Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
How the Economic Stimulus Racket Works / Politics / Economic Stimulus
By: MISES
Charlie Virgo writes: Have you ever noticed that the failed policies of politicians never really seem to be brought to light? How is it that despite their obvious shortcomings, the same policies are implemented time and time again? These interventions rarely have the promised effects, but they are somehow still deemed a success. In his book The Vision of the Anointed, Thomas Sowell explains the process by which politicians and their supporters are able to either create or take advantage of crises in order to increase their involvement in society. I thought it would be worthwhile to review this pattern as it applies to a more recent issue: the stimulus and bailout packages.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Nuclear Power, The Economic Dirty Bomb / Politics / Nuclear Power
By: Andrew_McKillop
Within the next 15 years as many as 100 industry standard 900 MW nuclear reactors, concentrated in the "old nuclear' countries will have to be decommissioned, dismantled and made safe - unless the sinister farce of reactor operating lifetime extensions goes on playing. In some countries, especially Germany, Switzerland and probably Japan this farce has already ended or could end very soon. When it does, nuclear debt will go into overdrive from its already high gear shift setting.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Euro-zone Sovereign Government Debt, Too Many Emergency Meetings in Europe / Politics / Global Debt Crisis
By: Gary_North
If the sovereign government debt situation in Europe is anywhere near a final economic solution, why do the heads of Germany and France keep meeting? These meetings are getting more frequent.
Why didn't all the previous meetings solve the economic problem of PIIGS debt?
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Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Krugman's New Extraterrestrial Economic Plan For America / Politics / Economic Theory
By: Jeff_Berwick
The collapse of the US Government and US dollar is really turning into some of the best entertainment you can find. We've been enjoying it for the profit alone with our large position in gold and hard asset related investments. Just the humor, however, is worth the price of admission. We've stopped watching comedy movies. Will Ferrell can't beat this.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
As Economy Crumbles, Media Goes into Ritual Politics Mode / Politics / US Politics
By: Danny_Schechter
And so it came to pass, as predicted, projected, and warned about, that the economy is about to tank again. No less an authority than Nouriel Roubini, once dismissed as “Dr. Doom” for his accurate predictions of the financial crisis in 2007 and 20088, is shaking his head and pointing his finger again.
In intellectual circles, there’s more and more talk about the fall of America. Even Noam Chomsky who wrote some of his 150 books about the rise of the American empire sees the handwriting on the wall.
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Monday, August 15, 2011
U.S. Debt Rating Downgrade, S&P States the Obvious / Politics / US Debt
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Politicians did not get much time to pat themselves on the back for supposedly rescuing the economy with the debt limit deal last week. The ink was barely dry when Standard & Poor's downgraded the US debt ratings anyway, roiling world financial markets. Anyone who has taken an honest look at the government's fiscal situation, taken into account how Washington works and the direction it is going would have a very difficult time arguing with S&P's decision, although a strong case can be made that this was too incremental a downgrade and that it took far too long for S&P to admit the obvious.
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Monday, August 15, 2011
U.S. Super Congress, Representation, Secession and Taxation / Politics / US Politics
By: BATR
Now that the Super Congress drops any vestige of equal representation within the House or the Senate, many people ask what is next. The concept of a republic form of government is a core element that separates the American experience from that of most "so called" democratic countries. The funeral for our Republic deserves to be the newest national holiday. Most oblivious taxpayers do not even know that the death of the constitution occurred well before any of us were born. Yet, the country carries along with the myth that out vote counts in elections and that we have representation in the halls and corridors of government.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Glenn Beck Is No Ron Paul / Politics / US Politics
By: LewRockwell
Aaron David Ward writes: For a man who claims to be a principled defender of freedom, Glenn Beck leaves a lot to be desired. He talks out of both sides of his mouth and never seems to miss an opportunity to bash Congressman Paul who is one of the few principled defenders of liberty in a position of power seemingly left in the U.S.
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Monday, August 15, 2011
Ben Bernanke Pledges To Screw Your Grandmother For At Least Two More Years / Politics / Quantitative Easing
By: James_Quinn
"A system of capitalism presumes sound money, not fiat money manipulated by a central bank. Capitalism cherishes voluntary contracts and interest rates that are determined by savings, not credit creation by a central bank." - Ron Paul
Sunday, August 14, 2011
U.S. Debt Classification Game is Over / Politics / US Debt
By: Fred_Sheehan
Standard & Poor's downgrade of the United States Treasury Department is a harbinger of changing times. The institutional mind has been trained to operate within the framework of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). The CAPM is a formula, designed by professors, that assigns assets to distinct and simple categories. It filled a need when the investment management industry drew in the masses. Not, in this case, the mass of investors, but the mass of so-called investment professionals, that include consultants to pension plans, endowments, and foundations. Most of the well-compensated consultants have little understanding of investing, so substitute vocabulary for thought. The same is true of the professors who hand each other Nobel Prizes and collect seven-figure consulting fees for pontificating.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Are British Police to Blame for Extent of London Riots and Looting? / Politics / UK Politics
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Whilst The US was being stripped of its AAA credit rating London high streets were being stripped of their consumer goods. Many thousands of residents and business owners were all saying the same thing, "Where is the Police?"
