Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Loss of National Identity / Politics / US Politics
By: Andy_Sutton
“Good Housekeeping? – An Op-Ed” - I am writing this article not as an economic or financial analyst, which is my normal mode of operation. This article has nothing to do with economic, financial markets, or any related topics. What it has to do with is the undeniable reality that we as a nation are failing miserably in one of the most basic precepts of civilization and that is to leave things better than we found them. When you think about it that is how true advancement takes place.
Friday, October 14, 2011
The Discipline of Government / Politics / US Politics
By: Richard_Mills
In my article The Politics of Personal Destruction I presented the case that the Federal Reserve was responsible for the Great Depression because of its extremely tight monetary policy.
In 1963 Friedman, and coauthor Anna J. Schwartz, published A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. In it, the authors claimed that the Great Depression would have been a typical downturn had it not been for policy errors made by the Federal Reserve. US Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke also believes if the Fed had provided enough money to banks and bought US securities the Great Depression would not of happened.
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Friday, October 14, 2011
These Three Men Represent Everything That's Wrong with Wall Street / Politics / Credit Crisis 2011
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes:
I've already expressed my desire to embrace the Occupy Wall Street movement. I said last week that I would join in whole-heartedly if I knew exactly what the protesters were trying to achieve.
But I don't know - and I'm not convinced they do, either.
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Friday, October 14, 2011
OCCUPY WALL STREET: Separating Fact from Media / Politics / US Politics
By: Walter_Brasch
Newspaper columnist Ann Coulter, spreading the lies of the extreme right wing, called the Occupy Wall Street protestors, “tattooed, body-pierced, sunken-chested 19-year-olds getting in fights with the police for fun.” She claimed the protestors, now in the thousands in New York, are “directionless losers [who] pose for cameras while uttering random liberal clichés lacking any reason or coherence.” (Several hundred thousand of these “directionless losers” are expected to attend rallies in more than 650 cities, Oct. 15.)
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Friday, October 14, 2011
The Jobless, the Homeless, the Shiftless, Vive La Revolution! / Politics / US Politics
By: Bill_Bonner
The Occupy Wall Street movement is getting a fair amount of press. The movement, as you know, dear reader, is a loose assembly of the jobless, the homeless and the shiftless. Troublemakers, every one of them, with no coherent or sensible view of what is wrong or how to fix it. But what’s wrong with that?
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Forcing Investment Advisors to “Identify” Suspected Terrorists / Politics / Canada
By: Rob_Kirby
Are Animal Rights Activists Terrorists?
Something which has created a stir in the alternative media [the derelict mainstream have long ceased reporting the news] in the past couple of days is a report concerning new steps being required of investment advisors in Canada relating to their KYC [Know Your Client] procedures. This was first brought to my attention by Jeff Berwick [The Dollar Vigilante] and I’d advise everyone to read his piece on this here. These new steps involve / require investment advisors to complete a questionnaire – prepared by a national regulatory body called FINTRAC – to help investment advisors “identify” suspected terrorists.
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Thursday, October 13, 2011
Currency Bill Is a Small Victory Against Currency Manipulation / Politics / US Politics
By: Ian_Fletcher
The Senate yesterday passed S.1619, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act. (Click here for the bill's text.)
Although this bill isn't a slam-bang solution to the problem of foreign currency manipulation (especially by China), it's a big step in the right direction.
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Thursday, October 13, 2011
Occupy Wall Street: Are Mindless Americans Falling Prey to the New Revolution Business and Its Collectivist Trap? / Politics / US Politics
By: Patrick_Henningsen
A disturbing new trend has quietly taken hold over simultaneous nationwide protests in the United States over the last few weeks.
Visible throughout the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests, is a technique dubbed as “The People’s Microphone”. It has been deployed nationwide, and is fast becoming the dominant vehicle for group interaction and communication. So what is it?
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Wednesday, October 12, 2011
The European Crash Dummies Will Hit the Greek Brick Wall / Politics / Global Debt Crisis
By: Gary_North
A crash dummy has some of the physical characteristics of a human being. It is used to test the safety of the interior of a car that has suffered a major accident. A pair of dummies are strapped into the front seat of a car that is on a track. Then the car is run into a wall at high speed. The engineers then examine what happened to the dummies. If the dummies had been human beings, would they have been killed? Dismembered?
Monday, October 10, 2011
Putin's New Vision of 'Eurasia' / Politics / Russia
By: OilPrice_Com
Many western politicians have harbored deep suspicions of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Vladimorovich Putin since he first emerged on the Russian political stage in 1999.
This is hardly surprising, given his KGB background, though those with longer historical memories will recall that Yuri Andropov came from the same organization and that the West grudgingly found a way to work with him.
