Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Monday, December 12, 2011
The Lunacy of Soviet Communist Central Planning / Politics / Social Issues
By: Gary_North
This 1992 documentary, The Engineers' Plot, is a history of Soviet central economic planning. Central planning did not work. This is a planned society that modeled its premier showcase city after Gary, Indiana. The video is a fine demonstration of the truth of Ludwig von Mises' 1920 essay, "Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth." Mises argued that the socialist system is irrational, because it cannot price anything rationally. You will especially enjoy the parade of marching working women in white dresses. This is a Busby Berkeley extravananza, Soviet style.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Euro-zone Doomed to Fail, Wrecking Europe's Monetary System to Fix It / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: Stephen_Lendman
From its inception, the Eurozone monetary union was an idea doomed to fail. Nonetheless, it was engineered fraudulently to look workable.
In 1979, Europe's Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) was introduced as part of the European Monetary System (EMS) to propel the continent to one European currency unit (ECU).
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Sunday, December 11, 2011
Is Oil Fueling the Rise in Political Partisanship? / Politics / Crude Oil
By: Submissions
Tom Therramus submits: In 2009 I published a chart in an article at Oil-Price.net that showed volatility in the price of oil had risen and fallen in a series of seven spikes during the prior decade. The turbulent year of 2008, when oil jumped to over $140 a barrel, was part of this series. But what was unexpected was just how early in the 2000s the signature of spiking volatility in oil price had gotten under way.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Germany Is Saying that Europe Needs a Dad / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: John_Mauldin
We have come to the end of yet another European Summit that was supposed to be the one to fix the problem. If you are confused as to what happened then you are not alone. Was it something we will look back on in ten years and say, "This was where it all started," or will it be viewed as just another meeting in what will prove to be a string of even more meetings? I will argue that both views are the correct answer, depending on your frame of reference.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
David Cameron Falls into Sarkozy's Trap, Germany Sulks as France Gloats / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: Mike_Shedlock
Yesterday, various news agencies reported that Hungary opted out of the treaty while Sweden and Czech Republic remained "undecided". However, the latest spin is that Hungary did not opt out yet and the gang of 26 will forge ahead without the UK.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Smokescreen Europe : Germany-Versus-Britain Or Something Much Worse? / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Andrew_McKillop
The Germany-versus-Britain theme does not hold up and is perhaps not meant to stand any scrutiny. Editorial hand wringing and head scratching on "how to sell the story" face a really basic problem: there is no story. Nothing has changed with Europe's debt, Germany's economic decline, Britain's even faster economic decline, European decline facing the global economy, the deficit of democracy, decisional inertia on all major themes outside debt and deficits - and a long, dangerous list of others.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
European Union Summit Leaves Important Questions Unanswered, IMF to the Rescue? / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: Asha_Bangalore
Of the 27 nations that make up the European Union (EU), 23 agreed to be part of a new fiscal union, while the remaining four did not participate in the deal. Sweden, Hungary, and the Czech Republic want time to consult with their parliaments before signing to join the new union. Britain opted out because there were no guarantees that EU regulators would not be able over-rule financial regulators of the UK.
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Saturday, December 10, 2011
Is Obama Changing His Stance Towards Wall Street? / Politics / US Politics
By: Danny_Schechter
Is Obama changing?
Many in the Occupy Wall Street Movement are patting their efforts on the back, and even claiming credit for what looks like a shift by President Obama towards a more engaged campaign discussing economic fairness.
The President’s speech in Kansas was modeled on remarks made by the Republican Bull Moose Teddy Roosevelt in 1910. There’s nothing like quoting a Republican for credible centrist positioning. (Note: he quotes TR, not FDR.)
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Saturday, December 10, 2011
Could War Flare Again Between Iraq and Kuwait? / Politics / Iraq War
By: OilPrice_Com
According to Iraqi Council of Representatives Oil and Energy Committee member Furat al-Sharei, the 10 oil fields that spread across the Iraqi-Kuwaiti frontier are still waiting to have a line drawn through them to delineate the border, more than eight years after a coalition led by U.S. forces toppled the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Obama Gets Real / Politics / US Politics
By: Peter_Schiff
For most of his time as a national political figure, Barack Obama has been careful to cloak his core socialist leanings behind a veil of pro-capitalist rhetoric. This makes strategic sense, as Americans still largely identify as pro-capitalist. However, based on his recent speech in Osawatomie, Kansas, the President appears to have reassessed the political landscape in advance of the 2012 elections. Based on the growth of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the recent defeat of Republicans in special elections, he has perhaps sensed a surge of left-leaning sentiment; and, as a result, he finally dropped the pretense.
