Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Wednesday, July 08, 2015
Budget 2015 - Child Tax Credits to Be CUT, Payments Limited to 2 Children / Politics / UK Tax & Budget
The newly elected Conservative government is finally about to take grip of Labours benefits culture voter bribes Working and Child Tax Credits black hole that has grown far beyond its initial budget of £2 billion to today's annual monster of £30 billion, that also plays a large part in Britain's immigration crisis as being one of the primary reasons well over one hundred thousand families annually relocate from Eastern Europe to the UK to profit from low paid jobs coupled with generous in work benefits such as tax credits and housing benefit that results in doubling or even tripling of family incomes that typically approaches TEN times similar family incomes of right across Eastern Europe.
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Tuesday, July 07, 2015
The Greek Vote and the EU Miscalculation / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By George Friedman : In a result that should surprise no one, the Greeks voted to reject European demands for additional austerity measures as the price for providing funds to allow Greek banks to operate. There are three reasons this should have been no surprise. First, the ruling Coalition of the Radical Left, or Syriza party, is ruling because it has an understanding of the Greek mood. Second, the constant scorn and contempt that the European leadership heaped on the prime minister and finance minister convinced the Greeks not only that the scorn was meant for them as well but also that anyone so despised by the European leadership wasn't all bad. Finally, and most important, the European leadership put the Greek voters in a position in which they had nothing to lose. The Greeks were left to choose between two forms of devastation — one that was immediate but possible to recover from, and one that was a longer-term strangulation with no exit.
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Tuesday, July 07, 2015
Is Saudi Arabia Leaving The U.S. Behind For Russia? / Politics / GeoPolitics
The news from the recent St. Petersburg Economic Forum, which took place from June 18 to 20, inspired a torrent of speculation on the future direction of energy prices.
But the real buzz at the conference was the unexpected but much publicized visit of the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince, as an emissary of the King. The Prince, who is also his country's Defense Minister, carried the royal message of a direct invitation to President Putin to visit the King, which was immediately accepted and reciprocated, with the Prince accepting on behalf of his father.
Monday, July 06, 2015
Why the Greek “No” Vote Was a Good Thing / Politics / Social Issues
Alexander Green writes: Well, the Greeks voted “No,” yet markets didn’t crash and the world didn’t end. What should we worry about next?
I don’t mean to make light of the situation. But Greece’s vote to reject the bailout terms of the European and International Monetary Union - and potentially abandon the euro - is actually a plus for world equity markets.
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Monday, July 06, 2015
Greece and Puerto Rico: Previews of Coming Attractions / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
Governor Alejandro García Padilla of Puerto Rico said this week he does not think the Commonwealth will be able to pay back the $73 billion in debt owed to bondholders. I find this rare bit of honesty totally refreshing. For the past three years some had speculated about the possibility of a Puerto Rican default, but most believed it to be a farfetched notion. Now the question of solvency is no longer in doubt: Puerto Rico is officially broke and is unable to pay all of its debt obligations.
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Monday, July 06, 2015
With Yanis Gone, Now Troika Heads Must Roll / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
Now that Yanis Varoufakis has resigned, in the kind of unique fashion and timing that shows us who the real men are, it’s time to clear the other side of the table as well. The new finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, should not have to face the same faces that led to Europe’s painful defeat in yesterday’s Greek referendum.
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Monday, July 06, 2015
The Greek Mouse That Roared "OXI". What is the lesson? / Politics / Social Issues
It is the so-called Arab Spring in 2011 that came to mind when I watched the results of the Greece referendum July 5. I vividly recalled the so-called pro-democracy movement in Cairo to oust corrupt dictator President Hosni Mubarak; the steaming multitude huddled in Tahrir Square stoically waiting for his resignation; the subtle reminder to Mubarak by President Obama "to leave". The "Arab Spring" was hailed by all Western media at the time, and that alone was reason to question it.
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Monday, July 06, 2015
For Normal Relations With Cuba, End US Interventionism / Politics / US Politics
Last week we saw an encouraging sign that the 50 year cold war between the US and Cuba was finally coming to an end. President Obama announced on Wednesday that the US and Cuba would restore full diplomatic relations and that embassies could be re-opened in each country by the end of the month.
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Monday, July 06, 2015
Delusional Greeks Commit Mass Hara-Kiri / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
Pride and ignorance won over logics and basic common sense. With the banks already closed and food quickly running out in supermarkets, Greece is now just a few days away from plunging into total chaos. Delusional Greeks, led by their delusional government, believe they have the upper hand. A small bankrupt country, dependent on foreign imports, decides to bite the hand that feeds it. The reason: “Ah, this will show Europe! Now they know who they are dealing with”!Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, July 05, 2015
A Revolutionary Pope Calls for Rethinking the Outdated Criteria That Rule the World / Politics / Fiat Currency
Pope Francis has been called “the revolutionary Pope.” Before he became Pope Francis, he was a Jesuit Cardinal in Argentina named Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the son of a rail worker. Moments after his election, he made history by taking on the name Francis, after Saint Francis of Assisi, the leader of a rival order known to have shunned wealth to live in poverty.
