Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Germany, Greece and the Game of "Chicken" / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes:
Summer unofficially kicks off this weekend, at least here in the U.S., as we celebrate Memorial Day.
Before we even get to the "official" beginning of summer on June 21, sweat will be pouring from every banker's brow on June 17.
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Saturday, May 26, 2012
A Fair Price For Energy In Europe ? / Politics / Energy Resources
By: Andrew_McKillop
FROM ZERO TO INFINITY
One thing electricity consumers in Europe can expect, at latest by about 2017 but probably well before, is that power prices will be "highly variable". They will probably be higher than present, for starters - but on occasions power may also be literally given away - as happens in Germany today, when its a windy and sunny day and power demand is low, for example at weekends in May 2012. The reason is very simple: the combined wind and solar generating capacity of Germany is about 55 000 MW, and growing, but when national power demand is at its lowest, it is around 35 000 MW.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Can Obama Stop Casino Capitalism? / Politics / US Politics
By: Shamus_Cooke
The recent JPMorgan scandal where billions of dollars were lost in risky bets has re-ignited the move to properly regulate the U.S. banking system.
Among those asking for new regulations is Robert Reich, former labor secretary to Bill Clinton. Recently Reich made a plea of sorts to President Obama, whom he wishes would take the commonsense approach to bank regulation by re-installing the depression-era regulation, the Glass-Steagall Act.
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Saturday, May 26, 2012
Don't Worry About Your Kids' Economic Future, Worry about Yours / Politics / US Debt
By: Gary_North
I read that Americans who have spoken to poll-takers express the fear that their children will not live as well as they have. Here is an example. The poll was taken in October 2011.
Read full article... Read full article...More than two-thirds of voters say the United States is declining, and a clear majority think the next generation will be worse off than this one, according to the results of a new poll commissioned by The Hill.
Friday, May 25, 2012
America today is pro-war, pro-capitalist, pro-empire and in retrograde! / Politics / US Politics
By: Michael_T_Bucci
I quickly rented a car to meet an emergency medical appointment. Enterprise, the rental agency, sent its 30-something driver who I've known for years. In conversation, Pam (pseudonym), a conservative and Evangelical Christian, called me an "old Democrat". I hoped by "old" she didn't mean elderly, though I am. I hope she didn't mean a Clinton Democrat or a Carter or a LBJ Democrat either (which I wasn't). If she meant a "JFK" one she was close to correct. Thusly, I am a very, very old Democrat, in fact an FDR Dem born two years after he gave up the ghost and passed the atomic bomb to the then "warrior president" Democrat Harry Truman. So I am a child of the Bomb, born and adopted in the year of Roswell.
Friday, May 25, 2012
US Decides to Backstop the Anglo-American Derivatives Exchanges with Fed Dollars - 'Too Big To Fail' / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Jesse
It sounds like the principle of keeping AIG whole on its obligations so that it can pay off to the banks at 100 cents on the dollar. This should make Jamie feel a little better about his bad derivatives trades.
And Blythe should rest easy knowing that Benny has her back on those massive metals shorts.
Friday, May 25, 2012
U.S. Government Budget Deficit Sorting Out America's Fiscal Cliff Issue / Politics / US Debt
By: Asha_Bangalore
Under current law, the federal budget deficit in fiscal year 2013 will show a drastic decline from fiscal year 2012 as a result of scheduled increases in taxes and reductions in government spending. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the federal budget deficit of $1.17 trillion in fiscal 2012 will shrink to $612 billion in fiscal 2013. This sharp reduction of the federal budget deficit is referred to as the “fiscal cliff” in the financial media and macroeconomic discussions. The economic impact of these likely changes in the federal budget deficit is the subject of intense debate at the present time. The objective here is to highlight the impending changes in federal taxes and spending, with the help of CBO’s summary presented in Table 1, and attempt to understand the economic consequences of these changes.
Friday, May 25, 2012
The European Union (EU) the New Soviet Union (NSU) / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: Christopher_Quigley
In an essay penned in June 2011 Bernard Connolly the author of "The Rotten Heart of Europe" explained how the European Union was actively morphing into the New Soviet Union. He outlined how democracy
was being destroyed and replaced by bureaucratic command. I have to congratulate Mr. Connolly for his
courage in expressing views which endanger his financial career but unfortunately many are coming to
comprehend that his analysis is the truth if only because it places a rational paradigm on disparate activity
that is actually happening to people in their daily lives. Below I list ten examples to support this thesis.
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Thursday, May 24, 2012
All Hail the Greek Exit / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Ashvin_Pandurangi
The dialogue between academics, officials, analysts and pundits in Europe has very obviously turned towards ways of spinning a Greek exit as a "good thing" for the system, or, at least, not such a "bad thing". Last week, we saw analysts at Bank of America and HSBC telling us that a Greek exit would actually cause a large market rally for a bunch of dubious reasons (i.e. the CBs will print to infinity and cause everything to soar, while also making a stark example out of Greece). That's a common argument, and there is at least some historical precedent in support. Like I said before, though, we can no longer use recent history alone as a reliable guide to the near future.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Poor People Will Foot The Bill For Nuclear White Elephants / Politics / Nuclear Power
By: Submissions
Dr Gerry Wolff submits: “There is absolutely no case for subsidising nuclear power” said Dr Gerry Wolff of the Energy Fair group, responding to the recently-published draft of the Energy Bill 2012. “The proposed ‘feed-in tariff with contracts for difference’ is a blank cheque to a nuclear industry that is already heavily subsidised.”
