Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
1 Million Killed, Iraq the Biggest Petroleum Heist in History? / Politics / Iraq War
By: Mike_Whitney
“Prior to the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq, US and other western oil companies were all but completely shut out of Iraq’s oil market. But thanks to the invasion and occupation, the companies are now back inside Iraq and producing oil there for the first time since being forced out of the country in 1973.” – Antonia Juhasz, oil industry analyst, Al Jazeera.
These are the ‘best of times’ for the oil giants in Iraq. Production is up, profits are soaring, and big oil is rolling in dough. Here’s the story from the Wall Street Journal:
Read full article... Read full article...“Iraq’s oil production surged to its highest level in over 30 years last month, surprising skeptics of the country’s efforts to restore its oil industry after decades of war and neglect.” (Wall Street Journal)
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Putin is Grinning - The Deal of the Century / Politics / Russia
By: LewRockwell
Eric Margolis writes: GENEVA – Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin usually wears a perfect poker face. But last week in Shangahi, the icy-cold Russian president came awfully close to bursting into a big grin.
And why not? Putin had just stolen a march on his western rivals. The US-British attempt to wound Russia’s economy and punish Putin for disobedience had just blown up in their red faces.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
An Infamous Advisor for Obama and Putin / Politics / US Politics
By: Stephen_Merrill
Unusual Villain
Some people develop an undeserved bad reputation. It is typically the work of past enemies or the consequence of harsh fortune.
It is quite the unusual person though who develops a bad moral reputation only long after his life has ended, never considered so during his life. In the case of today’s main protagonist his reputation for calculating power-lust and purposeful deceit was earned by the reading of his texts centuries later; not due to any evil deeds of his own. The truly wicked seldom leave confessions of their hidden crimes and thoughts.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Why We’re Ungovernable, Crime Becomes Economic Growth / Politics / Social Issues
By: John_Rubino
Ah, the Italians. They’re good for at least one entry in the “Why We’re Ungovernable” series each year, and their latest is the best yet:
Read full article... Read full article...Drug trafficking, prostitution revenue set to boost Italy’s GDP result
Italy has announced it will start including estimated revenues from prostitution and illegal drug sales in official gross domestic product (GDP) figures.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Video Killed The Rhetoric Star / Politics / Mainstream Media
By: Andrew_McKillop
Hymns, Literature and Rhetoric
The well-known (to some) British academic George Saintsbury, Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature at several universities during his long career said that wine is like prosody and prosodic expression in the sense that steering away from the known to the unknown is always best. In English prosody and in rhetoric, from hymns to poems, speeches and other verbal communication based on written scripts Saintsbury stressed the role of spaces and voids, pauses, and unstated but implied ideas. Rhetoric of any kind, political or other, uses a similar tactic for example by arsis or raising and emphasising the voice either throughout the speech, or occasionally distorting or 'slipping' the pronounciation of a few key words or even a key slab of the written speech.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Why The US Department of Agriculture Needs Submachine Guns / Politics / US Politics
By: Jeff_Berwick
Wendy McElroy writes: On May 7, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) posted a notice on the government's Federal Business Opportunities site in order to solicit bids on an undisclosed number of submachine guns. The notice read, in part,
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, located in Washington, DC, pursuant to the authority of FAR Part 13, has a requirement for the commerical [sic] acquisition of submachine guns, .40 Cal. S&W, ambidextrous safety, semi-automatic or 2 shot burts [sic] trigger group, Tritium night sights for front and rear, rails for attachment of flashlight (front under fore grip) and scope (top rear), stock-collapsilbe [sic] or folding, magazine - 30 rd. capacity, sling, light weight, and oversized trigger guard for gloved operation.” [Note: spelling errors in original]
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, May 23, 2014
U.S. Crusade to Extort Tax - Credit Suisse Admits Guilt For Money Laundering / Politics / Taxes
By: Jeff_Berwick
As Credit Suisse (CS) pled guilty for conspiring to aid US tax evasion and swallowed $2.6 billion in fines in federal court in Alexandria, Va., Eric Holder sensed the historic moment he oversaw - a new precedent for US extortion. UBS paid "only" $885 million when it misrepresented mortgage-backed bonds during the housing bubble. Surely, as CS swallows these new fines, banks the world over are shuddering.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Russian Oligarch - No Short-term Consequences from Sanctions Yet / Politics / Russia
By: Bloomberg
In a Bloomberg Television interview with Ryan Chilcote in St. Petersburg today, Russian oligarch and Severstal CEO Alexey Mordashov said he has 'no pressure' in U.S. or Russia to dispose of assets and has not seen any short-term consequences from sanctions yet. Mordashov told Bloomberg’s Chilcote he is 'quite optimistic' on interest shown for U.S. assets.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Media reports costs of living rises as Good News! / Politics / Inflation
By: Jonathan_Davis
Some quotes from the BBC article – which no doubt – were repeated throughout the country all day and night yesterday:
“Food sales during the late Easter holiday made a significant contribution to the overall figure, the ONS said.
