Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Monday, November 24, 2008
A Capitalist's Social Security, 401(k) Retirement Plan Reform Program / Politics / Pensions & Retirement
What if there was an easy way to implement a whole new approach to retirement funding, pension planning, and Social Security? Would the politicians be interested? Let's find out.
What if the new plan actually reduced payroll taxes, cut prices, created jobs, increased salaries, raised shareholder dividends, partially funded decreased healthcare costs, and was available to everyone?
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Sunday, November 23, 2008
New World Order as Global Financial Matrix Self Destructs / Politics / New World Order
Now that the genie is out of the bottle, worldwide economic, financial and political events will proceed with the inexorable force of destiny. The forthcoming changes, shifts and breaks with the past that are delineated below do concern the unsavory business of WHAT, positively, will not be brought into the future. This is of critical importance. Why? Because those who do not know, and understand, and heed history, are always, always forced to repeat it.Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, November 22, 2008
The World After the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election / Politics / US Politics
World war or world peace could be the blunt choice that will face either Barack Obama or John McCain when one of them is elected president of the United States on Tuesday, November 4, 2008.
For a major eruption of violence to be averted, the new president must deal positively with the reappearance of Russia on the world stage, the emergence of China as an economic force, and the aspirations of all the nations on earth for a decent and secure way of life.
Friday, November 21, 2008
It's time to walk the walk / Politics / Climate Change
These words are being written from a little town three hours up the coast from Sydney to which my wife and I have recently relocated – perhaps temporarily; we will see. It has plenty of fresh air and artesian water. Soil quality is not particularly great but, in theory, there are simple non chemical technologies which can be applied to enhance crop yields. Perhaps we'll dabble with these technologies to test the theory on a small scale. Perhaps we'll also try to build a small scale power generation plant to apply some of the technologies I have been reading about since the late 1980s. Perhaps. With the equity markets continuing to give sell signals, this is not a time to cast one's thoughts in concrete. All options need to be left open.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
G20 Summit Fails to Achieve Anything of Substance / Politics / Credit Crisis 2008
As expected, the G-20 Economic Summit in Washington turned out to be a total bust. None of the problems which have pushed the global economy to the brink of disaster were resolved and none of the main players who gamed the system with their toxic securities were held accountable. Instead, the visiting dignitaries gorged themselves on stuffed quail and roast rack of lamb before settling on a toothless "Statement on Financial Markets" which accomplished absolutely nothing. The one noteworthy clause in the entire document is a two paragraph indictment of the United States as the perpetrator of the financial crisis. At least they got that right.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
BNP Members List Leaked Online- Link Here / Politics / UK Politics
British National Party (BNP) full membership list of 12,801 members has been leaked onto the internet. The list contains contact details and notes on selected party members. The list has been first published on the internet by Wikileaks who's staff has verified the list as predominantly containing BNP members, and other individuals who have donated to the BNP or have had other contact with the BNP may also be listed.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
UK Tax Cuts and Free Money in Japan / Politics / Deflation
The Times Online is reporting Ministers admit that tax rises will follow Gordon Brown's tax cuts .Tax rises are set to follow next week's tax cuts, ministers admitted yesterday as Gordon Brown raised the spectre of deflation in Britain for the first time.
David Cameron predicted a tax-raising “bombshell” after Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, spoke of the need for “structural adjustments later on” and Mr Brown himself accepted that the Pre-Budget Report (PBR) stimulus would be “temporary”. Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
G20 Meaningless Statement and the Manageable Recession / Politics / Recession 2008 - 2010
The G-20 met last Saturday. Afterward, the group issued a meaningless statement and decided to meet again in March 2009, or perhaps later. Clearly, the urgency of October is gone . First, the perception of imminent collapse is past. Politicians are superb seismographs for detecting impending disaster, and these politicians did not act as if they were running out of time. Second, the United States will have a new president in March, and nothing can be done until he defines his policy.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, November 17, 2008
Obama Benefits from Bush Centralization of Power / Politics / US Politics
As the financial sector continues its tailspin despite efforts to bail out Wall Street, among the few gainers in recent stock trading have been those companies looking for a new "shot in the arm" with government funding from the next administration.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Brutal Truth About the Credit Crisis / Politics / Credit Crisis 2008
Mike Larson writes: I don't know about you. But I started keeping a mental “Outrage List” a while back. The idea: Chronicle all the ridiculous statistics, all the lies, all the questionable practices, and all the dubious “rescue packages” Wall Street and Washington keep shoveling onto the public's lap.
And boy oh boy, is it getting long these days!
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Sunday, November 16, 2008
G20 Economic Summit Changes Nothing / Politics / Global Financial System
The G20 is meeting today in Washington, D.C., to discuss the world financial crisis, its causes, and what can be done about it. But this won't help the people of the U.S. who have been victimized by their own financial system.
