By Don Quijones: If there is a two-word combination that strikes primal fear into the hearts of global senior bankers and representatives of international financial institutions, it is “odious” + “debt,” a legal theory that holds that the national debt incurred by a regime for purposes that do not serve the best interests of the nation shouldn’t be enforceable.
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Nuclear Lobby’s Latest Spin: It’s All Just “Fear” Of Radiation
by Contributor • • Comments Off on Nuclear Lobby’s Latest Spin: It’s All Just “Fear” Of Radiation
The Quiet Triumph Of Oil And Gas In Obama’s Policies
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Quiet Triumph Of Oil And Gas In Obama’s Policies
Russia’s Plan For The BRICS To Dismantle The Dollar System
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Russia’s Plan For The BRICS To Dismantle The Dollar System
Contributed by Valentin Mândrăşescu, Editor of The Voice of Russia’s Reality Check. Former commodity trader, economist, journalist. Nomadic lifestyle. When not in Moscow, he can be found travelling across Eastern Europe. The status of the US dollar as the world reserve currency gives the US a number of advantages over other countries. The world’s most…
Deaths From All Causes: The Short (But Not Necessarily Happy) Life Of Americans
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Deaths From All Causes: The Short (But Not Necessarily Happy) Life Of Americans
Americans under fifty are paying the price. We don’t know exactly why. Even the panel of experts that authored the massive report, “US Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health,” admits that it can’t entirely pinpoint the reasons. But we do know how Americans under fifty, particularly males, are paying the price: with their lives.
Aussi Comedians Clark and Dawe on Santa Claus Getting Caught in a Bunch of Red Tape
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Aussi Comedians Clark and Dawe on Santa Claus Getting Caught in a Bunch of Red Tape
Santa Claus has gotten into a snarl-up with Australian immigration over his visitor visa, and he might not be able to deliver his goods…. “A Last Minute Technicality,” a video by Australian comedians Clark and Dawe, 2.5 minutes of hilarity and plenty of jabs at the modern political and bureaucratic world.
Gold, Molotov Cocktails, Rubber Bullets, And Teargas: A Rift In Greece
by Wolf Richter • • 2 Comments
A Greek economist’s terse sarcasm: “GDP has decreased by €47 billion in the last five years. Economy is expected to contract by 3.8% in 2013, the 6th straight year of recession! Unemployment has reached 24.7%. Youth unemployment… 55.4%! No worries though—we have the sun, the sea, our cultural background.” And GOLD.
Central Banks, The Veil Of Secrecy, A Hotbed of Corruption, And Now Another One Got Ensnared
by Wolf Richter • • 3 Comments
Central banks are designed to be “independent,” and they shroud themselves in secrecy. But they have formidable and, when it comes to money, “unlimited” powers that they harness for the benefit of their clientele, banks. And hiding behind their veil of secrecy are shenanigans that rarely seep to the surface, but when they do, they just get worse and worse. The latest is a sordid bribery and kickback scandal at the Reserve Bank of Australia that appeared to be neatly contained to two subsidiaries, until now.
Mad Cow: the Costs of Trying to Keep Costs Down
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Mad Cow: the Costs of Trying to Keep Costs Down
“The US is one of two major beef-exporting countries with no comprehensive traceability system,” said Erin Borror, economist at the Meat Export Federation. The other country is India. The issue was Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or Mad Cow Disease. Humans contract it by eating contaminated beef. It’s always fatal. Lack of traceability “places the US at risk if an outbreak occurs in this country,” Borror said. That was last November.
Exodus from the Eurozone Debt Crisis
by Wolf Richter • • 1 Comment
Unemployment is a staggering problem in Eurozone countries that are at the core of the debt crisis. Spain’s jobless rate jumped to 22.8%. Among 16-24 year-olds, it’s an unimaginable 51.4%. In Greece, youth unemployment reached 46.6%. In Portugal, it’s 30.7%, in Italy 30.1%. But highly educated young people are leaving in massive numbers—with harsh long-term consequences for their heavily indebted countries.