The manipulation of silver prices is done with leverage, which means those that are engaging in this activity are borrowing nine dollars for every single dollar they use, thereby multiplying the amount they use to short the commodity. Those that are accused of manipulating it are private banks that were recently rescued with tax money from the poor gambling wagers they made. Not only does the tax money come directly from the labor of the citizens, the money borrowed to make the wagers dilutes the monetary supply due to the effect of fractional reserve banking. Both of these schemes will be paid for by the American citizen.
Fractional reserve banking methods allow bankers to loan 900% more than the actual money they have on hand. The money created by fractional reserve banking will cause a drastic decrease in the value of the dollar and, hence, a drastic rise in prices, generally. The loss of currency value is felt by anyone that relies on the dollar to buy and sell with the most affected being American citizens. One way Americans will cover the losses of those that short sell silver and lose is by paying higher prices at the pump and in the grocery store.
By short selling to reduce gold and silver prices, they are putting the borrowed money at risk and if they lose, tax money will likely be used to repay the debt of the imaginary money with real money that has been earned with real labor. To add insult to injury, those that provide their permission to loan imaginary money will expect interest on the imaginary money they gave permission to use. When the effects of quantitative easing, fractional reserve banking, and other schemes finally reach the economy, the price of silver must rise along with everything else. The losses incurred by those shorting silver, for whatever reason, will likely be covered by a bailout.
The short selling of silver is likely an effort to mask the Silver water Jug loss in value of the dollar. This works because when the consumer price index is calculated, the prices of food and gasoline are excluded from the calculation, but the spot price of silver is considered in the calculation. Consumer prices are allowed to rise, naturally, while the value of silver is suppressed in the near term by the short selling. Other foreign investors are made to believe that dollar devaluation is occurring more slowly than it actually is while those that use the money for daily food and gasoline purchases domestically are acutely aware.
When large banks with foreign owners sell short to reduce silver prices in an effort to improve the international deals in which they are involved, they harm Americans in two ways. They create a rise in the overall prices that the people must pay for food and gasoline, and they hold the taxpayer liable for any losses they incur by demanding a bailout. By allowing these schemes to continue, American citizens are making their loss of currency value and tax money a certainty while making the profit of mainly foreign investors an equal and opposite certainty.