Ellen Brown on the Sovereign Debt Trap

I have to thank Ellen Brown for digging up some of the history of State reserve banking through the past century which has been often clouded with misrepresentations and sheer ignorance even among supposed insiders.

Read this and ponder.  Today our private banking system has blown them selves up and is struggling to return to a sound capital base.  This makes it difficult to expand.  We most need the States to form State banks and deposit the States cash resources therein while promoting citizen deposits also.  The mortgage business alone would support this base.

At least this continues to show a way forward in this era of banking crisis.

Escaping the Sovereign Debt Trap: The Remarkable Model of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia

By Ellen Brown

URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20473

The current credit crisis is basically a capital crisis: at a time when banks are already short of the capital needed to back their loans, capital requirements are being raised.   Nearly a century ago, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia demonstrated that banks do not actually need capital to make loans – so long as their credit is backed by the government.  Denison Miller, the Bank’s first Governor, was fond of saying that the Bank did not need capital because “it is backed by the entire wealth and credit of the whole of Australia .”  With nothing but this national credit power, the Commonwealth Bank funded both massive infrastructure projects and the country’s participation in World War I.  

President John Adams is quoted as saying, “There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation.  One is by the sword.  The other is by debt.” The major conquests today are on the battlefield of debt, a war that is raging globally.  Debt forces individuals into financial slavery to the banks, and it forces governments to relinquish their sovereignty to their creditors, which in the end are also private banks, the originators of all non-cash money today.  In Great Britain , where the Bank of England is owned by the government, 97% of the money supply is issued privately by banks as loans.  In the U.S. , where the central bank is owned by a private consortium of banks, the percentage is even higher.  The Federal Reserve issues Federal Reserve Notes (or dollar bills) and lends them to other banks, which then lend them at interest to individuals, businesses, and local and federal governments.   

That is true today, but in the past there have been successful models in which the government itself issued the national currency, whether as paper notes or as the credit of the nation.  A stellar example of this enlightened approach to money and credit was the Commonwealth Bank of Australia , which operated successfully as a government-owned bank for most of the 20th century.  Rather than issuing “sovereign debt” – federal bonds indebting the nation to pay at interest in perpetuity – the government through the Commonwealth Bank issued “sovereign credit,” the credit of the nation advanced to the government and its constituents. 

The Bank’s achievements were particularly remarkable considering that for its first eight years, from 1912 to 1920, it did not have the power to issue the national currency, and it operated without startup capital.  Sir Denison Miller, Governor of the Bank from its creation in 1912 to 1923, was quoted in the Australian Press on July 7, 1921 as saying, “The whole of the resources of Australia are at the back of this bank, and so strong as this continent is, so strong is the Commonwealth Bank. Whatever the Australian people can intelligently conceive in their minds and will loyally support, that can be done.”

This was not just hype.  In a 2001 article titled “How Money Is Created in Australia ,” David Kidd wrote of the Bank’s early accomplishments:

“ Australia ’s own government-established Commonwealth Bank achieved some impressive successes while it was ‘the peoples’ bank’, before being crippled by later government decisions and eventually sold.  At a time when private banks were demanding 6% interest for loans, the Commonwealth Bank financed Australia ’s first world war effort from 1914 to 1919 with a loan of $700,000,000 at an interest rate of a fraction of 1%, thus saving Australians some $12 million in bank charges.  In 1916 it made funds available in London to purchase 15 cargo steamers to support Australia ’s growing export trade.  Until 1924 the benefits conferred upon the people of Australia by their Bank flowed steadily on. It financed jam and fruit pools to the extent of $3 million, it found $8 million for Australian homes, while to local government bodies, for construction of roads, tramways, harbours, gasworks, electric power plants, etc., it lent $18.72 million.  It paid $6.194 million to the Commonwealth Government between December, 1920 and June, 1923 - the profits of its Note Issue Department - while by 1924 it had made on its other business a profit of $9 million, available for redemption of debt.  The bank’s independently-minded Governor, Sir Denison Miller, used the bank’s credit power after the First World War to save Australians from the depression conditions being imposed in other countries. . . . By 1931 amalgamations with other banks made the Commonwealth Bank the largest savings institution in Australia , capturing 60% of the nation’s savings.”

Harnessing the Secret Power of Banking for the Public Good

The Commonwealth Bank was able to achieve so much with so little because both its first Governor, Denison Miller, and its first and most ardent proponent, King O’Malley, had been bankers themselves and knew the secret of banking: that banks create the “money” they lend simply by writing accounting entries into the deposit accounts of borrowers. 

