Showing posts with label inflation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inflation. Show all posts

Sunday, December 19, 2021

The Looming Collapse and Population Reset

 


By: Stewart Brennan

The Long Slide into Poverty and Collapse - A Peak Oil Pandemic? 

As the western world collapses into fascism [01] by tyrannical measures enforced on the population via a pretensive threat and battle with an illusive flu, western economies are on the brink of collapse.

It should be noted however that western economies were already in serious decline before the so-called pandemic was announced in March of 2020, so blaming the pandemic for the looming collapse as our governments are doing is ludicrous. Besides, if there was a real pandemic, it would not have been selective on the population’s elderly, and would not persist for two years without anyone developing a natural immunity to it. Everything coming out of the establishment’s propaganda ministry is based upon some fictitious belief rather than the facts on their pseudo pandemic. [02] It’s more a pandemic of lies and coercion. [03]

Even still, the current push for mandatory inoculations and future boosters continues to destroy all personal freedoms, liberties and community cohesion while wrecking the independent mom and pop economy at the same time.

Variant after variant of flu virus has been introduced by organizations (C.D.C., W.H.O.) controlled by the economic cartel who continuously feed mainstream media and government with propaganda to scare the population into obedience. These, for profit only, experimental inoculations, embraced by the establishment, are useless and dangerous while the bullying restrictions put in place on those that don’t comply are Orwellian and very abusive. So, it’s no wonder that a growing number of people are refusing to take these inoculations and subsequent boosters, all of which by the governments' own admission, do not work.

In essence, the pandemic has become the cartels tool to consolidate the entire economy into their own hands while also ushering in a totalitarian iron grip on society as they eliminate all the freedoms we once enjoyed, including freedom of speech which has been curtailed by censorship right across the Internet by targeting information that challenges their narrative on masks, lockdowns, vaccines and the pseudo pandemic in general.

So, why is censorship being employed on anyone that confronts the narrative on their pandemic? Why is the economic cartel so determined to get their way? What are they afraid of? Why have they taken this totalitarian road and what is their end game?


Looking Beyond the Pandemic for Answers

If we take a side step and look at some of the problems that have been emerging in parallel to the cartel’s pandemic, through all the lockdowns, leash laws and various dictates of ludicrous measure that we’ve had to endure from government mandates over the past two years, two curious economic constants have remained throughout, and they are; (1) inflation and (2) the high price of gasoline.

The price of gasoline did not drop for long when demand was severely curtailed by the global COVID lockdown in 2020, the price held steadfast for a while but then climbed when business and oil demand began to return. However, inflation has soared since the market crash of 2008-2009 and continues to do so, especially now in 2021 when the higher demand
 for gasoline returned as we emerged out of the second lockdown [04].

In late November 2021, concern was raised in several industrial nations to tackle rising inflation with an attempt at lowering gasoline prices [05], namely the USA, India, Japan, South Korea and the UK, who tapped their reserves and dumped what amounts to a day’s worth of global oil demand into the bottomless energy sponge of the global economy; but to no avail. The price of gasoline was unaffected and did not stabilize until a new variant of COVID (Omicron) was announced on November 26th. Since then, gasoline prices have remained stable…for now.

In Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the place I live, gasoline prices had climbed to $1.56 / liter in November 2021 from the steady $1.18 / liter we were paying before the so-called pandemic was announced! When we went into lockdown in 2020, demand for oil and gasoline was dramatically reduced, yet gasoline prices remained relatively unchanged even though the price of oil had dropped.

An interesting observation in all of this is that the gasoline prices surged to nine cents higher than the $1.47 / liter we paid in 2008 when Oil was selling at $147.00 / barrel. Oil costs which drive inflation more than anything, broke the economy and popped the fraudulent over-inflated housing bubble, which then sent oil and gasoline prices tumbling in the market crash of 2008 - 2009.

The thing is, today, oil is selling under $80.00 per barrel, yet the gasoline prices are hugely inflated causing economies to teeter on the verge of collapse. The resulting inflation to the entire economy, is of course, being blamed on the pandemic and the variety of measures that governments have taken for a so-called pandemic. 

Yet at the heart of the continuous inflation since the crash of 2008-2009 is the fact that the economic system was never allowed to completely crash and go bankrupt and then correct itself from bankruptcy.

