Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Monday, May 05, 2014
Democracy, War, and the Myth of the Neutral State / Politics / Social Issues
By: MISES
Luigi Marco Bassani and Carlo Lottieri write: The constitutionalist claim to justify the State’s monopoly of violence has been challenged directly by the radical libertarian tradition (Molinari) and by individualist anarchists (such as Lysander Spooner). However, an important role in bringing the modern State into perspective has also been played by European political realism and, in particular, by Carl Schmitt and the Italian elitist scholars (Gaetano Mosca and Vilfredo Pareto).
Monday, May 05, 2014
China Displaces America, Ron Paul on Why We are No Longer Number One / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week World Bank economists predicted that China would soon displace the United States as the world's largest economy. The fact that this one-time economic basket case is now positioned to surpass the US is one more sign of the damage done to American prosperity by welfare, warfare, corporatism, and fiat money.
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Sunday, May 04, 2014
Obama And The Multipolar World / Politics / US Politics
By: Andrew_McKillop
Happy Change to Flaky Change
Its now a long time in US politics since Mr Barack Obama was Mr Happy Changey. His domestic critics love to pummel him with the slogans he used at the time – and tries hard to forget, today. The happy-change theme has gone. One key to this which his critics will never let him forget is that his slogans of the time never had any substance.
Were American supposed to be happy about uncontrollable debt and the stalking fear of the next 2008-style crash, company failures, more unemployment and – of course – massive bailouts and handouts for the real Happy Few? The 1% who predate and feed off everybody else. Who was Obama kidding?
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Sunday, May 04, 2014
Civil War in Ukraine But Please Don't Call it That! / Politics / Ukraine Civil War
By: Mike_Shedlock
A civil war is underway in Ukraine. Curiously, no one has labeled it as such even though the Ukrainian government launched an offensive, helicopters were shot down, dozens were killed in the process, and military operations took place in multiple cities.
Read full article... Read full article...Two Ukrainian government helicopters were shot down and six people reported to have been killed on Friday morning as state forces launched a military offensive in Slavyansk, the eastern separatist-held city where armed pro-Russia militia fighters are holding several people hostage.
Sunday, May 04, 2014
The WAR for the Ukraine: What’s the real story? / Politics / Ukraine Civil War
By: T_Anthony_Michael
The WAR for the Ukraine: Clash of the Titans - There have been many wars — terrible wars — fought on Planet Earth over the past 100 years. However, the greatest war of them all could literally be around the corner, unless it is stopped by the people of this planet. The epic confrontation in the Ukraine presents the most dangerous and unprecedented conflict between the world’s superpowers since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Truly, this clash between East and West represents an economic, political and religious battleground that will dwarf every other war save WWI and WWII. If the conflict in the Ukraine is not resolved peacefully, it has the potential of evolving into a full blown World War III scenario.
Saturday, May 03, 2014
Washington Intends Russia’s Demise / Politics / US Politics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
Washington has no intention of allowing the crisis in Ukraine to be resolved. Having failed to seize the country and evict Russia from its Black Sea naval base, Washington sees new opportunities in the crisis.
One is to restart the Cold War by forcing the Russian government to occupy the Russian-speaking areas of present day Ukraine where protesters are objecting to the stooge anti-Russian government installed in Kiev by the American coup. These areas of Ukraine are former constituent parts of Russia herself. They were attached to Ukraine by Soviet leaders in the 20th century when both Ukraine and Russia were part of the same country, the USSR.
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Saturday, May 03, 2014
Millenial Warfare Quest In The Ukraine – Praise God And Pass The Munitions / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Andrew_McKillop
Warfare Quest Goes Millenial
The conventional definition of “millenarianism” and millenial cults identifies them as usually found in pre-western or so-called primitive societies. They always feature deliberate acts of fantasy and social delirium. Cults often includes sexual abstention and a sharp reduction in pregnancies and births, which for us would mean breeding fewer consumers who - later on - can imbibe war-crazed claptrap. In so-called primitive societies, millenarian cults often include “extreme risk” sport activities, with frequent death and injury because cult adepts believe they cannot be harmed and are untouchable.
Friday, May 02, 2014
Russia’s Counterstrike: Currency and Palladium / Politics / Russia
By: Submissions
Georgi Ivanov writes: The ongoing tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine have already been expressed in mutual sanctions, the expulsion of diplomats and the suspension of cooperation in nearly all forums – from NATO to the Arctic Council. Yet further sanctions are possible on Russia if an understanding on Ukraine is not reached soon, but Moscow’s reaction can have equally reverberating effects.
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Friday, May 02, 2014
The Fiscal Land Mine of Chicago / Politics / US Debt
By: Jeff_Berwick
Wendy McElroy writes: Chicago dances on the edge of a fiscal cliff.
It is the third largest city in the US with a population of 2,714,856 as of mid-2012. It is the economic engine of Illinois. If Chicago falls, especially into bankruptcy, then the entire state is likely to do so as well. Illinois won’t declare bankruptcy because federal law prohibits the option. But insolvency would raise many of the same questions as bankruptcy. For example, who gets paid first, or at all? And how much on the dollar? If other cities stumble, as they would, then whether Illinois officially declares bankruptcy may be a matter of semantics.
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Friday, May 02, 2014
How the SEC Profits from High-Frequency Trading / Politics / HFT
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes: "The markets are not rigged."
That's what U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Jo White told a House of Representatives panel on Tuesday.
She went on to say, "The U.S. markets are the strongest and most reliable in the world."