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Monday, October 10, 2011
Ron Paul on U.S. State Assassinating American Citizens Sets Dangerous Precedent / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
According to the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution, Americans are never to be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The Constitution is not some aspirational statement of values, allowing exceptions when convenient, but rather, it is the law of the land. It is the basis of our Republic and our principal bulwark against tyranny.
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Monday, October 10, 2011
The US Empire: A Tragic Comedy in Three Acts / Politics / US Politics
By: Bill_Bonner
What a delight it is to have an empire!
Do the Swiss get to send out drones to kill people they don’t know in countries they’ve never been? No! The poor yodelers go around with long faces and visit their shrinks. Americans have troops in 170 countries. Where are the Swiss? Only in Switzerland and the Vatican. Alas, they will never know the joys of nation building and people murdering.
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Monday, October 10, 2011
China Currency Bill: Politics vs. Economics, Is the U.S. ready for a global trade war? / Politics / US Politics
By: EconMatters
The latest move on China politics at Washington is the China currency bill, due at the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Oct. 12. The proposal would levy tariffs on China and four other Asian countries for artificially depressing the value of their currencies to boost their exports.
To us, it seems evident that those in Washington have not thought this through completely (or chose to ignore). Here is how the math would work.
Sunday, October 09, 2011
Electric Car Fairy Stories / Politics / US Auto's
By: Andrew_McKillop
Ernst & Young reports, October 3, that 52% of its market analyst respondents think Europe will be the first mass market for electric vehicles, by 2022, while 39% say that dubious honour will go to China. Many are uncertain on the USA's rank in the EV boom, and often place the prospective US market lower than Europe, China and Japan. About 37 % of Ernst & Young's respondents think that Japan, with its $12.7 trillion sovereign debt (but only $9 trillion according to the CIA) will strive to find new ways to drive up its debt with massive state subsidies to electric car builders, buyers, battery suppliers and all-comers to the EV spending party.
Saturday, October 08, 2011
God, Gold, Groceries, and Guns / Politics / US Politics
By: Gary_North
I wrote an article with this title on June 6, 1980 in my newsletter, Remnant Review. It is time for a follow-up.
The four G's seemed prudent in 1980. In early 1980, the American economy was suffering from the worst peacetime price inflation in its history. That was about to reverse due to the Federal Reserve's decision under Paul Volcker the previous August to reduce the rate of growth in money and let interest rates soar. This would lead to a recession.
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Saturday, October 08, 2011
Debt Deflation in Europe and America / Politics / Global Debt Crisis
By: Michael_Hudson
“Without consumption, markets are going to shrink.Companies won’t invest, stores will close, “for rent” signs will spread on the main streets and local tax revenues will fall. Companies will lay off their employees and the economy will shrink more. Why aren’t economists talking about theseeffects of debt deflation, which are becoming the distinguishing phenomenon of our time?Theyadvocategiving more money to the banks, hoping that somehoweverything will be okay, as if the banks would lend out the money to fund new production and employment.Mainstream economics and political leaders in both parties are failing to askwhy the banks are using these giveaways to speculate abroad, pay their managers bonuses and high salaries or to pay dividends rather than to lend to small businesses or do other things to actually get the economy moving again. This phenomenon cannot be explained without seeing that debt service is siphoning off revenue into the financial sector, which is not recycling it back into the production-and-consumption economy.”
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Eurozone Debt Crisis: Disruptions of Financial Markets Worldwide / Politics / Global Debt Crisis
By: Bob_Chapman
Saving the euro, the euro zone and the European Union obviously is far more important to Europe politician’s and their masters than any national interests.
After having lost seven elections in a row the Christian Democratic Union and their partners in Germany still voted 523 to 85 for an extension of money and power to the European Financial Stability Facility, the EFSF. We would say the yes voters stand a good chance of defeat at their next elections, especially when 75% of Germans were at odds with the vote. The big loser was the CDU partner’s, the Free Democratic Party that under the constitution must garner 5% of the vote to stay eligible. The power position of the CDU could well be in jeopardy.
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Friday, October 07, 2011
United States versus China Round Two / Politics / Protectionism
By: Richard_Mills
The Chinese government, in an effort to maximize exports and minimize US imports, prints their Yuan to buy dollars. This prevents their currency from rising and the dollar from falling. Then it loans those same dollars back to America by buying US debt.
Friday, October 07, 2011
Dear Occupy Wall Street: Will You Stand with Me? / Politics / US Politics
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes:
Dear Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators,
Let me start by saying that I applaud your initiative. Grassroots protests are the essence of democracy. And as we've seen with the Tea Party movement and the Arab Spring, nonviolent protests are a powerful way to effect meaningful change.
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Friday, October 07, 2011
Bank of England Increases QE by £75 billion / Politics / Quantitative Easing
By: Bob_Kirtley
Well,well,well, here we go again, more printing of money as the Bank of England announced that its quantitative easing (QE) programme will be increased by another £75 billion shortly. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee is taking its asset purchase initiative up to a total of £275 billion.
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