Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Friday, May 03, 2013
The Fed Plays Pass the Parcel, Blames Congress for Lousy U.S. Economy / Politics / Central Banks
By: Money_Morning
Diane Alter writes: The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting concluded today (Wednesday) with one clear message to Washington: Thanks for the lousy economy.
Central bank members cited only "moderate" expansion in economic activity and a slow improvement in the stubbornly high unemployment level.
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Thursday, May 02, 2013
Check Out Who's Hiding $32 Trillion in Offshore Tax Haven Accounts / Politics / Taxes
By: Money_Morning
More than two million emails that shed light on the biggest tax dodge in history - trillions of dollars hidden in offshore accounts - have been uncovered by the British newspaper The Guardian and the Washington, D.C.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
Some $32 trillion has been hidden in small island banking hubs which host a bevy of trust funds, shell corporations and other tax havens, the Tax Justice Network estimates.
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Thursday, May 02, 2013
How the U.S. Government Destroyed the American Economy / Politics / US Economy
By: Bill_Bonner
US stocks are turning down this morning, following news that private-sector job growth in the US slowed the most in seven months.
We've already recommended you exit US stocks and buy gold on the dips.
Nothing has changed our view... So we'll get back to where we left off yesterday – making camp for the night after a long horse trek into the distant reaches of our remote Argentine ranch...
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Wednesday, May 01, 2013
A Lost Battle : Wall Street Vs. The Real Economy / Politics / Credit Crisis 2013
By: Akhil_Khanna
Wall Street
The following activities of the worldwide financial institutions, motivated by the sole motive of maximizing profits, created the biggest financial bubble in the history of the world :
- Lending money to borrowers (individuals, corporates and governments) who had insufficient income or assets to pay off the loans undertaken.
- Engaged in and encouraged massive speculation in the currencies, bonds, equity and commodities exchanges.
- Use of leverage in the form of Derivatives and High Frequency Trading to game the process of price fixing on electronic exchanges.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Europe's New Look Economic Austerity / Politics / Economic Austerity
By: Andrew_McKillop
WRONG WAY BET
Defended on French TV channel BFM in an evening marathon looking at Francois Hollande's first year of power, April 29, by his Economy minister and other "party heavyweights" with a lackluster crop of one-liners, viewers saw recent opinion polls asking if French voters would vote again for Hollande, if an election was held today.
Roughly 19% said they would, and 64% said they would vote for Sarkozy if he stood again. Street interviews with average persons, one after another, said they voted the wrong way in 2012.
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Redlines and the Problems of U.S. Military Intervention in Syria / Politics / Middle East
By: STRATFOR
The civil war in Syria, one of the few lasting legacies of the Arab Spring, has been under way for more than two years. There has been substantial outside intervention in the war. The Iranians in particular, and the Russians to a lesser extent, have supported the Alawites under Bashar al Assad. The Saudis and some of the Gulf States have supported the Sunni insurgents in various ways. The Americans, Europeans and Israelis, however, have for the most part avoided involvement.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Bangladesh Clothing Factory Collapse Tragedy Exposes Real Cost of Corporate Greed / Politics / Social Issues
By: Money_Morning
Greg Madison writes: We've known for a long time that the things that fuel our lifestyles can come from some pretty ugly places.
The coltan that's used in our mobile phones and entertainment systems is mostly mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where millions have died in what's been called "Africa's World War." The United Nations has reported that warlords, guilty of numerous crimes against humanity, vie for control of coltan production while enslaving and killing thousands.
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Unburnable Carbon Bubbles / Politics / Climate Change
By: Raul_I_Meijer
A report came out in Britain 10 days ago that deserves more attention than it got. If only because it uses the great term "unburnable carbon", great even before it's defined. It makes me ponder the popular and somewhat crazy claims about shale and fracking leading to US energy independence, the holy grail du jour.
It promises much vaunted freedom from outsiders, but what exactly does it consist of? Does it mean the ability to burn ever more carbon-based energy sources without having to buy them abroad? And does "abroad" include Canada, or do we think of this as an "energy Nafta"? Guys, if you would just waste a bit less of the stuff, you'd have been energy independent ages ago without having to inject tons of toxic concoctions into your land. What on earth are you thinking?
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Monday, April 29, 2013
The Strange History Of Global Warming Fear / Politics / Climate Change
By: Andrew_McKillop
START WITH GLOBAL COOLING FEAR
By the 1830s the science now called "glaciology" was emerging. Swiss and French scientists studying Alpine glacier advance and retreat had pieced together data on historical, meteorological, economic and agricultural changes in the Alpine region and constructed models for glacier advance and retreat that were unsettling to established scientific opinion. In particular the also-emerging science of what is now called "geology" was dominated at the time by the views of the "father of modern geology", the British scientist James Hutton, who was opposed to glaciology from the start.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Proof That Washington Hates America / Politics / US Politics
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes: Politics as usual has always been hard on the American people, but with the sequester, Washington has crossed the line this time.
All the sequester craziness has proven that our elected officials are not only inept, selfish, money-squandering bozos - they're also willing to actually inflict harm on the American people for political gain.
