Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Protectionism Cannot Bring Prosperity / Politics / Protectionism
By: Mike_Shedlock
It is not often I vehemently disagree with Michael Pettis at China Financial Markets regarding trade. This time I do. Interestingly, there are some points of his recent analysis that I strongly agree with.
Via Email, interspersed with my comments please consider the following point counterpoint discussion.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
The Power of Self Assembling Dynamic Networks / Politics / Social Issues
By: DK_Matai
ATCA 5000 only made one forecast for 2011: Beware "Self-Assembling Dynamic Networks" and boundary-less tribalism! Little did we realise when making the forecast that this year would see:
a. The Arab Spring from Tunisia to Egypt, from Libya to Syria, and from Bahrain to Yemen;
b. Unprecedented riots and looting in London and other British cities like Manchester and Birmingham;
c. Luxury automobiles of the elite being set alight in Berlin and other German cities like D�sseldorf and Hamburg;
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Your Country is Dying... And It Wants To Take You With It / Politics / US Politics
By: Jeff_Berwick
We are nearing the end of the grand experiment in nation-states, democracy and socialism. In case you hadn't noticed, it failed miserably. Hundreds of millions were killed in wars engendered by nation states and made possible by fiat currencies and countless more were impoverished by the central banks instituted by the state. Riots and protests around the globe from Rome, to Egypt to nearly every major city in the US now attest to that.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Practical Approach to Earthquake and Global Warming / Politics / Climate Change
By: Submissions
Vimal Patel writes: A Practical approach to predict Earthquakes and Record High temperatures across Earth.
I was perplexed with the amount of pointless literature published on web about Global Warming and earthquakes
So I sought a commonsense approach to solve this riddle. The theory below explains why earthquakes are happening in such a great magnitude and record high temperatures across the Planet. I came across this almost 2 years ago and published on web after March 12th Earthquake in Japan.
Monday, October 17, 2011
For Europe, Breaking Up Is a Hard Thing to Do / Politics / Global Debt Crisis
By: Vitaliy_Katsenelson
Everyone is looking with horror at Europe, waiting for the European Economic and Monetary Union to break up and for the PIIGS to start dropping like flies, taking the rest of the euro zone and the global economy with them. Unlikely!
European monetary union was a great experiment that made a lot of sense on paper. Europe, which had roughly the same size population and economy as the U.S., was at a competitive disadvantage, as dozens of currencies embedded extra transaction costs in cross-border trade and each currency separately had little chance to compete with the U.S. dollar for reserve currency status. Germany — the largest country in Europe and one of the world’s biggest exporters — was at a disadvantage too: The strong deutsche mark made its products more expensive and less competitive in the rest of Europe
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Sunday, October 16, 2011
Arab Spring: Counting Costs and Oil Profits In MENA / Politics / Crude Oil
By: EconMatters
To follow up on our last article about the Arab Spring shockwaves, we thought it'd be of interest to see what the cost impact is for countries affected by the uprising. A timely new study by the risk advisory firm Geopolicity provides some insight into that subject.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Average Decrease Of Global Warming / Politics / Climate Change
By: Andrew_McKillop
Despite record high summer temperatures in several northern hemisphere countries, and the hottest September for over 70 years in some, political and mainstream media defenders of the one and only correct theory - Global Warming - have been slow off the mark. As yet, the "Told you so" reports and statements are low on the ground. Is Global Warming going down the tube, where it belongs ?
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Iran Saudi Diplomat Assassination Attempt Hoax? / Politics / US Politics
By: Submissions
I have been staring incredulously at my TV screen these past few hours as the story of Iran’s alleged assassination attempt of a Saudi diplomat in Washington unfolds in dramatic increments.
Reporters keep repeating the theme “like out of a Hollywood script” as they eke out increasingly unlikely details about this “terror” plot.
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Sunday, October 16, 2011
Electric Cars: Why Did They Fail ? / Politics / Technology
By: Andrew_McKillop
Anybody who says "They havent yet failed - because they havent yet started" only has to check out the short and born-to-fail history of Hydrogen Cars, circa 1998-2005. During that opportunity window for a
wonderful new car which would save oil and could save the planet, only badly intentioned and cynical
members of the human race could say out loud that Hydrogen Cars were born to fail. Other people,
being politically correct or only stupid, said H2 Cars were born to win. But from about 2003 or a bit
later the news was out: it was OK and alright to say Hydrogen Cars won't work. Not only high priced,
energy inefficient and overweight, but also downright and extremely dangerous - literal bombs-onwheels
made for the Bearded One in a Cave who now reposes at the bottom of the Iranian Gulf, off
Oman, by decision of Mr. Obama - who of course loves EVs.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
The Seven Biggest Economic Lies / Politics / US Politics
By: Global_Research
The president's jobs bill doesn't have a chance in Congress - and the occupiers on Wall Street and elsewhere can't become a national movement for a more equitable society - unless more Americans know the truth about the economy.