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Friday, May 02, 2014
Why is Putin in Washington’s Crosshairs? / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Mike_Whitney
US provocations in Ukraine cannot be understood apart from Washington’s “Pivot to Asia”, which is the broader strategic plan to shift attention from the Middle East to Asia. The so called “re-balancing” is actually a blueprint for controlling China’s growth in a way that is compatible with US hegemonic ambitions. There are different schools of thought about how this can be achieved, but loosely speaking they fall into two categories, “dragon slayers” and “panda huggers”. Dragon slayers favor a strategy of containment while panda huggers favor engagement. As yet, the final shape of the policy has not been decided, but it’s clear from hostilities in the South China Sea and the Senkaku Islands, that the plan will depend heavily on military force.
Thursday, May 01, 2014
The Truth About May Day / Politics / Social Issues
By: Jeff_Berwick
As I write this police are using tear gas on protestors in Istanbul. It appears as if it is going to be another rowdy May 1.
Today is International Worker's Day, which is a celebration of labor and the working classes. May 1 is a national public holiday in more than 80 countries, though in some countries it is called Labor Day or something similar. Almost every year capitals across the world erupt in protest.
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Thursday, May 01, 2014
It How America Grows Its Way Into Poverty / Politics / Social Issues
By: Raul_I_Meijer
It was strange to see two Bloomberg articles side by side yesterday that didn’t look as if they were written in the same universe. Not Bloomberg’s fault, I think, they simply reported on an FOMC statement and incoming US economy numbers. But it was strange nonetheless. First, here’s the FOMC’s reasoning behind its decision to taper more:
Thursday, May 01, 2014
Retirement Guard Duty 101 / Politics / Pensions & Retirement
By: Don_Miller
I was just a kid—barely wet behind the ears. At two minutes before midnight, the sergeant of the guard and I marched onto the runway tarmac. Following protocol, I formally relieved the previous guard of his post.
This was mid-July at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona. For the next four hours, dressed in combat fatigues, I carried an (unloaded) M-1 rifle.
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Thursday, May 01, 2014
Putin - Accusations of Fascism are Flying High and Low / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Andrew_McKillop
Pointing The Finger
Tablet magazine, which describes itself 'A New Read On Jewish Life' said in its April 4 issue that Putin for obvious reasons is falsely claiming the Kiev Flash Mob government's rise to power was ..”not a popular movement for democracy, European integration, and honest government”. Tablet says Putin pretends that the Kiev Flash Mob rose to power in “a coup executed by nationalists, neo-Nazis, Russophobes, and anti-semites”. Tablet magazine writer James Kirchick then said that Jewish leaders in Ukraine have taken out full-page advertisements in the 'New York Times', Canada's 'National Post', and Israel's 'Ha’aretz' to face down Putin’s allegations of creeping fascism in their homeland. These ads told Putin: “Your certainty of the growth of anti-semitism in the Ukraine does not correspond to the actual facts. It seems you have confused Ukraine with Russia.”
Thursday, May 01, 2014
Karl Marx Makes a Comeback — And That’s Okay / Politics / US Politics
By: John_Rubino
A perfect sign of the times is the unexpected success of a 700-page economics text called Capital in the 21st Century by French college professor Thomas Piketty. As of April 30, it is the best-selling book in the world and is generating the kind of controversy that one would expect for what is reportedly an updating of Marxist theory for the Internet age.
I haven’t read it, so can’t comment on the book itself. But the subject is a good springboard for a look at the actual tragedy of Karl Marx, which is that his ideas got tried out in the real world.
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Thursday, May 01, 2014
UK Economy Accelerating General Election Boom, Real Secret of Financial Success and Will Scotland Commit Suicide? / Politics / UK Economy
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Academic economists have once more been caught on the hop as the UK economy led by the services sector accelerates to its best year on year growth rate in 6 years of 3.1% by adding preliminary GDP of 0.8% for 2014 Q1 that annualises to an near economic boom rate of 3.2%, with the economy now looking set to have recouped all of the last Labour governments catastrophic collapse of 2008-2009 by the end of June this year.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Technology and the Future of Jobs / Politics / Employment
By: BATR
Quite a stir occurred with the academic presentation, How Technology Is Destroying Jobs, by Brynjolfsson, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and his collaborator and coauthor Andrew McAfee. Both "have been arguing for the last year and a half that impressive advances in computer technology—from improved industrial robotics to automated translation services—are largely behind the sluggish employment growth of the last 10 to 15 years. Even more ominous for workers, the MIT academics foresee dismal prospects for many types of jobs as these powerful new technologies are increasingly adopted not only in manufacturing, clerical, and retail work but in professions such as law, financial services, education, and medicine."
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
The Department Of (In)Justice Goes After Guns In Further Capital Controls / Politics / US Politics
By: Jeff_Berwick
The US government is attempting every possible angle to ensure Americans don't have access to guns. The latest is a new twist on capital controls being instituted by the Department of (In)Justice.
The DoJ is why financial institutions are refusing services to companies as diverse as gun shops, bitcoin businesses, marijuana dispensaries and even the porn industry.
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Tuesday, April 29, 2014
The U.S. Opts for Ineffective Sanctions on Russia / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: STRATFOR
The United States announced new sanctions on seven Russian government officials April 28. A long-used tactic, sanctions can yield unpredictable effects or have no effect at all, depending upon how they are crafted. It is commonly assumed that sanctions are applied when a target country's actions are deemed unacceptable. The sanctioning nation presumably chooses sanctions to avoid war when war would be too costly or could result in defeat.