This banking secret was confirmed by a number of early banking insiders.  In a 1998 paper titled “Manufacturing Money,” Australian economist Mike Mansfield quoted the Rt. Hon. Reginald McKenna, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, who told shareholders of the Midland Bank on January 25, 1924, “I am afraid the ordinary citizen will not like to be told that the banks can, and do, create and destroy money. The amount of money in existence varies only with the action of the banks in increasing or decreasing deposits and bank purchases. We know how this is effected. Every loan, overdraft or bank purchase creates a deposit, and every repayment of a loan, overdraft or bank sale destroys a deposit.”

Dr. Coombs, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia , said in an address at Queensland University on September 15, 1954, “[W]hen money is lent by a bank it passes into the hands of the person who borrows it without anybody having less. Whenever a bank lends money there is therefore, an increase in the total amount of money available.”

Ralph Hawtrey, Assistant Under Secretary to the British Treasury in the 1930s, wrote in Trade Depression and the Way Out, “When a bank lends, it creates money out of nothing.”  In his book The Art of Central Banking, Hawtrey clarified this, writing, “When a bank lends, it creates credit.  Against the advance which it enters amongst its assets, there is a deposit entered in its liabilities. But other lenders have not the mystical power of creating the means of payment out of nothing. What they lend must be money that they have acquired through their economic activities.”

Banks can do what no one else can: “create the means of payment out of nothing.”  The Commonwealth Bank’s far-sighted founders roped this guarded banking secret into the public service.

The Bank Collapse of 1893 Spawns a New Public Banking Model

The Commonwealth Bank was founded under conditions like those prevailing today: the country had just suffered a massive banking collapse.  In the 1890s, however, there was no FDIC insurance, no social security, no unemployment insurance to soften the blow.  People who thought they were well off suddenly found they had nothing.  They could not withdraw their funds, write checks on their accounts, or sell their products or their homes, since there was no money with which to buy them.  Desperate people were leaping from bridges or throwing themselves in front of trains. Something had to be done.

The response of the Labor government was to pass a bill in 1911 which included a provision for a publicly-owned bank that would be backed by the assets of the government.  In a rare move for the time, the bank was to have both savings and general bank business.  It was also the first bank in Australia to receive a federal government guarantee.

Jack Lang was Australia ’s Treasurer in the Labor government of 1920-21 and Premier of New South Wales during the Great Depression.  A controversial figure, he was relieved of his duties after he repudiated loans owed to the London bankers.  In The Great Bust: The Depression of the Thirties (McNamara’s Books, Katoomba, 1962), Lang described the Commonwealth Bank’s triumphs and tribulations in revealing detail.  He wrote:

“The Labor Party decided that a National Bank, backed with the assets of the Government, would not fail in times of financial stress. It also realised that such a bank would be a guarantee that money would be found for home building and other needs. After the collapse of the building societies, there was a great scarcity of money for such purposes.

“. . . Chief advocate of the cause of a Commonwealth Bank was King O’Malley, a colorful Canadian-American . . . Before coming to Australia , he had worked in a small New York bank, owned by an uncle. . . . He had been much impressed by the way that his uncle had created credit. A bank could create the credit, and at the same time manufacture the debit to balance it. That was the big discovery of O’Malley’s banking career. A born showman, he itched to try it out on a grand scale. He started his political career in South Australia by advocating a State Commercial Bank. In 1901 he went into the first Federal Parliament as a one-man pressure group to establish a Commonwealth Bank, and joined the Labor Party for that purpose.” 

King O’Malley insisted that the Commonwealth Bank had to control the issue of its own notes, but he lost on that point – until 1920, when the Bank did take over the issuance of the national currency, just as the U.S. Federal Reserve was authorized to do in 1913.  That was the beginning of the Commonwealth Bank’s central bank powers.  But even before it had that power, the Bank was able to fund infrastructure and defense on a massive scale, and it did this without startup capital.  These achievements were chiefly due to the insights and boldness of the Bank’s first Governor, Denison Miller. 

The other bankers, fearing competition, had thought that by getting one of their own men in as the bank’s governor, they could keep it in line.  But they had not reckoned on their independent appointee, who saw the opportunity posed by a government-backed bank and set out to make it the finest institution the country had ever known.  As Lang tells the story:  

“The first test came when a decision was required regarding the amount of capital needed to start a bank of that kind. Under the Act, the Commonwealth had the right to sell and issue debentures totalling £1 million. Some even thought that amount of capital would be insufficient, having in mind what had happened in 1893. . . .

