Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Friday, October 07, 2011
Obama Makes Bad U.S. Trade Situation Worse / Politics / US Politics
By: Ian_Fletcher
This Monday, Obama submitted the long-pending Colombia, Panama, and South Korea free trade agreements to Congress. White House chief of staff William Daley has promised to pass them by the end of the month.
Guess the need for campaign cash finally caught up with the administration.
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Friday, October 07, 2011
European Politicians Fiddling While the Euro Burns / Politics / Euro
By: John_Browne
Last week, eurozone finance ministers postponed, yet again, the most difficult decisions on the Greek debt crisis. The assembled powers could have forced an orderly Greek default or they could have taken steps to push Greece out of the union. Instead, they simply bought time until the next major rollover of Greek debt - which comes due in November. I don't expect much to come from the brief respite.
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Thursday, October 06, 2011
Steve Jobs and the Beautification of Capitalism / Politics / Economic Theory
By: Jeffrey_A_Tucker
The day that Steve Jobs resigned from Apple, hosannas for his life's work and accomplishments erupted (and rightly) from every corner of the earth (or the blogosphere, in any case). He was universally hailed as a genius. He was praised for changing and upgrading our lives in so many ways. He was treated as an innovator who dedicated himself to the well-being of society, and accomplished miracles none of us mere mortals could have imagined. He did more than dream; he acted and created one of the great companies on the planet, a company that has enabled us to live out our own dreams.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
Three Reasons the China Currency Bill Will Backfire / Politics / Fiat Currency
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes: A Senate bill that aims to restore American jobs by punishing China for its undervalued currency may resonate with a frustrated American public, but it won't work.
In fact, instead creating jobs, the bill is more likely to trigger a damaging trade war with China and increase retail prices for Americans - further hurting the consumer spending that has already been undermined by high unemployment.
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Thursday, October 06, 2011
The Fed Twists, the Market Shouts / Politics / Central Banks
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week the Federal Reserve began the second incarnation of "Operation Twist", an attempt to drive down interest rates by purchasing long-term Treasury debt and selling short-term debt. This is just the latest instance of the central bank desperately flailing around doing something merely for the sake of doing something. Fed officials still do not understand – or admit – that the Fed itself caused the financial crisis by driving interest rates too low and relentlessly expanding the money supply. Thus, this latest action will just exacerbate the problem.
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Wednesday, October 05, 2011
U.S. Debt Crisis, What America Needs is Hope / Politics / US Debt
By: James_Quinn
Finch: Why are you doing this?
Evey Hammond: Because he was right.
Finch: About what?
Evey Hammond: That the world needs more than just a building right now. It needs hope.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Occupy Wall Street: A Story without Heroes / Politics / US Politics
By: MISES
The "Occupy Wall Street" movement is spreading. Protests have appeared in Los Angeles and Washington, DC. The drama has become palpable, featuring a march on LA's city hall, confrontations with police, and mass arrests.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Turkey and Russia Spar Over Natural Gas Prices / Politics / Natural Gas
By: OilPrice_Com
While few people in the world have warm feelings for energy companies beyond perhaps their stockholders, Russia’s state-owned natural gas monopoly Gazprom has shown an unrivalled and unique capacity to alienate is customers over the past two decades since the collapse of the USSR.
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Tuesday, October 04, 2011
The Day America Died / Politics / US Politics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
September 30, 2011 was the day America was assassinated.
Some of us have watched this day approach and have warned of its coming, only to be greeted with boos and hisses from “patriots” who have come to regard the US Constitution as a device that coddles criminals and terrorists and gets in the way of the President who needs to act to keep us safe.
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Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Occupy Wall Street Has Been Battling The Cops, the Counterrevolution Builds / Politics / Credit Crisis 2011
By: Danny_Schechter
By it actions, Occupy Wall Street is puncturing myths like these:
l. The Myth that direct action against the center of financial power can’t be sustained’
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Monday, October 03, 2011
Waiting for Bastiat: The Curse Mutates to Austerity / Politics / Global Debt Crisis
By: Andrew_Butter
The smart-set Claude Frédéric Bastiat called the “sophisticates” are holding their breath, this time waiting for November when there is a glimmer of hope that the plan to make a plan to deal with the Euro-zone banking crisis will distil into a…Plan.