They were 6.3% higher in April against a year earlier”
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
How Central Banks Are Waging War on Your Savings / Politics / Central Banks
By: Mark_Thornton
Martin Wolf is the chief economics commentator at the influential Financial Times. He has received numerous honorary awards, positions, and degrees. My first knowledge of him came from a friend who had attended a lecture where Mr. Wolf mentioned that the best research on real estate economics was being done in Auburn, Alabama. I was quite shocked that Mr. Wolf was following our work here at the Mises Institute.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Russia's Weakened Hand Could Pay Off For Beijing In Major Gas Deal / Politics / Natural Gas
By: OilPrice_Com
A major gas deal between Russia and China could finally be sealed this week when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits China on May 20-21 and meets with President Xi Jinping. In the lead up to Putin's arrival, the two sides have been working on putting the finishing touches on a 30-year contract for a gas deal a decade in the making, and Russian officials have suggested that the deal will be completed by Putin's arrival.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Modi And India Election - The Rotten Is Thrown Out: Lessons For Narendra Modi And His BJP / Politics / India
By: Dr_R_M_Mathew
Congress Legacy
Indian National Congress Party, though assumed different names, has the great legacy both in the pre-and post-independent era of India. Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter, Indira Gandhi, as the Congress Prime Ministers, adopted pro-poor stands while building up heavy industries and infrastructure under public sector or the direct control of the Government. Immediately after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the Congress Party made her son, Rajive Gandhi as the Prime Minister of India. He modernized India bringing IT and Telecommunication Revolutions even in the remotest villages in India.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
As The Cold War Returns, Russia Turns East / Politics / Russia
By: Money_Morning
Tonight I am a guest again on Chinese national TV. I’ll be appearing live via satellite from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and we’ll be discussing the crisis in Ukraine.
This time, however, we’ll be talking directly about energy.
With a new Cold War mentality returning to Europe, China is now about to take center stage in Moscow’s export strategy. The Kremlin has turned its attention to the East.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Banking Buffoonery, Modeling Mysticism and Why Paul Krugman Should Be Sweatin’ Bullets / Politics / Economic Theory
By: F_F_Wiley
We have a few things to say about the recent debunking of established monetary theories.
In case you missed it, the Bank of England issued a report in March explaining that standard textbooks get money and banking all wrong.
The authors point out that banks don’t wait for deposits before making loans, as often claimed by academics. It’s the other way around. Banks create new deposits when loans are made, for this is how loan proceeds are delivered to the ultimate recipients. The fact that deposits then slosh around from bank to bank has no bearing on future loan issuance, which is always matched with newly-created, not old, deposits.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
The General Theory Of Unknowing / Politics / Economic Theory
By: Andrew_McKillop
The Project
I am presently developing and testing the several hypotheses structuring this theory, which at present is only at the descriptive, not predictive stage. I am actively seeking research collaborators and funding to continue the works needed to achieve a defined theory with possible predictive capabilities. The theory concerns a wide range of disciplines, ranging from semantics, information and general systems theory, to economics and finance, political science, geopolitical and military studies, sociology, ethics and philosophy, social anthropology, and the general history of western civilization. Other disciplines are certainly concerned, notably the theory of governance and government.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Balcerowicz’s Polish Big Bang versus Ukraine / Politics / Economic Theory
By: Steve_H_Hanke
On May 21, 2014, Leszek Balcerowicz will receive the 2014 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty during a dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. The prestigious annual award by the Cato Institute carries with it a well-deserved check for $250,000.
For those who might have forgotten the accomplishments of my long-time friend, allow me to suggest that, in Balcerowicz’s case, a picture is literally worth a thousand words.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Russia Borderlands: Room for Maneuvering in Hungary / Politics / Eastern Europe
By: STRATFOR
I am writing this from Budapest, the city in which I was born. I went to the United States so young that all my memories of Hungary were acquired later in life or through my family, whose memories bridged both world wars and the Cold War, all with their attendant horrors. My own deepest memory of Hungary comes from my parents' living room in the Bronx. My older sister was married in November 1956. There was an uprising against the Soviets at the same time, and many of our family members were still there. After the wedding, we returned home and saw the early newspapers and reports on television. My parents discovered that some of the heaviest fighting between the revolutionaries and Soviets had taken place on the street where my aunts lived. A joyous marriage, followed by another catastrophe -- the contrast between America and Hungary. That night, my father asked no one in particular, "Does it ever end?" The answer is no, not here. Which is why I am back in Budapest.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Smoking Gun From The U.S. Federal Reserve - Murder Of The Middle Class / Politics / Social Issues
By: James_Quinn
“Although low inflation is generally good, inflation that is too low can pose risks to the economy – especially when the economy is struggling.” - Ben Bernanke
“The true measure of a career is to be able to be content, even proud, that you succeeded through your own endeavors without leaving a trail of casualties in your wake.” – Alan Greenspan
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Operation American Spring Fails To Restore the Republic / Politics / US Politics
By: Jeff_Berwick
Christopher Cantwell writes: Suppose I said to you “Let’s get 10-30 million people to go down to Washington DC and force Barack Obama out of office!” What would you say? Might sound like a great idea at first, until you realize that I lack the capacity to organize millions of people to travel to the nation’s capitol on a workday. Especially when I predict people will wind up dead and in prison, it’s not exactly the most appealing thing for people to hire babysitters for.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
How the Free Market Ends Discrimination / Politics / Economic Theory
By: Thomas_J_DiLorenzo
When Branch Rickey integrated major league baseball in 1947 by hiring the great Jackie Robinson to play first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers, he did not do so because he was forced into it by any “civil rights” law. The federal civil rights laws at that point were almost twenty years into the future. Nor was he motivated by a sudden enlightenment on the issue of race. As the president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Rickey was paid to make the Dodgers as profitable as possible. In order to do that, he had to recruit and develop the best baseball players he could find, regardless of skin color or anything else. He succeeded immediately with the hiring of Robinson, as the Dodgers went to the World Series in that year, in no small part due to the efforts of Jackie Robinson.