Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Draghi's Fatal Mistake, German Constitutional Court Approval of ESM Not a Done Deal / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Mike_Shedlock
One puzzling aspect of ECB president Mario' Draghi's Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) plan to save the eurozone is his doing so before the German constitutional court had approved the ESM.
In spite of Draghi's emphasis on conditionality, OMT puts Germany directly at risk in an unlimited way. This modification to the ESM makes the constitutional case against it is much stronger.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Central bankers and politicians are running out of ideas / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Alasdair_Macleod
My father, who at one time was an education minister in the Kenyan government, used to tell a story of a long-forgotten crisis when the leaders in the educational establishment could only turn to him and ask: ”minister, what shall we do?” The point of the story is that these were all highly qualified senior academics, while my father had left school at 16 with no qualifications at all. It amused him.
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Sunday, September 09, 2012
US Sponsored “Islamic Fundamentalism” / Politics / Middle East
By: Global_Research
Benjamin Schett writes: The alliance between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia helped spread the ideology of fundamentalist Sunni Islam all over the globe. The majority of its victims are not citizens of Western countries, but citizens of countries that U.S. elites consider a threat to their economic and geopolitical interests. Many victims of Sunni extremism (often called Wahhabism or Salafism[1]) are in fact Muslims (often with a secular leftist or nationalist political background), moderate Sunni or members of Shiʿite Islamic faith.
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Governments Spinning Bad Economic News Into Good / Politics / Economic Statistics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
Friday’s payroll jobs report says that 96,000 new jobs were created in August and that the unemployment rate (U.3) fell from 8.3% to 8.1%. As 96,000 new jobs are not enough to keep up with population growth, the decline in the U.3 unemployment rate was caused by 368,000 discouraged job seekers giving up on finding employment and dropping out of the work force as measured by U.3. Discouraged workers are not included in the U.3 measure of unemployment, which makes the measure useless. The only purpose of U.3 is to keep bad news out of the news. the U.3 unemployment rate only measures those who have not been discouraged by the inability to find a job and are still actively seeking employment.
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Symptoms and Signs of 'The Shift' / Politics / Social Issues
By: DK_Matai
Are we on the cusp of a new dawn? From Britain to Brazil and from Kenya to China, ATCA 5000 distinguished members in more than 150 countries around the world are beginning to report an unprecedented yet accelerating individual and collective ‘Shift’ in awareness in the last few quarters. The changes appear to be affecting many at the material, physical, emotional, mental and more subtle levels. We have been examining four key interlocking aspects of those thoughts, observations and views expressed one-to-one by distinguished members from around the world in this regard:
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Sunday, September 09, 2012
Most Germans Want Constitutional Court to Kill the Euro-zone Bailout Fund / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Mike_Shedlock
Moment of Recognition
It appears a majority of German citizens have finally had enough of chancellor Angela Merkel saying one thing and doing another in regards to bailouts. They have also had enough of Mario Draghi and his policies.
Saturday, September 08, 2012
State Schools Are an Inevitable Source of Ethnic Conflict / Politics / Educating Children
By: MISES
Mike Reid writes: The great antifascist scholar Ludwig von Mises warned that government schools are an inevitable source of ethnic conflict, because dominant nationalities can use them to indoctrinate children from other cultures, pulling them away from their parents and communities.[1] In Canada, this was explicitly the aim of the Indian residential schools, which sought to "kill the Indian in the child."[2]
Saturday, September 08, 2012
Barack Obama is a Left-wing Social Climber with a Wife Who Loves to Shop / Politics / US Presidential Election 2012
By: Gary_North
In my article on the letter I received from a lawyer who insisted – inaccurately – that Michelle Obama let her license to practice law go inactive when her husband surrendered his license in early 2008, I responded: “Did Romney surrender his license? No. Did either of the Clintons surrender theirs? No. Did Nixon surrender his? No.”
Saturday, September 08, 2012
Euro-zone Debt Crisis, Germany vs Greece, and Spain and... / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Ian_R_Campbell
Why read: Because things can happen very quickly, and it may be that 'push' finally may be coming to 'shove' in the Eurozone.
Commentary: Even if 'push' and 'shove' don't meet in the Eurozone over Greece (and Spain) in the next few weeks and months, time nonetheless seems to be shortening for Greece (and Spain), and eventually 'push' and 'shove' must meet. I have said for months now that:
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Friday, September 07, 2012
Hungary Throws Out Monsanto AND The IMF / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Raul_I_Meijer
I don't know about you, but I would label my personal knowledge of Hungary as wanting, if not painfully incomplete. It's not an easy country to come to grips with, not least of all of course because Hungarian doesn't look like any western language we know with the possible exception of Finnish. I did visit just after the Wall came down, and remember huge contrasts, almost paradoxes, between rural poverty and a capital, Budapest, that was much richer than other capitals such as Prague, a leftover of Budapest's status as meeting place between western and eastern diplomats and businessmen.