Here's a short (2 minute 30 second) effort to rebut the seven biggest whoppers now being told by those who want to take America backwards. The major points:
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Saturday, October 15, 2011
The Transformation of the US into a Police State / Politics / US Politics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
Pat Buchanan’s latest book, Suicide of a Superpower, raises the question whether America will survive to 2025. The question might strike some readers as unduly pessimistic and others as optimistic. It is unclear whether the US, as we have known it, will survive its next presidential election.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Mitt Romney's Plan to Replace Free Trade / Politics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
As I've noted before, Mitt Romney has given some indications that he may be serious about doing something about America's trade mess. He's made tough statements about dealing with China which, if sincere, would not only put him beyond the other major Republican candidates on trade, but also far beyond what the Obama administration is doing.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Loss of National Identity / Politics / US Politics
By: Andy_Sutton
“Good Housekeeping? – An Op-Ed” - I am writing this article not as an economic or financial analyst, which is my normal mode of operation. This article has nothing to do with economic, financial markets, or any related topics. What it has to do with is the undeniable reality that we as a nation are failing miserably in one of the most basic precepts of civilization and that is to leave things better than we found them. When you think about it that is how true advancement takes place.
Friday, October 14, 2011
The Discipline of Government / Politics / US Politics
By: Richard_Mills
In my article The Politics of Personal Destruction I presented the case that the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression because of its extremely tight monetary policy.
In 1963 Friedman, and coauthor Anna J. Schwartz, published A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. In it, the authors claimed that the Great Depression would have been a typical downturn had it not been for policy errors made by the Federal Reserve. US Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke also believes if the Fed had provided enough money to banks and bought US securities the Great Depression would not of happened.
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Friday, October 14, 2011
These Three Men Represent Everything That's Wrong with Wall Street / Politics / Credit Crisis 2011
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes:
I've already expressed my desire to embrace the Occupy Wall Street movement. I said last week that I would join in whole-heartedly if I knew exactly what the protesters were trying to achieve.
But I don't know - and I'm not convinced they do, either.
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Friday, October 14, 2011
OCCUPY WALL STREET: Separating Fact from Media / Politics / US Politics
By: Walter_Brasch
Newspaper columnist Ann Coulter, spreading the lies of the extreme right wing, called the Occupy Wall Street protestors, “tattooed, body-pierced, sunken-chested 19-year-olds getting in fights with the police for fun.” She claimed the protestors, now in the thousands in New York, are “directionless losers [who] pose for cameras while uttering random liberal clichés lacking any reason or coherence.” (Several hundred thousand of these “directionless losers” are expected to attend rallies in more than 650 cities, Oct. 15.)
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Friday, October 14, 2011
The Jobless, the Homeless, the Shiftless, Vive La Revolution! / Politics / US Politics
By: Bill_Bonner
The Occupy Wall Street movement is getting a fair amount of press. The movement, as you know, dear reader, is a loose assembly of the jobless, the homeless and the shiftless. Troublemakers, every one of them, with no coherent or sensible view of what is wrong or how to fix it. But what’s wrong with that?
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Forcing Investment Advisors to “Identify” Suspected Terrorists / Politics / Canada
By: Rob_Kirby
Are Animal Rights Activists Terrorists?
Something which has created a stir in the alternative media [the derelict mainstream have long ceased reporting the news] in the past couple of days is a report concerning new steps being required of investment advisors in Canada relating to their KYC [Know Your Client] procedures. This was first brought to my attention by Jeff Berwick [The Dollar Vigilante] and I’d advise everyone to read his piece on this here. These new steps involve / require investment advisors to complete a questionnaire – prepared by a national regulatory body called FINTRAC – to help investment advisors “identify” suspected terrorists.
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Thursday, October 13, 2011
Currency Bill Is a Small Victory Against Currency Manipulation / Politics / US Politics
By: Ian_Fletcher
The Senate yesterday passed S.1619, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act. (Click here for the bill's text.)
Although this bill isn't a slam-bang solution to the problem of foreign currency manipulation (especially by China), it's a big step in the right direction.
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Thursday, October 13, 2011
Occupy Wall Street: Are Mindless Americans Falling Prey to the New Revolution Business and Its Collectivist Trap? / Politics / US Politics
By: Patrick_Henningsen
A disturbing new trend has quietly taken hold over simultaneous nationwide protests in the United States over the last few weeks.
Visible throughout the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests, is a technique dubbed as “The People’s Microphone”. It has been deployed nationwide, and is fast becoming the dominant vehicle for group interaction and communication. So what is it?
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