Instead, the private banks along with the wall street investment banks who were directly responsible for the real estate bubble and market crash, were bailed out with trillions of dollars in interest free money by a US government rubber stamp.

Over the course of the last 13 years, since 2008, a massive amount of the economy was bought up with this free money which went into money making schemes, dividends, real estate inflation and investment payouts. The stock market has thus inflated by 300%. 

Inflation in the real economy has been the result, while at the heart of the fractional reserve debt-based economy, is a monster that requires constant growth [06] to keep the entire fraudulent system afloat.

However, at the central core of modern economics, that makes everything run, is “energy” but more specific, “Oil”. So, a question arises, “have we passed the peak oil threshold?” [07]


Fear, Inflation and a Long Winter

The current economic wave of destruction and supply line shortages, are being blamed on COVID but what is really happening? Why have governments turned so tyrannical and violent on their own people for a flu that is 99.98% survivable?

Inflation, [08] which is a hidden feature of our interest-bearing debt economic system, is soaring, mainly because of the high amount of debt on the global reserve American dollar, due in part to the trillions of dollars created and used for its military empire around the world (800 Military bases) which of course includes its global war of terrorism on oil producing nations, but also because of the huge derivatives created and payable in the over inflated stock market that has taken real estate prices to unreachable levels, and then there is the increasing costs of energy (Oil, natural gas and gasoline).

Inflation is most notably seen in food, heating, transportation and housing costs, which are a direct strike at the heart of community; and of course, this inflation is not taken into account by government when measuring the cost of living [09].


Looming Disaster

If another lockdown is employed in the winter of 2021 – 2022, due to this new mild flu variant called “Omicron”, it has the potential to send the world economy for another great fall, as supply and demand goes from peak to crash like a continuous ramp wave in terminal decline.

Clearly, we have arrived at another major supply / demand threshold, all of which holds the world population as a hostage with the collapsing supply lines that uphold our economic subsistence.

Inflation has hit everything, which has the affect of destroying the buying power of our currencies, while by consequence, parts of the economy disappear. Food and fuel are directly affected, continuing the cycle of economic decline that destroys our standard of living, making it harder for the masses to make ends meet.

On December 18th, 2021, the Netherlands became the first country to go back into a hard lockdown [10] as a result of the new variant Omicron. So, will the rest of Europe and North America follow? My guess is that they will.

Not only would another lockdown destroy what’s left of our communal economy, but the rich will get richer, the poor more destitute [11], the middle class more hollowed out while homelessness expands. The one thing that will drop temporarily during a lockdown or economic crash however, is the demand for oil and gasoline, but don’t count on food, heating and gasoline prices lowering very much, if at all, as supply lines continue to disappear. Is it all by design? Are we in a controlled collapse? 

Let’s look further...

Declining Resources

The higher grades of oil [12] that are used to make gasoline [13] and diesel are in terminal decline and are becoming much more expensive to extract, while abundant but inefficient energy intensive and environmentally destructive projects like tar sands [14] are simply too costly to extract as it requires an additional energy source (natural gas or electricity) to heat the water that removes the dirt and sand from it to leave it in its final state; a thick goo. Not only are they costly, they are environmentally destructive and require massive amounts of water at a ratio of 4 to 1 to extract it, while the toxic waste is a ratio of 2 barrels for every barrel of tar sands oil. 

The large global population puts a great strain on oil and gasoline demand, and so, if we do make it to out of the current economic collapse with the population intact, you can be sure that the contracted economy will contract again in the near future, with similar results, placing more of the economy into the same hands, while poverty increases and society sees more totalitarian measures put in place to keep it from revolting. By consequence, as revealed throughout history, poverty has a way of reducing the life expectancy of the population it effects.

Of course, the lockdowns are not about the economy, right? It’s all supposed to be about a tricky little corona virus that defies the laws of immunity as its reported to somehow evolve into a new deadly variant that our immune systems cannot handle, even in those who were coerced into playing vaxxine roulette twice…soon to be three times, then four, five and then every three months until you die.