“When Denison Miller heard of it, his reply was that no capital was needed.”

Miller was wary of going to the politicians for money.  He could get by without capital.  Like King O’Malley, he knew how banking worked. (This, of course, was before the modern-day capital requirements imposed from abroad by the central banker’s bank, the Bank for International Settlements.)  Lang went on: 

“Miller was the only employee. He found a small office . . . and asked the Treasury for an advance of £10,000. That was probably the first and last time that the Commonwealth lent the Bank any money. From then on, it was all in the reverse direction.

“. . . By January, 1913 [Miller] had completed arrangements to open a bank in each State of the Commonwealth, and also an agency in London . . . . [O]n January 20th, 1913 he made a speech declaring the new Commonwealth Bank open for business. He said:

“‘This bank is being started without capital, as none is required at the present time, but it is backed by the entire wealth and credit of the whole of Australia .’

“In those few simple words was the charter of the Bank, and the creed of Denison Miller, which he never tired of reciting. He promised to provide facilities to expand the natural resources of the country, and it would at all times be a people's bank. ‘There is little doubt that in time it will be classed as one of the great banks of the world,’ he added prophetically.

“. . . Slowly it began to dawn on the private banks that they may have harbored a viper. They had been so intent on the risks of having to contend with bank socialisation that they didn’t realise they had much more to fear from competition by an orthodox banker, with the resources of the country behind him.

“. . . One of the first demonstrations of his vigor came when the Melbourne Board of Works went on the market for money to redeem old loans, and also to raise new money. Up to that time, apart from Treasury Bills and advances by their own Savings Banks, Governments had depended on overseas loans from London . . . . In addition to stiff underwriting charges, they found that the best they could expect would be £1 million at 4 per cent., at 97 1/2 net.

“They then decided to approach Denison Miller, who had promised to provide special terms for such bodies. He immediately offered to lend them £3 millions at 95 on which the interest rate would be 4 per cent. They immediately clinched the deal. Asked where his very juvenile bank had raised all that money, Miller replied, ‘On the credit of the nation. It is unlimited.’”

Another major test came in 1914 with the First World War: 

“The first reaction was the risk that people might start rushing to the banks to withdraw their money. The banks realised that they were still vulnerable if that happened. They were still afraid of another Black Friday.

“There was a hurried meeting of the principal bankers. Some reported that there were signs that a run was already starting. Denison Miller then said that the Commonwealth Bank on behalf of the Commonwealth would support any bank in difficulties. . . . That was the end of the panic. But it put Miller on the box seat. Now, for the first time, the Commonwealth Bank was taking the lead. It was giving, not taking, orders. . . .

“Denison Miller . . . was virtually in control of the financing of the war. The Government didn’t know how it was going to be achieved. Miller did.”

And so this interesting story continues.  Miller died in 1923, and in 1924 the bankers got back in control, throttling the activities of the Commonwealth Bank and preventing it from saving Australians from the ravages of the 1930s Depression.  In 1931, the bank board came into conflict with the Labor government of James Scullin.  The Bank’s chairman refused to expand credit in response to the Great Depression unless the government cut pensions, which Scullin refused to do. Conflict surrounding this issue led to the fall of the government, and to demands from Labor for reform of the bank and more direct government control over monetary policy.

The Commonwealth Bank received almost all of the powers of a central bank in emergency legislation passed during World War II, and at the end of the war it used this power to begin a dramatic expansion of the economy. In just five years, it opened hundreds of branches throughout Australia .  In 1958 and 1959, the government split the bank, giving the central bank function to the Reserve Bank of Australia , with the Commonwealth Banking Corporation retaining its commercial banking functions.  Both banks, however, remained publicly-owned. 

Eventually, the Commonwealth Bank had branches in every town and suburb; and in the bush, it had an agency in every post office or country store.  As the largest bank in the country, it set the rates and set policy, which the others had to follow for fear of losing customers.  The Commonwealth Bank was widely perceived to be an insurance policy against abuse by private banks, serving to ensure that everyone had access to equitable banking.  It functioned as a wholly owned state bank until the 1990s, when it was privatized.  Its focus then changed to maximization of profits, with steady and massive branch and agency closures, staff layoffs, and reduced access to Automated Teller Machines and to cash from supermarket checkouts.  It has now become just another part of the banking cartel, but proponents say it was once the lifeblood of the country. 

