)

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‘Plan B’ really is ‘Plan A’!

Censored Forbes article:

– Greek Euro Exit: 60% Currency Devaluation, Default, Banking Sector Collapse

Prepare for collapse:

– Prof. Dr. Schachtschneider: ‘EU Super State Was Doomed To Failure’ – ‘The Euro Will Inevitably Fail’

– Deutsche Bank CEO (BILDERBERG) Josef Ackermann Just Gave A Terrifying Speech In Frankfurt (Video)

Got physical gold and silver?

– Germany Is Said to Prepare Plan to Assist Banks If Greece Defaults on Debt (Bloomberg, Sep 9, 2011):

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is preparing plans to shore up German banks in the event that Greece fails to meet the terms of its aid package and defaults, three coalition officials said.

The emergency plan involves measures to help banks and insurers that face a possible 50 percent loss on their Greek bonds if the next tranche of Greece’s bailout is withheld, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deliberations are being held in private. The successor to the German government’s bank-rescue fund introduced in 2008 might be enrolled to help recapitalize the banks, one of the people said.

Read moreGermany Is Said To Prepare ‘Plan B’ To Assist Banks If Greece Defaults On Debt (Bloomberg)

Global Currency Wars Sees Swiss Franc Devalue 8.5% Against Gold In Week

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Got physical gold and silver?

– Global Currency Wars Sees Swiss Franc Devalue 8.5% Against Gold In Week (ZeroHedge, Sep. 9, 2011)

The German constitutional court decision has effectively ruled out Eurobonds which has massive ramifications for the European monetary union and the euro. While promoters of Eurobonds suggest that Eurobonds may still be possible – most objective analysts believe they are now highly unlikely.

The SNB decision to peg the Swiss franc to the beleaguered euro, thereby effectively devaluing the franc, stunned currency and wider financial markets.

It is one of the most significant currency interventions in modern history and led to violent volatility the like of which have never been seen in foreign exchange markets.

Incredibly and not widely reported the Swiss franc fell more than 7% against the euro, dollar and gold in just 15 minutes (putting gold’s relatively minor recent price fall into context).

Such volatility in currency markets was not seen during 911, the Lehman’s collapse or for any other major macroeconomic or geopolitical event in modern history.

The collapse of the Swiss franc in minutes greatly surpassed the collapse of sterling seen on “Black Wednesday” in 1992, when the British pound fell by 2.7% against the German mark on one day.

Read moreGlobal Currency Wars Sees Swiss Franc Devalue 8.5% Against Gold In Week

Greek Euro Exit: 60% Currency Devaluation, Default, Banking Sector Collapse

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Got physical gold and silver?

Forbes removed the article, see Google cache HERE.

– Greek Euro Exit: 60% Currency Devaluation, Default, Banking Sector Collapse (Forbes, Sep. 06, 2011):

“The Euro should not exist,” reads the first line of a note released by UBS Tuesday, which analyzes the possibility of an EU break-up and concludes that the costs are too high to bear, both for “strong” and “weak” European nations.

The cost of a peripheral secession would be about €9,500 to €11,500 per person the first year ($13,360 to $16,172), then €3,000 to €4,000 annually in coming years ($4,219 to $5,625) , according to UBS, along with a collapse of the domestic banking system, corporate and sovereign default, massive currency devaluation, and a fall in the volume of trade of about 50%.

Read moreGreek Euro Exit: 60% Currency Devaluation, Default, Banking Sector Collapse

Prof. Dr. Schachtschneider: ‘EU Super State Was Doomed To Failure’ – ‘The Euro Will Inevitably Fail’

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Many German Prof.’s taught already in 1996 that the planned currency union would be doomed to fail.



– ‘EU super state was doomed to failure’ (RT, Sep 8, 2011):

The eurozone is comprised of very different, heterogeneous economies that can hardly be an optimal space for a common currency, argues Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider, Professor of Law at Erlangen-Nurnberg University.

­RT: What a state the EU seems to be in? What has happened to it?

Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider: The EU has become a bureaucratic system that we call a super-national confederation of states but, from the legal point of view, it has this tendency to turn into a federal state. And this is one of its essential problems. It is not just an alliance of states anymore, but a federation without a legitimate base. It has no nation, no European nation, but nations. Political relations within the union get less democratic all the time. In this situation we are losing what we call a legal state, which is of the highest priority.

RT: The euro seems to be in great trouble too. What is going to happen to it?

KAS: The euro will inevitably fail. It was always clear that the euro-project would not succeed. Already in 1993 I have processed the Maastricht law suit that was mostly against the introduction of the monetary union. Without the consent of the nations comprising the EU, the euro is being used as a political lever to make the EU a super state that, for example, goes against Russia, and at the same time, serves as a counterbalance against China, the USA and other economic giants. But this lever was always economically doomed to failure.

Read moreProf. Dr. Schachtschneider: ‘EU Super State Was Doomed To Failure’ – ‘The Euro Will Inevitably Fail’

A 50-Year Bond? What One Fed Option Could Look Like

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Sure!

– A 50-Year Bond? What One Fed Option Could Look Like (CNBC, Sep. 8, 2011):

With the Federal Reserve widely expected later this month to unveil the latest weapon in its easing arsenal, expectations are ranging from Operation Twist, a variation called Operation Torque, and to a 50-year Treasury bond.

