THE CIA AND BANKING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000100490004-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 13, 2007
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: December 18, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/03/14: CIA-RDP88-01070R000100490004-8
RADIO TV REPORTS, INC.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS STAFF
December 18, 1982 7:30 PM
The CIA and Banking
STATION W J L A T V
Syndicated
Washington, DC
JACK ANDERSON: This is Wall Street, the center of the
international banking system, a system on the edge of a crisis so
severe that the Central Intelligence Agency is preparing drastic
measures. Something must be done to avert the breakdown of the
Free World's monetary system.
The crisis developed after $600 billion in risky loans
were made to 40 underdeveloped countries, countries too poor
to pay them back.
Richard Dale is a visiting scholar at the Brookings In-
stitution in Washington. The CIA came to see him because he's
one of the foremost authorities on international banks. He spoke
with my colleague Terry Repack.
RICHARD DALE: Well, as I understand it, the CIA takes
the view that the momentum towards collapse is already far ad-
vanced and that the political will to anticipate the problems
that may arise is simply not there. And I think they take a
rather skeptical view about the whole problem; namely, that
governments will not act until, in a sense, it's too late. And
that is one particular interpretation.
So I think they say, right, we will not solve this
problem ahead of events; we will have a global bank holiday
before anything is done, and that will be the stimulus to get
governments to act and cooperate to pull us out of this.
But, of course, the CIA's job, if I may say so, is to
look at the downside risks. They're always looking for the worst
case. That is the nature of their job. So that was their focus.
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Approved For Release 2007/03/14: CIA-RDP88-01070R000100490004-8
 Approved For Release 2007/03/14: CIA-RDP88-01070R000100490004-8
But having said that, I think that so far as I'm aware, their
analysis of this situation is quite realistic.
The problem is that the international banking system
oils the wheels of international trade. If the international
banking system ruptures or breaks down in any way, the wheels
of international trade grind to a halt. International trade has
been growing very rapidly in recent years. If that were suddenly
to grind to a halt, you would have jobs lost here on a very large
scale. After all, some 30% of U. S. steel is exported. Forty
percent of agricultural produce is exported. If there were to
be a rupture of international trade, there would be massive job
losses here and in other industrial countries.
ANDERSON: Experts have told me there is no need to hide
our money under mattresses. The banks will not go broke. But
what is not clear is just how much the taxpayers will have to pay
to bail out the banks for a crisis they helped to create.
Approved For Release 2007/03/14: CIA-RDP88-01070R000100490004-8