Today there is renewed interest in reviving a publicly-owned bank in Australia on the Commonwealth Bank model.  The United States and other countries would do well to consider this option too.

Special thanks to Peter Myers for reproducing major portions of Jack Lang’s book in his weekly newsletter. 

Ellen Brown developed her research skills as an attorney practicing civil litigation in Los Angeles . In Web of Debt, her latest of eleven books, she turns those skills to an analysis of the Federal Reserve and “the money trust.” She shows how this private cartel has usurped the power to create money from the people themselves, and how we the people can get it back. Her websites are www.webofdebt.com, www.ellenbrown.com, and www.public-banking.com.

Texas Photos IX

I think my friend has slowed down on his hobby.  here are a few>

Electric Car Revolution Has Begun

This is an excellent review of the current state of the electric car industry.  It is everywhere now and well on the way to been a major part of th mix.  The first objective is the available short haul market that will free between three to four millions of barrels of oil production.

Just accommodating that will produce the infrastructure and support capability that simply does not exist yet.  From that base, it is easy to grow and slowly innovate into other parts of the market.

It is one thing to post that this is necessary as I did two years ago.  It is much more gratifying to actually seeing it emerge in sufficient manufacturing depth to assure one of ultimate success.

A global loss of two million barrels of production per day is now something we can actually handle this coming year if we really had to on a rush basis..

There are a lot of images in the original article.  Use the link to look at them.

The Electric Car Revolution Starts Now!

http://www.greenchipstocks.com/report/the-electric-car-revolution-starts-now/479

For years, we've been singing the praises of electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). We even devoted an entire section to them in our book, Investing in Renewable Energy. But only within the past year or so have we seen some real progress on manufacturing these fuel-efficient vehicles.

Sure, there have always been start-ups, universities, and forward-thinking engineers who spent years building their own electric vehicles. But only now are we starting to see the major automakers putting aside their prejudices (which nearly put some of them out of business), and moving forward with their first generations of highway-capable electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

So let's take a look at what's coming down the pike in the next few years. . .

General Motors

Perhaps the most anticipated PHEV right now is the Chevy Volt. This vehicle is an extended-range electric car that can be driven for at least 40 miles on electricity stored in the battery. Following that 40-mile range, the gas engine kicks in, allowing the car to drive up 400 miles on a full tank. The Volt will use a lithium-ion battery pack and is expected to hit the market in 2011.

GM is also on track to launch a plug-in SUV in 2011. Some were concerned this wouldn't happen, as the electrified SUV was supposed to be a Saturn Vue. Saturn was scrapped by GM as a part of its reorganization. However, we're now hearing that the SUV will come from Chevy, Cadillac, Buick, or GMC.

Ford

In January 2009, Ford announced a new electrification strategy involving three types of vehicles:

·Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV)

·Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV)

·Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV)

The company's HEVs are already well-known and don't need to be detailed here. While HEVs certainly help decrease fuel consumption, we are going to focus on the electric vehicle and PHEV — only with those will you start to see real, robust fuel savings.

Due out in 2011 is an electric vehicle, based on the Focus platform. The all-electric car will have a range of about 100 miles on a single charge.

Ford also has a battery-powered van which is likely to be ready by 2010. The van gets about 100 miles on one charge — more than enough mileage for a city delivery van or municipal vehicle.

And Ford is also in the process of electrifying its hybrid SUV, the Escape. This one is expected to be in production by 2012.

Chrysler

Chrysler has said that it plans on delivering an electric vehicle in North America in 2010. In September 2008, before Chrysler filed for bankruptcy, the company revealed three electric prototypes:

·A Dodge sports car

·A Jeep Wrangler

·A Chrysler Minivan

Toyota

In July 2009, the Nikkei Business Daily reported that Toyota plans to start mass producing PHEVs in 2012. The vehicle is expected to deliver an all-electric range of between 12.4 and 18.6 miles, and will use lithium-ion batteries produced by its joint venture with Panasonic Corporation. Toyota expects 20,000 to 30,000 vehicles for the first year's output.

Mitsubishi

Japanese automaker Mitsubishi began fleet sales of its electric vehicle, the i-MiEV, in 2009. This vehicle has an all-electric range of 80 miles with a top speed of 80 mph. The company also plans to test the vehicles in the United States with help from Portland General Electric.

Subaru

In February 2009, Subaru displayed its mini-EV, the Stella, at the Melbourne International Motor Show. The vehicle delivers approximately 50 miles on a single charge, with a top speed of 62 mph. About 170 of the vehicles have already been sold in Japan.