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Thursday, May 24, 2012
America's Downward Social and Economic Spiral / Politics / Social Issues
By: James_Quinn
America MORE THAN 30 BLOCKS OF GREY & DECAY
It happened again yesterday morning. There was an accident on the Schuykill Expressway so I had the pleasure of navigating through the 30 Blocks of Squalor, again. After having made at least 25 posts about the 30 Blocks of Squalor over the years, I keep thinking I've run out of things to say. But it seems to be a never ending treasure trove of insights about our society and the people who live in this country. It was a particularly grey day in Philadelphia with a dreary overcast and intermittent rain. It seemed fitting for this trek through the slowly decaying landscape leading to my workplace in West Philly. I've talked previously about the stretch of highway leading to the 30 Blocks of Squalor. It's called West Chester Pike (Route 3) and it cuts through Delaware County where I grew up. It cuts through Havertown, Haverford, Drexel Hill, and Upper Darby and eventually spits you out at 69th Street, where I’ve previously detailed the flash mob of savages rampaging through the Sears stealing everything in sight (all caught on surveillance cameras to be shown on a future reality TV show). In a shocking turn of events, Sears decided to later close this retail establishment.
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
JPMorgan Chase and Central Banking / Politics / Central Banks
By: Frank_Shostak
On Friday, May 1, 2012, JPMorgan Chase said it suffered a $2 billion trading loss. Some commentators have suggested that the huge loss emanates from so-called proprietary trading or placing risky bets using the bank's money. The loss raised the credibility of the Volcker rule, which restricts banks from trading their own money. Despite JPMorgan Chase's large loss, the opponents of the Volcker rule are of the view that the rule, if it is introduced, will only destabilize the financial markets and make things much worse. Hence they would like to allow market forces to do their job.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Economic Recovery or Collapse? Bet on Collapse - Financial Crisis Could Destroy Western Civilization / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
The US financial system and, probably, the financial system of Europe, like the police, no longer serves a useful social purpose.
In the US the police have proven themselves to be a greater threat to public safety than private sector criminals. I just googled “police brutality” and up came 183,000,000 results.
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Europe One Nation (Under Germany) / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: John_Mauldin
For this week's Outside the Box I want to share with you a singularly interesting conversation between Niall Ferguson and Ben Laurance, in the Sunday Times of London. What really grabbed me about it was the way Niall goes right out on a limb and yet makes such a convincing case that, when push really comes to shove, Germany will bite the federalist bullet, because it's overwhelmingly in their interest to maintain a united eurozone.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
London 2012 Olympics of Cronyism, Vested Interests Selling Torches on Ebay / Politics / UK Politics
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The Olympics are coming home to the birth place of Crony Capitalism, and nothings more crony than 900 vested interests lining up to run a a few hundred yards to grab themselves as much as a £145,000 bounty by near immediately selling their 'precious' replica torches on ebay.
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Australia's War Waging Strategy Despite Lack of Threats and Enemies / Politics / Austrailia
By: STRATFOR
Australia is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, ranked in the top 10 in gross domestic product per capita. It is one of the most isolated major countries in the world; it occupies an entire united continent, is difficult to invade and rarely is threatened. Normally, we would not expect a relatively well-off and isolated country to have been involved in many wars. This has not been the case for Australia and, more interesting, it has persistently not been the case, even under a variety of governments. Ideology does not explain the phenomenon in this instance.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Euro-zone Politicians Polishing the Brass on the Titanic / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Graham_Summers
France and other, weaker EU members have begun pushing for “growth.” This in of itself reveals how clueless the political elite in the EU are (economic growth in Europe is synonymous with living beyond one’s means and/or living off of others… the very policies that have lead to the EU Crisis).
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The New York Times and the End of Simple Economic Logic / Politics / Economic Theory
By: William_Anderson
Years ago, Murray N. Rothbard wrote that modern egalitarianism constituted a "revolt against nature," and Rothbard provided the intellectual ammunition to prove his point well. The modern Progressive "revolt against nature" is not limited to just egalitarianism, however, as Progressives long have tried to convince everyone that if they could just direct enough government resources at something, they could undo the very laws of economics.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
G8 Crisis and Growth Summit / Politics / Global Debt Crisis 2012
By: Ian_R_Campbell
Why Read: To once again focus on the importance of 'real' economic growth going forward to developed and developing economies.
Featured Article: A May 19 article that appeared in the China.org Blog reported on a Friday meeting of U.S. President Obama and just elected French President Francois Hollande held in advance of the G8 Summit meeting held this past weekend. The article quotes President Obama as saying, following that meeting:
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Ron Paul On Indefinite Detention: The Tyranny Continues / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
The bad news from last week's passage of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act is that Americans can still be arrested on US soil and detained indefinitely without trial. Some of my colleagues would like us to believe that they fixed last year's infamous Sections 1021 and 1022 of the NDAA, which codified into law the unconstitutional notion that some Americans are not subject to the protections of the Constitution. However, nothing in this year's bill or amendments to the bill restored those constitutional rights.
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