Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Thursday, May 07, 2015
European War Games: Responses to Russian Military Drills / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: STRATFOR
Several events have coincided to demonstrate the dynamic, if not guarded, relationship between Russia and the Nordic and Baltic states. Ten NATO countries and Sweden launched a two-week planned exercise in the North Sea on May 4 to improve their anti-submarine warfare capabilities. On the same day, Finland — not a NATO member — began mailing letters to about 900,000 reservists informing them of their roles in a potential crisis situation. Meanwhile, Sweden's Foreign Ministry formally complained to Russian authorities that Russian navy ships were disrupting cable-laying work in waters between Sweden and Lithuania, the latest in a series of formal complaints over Russia's activity in the area. Concurrently, the Swedish and Lithuanian foreign ministers met with Moldova's pro-West leaders in Chisinau.
Thursday, May 07, 2015
Financial Warfare and the Declining U.S. Dollar / Politics / Currency War
By: MISES
Ryan W. McMaken writes: With the creation of the BRICS bank and now the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the major economies of the world are hoping to lay the foundation for a multi-polar financial world beyond the unilateral control of the United States. Due to the enormous size of the US economy, coupled with the reserve status of the US dollar, the United States government has long been able to achieve strategic and military goals through flexing its financial power. This power has long allowed the US government to buy allies and friends among foreign regimes, to finance proxy wars, and to threaten the growth potential of foreign economies whenever the US government deemed it necessary.
Thursday, May 07, 2015
The War On Cash: Governments Grabbing or Taxing Cash At Will Now / Politics / Fiat Currency
By: Jeff_Berwick
We have been warning for years that as bankrupt Western countries came closer to being completely insolvent that they would begin instituting capital controls, doing bank bail-ins, taxing cash and outright just stealing cash.
All of these things have come to pass now in one form or another. Here are four examples of the countless that we could choose from.
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Wednesday, May 06, 2015
Those Gruelling U.S. Tax Rates: A Global Perspective / Politics / Taxes
By: Steve_H_Hanke
The Tax Foundation released its inaugural “International Tax Competitiveness Index” (ITCI) on September 15th, 2014. The United States was ranked an abysmal 32nd out of the 34 OECD member countries for the year 2014. (See accompanying Table 1.) The European welfare states such as Norway, Sweden and Denmark, with their large social welfare systems, still managed to have less burdensome tax systems on local businesses than the U.S. The U.S. is even ranked below Italy, the country that has had such a pervasive problem with tax evasion that the head of its Agency of Revenue (roughly equivalent to the Internal Revenue Service in the United States) recently joked that Italians don’t pay taxes because they were Catholic and hence were used to “gaining absolution.” In fact, according to the ranking, only France and Portugal have the dubious honor of operating less competitive tax systems than the United States.
Wednesday, May 06, 2015
Do They Really Want to Outlaw Cash? / Politics / Credit Crisis 2015
By: EWI
Some bankers want to charge you for your deposits
Editor's note: You'll find the text version of the story below the video.
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Wednesday, May 06, 2015
Beyond Baltimore: Political Looting of Nation's Wealth / Politics / US Politics
By: MoneyMetals
Clint Siegner writes: The CVS Pharmacy at the corner of North and Pennsylvania Avenue in Baltimore is a burnt-out shell. You probably saw the video last week. An angry mob carried the store’s inventory out by the armload, then set fire to whatever was left. Company officials are still deciding whether or not to rebuild.
Looting is not good for business in Baltimore. But it is absolutely fantastic for business in Washington DC.
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Wednesday, May 06, 2015
German Greens Propose Radical Greek Debt Solution / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Raul_I_Meijer
In its German language edition, Der Spiegel ran a piece last night (translation is mine) about a proposal from the German Green Party (Die Grünen) to deal with the Greek debt crisis that is radically different from how its own government has so far approached the situation. The Greens are not in the Berlin government, but they are a force in German politics regardless, if only because the country loves so much to portray itself as green.
Wednesday, May 06, 2015
Government's Share of Minimum Wage Increase / Politics / Wages
By: BATR
The working poor suffer disproportionately from the offshoring of high paying jobs. The upsurge an hour in the minimum wage economy is the net result of a consorted effort to lower the standard of living of not just the struggling impoverished but for all scrambling households. When the communist manifesto advocated a progressive income tax, the proletariat was supposed to get a sliver of social justice. Just how well did that hogwash turn out?
Wednesday, May 06, 2015
Yet Another Greek Secret: The Case of Greece's Phantom Assets / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Steve_H_Hanke
When banks are in distress, it is important to assess how easily the bank’s capital cushion can absorb potential losses from troubled assets. To do this, I performed an analysis using Texas Ratios for Greece’s four largest banks, which control 88% of total assets in the banking system.
We use a little known, but very useful formula to determine the health of the Big Four. It is called the Texas Ratio. It was used during the U.S. Savings and Loan Crisis, which was centered in Texas. The Texas Ratio is the book value of all non-performing assets divided by equity capital plus loan loss reserves. Only tangible equity capital is included in the denominator. Intangible capital — like goodwill — is excluded.
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Tuesday, May 05, 2015
Don’t Be Part of the 95% / Politics / Social Issues
By: Harry_Dent
I heard a speaker make a great observation at a major conference I was speaking at. He said: “95% of people are a genius at something.”That doesn’t mean they’ll be Einstein or a CEO of a large corporation or a visionary entrepreneur… it just means everyone displays their brilliance in other, sometimes less-noticeable ways.
I have always found that to be true. I am good at what I do, but horrible at so many other things. I couldn’t fix a door knob if you gave me a ten-step, illustrated guide with online assistance from a personal consultant!
