Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Friday, October 08, 2010
Financial Crisis Continues to take its toll on the Obama Administration / Politics / US Politics
By: Danny_Schechter
Regardless of his actions, the financial crisis continues to take its toll on the Obama administration.
WASHINGTON DC: (Al Jazeera) With the midterm election less than a month away and the economic crisis unabated, the Obama Administration may be at a crossroads.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, October 08, 2010
Are U.S. States the Next Federal Bailout? / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Jim_Farrish
In an interview with Meredith Whitney of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group on Bloomberg last week, she stated, some states are a ticking time bomb. She published a detailed report rating the finances of the 15 largest U.S. states. California has one of the largest deficits that exists relative to their budget gap by size, but it has a real estate problem as well with a large amount of foreclosures. Florida has a bigger issue relative to foreclosures and real estate. The drain on tax receipts in Florida due to the foreclosure issue could cripple the states budget similar to California’s in the coming year. The bottom line of the report is the U.S. government may face a bailout for states within the next 12 months. This is not good news for taxpayers.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, October 08, 2010
Spain's Social Democracy Under Economic Pressure / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: Pravda
The general strike on September 29 against the labor reform decided by the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is the opening of a probably hectic social season. The government has promised to submit a new bill to Congress before the end of the year intended to increase from 65 to 67 the legal age of retirement and extend the period of computation for determining the amount of the pension, from the previous 15 years of work into the last 20 ...
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, October 08, 2010
Russia Fears China's Growing Economic Power / Politics / China Economy
By: Pravda
China takes the first place in the world in terms of economic growth. However, analysts say this trend is caused by injections of cheap financing to stimulate the economy of this country. Collapse of the "China bubble" brings a threat of the collapse of commodity prices. This is an extremely adverse impact, particularly for Russia.
Friday, October 08, 2010
SEC Failure to Regulate Mortgage Backed Securities Resulted in Ponzi Scheme Fraud / Politics / Market Regulation
By: Mike_Shedlock
The problems associated with a clogged foreclosure system continue to mount. Foreclosures in 23 states have been halted by major banks after allegations surfaced of various illegal practices.
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Tourism Resorts and Crude Oil Exploration in the Caspian Sea / Politics / Crude Oil
By: Global_Intel_Report
SITUATION: One indirect consequence of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is the impact it may have on the financing of the many tourism projects that have sprouted along the Caspian Sea. Bordered clockwise from the North by Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia, the Caspian Sea is one of the largest bodies of water and an object of strategic ambitions. Though the global financial crisis put may grandiose Caspian Sea tourism projects on hold, some of them are coming back to life, but investors should be alert to tourism trends, corruption, and unanswered questions about demand and potential profit.
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Was TARP Good for the Taxpayers? / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Robert_Murphy
On Sunday the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) officially expired, though its "legacy programs" could continue for years. Lately there has been a growing campaign to tout the success of TARP, Henry Paulson's extremely controversial plan to use (originally) $700 billion of taxpayer money to save the financial system. Despite this chorus of praise, the TARP bailout was a terrible idea that will cost taxpayers both directly and indirectly through its perverse incentives.
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Central Bankers are Paid to Lie - Buy Corn / Politics / Central Banks
By: Fred_Sheehan
I assure this committee that, if I am confirmed, I will be strictly independent of all political influences and will be guided solely by the Federal Reserve's mandate from Congress and by the public interest." -Prospective Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, confirmation hearing, 2005
"The last duty of a central banker is to tell the public the truth." -Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Alan Blinder, Nightly Business Report, 1994
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
The Liquefied Natural Gas Cartel Idea: On the Road to Another OPEC? / Politics / Natural Gas
By: Global_Intel_Report
As oil sees its image tarnished from the disastrous oil spills that took place off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Dalian, China, and as the most promising oil fields remain off limit to the Western oil majors, gas is gaining in popularity. Gas is present in large quantities and in many countries of less questionable reputation such as in the United States and is also less harmful to the environment than oil. Though gas is not intended to replace oil, some gas-rich countries such as Russia and Iran are strongly advocating for a gas cartel to regulate the industry, which can explain the reluctance of Russia to adopt sanctions towards Iran at the United Nations as both countries heavily rely on the income generated by their natural resources.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Goldman Sachs Sued by German Bank Over Davis Square VI, an AIG CDO Bailed Out by Taxpayers / Politics / Credit Crisis 2010
By: Janet_Tavakoli
Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, a German state-owned bank, is suing Goldman Sachs over a $37 million loss on its investment in its share (a tranche) of a CDO called Davis Square VI. TCW, the manager for all of Goldman Sach's Davis Square deals, is also being sued:
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Globalism Destroys America's Middle Class / Politics / US Politics
By: Global_Research
Jerome Corsi writes: A series of reports released by the Census Bureau this month make clear the income gap between the richest and poorest Americans is widening, as free-trade globalism destroys the U.S. middle class.
