Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
World Bank Head Calls for Monetary System Linked to Gold / Politics / Global Financial System
By: Barry_Grey
In the run-up to the G20 summit of leading economies, to be held Thursday and Friday in Seoul, the president of the World Bank has published a column in the Financial Times calling for a fundamental revamping of the global currency system involving a lesser role for the US dollar and a modified gold standard. The Financial Times underscored the significance of the column by making it the subject of its front-page lead article on Monday.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Time To Act: A Campaign To Jail Wall Street Fraudsters / Politics / US Politics
By: Danny_Schechter
“I’ll have the Chateau Mouton-Rothschild from 1982,” a Wall Street investment banker recently told his waiter at the latest and greatest shi-shi restaurant in Greenwich Village.
“Yes sir, but I want you to know, the cost is $$3,950,” according to the New York Times.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The Top 10 Most Corrupt and Clean Countries / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Global_Intel_Report
After recent reports that Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other government officials received bags of cash from Iran, it's no surprise that Afghanistan would be near the top of a ranking published last week of the most corrupt countries in the world.
The Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International, a nongovernmental organization based in Berlin and operating in 70 countries, ranked the Central Asian country second only to Somalia and tied with Myanmar for its perceived level of government corruption.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Welcome To India, Obama Sahib / Politics / US Politics
By: LewRockwell
Eric Margolis writes: Getting out of the Washington goldfish bowl is also good for American presidents, particularly after an electoral shellacking.
It must have been a relief for President Barack Obama to see smiling Indian officials on his visit to Delhi rather than snarling Republicans back home.
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Tuesday, November 09, 2010
The Effects of ObamaCare, Unintended Consequences of Health Care Reform / Politics / Healthcare Sector
By: John_Mauldin
What will be the effects of ObamaCare? My friend Lisa Cummings, an expert on employee benefits (she was one of the first employees at Dell and was a senior exec at Wal-Mart), has analyzed the bill; and from what she tells me it appears to be one big pile of unintended consequences and costs. It will be far cheaper for an employer to simply pay the $2,000 fine and pay for the employee to enroll in the government health exchange program, which of course puts more cost on the taxpayer. Behind the curtain of wonderful and laudable objectives is a mountain of regulations and costs. But that is what is coming. I asked Lisa to give me a written report on just the more important changes and costs, and that is your Outside the Box reading today.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Inside Washington, What Election Results 2010 Mean For 2012 / Politics / US Politics
By: Global_Intel_Report
This analysis provides an initial look at some of the ways the election results will affect Capitol Hill and the Executive Branch during the coming lame duck session and the beginning of the 112th Session of Congress.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
End of the Statist Quo, Switzerland's Tempting Tax Regimes Attract UK Firms / Politics / Government Intervention
By: David_Galland
David Galland, Managing Director, Casey Research writes: Here at Casey Research, we have been rather negative about the economy for many moons. To be otherwise in the face of the decades-long trend toward ever more government - along with its increasingly destructive and expensive meddling in the free markets - would have been foolish. And, so far, we have been right.
Monday, November 08, 2010
Plutocracy Now! / Politics / US Politics
By: Ashvin_Pandurangi
Every so often, Americans should stop everything they're doing for a moment, and reflect upon the nature of their country. Specifically, upon what has traditionally been this country's defining characteristic. Was it our capitalist economy? No, there are many capitalistic countries around the world and capitalism was not first formulated by Americans. What about our emphasis on personal freedom? Well, once again, many countries preach the virtues of freedom and many groups of people have fought for freedom well before America was formed. Surely it has been our diverse populace and our tolerance of all races, genders, sexual preferences... yeah, right. Personally, I would answer that it was our written Constitution and the democratic values embodied within it.
Monday, November 08, 2010
Dollar Breakdown, America Has Lost its Imagination, Its Population Brainwashed to Do the Elites Bidding / Politics / US Politics
By: Anthony_J_Stills
“Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity.” -L. Frank Baum
In my opinion America has lost its imagination. The populace has been brainwashed into letting a select group of individuals do all the thinking for them. In the best of all possible worlds it will produce a population that is dull and capable of only doing menial tasks for a menial wage, even if the people in charge have the best of intentions.
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Monday, November 08, 2010
Time for Congress to Reject the Welfare / Warfare State / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week's midterm elections have been characterized as a victory for grassroots Americans who are fed up with Washington and the political status quo. In particular, the elections are being touted as a clear indicator that voters demand reductions in federal spending, deficits, and debt.