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Death Star Washington Mulls The U.S. Dollar's End / Politics / US Dollar
By: Andrew_McKillop
What is is not in doubt is that the world's single reserve currency is nearing the end of its viability at
least in its current form. The only other two options, the euro and the yen, are in as bad or worse shape
regarding the fundamentals of the economies they are based on. The end game has arrived for the
current monetary system which began for the US in the 1930s, and for the world with Bretton Woods in
1944. The US sub prime crisis, Japan's Fukushima disaster, and Europe's PIIGS rout are the final nails
in the coffin of the dollar reserve system, which in "gold money" terms already died a long time ago - in
1971 - when Nixon pulled the plug on official and fixed dollar convertibility with gold. This system
was far from ancient and only dated from 1933, with Roosevelt (who pegged the dollar to .888 grams of
gold, or $35 per ounce). This was therefore at maximum a 38-year "gold money interlude", suspended
during the war years and only covering, in fact, about 33 years.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
The World's Money Is Draining Away ... Where's It Going? / Politics / Global Debt Crisis
By: Washingtons_Blog
Spiegel asks:
"Is The World Going Bankrupt?"
That is an odd question.
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Saturday, August 13, 2011
Fiat Money and the British Riots / Politics / UK Politics
By: MISES
Andy Duncan writes: This is going to be tricky to do from a hillside in Cornwall, with a flaky mobile connection and an iPad with a one-letter-at-a-time keyboard. However, it's pouring down with rain this August morning, so let's examine the real sickness at the heart of British society, which is the constant-inflation policy of the British government.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
U.S. Debt Crisis Built on Kindness of Strangers and a Broken Promise / Politics / US Debt
By: Richard_Mills
The public debt is the money borrowed by the US federal government. The government borrows the money through the issue of securities by the Treasury and other federal government agencies.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Ukraine to Cut Gazprom's Umbilical Cord? / Politics / Natural Gas
By: OilPrice_Com
Sometimes it's not easy being Russia's neighbor - just ask Ukraine. Ever since the 1991 implosion of the USSR, Ukraine's relations with Russia have appeared between coldly formal and outright hostility, with a major irritant being the increasingly high prices Gazprom charges for natural gas.
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Saturday, August 13, 2011
Debt Crisis Solutions Getting Dumb and Dumber / Politics / Global Debt Crisis
By: HRA_Advisory
Europeans came up with a Band-Aid for the Greek crisis, and the markets applauded. Markets were buoyed by the fact the facilities set up for Greece were clearly designed to be used for some of the other Euro area basket cases if need be. Core country leadership reiterated their unwillingness to force default or push peripheral countries out of the Eurozone. This is admirable perhaps, but it does narrow the options for future arm twisting quite a bit.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Federal Economic Stimulus Solution, Mint a Few $1 Trillion Coins? / Politics / Economic Stimulus
By: Gary_North
Ellen Brown in late November, 2010, became Bernanke's cheerleader. She loved QE2. She wants more of the same. Way more.
She wants more government spending. Way more spending. Gigantically more spending. She wants it NOW.
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Friday, August 12, 2011
Brazil’s Geopolitical Imperatives / Politics / Brazil
By: John_Mauldin
Continued from Part 1 here.
Geopolitical imperatives are broad, strategic goals a country must pursue if it is to achieve security and success. These are non-ideological paths determined by the geography of a given country and by the geography of its neighbors. Geopolitical imperatives typically nest: The second imperative is dependent upon the first imperative, the third upon the second, and so on. This is not the case for Brazil, however.
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Friday, August 12, 2011
Brazil Geopolitics, An Emergent Economic Power’s Struggle with Geography / Politics / Brazil
By: John_Mauldin
Just last week in Thoughts from the Frontline, we discussed the relative valuations of emerging markets. Any discussion of an emerging market is incomplete without understanding the underlying geopolitical forces that guide behaviors of countries and often predetermine the outcome of events. Today I’m sending you STRATFOR’s geopolitical analysis of Brazil, a much-discussed emerging market. This is a long read, but it’s the most thorough and enlightening analysis I’ve seen thus far on how the continent’s geography has shaped Brazil’s history to date, and the major challenges the the country faces today. Hint: Brazil’s biggest problems are an overvalued "real," Mercosur, and an Asian giant (you guess which one…).