Tower of Basel: The Shadowy History of the Secret Bank that Runs the World Paperback – Illustrated, June 3, 2014

Not only is this Secret Bank exempt from the taxes and oversight of any nation in the world, but also has been that way since it was founded in 1930. This is the inside story of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) which is based in Basel Switzerland but does not answer to Swiss authorities or anyone else. It is the world's Central Bankers own bank.Learning about this super secret Super Bank will add much credence to the conspiracy theory of the bankers trying to create a New World Order. It's like a shadow world government that is so powerful and useful that no nation in the world is willing to try and control or shine the spot light into its dark recesses.The world's most exclusive and powerful club has only eighteen members most of whom are men. The power and influence they exercise is almost unbelievable. It is said the Nazi's didn't invade Switzerland because they didn't want to cut off their access to this institution, which is where they shipped much of the wealth they striped from the nations they invaded.The book contains an introduction and sixteen information packed chapters contained in three major sections. Those chapters are titled "The Bankers Know Best, A Cozy Club in Basel, Hitler's American Banker, An Arrangement with the Enemy, The German Phoenix Arises, The Rise of the Desk-Murders, The Tower Arises, The Second Tower, The All-Seeing Eye, (despite the familiar sounding names this is not "Lord of the Rings") and the Citadel Cracks.""The Tower of Basel reaches only eighteen stories above the city skyline, but the fate of the biblical tower-builders should give the bankers pause. For When God saw their work, he confounded their speech and introduced a multitude of tongues. The builders could no longer understand one another. The construction work stopped, they were dispersed and their town vanished into history."The bank is fighting for its survival by trying to evolve into a socially responsible institution. "Secrecy, opacity, and unaccountability--like gold--are embedded in the bank' DNA. The bank may find it can't continue as it has since its birth.This in a wonderful investigative report on one of the most secret and powerful institutions in world history. A reader doesn't have to like economics or banking to be mesmerized by this highly readable expose.

This book was great. This book clearly pointed out Allen Dulles, which is another great topic, and the BIS, and the corruption of the bank and its role in WW2. You can't find this un-approved content in almost any other book because this book in many ways challenges the official story of WW2.Allen Dulles definitely doesn't deserve a whole book for himself, given that he and his brother ran diplomacy and clandestine spy rings for all the countries on the planet from the USA on behalf of the major corporations of the USA, and how JFK threatened Dulles' power, but thats a story for another day.This book is awesome in the first half because WW2 documents have been released and theres plenty of info, but after that, the details get squirrelly because its a bank, and they don't want data released. The second half is pretty good but doesn't have all the source data.Ive read history books about ww2 for decades, but never seen a book like this that exclusively focuses on money, influence peddling, currency manipulation, politics, and conquering nations. This book is a one of a kind, and you won't understand who is doing what in ww2 until you read it.

In summary:A recommended book, which sheds some light on the BIS, Bank of International Settlements; one of the most opaque, unknown institutions whose operations are kept as secret as possible, but whose influence on banking policy, monetary and financial is immense. As a button shows: the Basel I, II, and III Accords that are being implemented and that regulate all financial and monetary operations of all types of banks worldwide, were designed by the BISIn detail:The author's intention is for the book to be an exposé on the BIS and its immense influence on the design of the present and future banking, monetary and financial policy at a global level; but in the end, it only manages to be a book that deals with the origin and history to date of the BIS, which is the Bank of the Central Banks of the great powers (the G10 and other invited Central Banks).From the historical point of view, the book is sincerely fascinating, from the origin of the bank and throughout the WWII period, the text of the book develops as a historical spy novel of WWII, mentioning with first and last names, historical characters both the CIA and MI5, whom he portrays in small biographies as well as the different Directors and Chairmen of the BIS and their interactions during the War yearsFrom the author's point of view, the BIS is an amoral and spurious institution since during WWII it collaborated with Nazism and allowed the 3rd Reicht access to capital markets, to finance its war machine with all the associated atrocities, as well as a safe place to deposit and safeguard all the gold and cash that was seized during the Nazi occupation during WWII. However, the author also points out that the BIS was one of the first institutions that anticipated the fall of Hitler with years of advantage, from that point it became an agent and collaborator of the allied powers and was one of the financial pillars in the recovery of post-war EuropeThe author also criticizes and points out the contradiction that the BIS, to date, has as partners the Central Banks of the G10 economies and whose capital is of public origin (the deposits of the Central Banks) and that its officials are public servants (they are the Governors and General Managers of the Central Banks of the member countries) and that nevertheless neither the president of the board, nor any of the members of the senior management of the BIS have any obligation to render accounts to any of their governments' members, nor does the BIS have to report any of its transactions to any of the member governments, be it the president or their parliaments, and that their assets are protected by international agreements, which ensures that they will never suffer seizure by the system of justice of any of its member statesFrom the above, the author's view is that the fundamental problem of the BIS is a political institution that hides as a "technical body" to avoid the political control to which it must be subject given its influence and the assets it manages.The author strongly criticizes the fact that an institution led by a group of technocrats has so much influence over the financial destiny of so many democracies and that its decisions are not subject to any criticism, control, or accountability nor are they subject to any political or judicial control of democracies that are affected by its decisions and raises, in a weak and superficial way, some actions that the BIS and the member democracies of the BIS should take to provide greater transparency and accountability.On a personal level, I must point out that the author's criticism on the topics of transparency and accountability of the BIS with respect to member governments comes from a well-intentioned sense of balance of powers in developed democracies and only that; since he does not provide any example showing that the decisions and recommendations of the BIS have produced monetary, fiscal or banking crises, except perhaps the strict zeal for austerity policies in the Eurozone but absolutely nothing else. The author even points out that the financial crisis of 2008 was announced by the BIS in advance, as well as the monetary crisis in Asia in the 90s, and that its recommendations were ignored; this reinforces the idea that these unelected technocrats who do not answer to anyone know what they are talking about, above politicians and members of parliament who, either by action or omission, let those crises to rage on unchecked until was too late.Being a citizen of Ecuador and having experienced personally and several times in my lifetime, what happens when a government, has total control over the Central Bank and over the banking, monetary and financial policy, without any counterweight from any political or technical institution; I would prefer an opaque institution that is right, to a politician that is transparent but leads us to disaster... South America has a long history of politicians in control of public finances and ignored technocrats, and it is a history of great poverty, misery, and political instabilityIn the end, a highly recommended book; do not expect to find a master class in international finance or monetary policy, that is not the author's intent. It is a historical and semi-biographical book from which each reader will draw their own conclusions about whether the BIS should exist or not.