Monthly Archives: November 2013

The Makings of a Petro-State in North Dakota

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By Nick Cunningham, OilPrice.com: The Energy Information Administration predicts the Bakken formation in North Dakota will surpass 1 million barrels per day of oil production in December. Since 2010, production has skyrocketed. So has the money.

The Most Despised Tax-And-Retreat French President Sinks Deeper Into Economic Quagmire

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“Insurrection” is showing up in the French media, though it’s still more an exaggeration than a description. “Fiscal discontent” is better, but not broad enough. Now François Hollande, the most despised French President in the history of polls, is going to turn this mess around.

Prince Alwaleed Warns, US Shale Revolution Threatens Saudi Economic Stability

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By Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com: While Saudi Arabia continues to state that it is not at all worried by the increasing production driven by the US shale revolution, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, the billionaire CEO and owner of the Kingdom Holding Company, frets about it.

Gagging Doubt: French Crackdown On French And American Bloggers Who Question Megabank Balance Sheets

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Gagging Doubt: French Crackdown On French And American Bloggers Who Question Megabank Balance Sheets

France’s Financial Markets Authority slapped fines on two bloggers, Frenchman Jean-Pierre Chevallier and American Mike “Mish” Shedlock, “for having spread inexact information about the level of indebtedness” of megabank Société Générale. Instead of going after banks, bank regulators are going after bloggers! It’s more convenient.

Argentine Stocks React to President Kirchner’s Latest Handiwork

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By Bianca Fernet, Argentina, The Bubble: President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner returned to her post this week, shuffling her cabinet and shaking up financial markets. Balding men marked the occasion by holding their heads in their hands in front of computer screens.

Mexico: the Final Piece in North America’s Energy Renaissance

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By Rory Johnston, OilPrice.com: While American and Canadian crude production has jumped over 30% in the last decade, Mexican production has fallen by over a quarter. Now the Mexican government might finally act.

Use Bitcoin As A Currency, Get Wiped Out (The Government Likes It That Way)

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Use Bitcoin As A Currency, Get Wiped Out (The Government Likes It That Way)

Four years after its creation, folks are still arguing over what bitcoin is: “investment opportunity of the millennium,” “part of a societal revolution,” a security, a currency, a casino token? Whatever. But US regulators now have a strategy for killing it as a currency.

TVA Coal Closures Signal of What’s to Come

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By Nick Cunningham, OilPrice.com: The Tennessee Valley Authority, one of the largest electricity generators in the US, decided to shut down eight coal generating units. Coal will drop from a 52% share to 20% in the coming years, to be replaced mostly by natural gas. It illustrates what many utilities face.

Here Is Proof (Provided By Japan Inc.) Why Abenomics Fails The Real Economy

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Here Is Proof (Provided By Japan Inc.) Why Abenomics Fails The Real Economy

The beneficiaries of Abenomics are now coming out of the woodwork with soaring profits – but they’re doing the opposite of what Abenomics promised they’d do: they’re diversifying away from Japan.

Extortion Over Minimum Wage In Germany: BMW, Daimler, VW Threaten to Offshore Production

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Extortion Over Minimum Wage In Germany: BMW, Daimler, VW Threaten to Offshore Production

Germany has neither a minimum wage nor a government. Someday it might. If not, there will be new elections, and Chancellor Merkel might get pummeled because she’d be blamed for them. So she’s trying to form a coalition with the left-leaning SPD on whose list of campaign promises was a decent minimum wage.