Energy and the Economy

There is still no solution yet, to replacing oil as our primary energy source. Everything, including our food, is based upon it. Massive farms with mechanized equipment, fertilizer and pesticides, transportation, distribution, jobs to earn a living to buy the food, home heating, most electricity production, and most of the daily products we use. All of it relies on gas and oil, in a world with a growing population that requires more materials and energy to function within the debt-based system.

The Rock that Shattered the Economic Glass House

There is a very interesting parallel in the timeline between the creation and implementation of the COVID pandemic narrative, oil supply, and the sudden collapse of economics and society, which began to intensify after the United States government, under the Donald Trump administration, continued their economic war on Iran after refusing to certify the 5+1 agreement [15] and then officially announcing a return to a war of economic sanctions on May 8th, 2018. [16] Additional sanctions were imposed in 2018 and then again in June 2019 [17] where the US government boasted that they would, “bring Iran to its knees”; and “bring Iranian oil exports down to zero”. [18]

However, as the USA was busy losing ground in their resource wars throughout the Middle East and Africa, “Yemen’s Military”, who were an American military target of Saudi Arabia, and friend to Iran, hit the heart of the Saudi oil storage facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais [19] using advanced drones, destroying the Saudi facilities on September 14th, 2019.

After Yemen’s military struck the Saudi oil storage and loading facilities, it was announced that the damage from the attack, crippled Saudi exports by 50% and that it would take days, then weeks, then months to repair the damage. However, once the facilities were said to be back online, the oil output was almost 2 million barrels a day short of expected levels.

By December 2019, Saudi Aramco had put up a percentage of its company up for sale in an “Initial Public Offering” (IPO) on the Saudi Stock Exchange. So why would the Saudi’s sell off part of the only resource they have for future survival, if their economy was heavily dependent on oil sales and production? Have the Saudi’s gone past their peak in oil production? Have the costs of extracting Saudi Oil become too expensive?

“OIL” is the sole natural resource that Saudi Arabia possesses, so their plan to sell off their oil assets is a huge red flag not only on their future but on the future of global growth economics, because Saudi Arabia is said to have 5% of the worlds recoverable oil when the tar sands of Canada and Venezuela are included but 25% of the worlds remaining medium quality oil used to make gasoline. Of course, the power base of the western economic cartel, have been tapping this Saudi Oil for the western economies for over 80 years and oil doesn’t replace itself, as the last twenty years of western war on oil producing nations has shown. The 50% cutback is hugely significant for the global economy, especially for the western nations who continue to rely on Saudi oil.

It was not long after this incident at Abqaiq and Khurais that COVID-19 came into play, which by all measures, was planned and revealed at event 201 on Oct 18th, 2019. [20] The resulting lockdown of the global economy in 2020, which was one of the scenarios planned for at Event 201, had the effect of “destroying global oil demand”. [21]

But also of significance was that the energy leverage the United States once had on the World was laid bare and shown to be in decline especially after the collapse of their environmentally destructive and cost intensive fracking oil projects [22] that were rapidly put in place after the market crash of 2008 but also intensified and increased around 2012, due to global oil demand after the US and NATO destroyed Libya, Africa’s largest oil producer. 

The result of their intensive fracking project made the USA a temporary oil exporter and supplier once again, but especially to Europe, since they had to find a way to replace the lost Libyan oil supply to Europe while also trying to maintain the insane illusion of their global superpower status. By coincidence, U.S. fracking oil projects peaked in 2019 and have since gone into a major decline.

The US reserve currency which is controlled by the economic banking cartel is of course heavily dependent on oil and its continued energy supply to Europe… (Europe being an economic block within the economic cartel with minimal oil and gas of their own).

A large portion of the best remaining oil grades used in the creation of gasoline to supply the global economy reside and belong to independent countries such as Iran and Russia [23], who themselves have admitted to facing peak in their own productions. Even more curious is that despite the number of economic sanctions the Americans have placed on Russia, the USA still imports more than half a million barrels of oil from Russia daily.

Another major oil supplier is Iraq. However, the US military occupies Iraq and so the USA already have a hammer’s say in that country’s oil exports…for now.

Tensions are Mounting

If we also look at Europe’s natural gas problem in 2021, which the US Government is exasperating by political and economic leverage over European nations to block the certification of Russia’s newly built Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, [24] tensions are beginning to mount via NATO backed Ukraine as they’ve mobilized half their armed forces (125,000 soldiers) [25] to the Donbass region, which of course borders Russia. Tensions are continuing to mount.

