Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Greece, Europe Briefing For A Descent Into Hell / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Raul_I_Meijer
Oh well, some are more equal than others. One day after Eurogroup head Dijsselbloem says France won’t get any more lenience …
France Must Respect EU Budget Rules
Read full article... Read full article...France must meet EU budget targets or risk damaging the bloc’s entire framework for policing countries’ spending plans, the head of the Eurogroup said on Tuesday. “I don’t think small or larger countries should be treated differently … It is crucial for the credibility of the whole fiscal framework that also France commits to it, both in fiscal terms and in reform terms,” Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chair meetings of eurozone finance ministers, told the European Parliament. “I think that the Commission has allowed itself and France more time to scrutinise the figures but also to take more measures and prepare more proposals. The Commission will assess them first and then report to us at the beginning of March.”
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
What To Do While Waiting to End the Fed / Politics / US Federal Reserve Bank
By: MISES
John P. Cochran writes: There is a sliver of good news on the central banking front. Given the Fed’s poor performance before and after the 2007–08 financial crisis and Great Recession, and its now recognized 100 year history of failure, at least some members of Congress, even without Ron Paul, are now willing to consider major reform. Many libertarians who recognize that the correct long-run reform is to “End the Fed” — or essentially eliminate central banking (see here or here) — have focused most on the Audit the Fed Bill. On the other hand, non-Austrian economists have been more focused on the Federal Reserve Accountability and Transparency Act and its aimed reform: a rules based policy rather than current Fed discretionary policy which is counter-productive, if not destructive of prosperity.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
How to Borrow Cheaply from a Government-Owned Bank / Politics / Banking Stocks
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes: The free market for banking services in the United States isn't a free market at all.
The truth is the biggest commercial banks in America operate with virtual impunity as a government-subsidized, government-protected oligopoly.
So, why don't we drop the pretense that government-owned banks don't belong in a free market economy and create a network of honest state-owned banks to compete with so-called private banks?
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Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Europe - The Intersection of Three Crises / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: STRATFOR
Reva Bhalla writes: Within the past two weeks, a temporary deal to keep Greece in the eurozone was reached in Brussels, a cease-fire roadmap was agreed to in Minsk and Iranian negotiators advanced a potential nuclear deal in Geneva. Squadrons of diplomats have forestalled one geopolitical crisis after another. Yet it would be premature, even reckless, to assume that the fault lines defining these issues are effectively stable. Understanding how these crises are inextricably linked is the first step toward assessing when and where the next flare-up is likely to occur.
Monday, February 23, 2015
U.S. Interventionism Kills Post-Coup Ukraine / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
It was one year ago last weekend that a violent coup overthrew the legally elected government of Ukraine. That coup was not only supported by US and EU governments -- much of it was actually planned by them. Looking back at the events that led to the overthrow it is clear that without foreign intervention Ukraine would not be in its current, seemingly hopeless situation.
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Monday, February 23, 2015
Swimming With Sharks: Goldman Sachs, Schools and Capital Appreciation Bonds / Politics / Banksters
By: Ellen_Brown
Remember when Goldman Sachs—dubbed by Matt Taibbi the Vampire Squid—sold derivatives to Greece so the government could conceal its debt, then bet against that debt, driving it up? It seems that the ubiquitous investment bank has also put the squeeze on California and its school districts. Not that Goldman was alone in this; but the unscrupulous practices of the bank once called the undisputed king of the municipal bond business epitomize the culture of greed that has ensnared students and future generations in unrepayable debt.
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Monday, February 23, 2015
Greece Crisis - Throw Your Grandma Under The Bus / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Raul_I_Meijer
Before we get news in a few hours on the new proposals Greece is required to hand to its slavemasters today, Monday Feb 23, it seems relevant to point out one more time that what is happening to Greece is the result of political, not economic, decisions and points of view. One could argue that Greece is being thrown under the bus because it’s not – yet – deeply enough entangled and enmeshed in the global financial matrix. Just think back to a point Gordon Kerr of Cobden Partners made a few days ago on Bloomberg:
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Greece Surrenders to Troika / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Stephen_Lendman
Instead of renouncing its odious debt and walking away, Athens agreed to pay bankers first, maintain austerity, and let long-suffering Greeks continue taking the hindmost.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
50 Shades of Greece / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Raul_I_Meijer
When it comes to the ongoing Greek question, I see a lot of people eagerly jump to conclusions, after the ‘debt deal’, that I don’t think are justified; certainly not yet. The overall conviction in the press seems to be that Syriza has given in on just about all fronts, and Germany and Dijsselbloem are the big winners.
But since that may well be the exact position Syriza wants ‘the other side’ to be in, where they think they have prevailed, one will have to try and think a few steps ahead before judging the situation. There’s far more grey area here than many pundits seem to assume, easily 50 shades of it.
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Sunday, February 22, 2015
Is Putin's Russia Ready For Total Economic War With the West? / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Ron_Holland
On February 18, 1943, German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels delivered a rousing speech at the Berlin Sportpalast, asking the German people, "Sind Sie bereit für totalen Krieg?" or "Are you ready for total War?" Germany had planned for Blitzkrieg and a short war and was unprepared for a world war as the combined military forces of the United States, England and the Soviet Union crushed the Reich relentlessly and systematically. Although the people and economy rallied in defense of Germany, total war only prolonged the horrors of war and delayed their inevitable defeat.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Greece Is Fixed! Oh, Wait... / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: John_Rubino
Minutes ago, eurozone finance ministers announced that they've agreed to give Greece four months of breathing room in which to get its financial house in order. In that time, Greece will either work out a debt restructuring with its creditors or create a fully-functioning economy capable of managing the developed world's second highest ratio of government debt-to-GDP.
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Friday, February 20, 2015
Varoufakis’s Revolutionary Plan for Europe - Don't Tell Anyone in Berlin / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Mike_Whitney
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Friday, February 20, 2015
How Germany Can Save Greece and the EU / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Investment_U
Ryan Fitzwater writes: The European debt crisis has been chugging along for six years. But until recently, the financial media was more concerned with volatility in the U.S. markets.
Now our focus has finally turned back to our neighbors across the Atlantic. Specifically, the debt crisis in Greece.
Here’s what’s going on.
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Friday, February 20, 2015
Greece Crisis - Germany Rejects Greek Trojan Horse Bridge Financing Loan Con / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Germany has rejected Greece's request for a 6 month bridging loan to finance Greek public sector expenditure into the end of August 2015, which Germany labeled as a trojan horse as it would have been without any of the existing conditions for economic reform which would allow Syrizia-Greece to implement its marxist anti-austerity programme at huge euro-zone tax payers expense.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Body Language Hints Greece Is Not For Turning / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Submissions
Anthony Alfidi writes: Tonight's NPR Marketplace broadcast repeated a Margaret Thatcher quote relevant to Greece's negotiating position: "The lady's not for turning." It is a very pithy assessment of the Greek approach to the eurogroup. The two sides met today and all public reports indicate that they have not agreed to resolve Greece's pending debt crisis. Body language can tell the story.
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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.