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Saturday, December 10, 2011
Cameron Shoots UK in the Foot Trying To Sabotage Euro Rescue / Politics / UK Politics
By: Andrew_Butter
The problem with UK these days is that they have an obsession with youth, Tony Blair was a kid that never grew up and thought going to war and water-boarding “sounded like fun”; David Cameron is looking much the same.
Grown-ups don’t start trying to negotiate side deals when their neighbors and partners are laying sand-bags to hold-back flood waters. That’s rude and immature.
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Saturday, December 10, 2011
Are Central Banks Buying Printing Presses? / Politics / Central Banks
By: Eric_McWhinnie
Gold and silver remain stuck in a range as Europe continues to keep investors waiting for the next headline. Reuters reports, “Europe divided on Friday in a historic rift over building a closer fiscal union to preserve the euro, with an overwhelming majority of countries led by Germany and France agreeing to forge ahead with a separate treaty, leaving the EU’s third biggest economy Britain isolated.” It is still unknown when more definite action will take place to address the debt crisis. A new treaty could take several months to negotiate, and may even require referendums in some countries.
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Saturday, December 10, 2011
David Cameron Chose Well / Politics / UK Politics
By: Paul_Tustain
David Cameron was today forced in Brussels to choose between the free market and the vanities of overreaching politicians...
Today is a very sad day. We believe that the markets are telling us that there is a horrible abscess in Europe, and that the Euro is the pus. We believe that fuelled by injustice, the infection of nationalism will now tear Europe apart - making outright enemies of Germany and Greece, France and Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
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Friday, December 09, 2011
Germany Wins Eurozone War, UK Veto Puts Britain on the Fast Track to EU Exit / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Nadeem_Walayat
"Britain will never join the Euro".... Germany has effectively won the Eurozone war as one after another EU states bowed to German pressure to toe the ECB / Bundesbank line for greater monetary union and centralised fiscal management under the guise of saving the euro or effectively face monetary death through either ever higher market interest rates such as that suffered by bankrupt Greece's 2 year bonds trading at a yield of 33%, or ejection from the Euro-zone and resulting economic collapse and an hyperinflationary wipeout of all savings.
Friday, December 09, 2011
Climate Change Conspiracy Changes Camps / Politics / Climate Change
By: Andrew_McKillop
In a recent New York Times article titled "Marching Off The Cliff" (6 December), Naom Chomsky brought together a mix and mingle of claimed facts including results from public opinion polls to advance his own climate change conspiracy theory. He wrote: "In 2009 the energy industries, backed by business lobbies, launched major campaigns that cast doubt on the near-unanimous consensus of scientists on the severity of the threat of human-induced global warming". He added: "The consensus is only 'near-unanimous' because it doesn’t include the many experts who feel that climate-change warnings don’t go far enough, and the marginal group that deny the threat’s validity altogether".
Friday, December 09, 2011
To Be Truly Dominant, America Must Regain Its Values / Politics / UK Politics
By: Barry_Elias
Last week’s column described the dynamics of our lost half century in America.
The decline was principally due to a devastating deterioration of values. For America to regain in pre-eminent status, its values deficit needs to be rebalanced.
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Friday, December 09, 2011
Jon Corzine Dodges the Fraud Question / Politics / Scams
By: Janet_Tavakoli
It's as if Jon Corzine's PR machine is in top spin mode. You'll recall Jon Corzine is the former head of Goldman Sachs and former CEO of MF Global that appeared in front of Congress yesterday to answer questions about an estimated $600 million to $1.2 billion in missing money from the segregated accounts of customers of MF Global.
Yesterday and today, I heard confusion about whether or not MF Global's diverting customer funds was allowable and the possibility that customers will eventually get the money back.
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Friday, December 09, 2011
Pulling Back the Curtain on the Wall Street Money Machine / Politics / Credit Crisis 2011
By: Ellen_Brown
On November 27, Bloomberg News reported the results of its successful case to force the Federal Reserve to reveal the lending details of its 2008-09 bank bailout. Bloomberg reported that by March 2009, the Fed had committed $7.77 trillion in below-market loans and guarantees to rescuing the financial system; and that these nearly interest-free loans came without strings attached.
Friday, December 09, 2011
Engineering the Eurozone Collapse / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Videos
The leaders of the EU prepare for a summit this week as the Eurozone continues to spin out of control. But how did the collapse begin, and who will profit from it?
Friday, December 09, 2011
Iran Airs Footage of Downed U.S. Stealth Cylon Spy Drone / Politics / Iran
By: Videos
Iran has released video footage of the most advanced US reconnaissance drone which was downed by the Iranian Army in the eastern part of the Islamic Republic earlier this week.
On Sunday December 4, the Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit downed the US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft which was flying over the Iranian city of Kashmar, some 140 miles (225km) from the Afghan border.