The war on all fronts for oil and gas by western nations, led by the USA, continues, but has taken a very sobering turn as the United States uses Ukraine in a propaganda war to encroach on Russia, while constantly threatening Iran. Also of significant note is that Africa’s largest oil producing nation, Libya, the oil producing nation that the US and NATO destroyed in 2011 [26], has returned to the news recently when Saif Gadaffi announced he is running for the Libyan presidency [27] to unite Libya once more.

Before its destruction in 2011, Libya was a major supplier of oil and gas to Europe and the world, but when competition for future drilling projects began to favor China instead of the western oil majors, a war was launched on Libya by the cartels attack dog NATO, who in the process, lynched, tortured and killed Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. [28]

So as Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi returns to the spotlight to re-unite his country, it will be interesting to see how this next chapter plays out energy wise, as the demand for oil and gas worldwide slides down the descending side of peak.

Conclusion:

The American reserve currency, which carries a huge deficit, and is pegged to oil, is now in serious decline and no longer the desired currency of trade by a growing number of countries [29], mostly because of American belligerence and economic bullying. So, as margin call looms, the massive torus of accumulated U.S. debt is pulling the United States dollar under an ocean of broken promises into collapse.

All western currencies are tied to the failing U.S. dollar, and so we are at a crossroads, where totalitarianism has suddenly re-emerged through a false pandemic, where decisions by western leaders are looking more desperate as they use emergency health dictates as an excuse to enforce their populations compliance into a police and surveillance state; while hiding the real reasons our economies have been in a constant economic decline for decades.

We are now at a point in history when constant economic growth can no longer be maintained due to the limited supply of cheap energy and the growing energy demand by a growing population.

Since cheap oil is all but a thing of the past, economic growth will no longer be able to rise, as the oil supply can no longer meet the growth demands. Growth is exponential while the energy and resources required to maintain it, are finite and in decline. Therefore, massive amounts of capital will need to be erased by consequence, which means economic collapse, poverty and famine will ensue; all of which is controlled by a consolidated economic cartel that has resigned itself to self preservation over the needs of the global population. 

One thing is for sure, the lock-downs, mask laws and fear peddling on COVID-19 have put economic changes into high gear around the world, as the destruction of global economics that functions via the US reserve currency, is now heading for a major correction and market call. Inflation and bankruptcies are escalating, supply lines are evaporating, all while the cartel plans for its New World Order via its economic reset plans announced by Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum [30] and by Prince Charles at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP 26 [31].

“You’ll own nothing and be happy” ~ Klaus Schwab

Global stock markets and economics are controlled by the same cartel of people by virtue of their shares and oversight of everything economic, which is why we are seeing a totalitarian controlled collapse. Bailouts, stock rigging and the control of resources are in the hands of the same people. Including the future plans for world governance.

Will the competition for oil between the US & China [32] continue to heat up? Will the United States continue waging economic war on the independent oil producing nations? Will the major competing nations, clash over oil and bring with it global conflict? OR, has an agreement been reached by the wealthy controllers within each nation around the world through the United Nations VIA the World Health Organization, to avert a global war, save themselves while forcing economic and population contraction through the agreed upon measures of Agenda 21 [33] and Agenda 2030 [34]? 
Is the fake pandemic, inoculation program and economic collapse the road to depopulation? For how could the sustainable growth that the cartel is promising, ever happen when “economic growth” is already impossible?

We are about to see the next stage in global totalitarianism through the new variant they are calling “Omicron” so you can bet that lockdowns and mandatory / forced inoculations will continue to be implemented by governments all over the world while we also deal with a collapsing economy, inflation, and an energy crisis that follows. All of which have the quickest path to the overall collapse [35] of society, the results of which could usher in the four horsemen of the apocalypse…global conquest, famine, war…death.

