Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Central Banks Are On the Defensive, Where's All the Gold? / Politics / Central Banks
By: Gary_North
All over the Western world, central banks are under pressure from their governments to inflate. Governments are not satisfied with short-term interest rates at historic lows, such as a federal funds rate of 0% to 0.25% in the United States. Politicians want rapid economic growth, and they are convinced that this is possible after a major recession only with more fiat money. In short, they have accurately understood the message of their college-level textbooks. This is what textbooks have been saying for over 50 years. This is the new, improved Keynesianism. Keynes focused on the need for large government deficits and increased government spending, not monetary inflation. The new Keynesianism wants large government deficits and lots of fiat money.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Miami's Municipal Woes (Again): Exiting Before the Tide Goes Out / Politics / US Debt
By: Fred_Sheehan
Miami's tradition of unruly official behavior is finally bringing painful consequences. After years of reckless financial management and a bribery scandal that produced federal charges against three top city officials, South Florida's largest city stands on the edge of bankruptcy."-Time, December 16, 1996, "Gloom Over Miami"
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Friday, February 19, 2010
Cultivating Food Security in Africa / Politics / Food Crisis
By: Submissions
By Danielle Nierenberg and Abdou Tenkouano
As hunger and drought spread across Africa, a huge effort is underway to increase yields of staple crops, such as maize, wheat, cassava, and rice.
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Friday, February 19, 2010
Why Talk of Re-Regulating Wall Street is Just Talk / Politics / Market Regulation
By: Sy_Harding
Congress continues to promise tough regulation of the financial industry. Another version of a reform bill is expected to reach the Senate for debate next week.
It’s all window-dressing! More months will pass, during which investors and consumers will hear assurances that tough reforms will take place. But nothing meaningful will be forthcoming.
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Friday, February 19, 2010
Geographic Determinism , The Question of Questions / Politics / Social Issues
By: Robert_Singer
Can Jared Diamond’s definition of “Geographic Determinism” answer "Yali's 'Cargo' Question": Why "they" are so rich and "we" are so poor?
Geographic Determinism: The shape and location of continents, flora, fauna, microbes, water, climate, topography determine history:
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Thursday, February 18, 2010
Bankers Get Bonuses, the USA Gets the Great Recession / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Janet_Tavakoli
If a high-on-crack driver crashed his speeding rental car into your house and killed your spouse, you would be outraged if law enforcers took bribes and gave the driver a pass on a blood test. If the judge then merely fined the killer and ordered you to pay it, you would appeal, wondering what happened to justice. If the government then handed the crack-driver keys to a bigger rental car and presented you with the rental bill, you would certainly protest.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Agri-Foods Boom, Africa's Land and Family Farms Up for Grabs? / Politics / Agricultural Commodities
By: Joan_Baxter
Over the years many Big Ideas have been imposed on Africa from outside. The latest is that the region should sell or lease millions of hectares of land to foreign investors, who will bring resources and up-to-date technology. None of the blueprints has worked, and African farmers have become increasingly impoverished. It is time for Africans to turn to their own histories, knowledge and resources.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Dimon's Bear Stearns Sticky Bombs Are Worse Than Geithner's / Politics / Credit Crisis 2010
By: Janet_Tavakoli
The Financial Times recently reported more losses on the $30 billion in Bear Stearns's mortgage assets that the Fed took off of Jamie Dimon's hands, when JPMorgan Chase's CEO bought Bear in the spring of 2008. The assets languish in Maiden Lane I, a purchasing vehicle created on the watch of then President of the New York Fed and current Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner. At the outset, it looked like a bad deal for taxpayers, and it continues to look lousy.
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Thursday, February 18, 2010
Climate Change Non-Science and The Texas Black Swan / Politics / Climate Change
By: Andrew_Butter
The drama continues, but the recent filing by the Texas Attorney General to challenge the IPCC findings on Climate Change was no big surprise.
Particularly since George Bush’s home state relies a lot on oil and beef although, given the past record of the Bush dynasty one can’t help wondering how much of the costs of the action will be paid by the good citizens of Texas, and how much will be paid by the Saudi’s? But then that’s just one more conspiracy theory in a long line.