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Monday, November 08, 2010
America's Economic and Social Crisis, Profits or Prosperity? / Politics / US Politics
By: Global_Research
Zoltan Zigedy writes: Data on US profits for the second quarter of this year are well worth studying, not only for what they say about the health of the corporate sector, but also for what they reveal about the structure of our economic system and the priorities of our policy makers.
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Greenspan and the Economic Crisis, "Moral Hazard" and Financial Fraud are the Main Problems / Politics / Credit Crisis 2010
By: Washingtons_Blog
Even Alan Greenspan is confirming what William Black, James Galbraith, Joseph Stiglitz, George Akerlof and many other economists and financial experts have been saying for a long time: the economy cannot recover if fraud is not prosecuted and if the big banks know that government will bail them out every time they get in trouble.
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Fake U.S. Unemployment Data, Rising Poverty in America / Politics / Economic Statistics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
If we cannot trust what the government tells us about weapons of mass destruction, terrorist events, and the reasons for its wars and bailouts, can we trust the government’s statement last Friday that the US economy gained 151,000 payroll jobs during October?
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Sunday, November 07, 2010
Mobile Cell Phone Radiation The Health Hazards / Politics / Social Issues
By: Joel_S_Hirschhorn
It is now inconceivable that our world could function without the 5 billion cell phones used globally. The new book by Devra Davis “Disconnect” deserves your attention. Indeed, if you use a cell phone a lot it should be mandatory reading.
It also seems inconceivable that the trillion dollar cell phone industry and governments worldwide could have pushed this technology without ever having solid research results proving the safety of cell phones. If true that would be deadly frightening. But that is exactly the reality.
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Saturday, November 06, 2010
How the Republicans Will Sucker the Tea Party / Politics / US Politics
By: Gary_North
First, you must understand that Boehner is a GobGop: a Good Old Boy of the Grand Old Party. The GobGops' goal is to keep the present system funded by the Bigs: Big Business, Big Pharma, Big Oil, and Big Banking. If you do not understand this, then you are as naive as a Democrat who thinks Obama speaks for The Common Man.
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Left-Center Political Parties Pay the Price for Bailing Out the Bankster's / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Global_Research
James Petras writes: The November 2, 2010 electoral debacle of the Democratic Party in the US cannot be solely ascribed to the failed policies of President Obama, the Congressional leadership or their senior economic advisers. Nor is the demise of what passes for the American “center-left” confined to the US – it is a world-wide pattern, expressed in countries as diverse as Greece, Portugal, Spain, Great Britain and Japan.
Saturday, November 06, 2010
ForeclosureGate Could Force Bank Nationalization / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Ellen_Brown
For two years, politicians have danced around the nationalization issue, but ForeclosureGate may be the last straw. The megabanks are too big to fail, but they aren’t too big to reorganize as federal institutions serving the public interest.
In January 2009, only a week into Obama’s presidency, David Sanger reported in The New York Times that nationalizing the banks was being discussed. Privately, the Obama economic team was conceding that more taxpayer money was going to be needed to shore up the banks. When asked whether nationalization was a good idea, House speaker Nancy Pelosi replied:
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Saturday, November 06, 2010
QE2 and U.S. China Politics, Shrewd as Serpents / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Submissions
Everyone has heard about the Prisoners' Dilemma before, I suppose. For those who don't know, here is the gist: It is about a situation between two players that if they cooperate, they will get the biggest benefit. However, if one decides to cooperate yet get betrayed later, he will suffer more than if he simply betrayed the other guy in the first place. Logically, the two players should simply cooperate, but sometimes when you are uncertain about the other player's sincerity, the situation becomes tricky.
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Friday, November 05, 2010
Russian's Forget What they Were Celebrating on November 4th / Politics / Russia
By: Pravda
What is Russia celebrating on November 4th? According to sociologists, many of Russia's residents simply have no idea what the Day of National Unity is. And yet this is not a new holiday of the post-perestroika era designed to replace the October Revolution Day on November 7. The history of this day counts over three centuries.
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Friday, November 05, 2010
Democrats Prepare to Move to the Right / Politics / US Politics
By: Shamus_Cooke
On the eve of the Republican-dominated mid-term election, working people were told to vote Democrat to prevent a "truly dangerous" Republican party from taking power. There is an element of truth in this: the Republican Party has been sprinting to the far right for decades, to the point where they are incapable of speaking sensibly about political issues.
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