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Sunday, July 05, 2015
Forget 'Haircut', Instead Syriza Plans Beheading of Greek Bank Depositors, Theft of Deposits / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
Greeks voting YES or NO won't make any difference to what I see as a near certainty of the Greek banks NOT reopening Tuesday, and it is not just because the banks won't have the euro bank notes in their vaults, it's because they are ALL insolvent and have been so for the past 5 years where the only thing that had prevented a collapse of the Greek banking system was generous and I mean GENEROUS support from the Euro-zone's ECB central bank that has literally financed every withdrawal from the Greek banks for the past 5 years, right up until Syriza announced its baldrick-esk cunning plan for a Referendum. That's over Euro 120 billion Euro-zone tax payers funds paid into the Greek banks to finance ALL withdrawals that amounts to 50% of the original total Greek bank deposits.
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Sunday, July 05, 2015
The Pentagon’s 2015 Strategy For Ruling the World Through Endless War / Politics / US Military
On Wednesday, the Pentagon released its 2015 National Military Strategy, a 24-page blueprint for ruling the world through military force. While the language in the report is subtler and less incendiary than similar documents in the past, the determination to unilaterally pursue US interests through extreme violence remains the cornerstone of the new strategy. Readers will not find even a hint of remorse in the NMS for the vast destruction and loss of life the US caused in countries that posed not the slightest threat to US national security. Instead, the report reflects the steely resolve of its authors and elite constituents to continue the carnage and bloodletting until all potential rivals have been killed or eliminated and until such time that Washington feels confident that its control over the levers of global power cannot be challenged.
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Sunday, July 05, 2015
Independence Day for Greece / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
I hardly ever go out in the morning, the first 7-8 hours of every single day are taken up by reading and writing. But today I did, to feel the mood in the city. Not sure I got it, though. Everything’s quiet. It may not help that I’m staying smack in the middle of the Acropolis tourist area (still haven’t figured out why 90% of them are American).
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Sunday, July 05, 2015
United States Celebrates the Disastrous Secession From Great Britain / Politics / US Politics
Remnant Review
Lots of people celebrate July 4. I do not.
The Declaration of Independence justified armed secession. It was signed by a handful of lawyers on July 4, 1776. Secession was a way of transferring a great deal of power to colonial legislatures, where most of these lawyers were members. It was a way of replacing governors appointed by the King with governors elected by men of the colonies.
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Sunday, July 05, 2015
Why is Turkey Taking in so Many Syrian refugees? / Politics / Turkey
The UN can´t stop praising the Turkish government for hosting around 2 million Syrians. The Turks have indeed been generous, more than any other country in the region. Actually, too generous. Why is Ankara so keen to help the Syrians fleeing into Turkey?
This “generosity” is actually not that generous. The Turkish government has strong reasons to want the Syrians in.
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Sunday, July 05, 2015
A Serious Case of Déjà vu / Politics / Credit Crisis 2015
Everyone is going to have to cut me a little slack on the eve of the celebration of American independence. No, this isn’t about that video that came out a few days ago that demonstrated exactly how ignorant Americans are about the significance of tomorrow or how the accomplishment that day has been eroded over the past 2+ centuries by those eager to ‘re-create’ America in their own twisted image. This one is a companion piece to a series of ‘Two Cents’ articles that have been released over the past few years relating to the bail-in. I know, I know. He’s at it again. The Pessimist of Pennsylvania is going to go on another rant about those rotten banks and how they’re conspiring to rip everyone off.
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Saturday, July 04, 2015
Will Greece Commit Suicide? Syriza Propaganda and Greek Mass Delusion / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
The countdown to Sunday's Greek gobbledygook question Referendum that few understand is resulting in ever increasing intensity of propaganda that flows from the game playing marxist Syria government that long since left reality behind as the lies of what the crisis is all about keep compounding so as to convince an increasingly delusional Greek electorate that they are the victims of an evil Troika when the truth is the exact opposite. Firstly, the Greek crisis is NOT about debt! For if it were then Greece would have gone bankrupt 5 years ago!
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Friday, July 03, 2015
The Troika Turns Europe Into A Warzone / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
So now they do it. Now the IMF comes out with a report that says Greece needs hefty debt restructuring.
Mind you, their numbers are still way off the mark, in the end it’s going to be easily double what they claim. Not even a Yanis Varoufakis haircut will do the trick.
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Friday, July 03, 2015
Xi’s Anti-Corruption Campaign Is Key to China’s Prospects / Politics / China
George Magnus is one of the most influential economists in the world today. From his position as chief economist at UBS for a number of years, he enjoyed a front-row seat to growth miracles, credit booms, and financial crises in major economies around the world and is widely credited with identifying the trigger points that eventually led to the global financial crisis in 2008.
Today, he works as an associate at Oxford University’s China Center, a senior economic adviser at UBS, and an independent economic consultant to governments and private investors who can afford his limited time.
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Friday, July 03, 2015
Greece Bank Run - “It Could Never Happen Here” / Politics / Credit Crisis 2015
By Jared Dillian
I was watching the 6 o’clock news and saw images of closed banks in Greece and people lined up at ATMs. I’m sure you did, too.
This must seem surreal to most people because it seems so remote. But put yourself in these people’s shoes for a second. You have money in the bank. Suddenly you can’t get to it. After standing in long lines, you can only get 60 euros at a time, which isn’t going to last you very long.
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