The stated objectives are to find ways to stabilize and reduce speculation in the financial markets and make financial transactions more transparent, more efficient, and more international in scope. But this is also a revolt by the nations of the world against over-reliance on the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency. What we are likely to see over time is a multi-currency regime that includes the Euro and one or more Asian currencies as well.
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Sunday, November 16, 2008
G-20 Summit Politicians Blame Investors For Credit Crisis / Politics / Credit Crisis 2008
Hopes were high that the G-20 summit would issue a statement on US dollar hegemony, currency fluctuations, a new world order, a return to a gold standard, or make some other earth shattering statement. I predicted the summit would be a complete waste of time. Let's take a look.Bloomberg is reporting G-20 Calls for Action on Growth, Regulatory Changes .
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Saturday, November 15, 2008
President Barack Obama Making an Invisible Minority Less Invisible / Politics / US Politics
During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama was called mentally unstable; his supporters were called unpatriotic. At Sarah Palin rallies, in newspaper letters-to-the-editor, on conservative radio and TV talk shows, supporters spewed hatreds, resorting to the Bush tactics of fear mongering to support their own candidate.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, November 14, 2008
Making 401(k)s And IRAs More Like Personal Pension Plans / Politics / Pensions & Retirement
Who's confiscating your 401(k) and IRA? Dateline Raleigh, NC, November 6, 2008: Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives discuss confiscating our 401(k)s and IRAs, by Carolina Journal Online reporter Karen McMahan.This shocking pronouncement is certainly an attention grabber, which if even partially true, would have an impact on nearly every employed and retired American. The basis for the report is testimony before the House Committee on Education and Labor in early October.
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Thursday, November 13, 2008
Four Words Obama Will Never Say / Politics / US Debt
Will the new Obama administration offer a solution to our country's short and long term fiscal imbalances? I'm willing to bet four words you will never hear him say during his tenure are "The budget is balanced!" First, take a look at a couple of estimates regarding how great our long term debt will accrue due to the demographic challenges we face. According to estimates from a 2007 study done by USA Today, the projected debt for our country could reach $59 trillion dollars because of the unfunded mandates from entitlement programs. And if you think that's scary, Richard Fisher, President and CEO of none other than the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, puts the figure in a speech given May 28th 2008 at $99.2 trillion!Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Stop Blaming Capitalism for Government Failures / Politics / Credit Crisis 2008
Speaking of the financial crisis, French president Nicolas Sarkozy recently said, “Laissez-faire is finished. The all-powerful market that always knows best is finished.” Sarkozy was echoing the views of many, including president-elect Obama, who assume that the financial crisis was caused by free markets--by “unbridled greed” unleashed by decades of deregulation and a “hands off” approach to the economy. And given this premise, the solution, they say, is obvious.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Government Bailout Should Extend to Decimated Gold Miners / Politics / Gold & Silver Stocks
I have decided to make a stronger stand on some things that have been bothering me and also some of my associates – after all I do not want to let down the public investors or companies that I have decided to support. I hope the Government is handed this essay and that the mining industry can take some motivation from what I have to say. Investors in the Mining sector – please send this to your local Minister and Ministers of Parliament and let's see if we can get some momentum here.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Who's Confiscating Your 401(k) And IRA? / Politics / Pensions & Retirement
Dateline Raleigh, NC, November 6, 2008: Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives discuss confiscating our 401(k)s and IRAs, by Carolina Journal Online reporter Karen McMahan.This shocking pronouncement is certainly an attention grabber, which if even partially true, would have an impact on nearly every employed and retired American. The basis for the report is testimony before the House Committee on Education and Labor in early October.
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Tuesday, November 11, 2008
President Barack Obama Brings Hope for the Future / Politics / US Politics
With the election behind us, our country turns hopeful eyes to the future. I have a few hopes of my own.I congratulate our first African-American president-elect. Martin Luther King, Jr. certainly would be proud to see this day. We are stronger for embracing diversity, and I am hopeful that we can continue working through the tensions and wrongs of the past and become a more just and colorblind society. I hope this new administration will help bring us together, and not further divide us.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Iran Returns to the Global Stage / Politics / GeoPolitics
After a three-month hiatus, Iran seems set to re-emerge near the top of the U.S. agenda. Last week, the Iranian government congratulated U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on his Nov. 4 electoral victory. This marks the first time since the Iranian Revolution that such greetings have been sent.
While it seems trivial, the gesture is quite significant. It represents a diplomatic way for the Iranians to announce that they regard Obama's election as offering a potential breakthrough in 30 years of U.S. relations with Iran. At his press conference, Obama said he does not yet have a response to the congratulatory message, and reiterated that he opposes Iran's nuclear program and its support for terrorism. The Iranians returned to criticizing Obama after this, but without their usual passion.
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