Red Alert has consistently warned that the current high rate of unemployment and the shrinking of the middle class are not the result of a current recession.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Iceland Financial Fraud Protect Movement / Politics / Credit Crisis 2010
By: Global_Research
Rady Ananda writes: As proceedings begin against Iceland’s former Prime Minister, Geir Haarde, for the banking crisis of 2008, at least two thousand Icelanders took to the streets in two days of protest this weekend. Iceland joins over a dozen other nations protesting economic measures taken out on the public while banks and large corporations receive bailouts. Class war is on, and it’s gone global.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Will South African Gold Mines be Nationalized? / Politics / Gold & Silver Stocks
By: Julian_DW_Phillips
The argument that South African mines will be nationalized stems from Julius Malema, the head of the Youth League of the ANC. It has been rumbling on for some time now. Mrs. Shabangu the Mines Minister previously stated that it would not happen in her lifetime. This was ignored by the Youth League who held to their position. At that time it was not on the Agenda of the ANC and was treated with a measure of derision by the ANC. Then the ANC conference happened and the ANC placed the issue on the Agenda to be discussed in 2012.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Washington’s Latest Terror Warning / Politics / US Politics
By: Ron_Holland
I believe America today is trapped inside a nightmare dystopian novel combining the worst of Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984 where we are forced to endure perpetual war, pervasive surveillance and constant attempts at public mind control. The term "Pavlov’s dog" usually describes the conditioning of individuals or a population who merely react to a repeated situation rather than using critical thinking.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, October 04, 2010
Coalition Frankenstein Government Child Benefit Cut Middle Class Shocker / Politics / Economic Austerity
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The Conservative half of the frankenstein coalition government announced today that it will pull the plug on 1.2 million middle class families by withdrawing Child Benefit for all households (with children) where anyone's gross annual earnings are £44,000 or more (40% tax bracket) from April 2013, which amounts to an effective tax hike of as much as 7% for most of the 1.2 million families.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Pakistan Flood Disaster Strategic Ramifications Expected / Politics / Pakistan
By: Global_Intel_Report
Flooding along the Indus River Valley in Pakistan, beginning in July 2010, seems set to be a pivotal strategic factor in the Northern Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf region. It should be expected to significantly affect the conduct and outcome of the US-led Coalition military operations in Afghanistan. Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, October 04, 2010
Free Markets Create Jobs / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
In this struggling economy it is essential for politicians to take a step back and think about what government has been doing to business in this country. In less than 200 years, the free market, property rights, and respect for the rule of law took this nation from a rough frontier to a global economic superpower. Today, however, our nation and our economy clearly are headed in the wrong direction.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, October 04, 2010
Government Workers: The New Upper Crust? / Politics / US Politics
By: Bill_Bonner
We’re on zombie watch…
They’re everywhere…but especially here in the Washington metropolitan area.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, October 04, 2010
Financial Warfare and the Failure of US Military Leadership / Politics / US Politics
By: LewRockwell
Damon Vrabel writes: The "War on Terror" has become the most successful military diversion in history, having lasted twice as long as WWII so far. While the US and other countries are under severe attack by financial powers through the corporate system and the currency and bond markets, the US military is convinced that people living in remote deserts are the threat. So they’re busy killing some of the poorest people in the world while the country is being attacked by the richest. On the one hand, this is a more impressive Machiavellian chess move than the Calais diversion in WWII that opened up the Normandy attack that would seal Germany’s fate. On the other, it’s just embarrassing to see how easily millions of grown adults can be fooled in the face of the obvious.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, October 04, 2010
Why I Despise Krugman / Politics / Economic Theory
By: LewRockwell
Recently, I wrote a take-down of Paul Krugman. I pointed out how, in some of his recent posts, Krugman was distorting facts in order to score points for his policy prescriptions. I showed how he was pulling sleight-of-hand with the numbers, so as to play on readers’ misconceptions, and thereby make his rather foolish policy prescriptions sound reasonable.