Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Measuring Misery in Latin America 2014: More Dollarization, Please / Politics / Emerging Markets
By: Steve_H_Hanke
In my misery index, I calculate a ranking for all countries where suitable data exist. My misery index — a simple sum of inflation, lending rates, and unemployment rates, minus year-on-year per capita GDP growth — is used to construct a ranking for 108 countries. The table below is a sub-index of all Latin American countries presented in the world misery index.
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Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Greece Crisis - Europe’s Political Great Rift Valley / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Raul_I_Meijer
So what happened there yesterday? What we know is that European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici delivered a communiqué, ostensibly coming from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker – he at least knew of it – to Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who later called it ‘splendid’ and said his government had been’ happy’ with it and he had been ready to sign.
The European Commission, the day to day ‘directors’ of the EU, offered Greece four to six months of credit in return for a freeze on its anti-austerity policies. Still quite a sacrifice for Greece to make, it would seem, but they would have signed regardless.
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Tuesday, February 17, 2015
The Elegant Simplicity Of The Greek Conundrum / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Raul_I_Meijer
It’s really not that hard. It’s even elegantly simple. But that still requires you’re willing to listen, willing to think, and you don’t go into talks with your mind already made up. Obviously, that is too much to ask from the Eurogroup side of the negotiations with Greece. They haven’t been able to move one inch from their ‘Do as we say or else’ bluster.
German Fin Min Schäuble earlier implied that the Greek people have elected the ‘wrong’ government, an already unforgivable intrusion into a EU member state’s internal affairs. What if the Greeks said the same about Merkel et al, what do you think the reaction would be? Today, SPD executive board member, Joachim Poß, member of Merkel’s German coalition government, does Schäuble one better:
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Monday, February 16, 2015
Greece Isn’t Really The Problem - The Euro's Fatal Flaw... / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: John_Rubino
The euro’s fatal flaw was always people. The fact that most eurozone countries are at least nominally democratic and keep having elections means that the more complicated and draconian the process of merging them into one entity ruled by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels becomes, the harder it is to elect people at the national level who want to keep going.
Greece is an obvious example, and will provide some thrills and chills as its debt negotiations lurch to the inevitable extend-and-pretend resolution. But much bigger things are brewing as the euro’s issues bite other constituencies in other ways.
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Monday, February 16, 2015
Prime Minister Naredra Modi And The Ideological Contradictions Of The Hindu Fundamentalism / Politics / Religion
By: Dr_R_M_Mathew
When Narendra Modi formed his BJP Government in India with a sweeping majority in May 2014, it was hailed as a victory of the Hindu Fundamentalism of the RSS and the Sanga Parivar. They might have even dreamt of establishing a Nation with Hindu Fundamentalism in India.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Ron Paul Asks How Many More U.S. Wars? / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week President Obama sent Congress legislation to authorize him to use force against ISIS "and associated persons and forces" anywhere in the world for the next three years. This is a blank check for the president to start as many new wars as he wishes, and it appears Congress will go along with this dangerous and costly scheme.
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Saturday, February 14, 2015
Ukraine's Civil 'Nuclear' War / Politics / Ukraine Civil War
By: Andrew_McKillop
Don't Expect the MSM to Warn You
Some niche publishers and blog operators actually tell you about the clear unambiguous threat of the Ukraine war, civil war, conflict, Russia-West standoff, and so on, going nuclear easily and at any time.
Wasn't Ukraine the home of the Chernobyl disaster? Maybe it was too far back in time for you to chant "Pripiat mon amour", in those times before iPhone 5.x.i but you have the Next One. It really will be on the newzak shows from MSM outlets like Sky News, Aljazeera, BBC News, CNN, RT and the others.
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Friday, February 13, 2015
When It Comes to Wall Street Crooks… Size Matters / Politics / Market Regulation
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes: If you didn’t read yesterday’s BrokeAndBroker blog by Wall Street lawyer Bill Singer,you should.
In in his earlier life, before he got a life, Singer was an attorney at the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) -now known as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). And his latest blog is titled “A Tale of Two Streets and FINRA’s Disparate Sanctions.”
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Friday, February 13, 2015
Fourth Turning Shadow Crisis War on Multiple Fronts / Politics / US Politics
By: James_Quinn
In Part One of this article I explained the model of generational theory as conveyed by Strauss and Howe in The Fourth Turning. In Part Two I provided an overwhelming avalanche of evidence this Crisis has only yet begun, with debt, civic decay and global disorder propelling the world towards the next more violent phase of this Crisis. In Part Three I addressed how the most likely clash on the horizon is between the government and the people. War on multiple fronts will thrust the world through the great gate of history towards an uncertain future.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
US Sinks to 49th in World Press Freedom Index / Politics / US Politics
By: Jesse
You may click on the chart below, or you may click on this link to the article and a very large, interactive chart with access to data, methodology, etc.
The US was 49th, as compared to 46th in 2014.