Friday, September 07, 2012
The Fed's Campaign / Politics / Central Banks
By: Peter_Schiff
This past Friday, as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered his annual address from Jackson Hole - the State of the Dollar, if you will - I couldn't help but hear it as an incumbent's campaign speech. While Wall Street was hoping for some concrete announcement, what we got was a mushy appraisal of the Fed's handling of the financial crisis so far and a suggestion that more 'help' is on the way.
It is important to remember that it's not just President Obama's job on the line in this election; in two years time, the next President will have the opportunity to either reappoint Bernanke or choose someone else. So we must understand what platform Bernanke is running on, as his office has an even greater effect on global markets than the President's.
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Friday, September 07, 2012
Mario Draghi Over and Out / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Fred_Sheehan
A collapsing order will do what it takes to retain power, no matter its abuse of law or decency. Writing in Die Zeit on August 29, 2012, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi wrote (in German): "[I]t should be understood that fulfilling our mandate sometimes requires us to go beyond standard monetary policy tools. When markets are fragmented or influenced by irrational fears, our monetary policy signals do not reach citizens evenly across the euro area. We have to fix such blockages to ensure a single monetary policy and therefore price stability for all euro area citizens. This may at times require exceptional measures. But this is our responsibility as the central bank of the euro area as a whole."
Friday, September 07, 2012
'About To Be Retired' Persons Views / Politics / Pensions & Retirement
By: Ian_R_Campbell
In a survey of Canadians now between 50 - 60 years old, said to have an statistical error rate of not more than 3.5%:
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on average 53% said they planned to work following retirement; and,
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almost 50% said they had retirement savings of under $100,000.
Thursday, September 06, 2012
9/11 & Plato’s Allegory of the Cave / Politics / Conspiracy Theory
By: Robert_Singer
Below is an animated image of Flight 175 "crashing" into the south tower.
Thursday, September 06, 2012
September 12th Looms Large for Germany on Euro-zone Debt Financing Decision / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: John_Browne
The German economy is undoubtedly the powerhouse of Europe. As a result, an understanding of the developments within Germany can offer a strong indication of the path that the rest of Europe is likely to take. Until recently, Germany stood as a bastion of sound money against those Keynesian led regimes in the developed nations that favor continual currency debasement as an economic panacea.
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
The Permanent Unemployment Economy / Politics / Unemployment
By: BATR
The official underreporting of the unemployment statistics is a well-known fact. The cavalier dismissal of the systemic dismantling of the market economy by the Obama administration is undeniable. Notwithstanding, the lack of living wage jobs is not simply a partisan issue. Ever since the adoption of the globalist free trade betrayal, the national suicide of the free enterprise economy has continued. Transiting skilled employees into government dependents is an overt component of the "New Age" of reduced wealth and servitude for the ordinary American.
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
NHS Baldrick Cunning Plan to Export Best Doctors Abroad to Treat Foreign Patients / Politics / NHS
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The latest cunning plan out of the NHS high command / coalition government is for Britains best and brightest doctors and consultants to set-up 'NHS' hospitals abroad at huge tax payer expense to treat foreign patients under the illusion that this will generate profits that will be reinvested into the UK NHS.
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Cellulosic Ethanol Production: One of the Decade's Biggest Examples of Wasteful Government Spending / Politics / Ethanol
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes:
In February we told you that despite nearing $15 trillion in debt - now close to $16 trillion - the U.S. government decided to spend $592,000 last year to figure out why chimpanzees throw poop.
Now we've discovered yet another example of wasteful government spending that has burned up more than $1.5 billion of your tax dollars - with nothing to show for it.
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Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Character, Policy and the Selection of Leaders / Politics / US Politics
By: STRATFOR
The end of Labor Day weekend in the United States traditionally has represented the beginning of U.S. presidential campaigns, though these days the campaign appears to be perpetual. In any case, Americans will be called on to vote for president in about two months, and the question is on what basis they ought to choose.
Many observers want to see intense debate over the issues, with matters of personality pushed to the background. But personality can also be viewed as character, and in some ways character is more important than policy in choosing a country's leadership.
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Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Ron Paul, How Long Will the U.S. Dollar Remain the World's Reserve Currency? / Politics / US Dollar
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
We frequently hear the financial press refer to the U.S. dollar as the "world's reserve currency," implying that our dollar will always retain its value in an ever shifting world economy. But this is a dangerous and mistaken assumption.
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