Swiss- born Peter Koenig devoted approximately 30 years of his life to the World Bank in hopes of defeating poverty. "As a student, I was always interested in this disparity between rich and poor," said Koenig in a phone interview.

Koenig began his career with the bank in West Africa, where he quickly learned Africa would have been better off without foreign aid. The central bank placed demands on the continent and its resources, making it impossible for the countries there to capitalize on their own wealth.

Throughout most of his career, Koenig has seen the World Bank intervene in developing nations, placing impossible- to - meet demands on them in exchange for a rapidly expanding national debt. Koenig will talk about his experiences at South Carolina's first Patriot Expo, a June 27 conference that is designed to inform South Carolinians about the problems with central banking and with corporations when they intertwine with governments.

The U.S., whose currency is regulated by the central Federal Reserve Bank, holds a 17 percent majority stake in the World Bank and, along with the Western world, is the primary benefactor of the developing world's natural resources. Koenig is also critical of the Fed and thinks it will indebt Americans in the long run.

At the event, Koenig will use his experiences to explain some of the problems with central banks and the encroachment of large corporations on would- be sovereign nations.

The expo will also feature other speakers and vendors who will present solutions to the problems we face as a nation and as a state. For example, some S. C. critics of the federal stimulus funds say that the funds not only place a debt- load on the state that future generations will have a difficult time repaying, but that those funds also come with demands on the people of S. C. that might diminish their civil liberties in the end.

As the World Bank has impoverished developing nations, like Koenig has seen, so might a 700 million dollar loan indebt the state in ways its people will regret.

Presenters at the expo are concerned with the consequences of borrowing from the government and will address solutions to what they say is the cause of the problem.

The expo will take place at Columbia's Embassy Suites off Greystone Blvd. For tickets or for more information on the Patriot Expo, visit www.patriotexpo.com.