Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Unplugging Americans From The Matrix / Politics / US Politics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
Americans, the British, and Western Europeans are accustomed to thinking of themselves as the representatives of freedom, democracy, and morality in the world. The West passes judgment on the rest of the world as if the West is God and the rest of the world are barbarians in need of chastisement, invasion, and occupation. As readers know, from time to time I raise questions about the validity of the West’s extreme hubris. (See for example, the following articles: Washington’s Insouciance Has No Rival and Is Western Democracy Real or a Facade? ). China is often a country about which Washington’s moralists get on their high horse. However, China’s “authoritarian” government is actually more responsive to its people than America’s “elected democratic” government. Moreover, however incomplete on paper the civil liberties of China’s people, the Chinese government has not declared that it can violate with impunity whatever rights Chinese citizens have. And it is not China that is running torture prisons all over the globe.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Top Individual Income Tax Rates and the GDP Growth: Exposing the Lies of Rush Limbaugh and Right-Wing Republicans / Politics / US Politics
By: Jas_Jain
I am sick and tired of propagandist Rush Limbaugh claim, almost on a daily basis, that lower taxes, and he means the rate on the top individual income tax bracket, or marginal tax rate, leads to higher growth. Most right-wing Republicans believe in his lies and never bother to check the facts with the benefit of the hindsight. There is no subject related to the economy in America that has more propaganda than taxes because over time trillions are at stake.
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Friday, April 20, 2012
Lagarde says IMF Would Be There 'For All Members' In Debt Crisis / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Bloomberg
Bloomberg Exclusive: IMF managing director Christine Lagarde spoke with Bloomberg Television's Margaret Brennan and said that she expects more contributions on top of the $320 billion raised and "I look at this pot of money as an umbrella...there are clouds on the horizon." In reference to Spain, Lagarde said that, "if there's a need, the IMF has to be there for all members."
Lagarde also said that the U.S. must address housing issues "forcefully" to help the American economy and that whatever can be done to help households "is going to be of help to the entire U.S. economy."
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Friday, April 20, 2012
Currency Wars: Gambling With Other Peoples’ Money / Politics / Global Debt Crisis 2012
By: Axel_Merk
If running out of your own money wasn’t bad enough, policy makers are increasingly spending other peoples’ money to bail their country out. At the upcoming G-20 meeting, finance ministers from around the world will contemplate an increase to the resources of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). At stake for politicians is whether they can continue to do what they know best – to play politics. In contrast, at stake for investors may be whether currencies will retain their function as a store of value.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
How Goldman Sachs Captured Europe / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Ellen_Brown
The Goldman Sachs coup that failed in America has nearly succeeded in Europe—a permanent, irrevocable, unchallengeable bailout for the banks underwritten by the taxpayers. In September 2008, Henry Paulson, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, managed to extort a $700 billion bank bailout from Congress. But to pull it off, he had to fall on his knees and threaten the collapse of the entire global financial system and the imposition of martial law; and the bailout was a one-time affair. Paulson’s plea for a permanent bailout fund—the Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP—was opposed by Congress and ultimately rejected.
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Thursday, April 19, 2012
European Stability Mechanism Needs Direct Access to Europe's Banks / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Bloomberg
Jose Vinals, director of the IMF's monetary and capital markets department, spoke with Bloomberg Television's Margaret Brennan today and said that the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) should be able to put capital into banks without going through national governments to "de-link the sovereign and banking risk at the national level."
Vinals also warned against getting "caught into a wave of pessimism by recent market data" even if the "situation is uncertain" in countries like Spain and Italy.
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Thursday, April 19, 2012
Fearful, Anti-Social Cash Hoarding / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Adrian_Ash
How much longer will companies be allowed to run themselves for cash...?
HOARDING stuff until your home is a health hazard and your family and neighbors hate you isn't only a TV "reality". Perhaps 1 million US citizens are prey to the hoarding compulsion on one estimate, fighting the urge to let everything just keep piling up.
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Thursday, April 19, 2012
Spain, the Land of Magical Financial Realism / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Ashvin_Pandurangi
These days when I read about Spain I'm wondering more and more how and why it is that the country has any access at all left to international finance markets. The bond auction this week was even sort of bearable, even as yields rose. I'm guessing that either investors have a hard time reading the news or they're going double or nothing in a risk-on bet that Germany and the IMF (China?!) will come to the rescue.
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Thursday, April 19, 2012
Federal Reserve Money Printing Inflation Pushed U.S. Economy to the Wall / Politics / Central Banks
By: Terry_Coxon
Terry Coxon, Casey Research : Decades of manipulation by the Federal Reserve (through its creation of paper money) and by Congress (through its taxing and spending) have pushed the US economy into a circumstance that can't be sustained but from which there is no graceful exit.
With few exceptions, all of the noble souls who chose a career in "public service" and who've advanced to be voting members of Congress are committed to chronic deficits, though they deny it. For political purposes, deficits work. The people whose wishes come true through the spending side of the deficit are happy and vote to reelect. The people on the borrowing side of the deficit aren't complaining, since they willingly buy the Treasury bonds and Treasury bills that fund the deficit. And taxpayers generally tolerate deficits as a lesser evil than a tax hike.
