Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Germany's Role in Europe and the European Debt Crisis / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: STRATFOR
The German government proposed last week that a European commissioner be appointed to supplant the Greek government. While phrasing the German proposal this way might seem extreme, it is not unreasonable. Under the German proposal, this commissioner would hold power over the Greek national budget and taxation. Since the European Central Bank already controls the Greek currency, the euro, this would effectively transfer control of the Greek government to the European Union, since whoever controls a country's government expenditures, tax rates and monetary policy effectively controls that country. The German proposal therefore would suspend Greek sovereignty and the democratic process as the price of financial aid to Greece.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
We Don’t Need No Government Market Regulation / Politics / Market Regulation
By: Jan_Skoyles
Taking the title from a recent Guardian article, Jan Skoyles looks at the arguments made by Thomas Frank, in his new book ‘Pity the Billionaire’ , against the Republican nominees’ demands for less regulation. Mr Frank believes that the on-going financial crisis demonstrated the need for more regulation. She looks at the reasons against government regulation and argues that it should be down to the markets.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
The European Commission Has Broken The Social Contract / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Christopher_Quigley
The European Commission, in its Support for the ECB, has broken the
"Social Contract" and therefore has lost the moral right to rule.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
"The Social Contract"
Monday, January 30, 2012
Captain Ron Paul vs America’s Leading Chicken-Hawks / Politics / US Politics
By: Stephen_Merrill
Many, many men in the United States are incredibly brave with the lives of US soldiers and generously open-handed in spending the treasure of our nation in dozens of foreign countries. They see death and destruction as a primary way to conduct American foreign policy.
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Monday, January 30, 2012
Iran, Gold and Oil - The Next Banksters War / Politics / Middle East
By: BATR
Remember the real reason why Moammar Gadhafi is dead. He dared to propose and started creating an alternative currency to the world reserve U.S. Dollar. The lesson learned in Libya is now ready for teaching in Iran. Forget all the noise about going nuclear, the true message is that the banksters rule and nation states serve their ultimate masters. The hype and disinformation that surrounds the push for war is best understood by examining the viewpoint of Iranian MP Kazem Jalali. The Tehran Times quotes him in saying,
Sunday, January 29, 2012
NHS GP's Pump Out Propaganda for £80 Billion Blank Cheque Flawed Government Health Service Reforms / Politics / NHS
By: Nadeem_Walayat
CCG NHS GP's pushing for the UK Government to go ahead with NHS reforms that would effectively transfer an annual NHS commissioning budget of at least £80 billion into the hands of GP led consortia's across the country, have gone on the offensive in the mainstream press as illustrated by across the media sphere articles of the NHS being in peril if government health reforms fail to go ahead.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
How the Banks Broke the Social Compact, Promoting their Own Special Interests / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Michael_Hudson
Banks Weren’t Meant to Be Like This. What will their future be – and what is the government’s proper financial role?
The inherently symbiotic relationship between banks and governments recently has been reversed. In medieval times, wealthy bankers lent to kings and princes as their major customers. But now it is the banks that are needy, relying on governments for funding – capped by the post-2008 bailouts to save them from going bankrupt from their bad private-sector loans and gambles.
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
Iran Sanctions Conducive to Weak Dollar and Spiralling Gold Prices / Politics / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Bob_Chapman
We are trying to figure out the best way to describe the banking and oil sanctions against Iran, which are blatant acts of war. Just look back in history at similar situations and you will see what we are referring too. It is simple incompetence or is the allied plan a false flag feint in order to distract attention away from debt problems?
Sunday, January 29, 2012
How Ron Paul Could Win / Politics / US Politics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
In the Soviet Union common criminals were punished less harshly and received better treatment than political prisoners. A person who had committed a violent crime had more rights than someone who expressed criticism of the government and could be portrayed as having acted against the government. We now have the same situation in the US.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Fighting Financial Fraud, Remember Rousseau, Property Rights and Human Rights Are Still At War / Politics / US Politics
By: Danny_Schechter
The conflict between property rights and human rights has entered a new chapter. It is a debate that goes back to the challenge by landowners and merchants behind the American Revolution’s war on British control over the colonial economy.
Only today, as those speaking in the name of the 99% challenge the super wealthy of the 1% (actually the .001 %) there is a new battleground in what’s known as the housing market with as many as 14 million Americans in or facing foreclosure.
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
RBS CEO £1 Million Bonus for Failure Should be Scrapped, Bankster Fraud on Taxpayers Continues / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The RBS board has awarded the CEO a bonus of £1 million in addition to his £1.2 million salary for effectively being an abysmal failure on any recognisable measure.