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Tuesday, May 05, 2015
How the UK Election Represents the State of Europe / Politics / European Union
By: STRATFOR
By George Friedman: The United Kingdom is going to the polls on Thursday. Elections electrify the countries in which they are held, but in most cases they make little difference. In this case, the election is a bit more important. Whether Labour or the Tories win makes some difference, but not all that much. What makes this election significant is that in Scotland, 45 percent of the public voted recently to leave the United Kingdom. This has been dismissed as an oddity by all well-grounded observers. However, for unsophisticated viewers like myself, the fact that 45 percent of Scotland was prepared to secede was an extraordinary event.
Monday, May 04, 2015
Big Banks Profit While Main Street Suffers / Politics / Banksters
By: Submissions
Antonius Aquinas writes: If anyone doubts that the Western world’s monetary order is rigged to enrich the banking system, the first quarter financial reports of America’s top banks should disabuse any unbelievers.
The Financial Times reported that four of the five big U.S. trading banks had a combined revenue of $19.4 billion in the first quarter of 2015. Goldman Sachs had a 14.7 percent* return on its equity in the first quarter while J.P. Morgan, the nation’s largest bank, earned $5.91 billion or $1.45 a share, up 3.6% from a year earlier.** Revenues for J.P. Morgan grew 4% to $24.8 billion.
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Monday, May 04, 2015
Ron Paul Warns USA FREEDOM Act: Just Another Word for Lost Liberty / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Apologists for the National Security Agency (NSA) point to the arrest of David Coleman Headley as an example of how warrantless mass surveillance is necessary to catch terrorists. Headley played a major role in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack that killed 166 people.
While few would argue that bringing someone like Headley to justice is not a good thing, Headley's case in no way justifies mass surveillance. For one thing, there is no "terrorist" exception in the Fourth Amendment. Saying a good end (capturing terrorists) justifies a bad means (mass surveillance) gives the government a blank check to violate our liberties.
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Saturday, May 02, 2015
Kate Gives Birth to Coalition Government / Politics / UK Politics
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Kate goes into Labour but gives birth to Conservative led Coalition. Britain's broadcast media has been full of irrelevant mind numbing continuous drivel coverage of the birth of the latest Royal, literally all day focused on the doors of St Mary's Hospital waiting for Will and Kate to emerge with their new baby daughter as the BBC, Sky and the rest deemed that of being infinitely more importance to Britains slave population than the impending too close to call general election of which public school boy will be next to dance to the bankster's tune.
Saturday, May 02, 2015
U.S.A. Caught In Enormous Policy Vise - ZIRP & QE Destructive Influence / Politics / US Politics
By: Jim_Willie_CB
Today is May Day, the international day of workers celebrated by most communist and deeply socialist nations. To be sure, Obama should come out of the closet with admission of not only his Muslim roots but his Marxist roots. By now, he could have easily promoted the holiday and had it moved from its longstanding September location to the May month. In honor of the holiday, the Jackass will outline the profound damage to the USEconomy, its recent destructive pressures, and the newest dynamics which assure a systemic breakdown. The outcome is being seen in widespread job loss, business shutdowns, a new war waged each year, and civil disorder prompted by a strange phenomenon hardly ever discussed.
Saturday, May 02, 2015
The U.S. Government: Adding Illiquidity to Insolvency / Politics / US Debt
By: Jeff_Berwick
[The following post is by Managing Director of Windrock Wealth Management Christopher P. Casey, CFA]
Nobody believes that the states will eternally drag the burden of these interest payments. It is obvious that sooner or later all these debts will be liquidated in some way or other, but certainly not by payment of interest and principal according to the terms of the contract.
- Ludwig von Mises, Human Action (1949)
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Friday, May 01, 2015
Baltimore Inflation Riots / Politics / Inflation
By: Dr_Jeff_Lewis
The following is a compilation, first published at Zero Hedge, of statements made by The Baltimore Orioles Vice President, John Angelos. It struck me as fascinating on two basic levels. First off, the stunner is that a prominent elitist has spoken a bit of truth that would ordinarily be almost unutterable among such circles. The second thing is how he ultimately gets it wrong
Friday, May 01, 2015
Baltimore Riots Whose Fault? / Politics / US Politics
By: James_Quinn
I’ve seen the liberal lying MSM pondering how WE could allow the riots, looting, burning and lawlessness to happen, as if it is our collective fault. Obama stands before his teleprompter and pontificates about the need for us to end the poverty that supposedly led to Purge Night in Charm City. That term cracks me up. The city has so much charm, its football team once snuck out of town overnight and headed to Indianapolis. It has so much charm its baseball team was forced to play a game with no fans in the stands.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
The Real Reason Why Obama Wants to Lift Sanctions on Iran / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Mike_Whitney
“It is essential to recognize that Iran does not currently have a nuclear weapons program, nor does it possess a nuclear weapon. On February 26, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Ayatollah Khomenei, the supreme leader of Iran, ended his country’s nuclear weapons program in 2003 and “as far as we know, he’s not made the decision to go for a nuclear weapon.” This repeats the “high-confidence” judgement of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) that was first made in November 2007.”
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Immigration Crisis Drives a Deep Wedge Between E.U. States / Politics / Immigration
By: STRATFOR
The European Union is once again struggling to come up with a coherent asylum strategy for its 28 members. In recent years, the rising number of asylum seekers entering the European Union through countries such as Italy and Greece has generated friction among member states, fueled criticism of the Schengen Agreement and contributed to the growing popularity of nationalist parties.
However, the European Union will not reform its asylum policies in any significant way. Member states will provide more financial assistance to Mediterranean countries, but they will refuse to accept quotas of immigrants over the coming months and years. Anti-immigration sentiments will persist across the Continent, putting substantial pressure on one of the European Union's founding principles: the free movement of people.
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