A 50-year bond? While the idea seems radical even for a central bank carrying a $2.8 trillion balance sheet, the idea of the Fed going that far out on the yield curve in a desire to stimulate the economy is drawing market chatter.

The purpose of the bond would be to extend the duration of the Fed’s otherwise short-term debt portfolio. In theory it would take the pressure off the central bank from having to roll over its debt on a continual basis.

Read moreA 50-Year Bond? What One Fed Option Could Look Like

German Top Court: European Bailout Constitutional

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What???

Now that would have been a pleasant surprise if the elitists didn’t have the judges in their back pocket, wouldn’t it?

Related info (in German):

– Prof. Dr. Schachtschneider Zum Urteil Über Die Rechtmäßigkeit Der Transferunion – ‘Der Materielle Bundeskanzler In Deutschland Heisst Josef Ackermann’ (Video):

Heute war ein Schicksalstag für Deutschland und Europa. Der zweite Senat des Bundesverfassungsgerichtes erteilte der Klage der fünf Professoren Hankel, Nölling, Schachtschneider Starbatty und Spethmann gegen die Transferunion ein abschlägiges Urteil. Die bisher durchgeführten Rettungsmaßnahmen wurden für Rechtens erklärt jedoch eine deutlich Stärkung des Beschlußrechtes des Parlaments angemahnt. Prof. Dr. Schachtschneider ordnet das Urteil in einem Interview ein.

– Germany court finds European bailout constitutional (ABC News, Sep. 8, 2011):

Germany’s top court has ruled that the country’s participation in the bail out of struggling neighbours is constitutional. Germany has beared the large portion of Europe’s bailout bill. Some who oppose European economic integration were hoping to block any future bailouts.

– German court ruling complicates future European bailouts (Deutsche Welle, Sep. 8, 2011):

A decision by Germany’s top court that Berlin’s involvement in European bailouts was legal, led to gains on the markets. But as the eurphoria subsides, questions are being raised about the future.

Wednesday’s court decision, which found that Germany’s contribution to European bailout funds was legal, buoyed stock markets around the world.

For investors, the main thing was that a nightmare scenario had been avoided; for had the Constitutional Court ruled the bailouts unlawful, serious questions would have been raised about Germany’s contribution in the bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal. The participation of Germany in the European Stability Fund could also have been placed in jeopardy.

– German Court Rejects Challenges to Euro Bailouts (New York Times,  Sep. 7, 2011):

KARLSRUHE, Germany — Germany’s ability to come to the rescue of troubled European partners won crucial backing from the country’s constitutional court on Wednesday, a victory for Chancellor Angela Merkel that also provided at least a temporary reprieve for markets that had begun to worry that Europe’s common currency could collapse.

The ruling, which defied some expectations that the court would hamstring Mrs. Merkel, removed one obstacle to German leadership of Europe at a time when Germans are being relied on more than ever to figure out a solution to the debt crisis that has ensnared weaker members of the euro zone, including Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Stock markets in Europe and the United States recovered sharply on news of the court’s action.

Read moreGerman Top Court: European Bailout Constitutional

Prof. Dr. Schachtschneider Zum Urteil Über Die Rechtmäßigkeit Der Transferunion – ‘Der Materielle Bundeskanzler In Deutschland Heisst Josef Ackermann’

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Prof. Dr. Schachtschneider zum Urteil über die Rechtmäßigkeit der Transferunion


YouTube Added: 07.09.2011

Heute war ein Schicksalstag für Deutschland und Europa. Der zweite Senat des Bundesverfassungsgerichtes erteilte der Klage der fünf Professoren Hankel, Nölling, Schachtschneider Starbatty und Spethmann gegen die Transferunion ein abschlägiges Urteil. Die bisher durchgeführten Rettungsmaßnahmen wurden für Rechtens erklärt jedoch eine deutlich Stärkung des Beschlußrechtes des Parlaments angemahnt. Prof. Dr. Schachtschneider ordnet das Urteil in einem Interview ein.

FedEx And Pepsi Are Top Defense Contractors? 5 Corporate Brands Making A Killing On America’s Wars

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– FedEx and Pepsi Are Top Defense Contractors? 5 Corporate Brands Making a Killing on America’s Wars (AlterNet, September 3, 2011):

Chances are, if you’ve ever sent a package overnight, bought a PC or a can of soda, you’ve paid your hard-earned money to a major Pentagon contractor. While large defense corporations that make fighter jets and armored vehicles garner the most attention, tens of thousands of “civilian” companies, from multi-national corporations hawking toothpaste and shampoo to big oil behemoths and even local restaurants scattered across the United States, all supply the Pentagon with the necessities used to carry on day-to-day operations and wage America’s wars. And they’ve made a killing doing it since 9/11.

In 2001, the massive arms dealers Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman ranked one, two and five among Department of Defense contractors, raking in $14.7 billion, $13.3 billion and $5.2 billion, respectively, in contracts. Last year, Lockheed’s contract dollars were almost double their pre-9/11 level, clocking in at $28 billion, while Boeing’s had jumped to almost $19 billion and Northrop Grumman, still in the five spot, had more than doubled its 2001 take, with $12.8 billion in contracts.

Read moreFedEx And Pepsi Are Top Defense Contractors? 5 Corporate Brands Making A Killing On America’s Wars