Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Ponzi Economics, Ferris Geithner's Day Off / Politics / Government Spending
By: Gary_North
In my previous report, "Why Should Your Children Pay for My Retirement?" I went through the logic and economics of Social Security and Medicare. I made the point that, at some point, the bill-payers are going to resist the payments that previous generations have legislated. What one generation can legislate, a subsequent generation can repeal.
The main political question is this: In which form will this repeal manifest itself?
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, March 19, 2010
The Offshored Economy, Desolate Detroit / Politics / US Politics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
In the 20th century, Detroit, Mich., symbolized American industrial might. Today it symbolizes the offshored economy.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, March 19, 2010
SULTANS OF SWAP ACT II - The Sting! / Politics / Credit Crisis 2010
By: Gordon_T_Long
There are 7 stages to executing a successful sting operation. Whether this is the modus operandi behind the Sultans of Swap operating in the $605 Trillion OTC Derivatives market or just simple coincidence, I will leave it to you shrewd reader to determine. The seven stages do however offer us an instructive theater guide to better understanding these murky instruments called Interest Rate Swaps.
Friday, March 19, 2010
The Independence of the Fed? / Politics / Central Banks
By: Sarel_Oberholster
There is a thesis that the banks are in control of the Fed and as a result have gained control over the issuance of the currency of the United States. This thesis is based on the fact that the shares of the Federal Reserve Bank are held by these private banks. Does that mean that the private banks own the Fed?
Friday, March 19, 2010
Why Should Your Children Pay for My Retirement? / Politics / Pensions & Retirement
By: Gary_North
For the same reason that my children will pay for yours: because the government has offered them a deal: it will pay for our retirement.
Friday, March 19, 2010
The American Dream is Over, It Was A Wonderful Life / Politics / US Politics
By: James_Quinn
“Just a minute - just a minute. Now, hold on, Mr. Potter. You're right when you say my father was no businessman. I know that. Why he ever started this cheap, penny-ante Building and Loan, I'll never know. But neither you nor anyone else can say anything against his character, because his whole life was - why, in the twenty-five years since he and Uncle Billy started this thing, he never once thought of himself. Isn't that right, Uncle Billy? He didn't save enough money to send Harry to school, let alone me. But he did help a few people get out of your slums, Mr. Potter, and what's wrong with that? Why - here, you're all businessmen here. Doesn't it make them better citizens? Doesn't it make them better customers? You - you said - what'd you say a minute ago? They had to wait and save their money before they even ought to think of a decent home.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Creating our Own Credit, The Growing Movement for Publicly-Owned Banks / Politics / Credit Crisis 2010
By: Ellen_Brown
As the states’ budget and credit crises deepen, four states have initiated bills for state-owned banks, and candidates in seven states have included that solution in their platforms.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
U.S. Iran Sneak Attack? / Politics / Iran
By: Pravda
It has been revealed that hundreds of powerful U.S. “bunker-buster” bombs are being shipped from California in the U.S. to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for a possible attack on Iran. Although Diego Garcia is part of British Indian Ocean Territory, it is used by the US as a military base under an agreement made in 1971. The agreement led to 2,000 native islanders being forcibly evicted to the Seychelles and Mauritius.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Iran’s Natural Gas Riches / Politics / Natural Gas
By: Global_Research
The scheduled start of drilling this month by China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) in Iran's South Pars gas field could be both a harbinger and explanation of much wider geopolitical developments.