Which is a bit of a turnaround from what the elegant European monetary affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia pronounced in February 2010…“There is no bailout and no "plan-B" for the Greek economy because there is no risk it will default on its debt”, oh dear, looks like the inevitable is just…inevitable, regardless of what King Canute said.
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Monday, October 03, 2011
Greek Cabinet to Fire 20% of Public Sector Workers To Meet Troika Austerity Targets / Politics / Global Debt Crisis
By: Mike_Shedlock
Government workers make up 20% of the Greek labor force. Worse yet, most of them cannot be fired for virtually any reason. That is about to change, and it's a much needed change for the better.
However, the idea that it will reduce the budget deficit to required levels by 2012 or even 2014 is ludicrous. When that does not happen larger haircuts will be unavoidable.
Monday, October 03, 2011
Will The U.S. Ever Build A Strategic Metals Reserve? / Politics / Metals & Mining
By: Anthony_David
In late August, Michael N. Silver, president and chairman of the board of American Elements—a company that manufactures engineered and advanced materials—suggested that the United States should build a Strategic Metals Reserve (SMR) in an effort to protect its manufacturing and defense interests in case of an embargo by any nation, especially China. He pointed out that earlier this year China had already used its strategic position in the rare earths market against Japan.
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Sunday, October 02, 2011
Unions Promise Support As Occupy WallStreet Enters Third Week / Politics / US Politics
By: Danny_Schechter
There had been rumor on Friday that the band Radiohead would be dropping by the #Occupy Wall Street encampment.
They had just been on the Colbert Report, and their fan base is huge among the very demographic of younger people drawn to the protests now beginning their third week.
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Saturday, October 01, 2011
Rip-Off Conspiracy, the United States of Banks / Politics / Central Banks
By: Gary_North
You probably missed any media coverage of the September 26 speech by Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Sarah Raskin. The media ignored it. You would be wise not to ignore it.
There were a few brief news reports about it. There was no detailed analysis. The media usually ignore speeches by any FED Board member other than Bernanke.
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Friday, September 30, 2011
Is The War On Terror A Hoax? / Politics / US Politics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
In the past decade, Washington has killed, maimed, dislocated, and made widows and orphans millions of Muslims in six countries, all in the name of the “war on terror.” Washington’s attacks on the countries constitute naked aggression and impact primarily civilian populations and infrastructure and, thereby, constitute war crimes under law. Nazis were executed precisely for what Washington is doing today.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Financial Warfare: How Short Sellers Fleece Investors / Politics / Financial Markets 2011
By: Ellen_Brown
Why did gold and silver stocks just get hammered, at a time when commodities are considered a safe haven against widespread global uncertainty? The answer, according to Bill Murphy’s newsletter LeMetropoleCafe.com, is that the sector has been the target of massive short selling. For some popular precious metal stocks, close to half the trades have been “phantom” sales by short sellers who did not actually own the stock.
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Friday, September 30, 2011
Fed Counterfeiter's Cry: Trust Me! / Politics / Central Banks
By: Gary_North
Sarah Bloom Raskin is a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. She is a lawyer. She is a banking lawyer and has earned her living for her entire career as a government banking regulator.
On September 26, she gave a Bernanke-imitating speech on the rotten job market: "Monetary Policy and Job Creation." Does it come as a surprise that she promotes monetary inflation as the solution to unemployment?
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Friday, September 30, 2011
U.S. States to Financially Break Away from Federal Government / Politics / US Politics
By: Submissions
Ron Hera submits: arlier this week I attended the Utah Monetary Summit in Salt Lake City, Utah. As you may know, the state of Utah passed a Legal Tender Act earlier this year authorizing the use of federally minted gold and silver coins as money in the state of Utah. Now, legislators in other states, many of whom attended the Monetary Summit, are evaluating similar legislation.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Yearning for a Currency Debaser’s Prison / Politics / Fiat Currency
By: Aftab_Singh
Until the mid-19th century, the means of retribution for the stiffed creditor was debtor’s prison. If the creditor could not see the return of his capital, then at least he could temper the pain and humiliation by witnessing the incarceration of the defaulted debtor. In our age of monetary lunacy, it would seem that some of the world’s more dollar-dependent central bankers are quietly (or perhaps not-so-quietly), yearning for a similarly harsh ‘debaser’s prison’. Here I speculate about the peculiar world of the dollar-dependent central banker and consider the consequences of the dearth of entrepreneurial spirit in the money production business.