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Thursday, April 19, 2012
Salvaging Your Retirement Savings from the U.S. Government Ponzi Scheme / Politics / US Politics
By: Jeff_Berwick
"It is unbelievable. Goldman Sachs? No one has any criminal convictions. The whole new regulatory reform is a joke. The whole government is a Ponzi scheme." - Bernie Madoff
What is your average person to do? The governments who purport to own them and take half of their production every year also borrow on "their behalf" and have put not only them, but their children and grandchildren into levels of debt that can only be described as slavery. Meanwhile, the entire economy is so distorted by government regulations, taxes, tariffs, laws and legislation that calling it a "free market" is like calling Shaquille O'Neal a petite, pretty white girl. And, to top it off, the monetary system forced upon us by legal tender laws is a system based, at its core, on counterfeiting and price (interest rate) fixing.
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Wednesday, April 18, 2012
U.S. Corporations Go From Innovation to Rent Seeking Intellectual Property Monopolies / Politics / Technology
By: Douglas_French
It's often thought that the technology sector is the least regulated and therefore has been the most productive during the past couple of decades. Famously, Bill Gates had no interest in politics. "In the beginning, Microsoft tried to ignore the powerful political forces arrayed against it, hunkering down in Redmond, Washington, to focus on its core businesses," William F. Shugart wrote in the Freeman. Of course, the Department of Justice snapped Mr. Gates to attention.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The Eurozone: A Moral-Hazard Morass of Open Bailouts, Subsidies and Transfers / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Philipp_Bagus
European politicians are still trying to save the project of the euro. They design ever-greater bailout packages. Along with the bailouts, an economic government may be forthcoming. Countries may give up parts of their sovereignty. The character of the European Monetary Union (EMU), and even the European Union (EU), may change forever.
While it is still unclear where future developments will lead the EMU, the costs and risks of remaining within the system are already immense and rising.
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Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The Foolish Policy of Exporting Natural Gas / Politics / Natural Gas
By: BATR
The lack of a government policy that promotes domestic energy independence in the United States is a tragic consequence of playing politics for decades. The current rage is the natural gas boom that offers the alternative of producing a plentiful and inexpensive source of fuel. Economic prosperity rests upon cheap and reliable power and natural gas offers the best option.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Ben Bernanke's Chilling Judy Garland Impersonation / Politics / Central Banks
By: Gary_North
"Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high."
Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke delivered a speech on April 13 on "Rethinking Finance." It certainly needs to be rethought at the highest levels. Unfortunately, Dr. Bernanke has not yet begun the process. Thinking, yes. Not rethinking.
He ended his speech with this:
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Tuesday, April 17, 2012
The United States is Run by Sociopaths, Economics and Evil / Politics / Social Issues
By: Casey_Research
Doug Casey, Casey Research writes: I recently wrote an article that addresses the subject of sociopaths and how they insinuate themselves into society. Although the subject doesn't speak directly to what stock you should buy or sell to increase your wealth, I think it's critical to success in the markets. It goes a long way towards explaining what goes on in the heads of people like Bernie Madoff and therefore how you can avoid being hurt by them.
But there's a lot more to the story. At this point, it seems as if society at large has been captured by Madoff clones. If that's true, the consequences can't be good. So what I want to do here is probe a little deeper into the realm of abnormal psychology and see how it relates to economics and where the world is heading.
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Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Subprime Student Debt Slaves: The Lowlife Trap of Higher Education / Politics / Student Finances
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani,writes:
"And the strong to seem to get more
While the weak ones slave
Empty pockets don't ever make the grade
Mama may have, and Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own."
We can thank the late, great Billie Holiday for those lyrics. And we can thank our higher education system for giving "the child that don't his own"a chance to get some.
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Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Turkey Re-emerging Regional Power Strategy / Politics / Middle East
By: STRATFOR
Turkey is re-emerging as a significant regional power. In some sense, it is in the process of returning to its position prior to World War I when it was the seat of the Ottoman Empire. But while the Ottoman parallel has superficial value in understanding the situation, it fails to take into account changes in how the global system and the region work. Therefore, to understand Turkish strategy, we need to understand the circumstances it finds itself in today.
Monday, April 16, 2012
U.S. Constitution from Sneaky Beginnings to Encroachment on Liberty and Free Markets / Politics / US Politics
By: Casey_Research
By Doug Casey, Casey Research : Legendary contrarian investor and the original International Man Doug Casey takes aim at the US Constitution, from its sneaky beginnings to its encroachments on individual liberty and free markets.
Louis: Doug, we've threatened to talk about the Constitution many times. Since there's increasing interest in the country's economic and political future, maybe now is a good time to put that into a fuller historical context..
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Monday, April 16, 2012
Another Gust of Stench from IMF / Politics / Global Financial System
By: Pravda
International Monetary Fund Senior Resident Representative in Russia, Odd Per Brekk has recently made a surprisingly lucrative suggestion to the international community. According to Mr. Brekk, one should invest their money in the development of national economies rather than saving up the funds on bank accounts. If something happens, the IMF will be there to help the country in trouble. The idea seems to be perfect, but there is a downside to it.
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Monday, April 16, 2012
Spain Committing Financial Suicide to Appease Big Finance, Marching Towards Depression / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Mike_Whitney
“Other countries have gone through similar experiences. Latin American countries suffered a lost decade after 1982, and Japan has been stagnating for a quarter of a century; both have survived. But the European Union is not a country and it is unlikely to survive. The deflationary debt trap threatens to destroy a still-incomplete political union.” George Soros, Financial Times