Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
More Reasons to Say 'Thanks' Before Waving Good-Bye to the United States / Politics / US Politics
By: Jeff_Berwick
This joyous holiday season, those still living in the US should give thanks for one thing: that it's not 2012 yet. If you haven't begun the countdown, now's the time. And there's not a whole lot left of it before it's too late.
You see, the overlords in DC have a host of new disciplinary and capital-control legislation ready to be unleashed upon the populace starting in less than a month.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Markets of Shame Before The Collapse: Crisis, Crisis, Everywhere / Politics / Credit Crisis 2011
By: Danny_Schechter
Earlier this week, Stephen Colbert announced dramatically that there were important developments underway in Europe that we should know about.
True to form, Colbert’s Repor didn’t talk about the big problem. His story, ha ha ha, was about a butter shortage in Norway. Talk about going from the obscure to the ridiculous.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Europe's Ride To Hell In A Handcart / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: Andrew_McKillop
In a recent article 'Smokescreen Europe' I underlined one of the scariest, most laughable new realities of the European ride to oblivion. Nothing comes out of the endless ballet of special crisis summits where heads of state predictably pose and preen. The crisis deepens.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Out of Answers, Federal Reserve Can Only Offer Empty Rhetoric / Politics / Central Banks
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes:
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is scheduled to issue a statement at 2:15 pm. today (Tuesday), but don't expect anything other than more empty rhetoric.
Indeed, with few options remaining, the Fed is expected to produce little more than a statement designed to reassure the markets following today's meeting.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, December 12, 2011
Falsification of Greek public finance data : EU regulatory bodies' (absence of) response / Politics / Credit Crisis 2010
By: ECB_Watch
This is a follow up to the blog entry Deceptive tactics were used to thrust a head the nomination of the new ECB President. Here, we look into the broader issue of the falsification of Greece's public finance data: Eurostat audits, Jean Claude Trichet's willful hindrance against the release of ECB records, Goldman Sachs' communication, and whether the EU Parliament (Sharon Bowles), the Commission (Olli Rehn) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (Verena Ross) were proactive enough.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, December 12, 2011
The Fraud "Blind Spot", Wealthy Patriots Wage Class War / Politics / US Politics
By: Janet_Tavakoli
A strange thing happened in Chicago on Thursday, December 8. An audience of well-heeled professionals, a mixture of Democrats and Republicans, packed a room at the Drake Hotel to hear Robert Shiller, a Yale professor, give a presentation on the housing market. A few members of the audience were in the top 1%, and the balance of the audience was probably in the top 2%-5%. At the end of the presentation, there was a bi-partisan revolt.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Durban : The Climate Deal That Wasn't / Politics / Climate Change
By: Andrew_McKillop
After two weeks of confabulation (defined as a memory disorder characterized by verbal statements or actions unrelated to either the past, present, or likely future), the approximate 10 000 delegates and visitors, including the regulation issue but dwindling band of climate crazies with paint on their faces, football style, finally broke up with a supposed "face saving deal". To do this, the estimated 1200 official limousines, 140 private planes, and additional regular airline flights needed to rush the CCC (Climate Concerned Crowd) to their 17th be-in since the 1997 Kyoto meeting of course spewed very impressive quantities of the "deadly gas" called CO2.
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).
Read full article... Read full article...
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.
Read full article... Read full article...
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.)
Read full article... Read full article...
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.
Read full article... Read full article...
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.
Read full article... Read full article...
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.
Read full article... Read full article...
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.
Read full article... Read full article...