Clipmarks | invictus's Economy collection

Europe fuel protests spread wider

Fri, 30 May 2008 16:36:15 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: Say hello to the upcoming global crisis of the century.

Fuel protests triggered by rising oil prices have spread to more countries across Europe, with thousands of fishermen on strike.

Union leaders said Portugal's entire coastal fleet stayed in port on Friday, while in Spain, 7,000 fishermen held protests at the agriculture ministry.

French fishermen have been protesting for weeks, with Belgian and Italian colleagues also involved.

UK and Dutch lorry drivers held similar protests earlier this week.

The strike reflects anger at the rising cost of fuel, with oil prices above $130 (83.40 euros; £65.80) a barrel.

Tags: oil, energy, oil prices, economy, global crisis, world

Speaking about a "New Deal" again

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:05:50 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: A highly controversial point by Howard Zinn. I'd really love to learn what our fellow American clippers think about a possible "New Deal" after the elections.

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

We might wonder why no Democratic Party contender for the presidency has invoked the memory of the New Deal and its unprecedented series of laws aimed at helping people in need. The New Deal was tentative, cautious, bold enough to shake the pillars of the system but not to replace them. It created many jobs but left 9 million unemployed. It built public housing but not nearly enough. It helped large commercial farmers but not tenant farmers. Excluded from its programs were the poorest of the poor, especially blacks. As farm laborers, migrants or domestic workers, they didn't qualify for unemployment insurance, a minimum wage, Social Security or farm subsidies.

Still, in today's climate of endless war and uncontrolled greed, drawing upon the heritage of the 1930s would be a huge step forward.

Tags: economy, crisis, new deal, united states, obama, clinton, democrats, politics, roosevelt

The "Out-of-control" Military Machine

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 03:02:04 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks:

Citizens must fight the militarism that's choking our democracy. Given the power and money of the military lobby, we're not likely to get any encouragement from either party or any presidential candidates, at least not at first. But we can force the issue into the dialogue and remember who listened and who didn't. Call it politics for the long run, the politics of hope with a sharper edge.

Clip Source: www.thenation.com

Americans are worried about the impending recession and the Wall Street crisis, as well as the exhilarating and unpredictable presidential contest. But another threatening force is bearing down on the nation: our out-of-control military machine. The ever-voracious Pentagon is using this fragile moment as cover for seizing an even greater share of the nation's dwindling resources--trillions more in federal indebtedness to fight a phantom "war on terror." In constant dollars, next year's proposed military budget will be the largest since World War II--around $700 billion.

Tags: military, economy, united states, war, recession

Dead Money Walking - Cartoon

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:50:51 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: By Alen Lauzan Falcon

Clip Source: www.truthdig.com

Tags: economy, united states, us dollar, cartoons

Average American Owes Average Chinese $4000

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:01:47 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: agonist.org

This is really an astonishing number. From James Fallows' new essay, "The $1.4 Trillion Question:"

Through the quarter-century in which China has been opening to world trade, Chinese leaders have deliberately held down living standards for their own people and propped them up in the United States. This is the real meaning of the vast trade surplus—$1.4 trillion and counting, going up by about $1 billion per day—that the Chinese government has mostly parked in U.S. Treasury notes. In effect, every person in the (rich) United States has over the past 10 years or so borrowed about $4,000 from someone in the (poor) People’s Republic of China.

Based on 2006 per capita GDP numbers that means we've sucked almost 23% per year from the average Chinese earner's income.

Can you imagine what you'd do if someone was borrowing 22% of your income a year and forcing you to endure a lower standard of living in the process? You'd be rather unhappy, no?

Tags: economy, china, united states

World markets rattled amid Dow Jones crash

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 23:09:11 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: Dow is hitting the rock bottom again? Smells like a new global crisis is on the horizon.

Clip Source: abc.net.au

World markets rattled amid Dow Jones crash

Fear has gripped global financial markets again, with the latest jolt emanating from Paris, where one of France's leading banks has revealed a deteriorating exposure to the US subprime mortgage problems.

BNP Paribas says it has suspended three investment funds exposed to the US property market.

There have also been rumours that the German lender, WestLB, has problems.

Stock markets across Europe fell in the order of 2 per cent.

London's FT100 index dropped 123 points to 6,271, in a slide of 1.9 per cent.

The European shake-out has had a bigger impact on Wall Street.

On the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones industrial average was hammered, plunging 387.18 points (2.83 per cent) to close at 13,270.68.

Tags: dow jones, stock exchange, finance, economy, capitalism, crisis, wall street