Porsche

After receiving such a positive response to its plug-in hybrid 918 Spyder at the Geneva Auto Show, Porsche announced in March, 2010 that it would mass produce it. This vehicle boasts 78 miles per gallon (16 miles in all-electric mode), and enough torque to blast off from 0 to 60 in 3.2 seconds. It's expected to hit the market in 2015.

 
Nissan

Nissan revealed its electric offering, the LEAF, in August 2009. It's an electric hatchback that boasts a 100-mile all-electric range, delivering a top speed of about 76 mph. Nissan claims the vehicle's price will be within the range of a comparable gasoline-engine car. The LEAF is expected to arrive in Europe, Japan, and the United States by the end of 2010.

Honda

Just a few weeks after Nissan unveiled the LEAF, Honda announced its plans to develop an electric car that will debut in 2015. Not much was released about the vehicle, except for the fact that it's expected to be about the size of a minicar.

**IMAGE TO BE PROVIDED WHEN AVAILABLE**

Hyundai

Hyundai's i10 Electric car is scheduled to go into limited production in South Korea in 2010. The vehicle is expected to deliver an all-electric range of just less than 100 miles, with a top speed of 80 miles per hour.

Daimler

In November 2009, Daimler began production on the second generation Smart fortwo electric. Delivering up to 115 km per charge with a top speed of 100 km hour, the vehicle will be leased to customers in Berlin and other cities throughout Europe and the United States. Beginning in 2012, it will be available to anyone who wants it.

Daimler also plans to manufacture a small batch of electric Mercedes-Benz vehicles. These will likely be the Mercedes-Benz BlueZERO E-Cell Plus. The vehicle is expected to deliver an all-electric range of 71 miles and a total range of up to 370 miles, when using the supplemental combustion engine with an electric generator.

Kia

Kia unveiled its electric offering, the Ray, at the 2010 Chicago auto show. This vehicle (which is currently only a concept) utilizes lightweight materials and design to reduce aerodynamic drag, special laminate films on the windows that help reduce the need for air conditioning, and solar panels on the roof, which power up lighting and climate control systems. When operating in hybrid mode, the Ray delivers 77.6 miles per gallon. In all-electric mode, you can get about 50 miles.

BYD

BYD has taken the electric vehicle movement by storm. Based in China, BYD launched its first mass-produced electric car in 2008. It's called the F3DM and it is available in 14 Chinese cities. The vehicle gets about 60 miles on one charge, and has a top speed of about 100 mph. BYD expects to introduce the $22,000 vehicle in the United States in just two years.

Of course, it's not just the major automakers bringing electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to the marketplace. In fact, there are some smaller companies and young start-ups that are beating the majors to the punch.

Take Tesla Motors, for instance. . .

Tesla Motors

Tesla Motors currently sells an all-electric vehicle called the Tesla Roadster. And with an all-electric range of 244 miles and a top speed of 125 mph, this vehicle has caused quite a stir. Launching from zero to 60 in under 3.9 seconds, the Tesla Roadster has become a symbol of electric vehicle progress.

Tesla is also hard at work on its next car: the Tesla Model S Sedan. This vehicle can deliver 300 miles on one charge, carry seven people, and goes for about half the price of the two-seater Roadster. Certainly not a cheap car by any stretch of the imagination. . . but at about $50,000, also not completely out of reach for those who would typically plunk down roughly the same amount for a Lexus or BMW 5 Series. The Model S is expected to be available in two years.

As a side note, Tesla is also providing the lithium-ion batteries for the Smart fortwo electric.

TH!NK Global

TH!NK's "TH!NK City" is an all-electric vehicle designed for urban driving. It delivers about 100 miles on one charge, with a top speed of 62 miles per hour. The vehicle is only available in Europe and is currently being sold to government and utility fleets. As an interesting side note, the TH!NK was initially produced in 2000 by Ford. In 2003, Ford sold the project to a Swiss company called Kamkorp Microelectronics. Then in 2006, Norwegian investment group InSpire bought TH!NK. The company is actually called TH!NK Global.

On January 5, 2010, TH!NK announced it would build its first car for the U.S. market in Indiana starting in 2011.  The company plans on selling its TH!NK City in the U.S. in late 2011 by importing vehicles assembled in Finland.  The import sales will arrive before U.S. production starts.