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Friday, January 27, 2012
How Ron Paul's Election Campaign Could End the Fed / Politics / US Politics
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes:
Led by presidential candidate Ron Paul's "end the Fed" mantra, Republicans have made their attacks on the U.S. Federal Reserve into an election year rallying cry.
It's one that could turn ugly in November if the GOP manages to score big.
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Why Go Down With the Ship? Schettino, Failed Banksters and CEOs / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Bill_Bonner
Will no one rise to the defense of Captain Francesco Schettino? No? Then we will!
The poor man is calumnied as a pusillanimous incompetent. Just because he hit a rock. Heck, anyone with a ship that big could hit a rock. And the rock wasn’t s’posed to be there!
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Emperor Palpatine, Obama's State of the Empire Speech / Politics / US Politics
By: LewRockwell
Eric Peters writes: The other night, Emperor Palpatine gave his State of the Empire speech. You know, the Sith Lord from Star Wars. He channeled his Dark Presence right into the Capitol Building, where he transmogrified into our soon-to-be Galactic Emperor. I am far from the only person who noticed this, which proves I was not hallucinating. See for yourself.
Friday, January 27, 2012
The Three Biggest Government Lies / Politics / US Politics
By: LewRockwell
Charles Goyette writes: Government lies are legion.
So many are its lies, that narrowing them down to three of the most important is a demanding task. But our current crisis has been chiefly enabled by monetary policy, fiscal policy, and the global military empire. So I have chosen to focus on lies about each: the Federal Reserve, the orchestrator of monetary policy; the U.S. budget, the accounting of government fiscal policy; and a few of the Empire’s war lies. I am sharing just a smattering of this astonishing record of duplicity in these areas, for life is short, or at least far too short to recount all of the state’s lies about each.
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Nigeria Chaos, Geopolitical Stakes and the Curious Role of the IMF / Politics / Africa
By: F_William_Engdahl
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and its largest oil producer, is from all evidence being systematically thrown into chaos and a state of civil war. The recent surprise decision by the government of Goodluck Jonathan to abruptly lift subsidies on imported gasoline and other fuel has a far more sinister background than mere corruption and the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) is playing a key role. China appears to be the likely loser along with Nigeria’s population.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Economic Austery is a 'Loaded Word' Says World Bank President / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Bloomberg
Bloomberg TV's Erik Schatzker spoke to World Bank President Robert Zoellick this morning about the economic woes facing Italy. Zoellick said that Germany and other European nations can do more for Italy, and that austerity is a "loaded word."Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Tail Events, Isolation, New Normal Of Hyper Monetary Inflation / Politics / Inflation
By: Jim_Willie_CB
The year 2012 has started out in strange ways. While celestial forces augur for rare tail events, the assurance of man-made events that stretch far into the extreme tail of probability are not only very likely but will be of a type to reflect the change in the global balance of financial power. The Paradigm Shift mentioned over the course of the last two to three years is at work, having moved into a higher gear. The gold is moving from the West to the East, along with the power. We will not see the process reverse in our lifetime. The sanctions set against Iran have been devised by a former global leader nation that is beset by insolvency, fraud, and lost integrity. The backfire has consolidated forces into a more fortified position against the USDollar.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
America's Shadow Banking System, A Web of Financial Fraud and Criminality / Politics / US Politics
By: Ellen_Brown
The Wall Street Journal reported on January 19th that the Obama Administration was pushing heavily to get the 50 state attorneys general to agree to a settlement with five major banks in the “robo-signing” scandal. The scandal involves employees signing names not their own, under titles they did not really have, attesting to the veracity of documents they had not really reviewed. Investigation reveals that it did not just happen occasionally but was an industry-wide practice, dating back to the late 1990s; and that it may have clouded the titles of millions of homes. If the settlement is agreed to, it will let Wall Street bankers off the hook for crimes that would land the rest of us in jail – fraud, forgery, securities violations and tax evasion.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Something's Fishy in Tripoli / Politics / Middle East
By: OilPrice_Com
Way back in early 2011, members of the U.N. Security Council had no problem getting a resolution through that authorized military force in Libya ostensibly to protect civilians from attacks by forces loyal to strongman Moammar Gadhafi. The year before, lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic were bickering over who did what and why in terms of the cancer-stricken Lockerbie bomber. This Scottish decision to release him, depending on which U.S. lawmaker you spoke with, was tied to a BP deal to drill for oil in Libya. Despite fractures in the new interim government in Tripoli and reports of renewed protests, a decision by the Italian government to quietly discuss trade relations suggests something isn't quite right in the way Western allies pick their fights.
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