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Monday, April 29, 2013
Obama Turns America’s Retirement Dreams into Nightmares / Politics / Pensions & Retirement
By: Money_Morning
Keith Fitz-Gerald writes: If you think the U.S. government will not - or cannot - seize your money the way the government in Cyprus is doing, check out page 18 of the President's Proposed Fiscal Year 2014 Budget of the U.S. Government.
That's exactly what he intends to do.
Not years from now. Not decades from now.
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Sunday, April 28, 2013
Ron Paul - Why Liberty Was Also Attacked in Boston / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Forced lockdown of a city. Militarized police riding tanks in the streets. Door-to-door armed searches without warrant. Families thrown out of their homes at gunpoint to be searched without probable cause. Businesses forced to close. Transport shut down.
These were not the scenes from a military coup in a far off banana republic, but rather the scenes just over a week ago in Boston as the United States got a taste of martial law. The ostensible reason for the military-style takeover of parts of Boston was that the accused perpetrator of a horrific crime was on the loose. The Boston bombing provided the opportunity for the government to turn what should have been a police investigation into a military-style occupation of an American city. This unprecedented move should frighten us as much or more than the attack itself.
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Sunday, April 28, 2013
Economic Recovery - Who Won? The 93% or the 7%? Why? / Politics / Economic Recovery
By: Mike_Shedlock
Economic trends since 2009 show A Rise in Wealth for the Wealthy; Declines for the Lower 93%
Read full article... Read full article...During the first two years of the nation's economic recovery, the mean net worth of households in the upper 7% of the wealth distribution rose by an estimated 28%, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93% dropped by 4%, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly released Census Bureau data.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Secretary General Ban Boosts Boom In Green Energy / Politics / Renewable Energy
By: Andrew_McKillop
WELCOME TO THE BUBBLE
Lord Stern, chairman of the London School of Economics' Grantham Research Institute said this month that some 60%-80% of oil, gas and coal reserves and resources owned by the world's major stock exchange listed energy and natural resource firms "need to be left in the ground if the world wants to tackle climate change". To be sure, the market value of these companies could fall by that amount, or more, due to their forward investment spending being based on increasing future output and sales.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
The Fed Responsible for Grandest Larceny of All Time / Politics / Central Banks
By: Bill_Bonner
Gold seems to be coming back fast. It rose $38 per ounce yesterday.
Of course, the Fed's monetary meddling doesn't work. And it will most likely cause a financial disaster.
But the biggest scandal of today's central bank policy is that it is essentially the grandest larceny of all time.
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Saturday, April 27, 2013
The US Turned India into a Dangerous Nuclear Power / Politics / India
By: LewRockwell
Eric Margolis: While the United States beats the war drums over North Korea and Iran’s long-ranged nuclear armed missiles –which they don’t even possess – Washington remains curiously silent about the arrival of the world’s newest member of the big nuke club – India.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
U.S. Government Manipulated Economic Statistics / Politics / Economic Statistics
By: Peter_Schiff
Don Draper, Mad Men's master advertiser likes to say "when you don't like what they are saying, change the conversation." When it comes to the current economic weakness, which was confirmed again today by the release of lower than expected GDP data, Washington would love do just that. Fortunately for them, they consistently outdo the master minds of Madison Avenue when it comes to misdirection. If the government doesn't like what people are saying, they don't bother just to change the conversation, they change the meaning of the words.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
The Old Are Prospering at the Expense of the Youth / Politics / US Politics
By: Bloomberg
Billionaire financier and Home Depot founder Ken Langone guest-hosted Bloomberg TV's "Market Makers" today and discussed the U.S. economy, the Obama administration, generational theft, along with Wall Street banks and director pay.
On generational theft: "I like to get a bunch of old geezers in the room and say, you're on an island with your grandchild. You have one meal left. One of you is going to starve to death. What are you as a grandfather going to do? Everyone says, I give the food to my grandchild. They are not doing that now. We are not doing that now."
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Friday, April 26, 2013
From Subprime Crisis to QE3 the Federal Reserve has Failed America / Politics / Central Banks
By: Richard_Mills
Alan Greenspan was chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to early 2006. Greenspan used monetary policy to ignite one of the longest economic booms in history. Of course booms can soon turn to bust and nowhere was the boom more evident than in the housing industry - the sub-prime crisis collapsed the housing boom just after Greenspan left the Fed.
Sub-Prime Crisis
"The banking problems of the '80s and '90s came primarily, but not exclusively, from unsound real estate lending." L. William Seidman, former chairman of both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Resolution Trust Corporation
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Friday, April 26, 2013
American Empires Drone Wars Flow On / Politics / War on Terror
By: Michael_S_Rozeff
As far back as May 8, 2009, Tom Englehardt (in an LRC article) mentioned reports that drones in Pakistan had killed "hundreds of bystanders". (I haven't searched for the earliest such reports.) By October, 2012, a 36-page study appeared out of Columbia Law School, and I believe it was not the first. Analysts for quite some time had begun saying that drone strikes created more terrorists than they killed, and that the people being targeted were not "high" terrorist figures. There was also a great deal of criticism of second strikes on funerals for the people killed. But drone policy was Obama's baby, and he favored it.