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Wall Street’s War Against Main Street America / Politics / US Politics
By: Michael_Hudson
Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson wrote an op-ed in The New York Times, (Feb. 16)[1] outlining how to put the U.S. economy on rations. Not in those words, of course. Just the opposite: If the government hadn’t bailed out Wall Street’s bad loans, he claims, “unemployment could have exceeded the 25 percent level of the Great Depression.” Without wealth at the top, there would be nothing to trickle down.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Real, Uglier American Unemployment / Politics / Recession 2008 - 2010
By: Joel_S_Hirschhorn
Great Recession is shown by an official unemployment rate of about 10 percent, think again.
Economic inequality and the myth of Reagan trickle down logic are shown by new data from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston . The report noted: “What has been missing from the public debate over the labor market crisis is an honest and detailed analysis of which American workers have been most adversely affected by the deep deterioration in labor markets.” The researchers found a correlation between household income and unemployment rate in the last quarter of 2009: Look carefully at these numbers and see how unemployment rises as income drops:
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Capitalism Cut Adrift / Politics / Social Issues
By: William_Bowles
Have we really been brainwashed?
There has been much talk expended over the years on the degree to which the media—and hence culture—is central to maintaining the capitalist system. Leading the charge have been Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman, so much so that they now more resemble sainted objects than social/political analysts, but then this is nothing new for the left, who unfortunately for the most part are happy to let others do the thinking for them.
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The Consequences of Economic Terrorism are Poverty and Mass Unemployment / Politics / Recession 2008 - 2010
By: Global_Research
David DeGraw writes: “The American oligarchy spares no pains in promoting the belief that it does not exist, but the success of its disappearing act depends on equally strenuous efforts on the part of an American public anxious to believe in egalitarian fictions and unwilling to see what is hidden in plain sight.” — Michael Lind, To Have and to Have Not
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
America A Country of Serfs Ruled By Oligarchs / Politics / US Politics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
The media has headlined good economic news: fourth quarter GDP growth of 5.7 percent ("the recession is over"), Jan. retail sales up, productivity up in 4th quarter, the dollar is gaining strength. Is any of it true? What does it mean?
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Europe's PIGS Gorging on Free Euros as ECB Bankrolls the Incontinent Subcontinent / Politics / Euro
By: Gary_North
The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth (Psalm 37:21).
The question arises: How wise is it to lend to wicked people? Not very. What about lending to national governments, whose representatives were elected in order to show mercy to certain voting blocs with taxpayers' money? Not very. Yet this is what has been done on a massive scale.
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010
How the Demise of Glass-Steagall Helped Spawn the Credit Crisis / Politics / Market Regulation
By: Money_Morning
By Shah Gilani
Question: Please address why the removal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 caused the financial meltdown of 2007 and why its reinstatement is the only way to stop the financially risky behavior allowed after it's removal. Address why we will very likely have another meltdown (probably in 2010) unless reinstated.
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Vladimir Lisin, Russia's New Richest Man / Politics / Russia
By: Pravda
Finance magazine published the annual list of Russian billionaires. The list includes the names of 500 individuals, whose fortune is evaluated at not less than 3.3 billion rubles. There are 77 dollar billionaires in Russia today, which marked a considerable increase in comparison with the beginning of 2009, when the economic crisis caused financial damage to many Russian billionaires.
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Are US Taxpayers Bailing Out Greece? / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week we were reminded that ours is not the only country suffering from severe economic turmoil. The Greek government is the latest to come close to default on their massive public debt. Greece has insufficient funds in their treasury to make even the minimum payments that are now coming due.
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Global Financial Dominance and Control, All Roads Lead to Goldman Sachs / Politics / Market Manipulation
By: Rob_Kirby
Once upon a time, Goldman Sachs shunned publicity. During the period from 1930 to 1969, Sydney Weinberg ran Goldman Sachs where he developed a staunch corporate cultural aversion to publicity. During the 1970s, a tandem of John Weinberg and John Whitehead assumed the reigns of leadership at Goldman Sachs. Whitehead left the company in 1984 to enter public life. John Weinberg carried on in the same vein as his father Sydney – shunning publicity – to the point where he hired a man to keep his name and his firm's out of the press.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The Myth of Financial Deregulation, Volcker Cannot Prevent Boom-Bust Cycles / Politics / Market Regulation
By: Frank_Shostak
Does It Make Sense to Resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act?
At the end of January, President Barack Obama announced that he is planning to introduce new regulations for the banking industry, to prevent excessive speculation. According to the president, no bank or financial institution that contains a bank will own, invest in, or sponsor a hedge fund or private equity fund, or have proprietary trading operations unrelated to serving customers for its own profit.
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