Fisker Automotive

In 2007, Fisker Coachbuild, LLC and Quantum Technologies formed a joint venture partnership to build the Fisker Karma — a PHEV with a top speed of 125 mph. Delivering 50 miles in all-electric mode before the gasoline engine kicks in, the Karma is a luxury PHEV.

If imagination is more important to you than luxury, you may find the next one particularly interesting. . .

Aptera Motors

Aptera Motors has created an especially unique electric vehicle. It's called the 2e, and it delivers an all-electric range of 100 miles with a top speed of 90 mph. What makes this vehicle so fascinating is its aerodynamic design, which contributes to its superior efficiency and Jetsons-like look.

Coda Automotive

In 2009, electric car manufacturer Coda Automotive announced it would introduce a full-performance, all-electric sedan to the California market in 2010.

The vehicle delivers a range of between 90 to 120 miles on a single charge and achieves a top speed of 80 mph. The car also comes with Sirius satellite capability for all those folks who require their morning dose of Howard Stern.

Electrorides

While we're definitely excited to see the shape of electric vehicles to come, we can't concentrate solely on personal transportation. Especially when there's just as much (if not more) opportunity in the commercial sector.

After all, those big commercial trucks log more miles and require more fuel than even the biggest gas-guzzling SUVs found in so many driveways today.

As a result, with oil prices so volatile these days, many commercial truck operators are now scrambling to find new or replacement vehicles that aren't completely reliant upon gasoline and diesel. And that's opening the flood gates for dozens of new outfits that can supply electric and hybrid-electric commercial trucks.

One of the latest entries into the commercial electric truck arena is a company called Electrorides, which has developed an all-electric truck called the Zero Truck.

The ZeroTruck is a Class 4 electric delivery truck. It's actually an Isuzu N Series chassis that's been converted to run on a high-performance lithium polymer battery pack. Since the Isuzu chassis makes up nearly 80 percent of the market, this is the most logical way to go.

The vehicle does have a premium of about $100,000 attached to it. But at current diesel prices, the premium should be recouped within about five years. . . not too shabby, when you consider the typical 10-year lifespan of these kinds of trucks.

And of course, the fuel savings can add up fast.

A typical monthly payment on an Isuzu truck of this nature can run from $850 to $900. The typical monthly diesel bill? Between $1,200 and $1,800!

After decades of complacency, the world of auto manufacturing is finally starting to evolve.

While it won't happen overnight, the days of gas-guzzling SUVs and unacceptable fuel economy standards are coming to an end. They will be replaced by market-influenced fuel economy standards and electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that will ultimately deliver all the convenience, power, speed and status that our car-centric nation has come to enjoy and expect.

Of course, we're only at the beginning of this very exciting transformation. And especially over the next few years, we're going to see amazing things. . .

·New battery technologies that'll up the ante on driving ranges

·Quick-charge technologies that will enable consumers to repower their cars in less than 10 minutes

·Dramatic price reductions for electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

·New start-ups that will go toe-to-toe with the majors — igniting some fresh competition that's always good for the marketplace (and the consumer)

·Much-needed reductions in oil consumption

The last bullet point is definitely the most important. And electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles provide a real solution when it comes to reducing oil consumption.

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 78% of daily commuters in the U.S. drive 40 miles per day or less. And as you probably also know by now, most electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles being developed today are focused on delivering 40 miles or better.

Now according to the most recent U.S. Census data, 112,904,000 working Americans over the age of 16 drive or are driven to work. So that gives us a rough estimate of about 88 million daily commuters, driving no more than 40 miles per day.

If half of those folks had access to an electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that delivered the necessary miles per charge to get from point A to point B. . . that's 44 million daily commuters who would not require a single drop of gasoline.

Assuming the average fuel economy for these passenger cars is 27.5 miles per gallon — the current corporate average fuel economy standard is for passenger cars — a typical commuter driving 40 miles per day would go through 1.45 gallons per day.

Based on those 44 million commuters, you're looking at a consumption rate of 63.8 million gallons of gasoline per day. It takes about 2.1 gallons of oil to make one gallon of gasoline.  So that comes to about 133.9 million gallons, or 3.19 million barrels of oil being displaced.  That's about the equivalent of 55 percent of our daily imports from OPEC.

And this does not include commercial trucks. Very soon we will be electrifying sweepers, tow trucks, garbage trucks, etc.

Yes, my friends — the cars of the future will overwhelmingly be electric.

And the opportunities stemming from this transformation will be the catalyst for a new way of life, and a new generation of wealth.

You can download the PDF version here: The Electric Car Revolution Starts Now!