The UK was 34th, France was 38th, Spain was 33rd, Australia was 25th, Germany was 12th, and Canada was 8th.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
The Greek Issue Just Got Personal / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Raul_I_Meijer
It was already present over the past two weeks, for example in Yanis Varoufakis’ meetings with Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem and German FinMin Schäuble, awkwardly obvious in facial expressions and body language. A touch of personal discomfort. A touch of a threat that required chest-thumping and hubris to be brushed off. ‘You better do what we say or else’. Back then, perhaps it was still experienced from a political, deal-making, perspective. But in the course of yesterday it became clear something has changed.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
A Brief History of Inequality / Politics / Social Issues
By: STRATFOR
At an event in Beijing last November, I had the good fortune to meet the French economist Thomas Piketty, who has sold 1.5 million copies of his book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, since it was first published in 2013. Pacing up and down in front of a packed auditorium, Piketty explained that because the rate of return on capital is now higher than the growth rate of the global economy, the proportion of the world's wealth that is owned by a small elite will likely keep increasing; in other words, we should expect to see a divergence of wealth as the rich get much richer. As his book says, "capitalism automatically generates arbitrary and unsustainable inequalities that radically undermine the meritocratic values on which democratic societies are based."
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Fourth Turning Seeds of Crisis and War / Politics / Social Issues
By: James_Quinn
In Part One of this article I attempted to illuminate the concept of generational theory as articulated by Strauss and Howe in The Fourth Turning. In Part Two I provided proof this Crisis is far from over, with ever increasing debt, civic decay and global disorder propelling the world towards war.
Seeds of Crisis & War
“The seasons of time offer no guarantees. For modern societies, no less than for all forms of life, transformative change is discontinuous. For what seems an eternity, history goes nowhere – and then it suddenly flings us forward across some vast chaos that defies any mortal effort to plan our way there. The Fourth Turning will try our souls – and the saecular rhythm tells us that much will depend on how we face up to that trial. The saeculum does not reveal whether the story will have a happy ending, but it does tell us how and when our choices will make a difference.” – Strauss & Howe - The Fourth Turning
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Thursday, February 12, 2015
Third Greek Bailout? Another 53.8 Billion Euro Needed? Primary Account Surplus Revisited / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Mike_Shedlock
Greece has two major financing problems. One is long-term, the other happens right now.
- Greece's overall debt load of €323 is not sustainable. What cannot be paid back, won't.
- The current payback schedule on debt owed to the ECB and IMF implies yet another "bailout" to the tune of €53.8 Billion.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Boris Johnson on Greece Euro-zone Crisis : "They've got to try and keep this thing together" / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Bloomberg
London Mayor Boris Johnson spoke with Bloomberg Television's Betty Liu today about Greece's future, the outlook for the U.K.'s membership in the European Union, concerns over citizens who join Islamic State, and technology in the U.K. He also shared that during his visit, he was mistaken for Donald Trump: "I was walking down, having my photograph taken just yesterday in the street in New York, and a young woman walked by and said, gee, is that Trump?"
On Greece, Johnson said: "I have a hunch 70 percent of the Greek population want to remain in the euro. The entire Greek establishment wants to remain in the euro. Everybody in power in Europe basically reckons there's nothing for it; they've got to try and keep this thing together."
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Minsk Summit Highlights A Shaky NATO Union – Russia Is Far From Isolated / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: GoldCore
- Merkel and Hollande to attend peace talks in Belarus to resolve Ukraine’s civil war today
- US and UK not invited
- Germany and US present united front but tensions ripple under the surface
- Foreign Minister of Greece, Nikolaos Kotzias, to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov today as the crucial Eurogroup of finance ministers meet to determine the fate of Greece and the Euro
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Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Business of Global Warming Fraud / Politics / Climate Change
By: BATR
The Global Warming establishment is NOT a business. All the tentacles that suck up public money to finance crony collectivism are based upon government subsidies and artificially higher consumer prices. The absurd lunacy that economic growth and productive jobs can be created with the underlying premise of the “so called” industrial model is based upon lies, deceit and cooked data; clearly demonstrates the disingenuous nature of the zealots that benefit from the fraud.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
The Big Bang Explained - How the Universe Began and How it will End - Video / Politics / Science
By: Anika_Walayat
In this educational video I explain how the universe began with the Big Bang, how this was discovered by Edwin Hubble and what it means for the future End of the universe.
This video is especially suitable for children, and forms the first part of series of science & learning videos.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Greece Euro-zone Crisis, Ukraine - Germany Emerges / Politics / Germany
By: STRATFOR
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, accompanied by French President Francois Hollande, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 6. Then she met with U.S. President Barack Obama on Feb. 9. The primary subject was Ukraine, but the first issue discussed at the news conference following the meeting with Obama was Greece. Greece and Ukraine are not linked in the American mind. They are linked in the German mind, because both are indicators of Germany's new role in the world and of Germany's discomfort with it.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Courage to Face True History / Politics / Social Issues
By: BATR
History is philosophy teaching by examples. ~Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War
Human consciousness and the ability to understand that which really occurred in the past, is a skill that many people have little experience with mastering. Scholarship and researching the yesteryear relies upon analyzing accounts of others and is usually based on chronicles written centuries ago. Most of the original evidence used in writing the accounts may be lost, based upon oral myths or accurate translations of vanished languages. Even when the original sources are impeccable in their authenticity or go unquestioned in the ivory towers of academic scrutiny, the crucial question still remains, Was It So? Attempts to provide definitive proof, when it comes to explaining political events, relies more often on the art of understanding the connection among factions, based within the context of their intended agendas than smoking gun documents.
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