First of all, the $5 billion project - signed last year after years of foot dragging by western energy giants Total and Shell under the shadow of US-led sanctions - reveals the main arterial system for future world energy supply and demand.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Differences Between Lehman Brothers and the U.S. Government / Politics / Credit Crisis 2010
By: Michael_S_Rozeff
The report of Anton R. Valukas, Examiner, in the bankruptcy case of Lehman Brothers is out, and it provides much food for thought, of which a small portion is consumed here. There is one intriguing paragraph at the outset that raises a question in my mind: How different is the U.S. government from Lehman?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The Next Big Bank Bailout is on the Way Prepare To Get Reamed! / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Mike_Whitney
Housing is on the rocks and prices are headed lower. That's not the consensus view, but it's a reasonably safe assumption. Master illusionist Ben Bernanke managed to engineer a modest 7-month uptick in sales, but the fairydust will wear off later this month when the Fed stops purchasing mortgage-backed securities and long-term interest rates begin to creep higher.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Geithner and Bernanke's Possibly Criminal Roles in Lehman's Scandal / Politics / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Mike_Whitney
After a year-long investigation, court-appointed bank examiner Anton Valukas has produced a deadly 2,200 page report which details the activities that led to the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. The report is a keg of dynamite. The question now is whether anyone in government has the nerve to light the fuse. Valukas provides powerful evidence that Lehman executives were involved in “balance sheet manipulation” by implementing an arcane accounting procedure called “Repo 105” which masked the bank's true financial condition from investors and regulators.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
What Caused the Financial Crisis, Delusion or Crime? Critique of Michael Lewis / Politics / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Danny_Schechter
The Big Short Is A Bit Short In Missing The Reasons for The Crisis: Michael Lewis’s Delusion Thesis vs Senator Kaufman’s Case for Crime
It’s the number one book in the county. Every day, Michael Lewis’s the Big Short is getting B I G G E R, no doubt because he is so mediagenic, conversational and likes to laugh with the hosts who interview him about his findings.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Germany’s Place in Europe, The MittelEuropa Redux / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: STRATFOR
The global system is undergoing profound change. Three powers — Germany, Iran and China — face challenges forcing them to refashion the way they interact with their regions and the world. We will explore each of these three states in detail in our next three geopolitical weeklies, highlighting how STRATFOR’s assessments of these states are evolving. We will examine Germany first.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
U.S. Congress Supporting the War Instead of the Troops / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week, Congress debated a resolution directing the President to withdraw our troops from Afghanistan no later than the end of this year. The Constitution gives the power to declare war to the Congress, so it is clearly appropriate for Congress to assert its voice on matters of armed conflict. In recent decades, however, Congress has defaulted on this most critical duty, essentially granting successive presidents the unilateral (and clearly unconstitutional) power to begin and end wars at will. This resolution was not expected to pass; however, the ensuing debate and floor vote served some very important purposes.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Life is Great ... But Only If You Are Already Mega-Wealthy / Politics / Social Issues
By: Washingtons_Blog
As I pointed out in November: A report by University of California, Berkeley economics professor Emmanuel Saez concludes that income inequality in the United States is at an all-time high, surpassing even levels seen during the Great Depression.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The Greatest Financial Crime Ever Perpetrated, This Video Could Put Geithner Behind Bars / Politics / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Mike_Whitney
You gotta see this! If this doesn't convince you that the Timothy Geithner knew about the securities shenanigans that were going on at Lehman, than I don't know what will.
Keep in mind, that Geithner ran Lehman through 3 "stress tests" prior to bankruptcy; all of which Lehman failed, and yet, nothing was done. Anton R. Valukas--the examiner who wrote the 2,200 page investigative-report which was released on Thursday-- has provided plenty of information detailing Lehman's “materially misleading” accounting and “actionable balance sheet manipulation.”
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The Extraordinary Writs / Politics / US Politics
By: Charlie_Tarango
Most people have heard about and have a cursory knowledge of The Writ of Habeas Corpus. That is but one of many.
The “Extraordinary Writs” ( Habeas Corpus, Prohibition, Mandamus, Certiorari, Attachment, et al., ), are the most powerful force in American Jurisprudence – and no individual – not even the President of the United States – is more powerful.
Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, March 13, 2010
World’s Billionaires Grew 50 Percent Richer in 2009 / Politics / Social Issues
By: Global_Research
Andre Damon writes: 2009 will be remembered by millions of ordinary people as the year they lost their job, their house, or the prospect of an education. For the rich, however, it was a bonanza.
The world’s billionaires saw their wealth grow by 50 percent last year, and their ranks swell to 1,011, from 793, according to the latest Forbes list of billionaires.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, March 12, 2010
More Propaganda from Washington's Corporate Media Partner / Politics / Mainstream Media
By: Mike_Stathis
Last week, Forbes published an article discussing cities across the U.S. "where the recession is ending."
Let me begin in a tone that many of you have come to expect. In my opinion the article was misleading in an attempt to drum up consumer confidence, or else it was written by a someone with absolutely no understanding of what is going on; perhaps a combination of the two.
Read full article... Read full article...