So, while the world goes into lockdown after lockdown under the guise of a false pandemic, the economic cartel have been consolidating, by stealth, what remains of the global economy through a controlled economic collapse and that of course is with the help of the rogue leaders of our nations, who have streamlined a totalitarian security state of varying degrees on the people of the world while also taking serious inroads to depopulation through forced inoculations and their looming economic collapse.
-------------------------------------------------

About Stewart Brennan:

Stewart Brennan is a Geo-political and economic analyst, activist, blogger and author. He’s worked in the Aviation, Packaging, Transportation and Logistics Industries and is the author of “The Activist Poet”, two books of political activism and poetry. (See Here and Here) He's also the author of several blogs including World United News and World United Music and a contributor on Global Research


LINKS:

[01] The Western Collapse into Fascism
[02] What Are the Truly Verifiable Facts Surrounding COVID-19?
[03] A Pandemic of Lies and Coercion
[04] The COVID 2nd Wave Will Tear Our Communities Apart
[05] Biden's bid to lower oil prices fails
[06] Exponential Growth - Arithmetic, Population and Energy
[07] Understanding Peak Oil
[08] UK Inflation Hits 10 Year High
[09] Inflation – Tucker Carlson
[10] Netherlands imposes hard lockdown
[11] Pandemic made rich richer, poor poorer – study
[12] Oil Types
[13] Gasoline
[14] Canada Under Siege – The Tar Sands, Free Trade and Govt.
[15] Economic Change is Coming to the World
[16]Trump announces decision on Iran nuclear deal
[17] IRANIAN AGRESSION? - Pentagon sends more troops to Middle East after Trump sanctions Iran - Sept 21st, 2019
[18] US looks to cut Iran oil shipments to zero
[19] Abqaiq–Khurais attack
[20] Event 201- A corona virus planned coincidence?
[21] Saudi Aramco profits crash 73% as coronavirus sinks oil market
[22] Will US shale ever see another Golden Age?
[23] US imports record volumes of Russian oil despite growing political tensions
[24] Berlin’s block of Nord Stream 2 takes toll on European gas prices
[25] Half of Ukraine’s Army Have Been Deployed the Donbass Region
[26] Libya 2011
[27] Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Running for Libyan President – Dec 03rd, 2021
[28] NATO Backed Terrorists Torture and Kill Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi
[29] Russia & China to create new financial system outside Western control
[30] Klaus Schwab - COVID-19 - The Great Reset – Stakeholder Capitalism
[31] COP26: Prince Charles says 'time has quite literally run out
[32] Road to Endless War – (Part 6) - The US, China, & Peak Oil
[33] Agenda 21
[34] Agenda 2030
[35] Collapse - Michael C. Ruppert


Additional Links:

[A] Peter Ford - Imperialism on Trial – (Oct 13th, 2019)
[B] War Criminal Tony Blair – Supporting Biometric ID & Division of the population
[C] Germany's new chancellor, Olaf Scholz: We won't tolerate 'extremist' anti-vaxxers
[D] COVID Pass Now Law in England
[E] A Pandemic of Lies and Coercion
[F] More Covid restrictions inevitable, London mayor warns
[G] Peak Oil is Here and it Will Break Economies



Thursday, August 9, 2012

China’s leaders call for “stable growth” as economy slows


By: John Chan

Source: Global Research
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=32278

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime has signalled a return to stimulus measures because of sharply decelerating growth and potential social unrest. A CCP Politburo meeting last week called for stable growth to be the top priority.

“The ongoing pace of economic growth is within expectations, but the external environment remains grim and poses difficulties and challenges,” the official Xinhua news agency reported the Politburo discussions as stating.

The Politburo reiterated the need for “prudent” monetary and “proactive” fiscal policies. In other words, Beijing will try to stem a six-quarter slowdown in the world’s second largest economy by boosting bank credit and implementing further stimulus measures.

Underscoring the worsening economic situation, Premier Wen Jiabao told a meeting of business leaders and academics in late July: “We must see with a clear mind that there are difficulties and risks in the current economic situation that can’t be underestimated.”

President Hu Jintao warned that rising unemployment could trigger social unrest. He said China would try to diversify export markets and “expand and stabilise” employment.

The country’s economic growth for the second quarter fell to an annualised 7.6 percent, the slowest rate in three years. However, this official figure is optimistic and the actual situation could be far worse (See: “Economic downturn in China worse than official data”).

The deepening debt crisis in Europe and its broader international impact has reduced demand for China’s exports, which remain the economy’s main driving force. According to China Custom, in the first half of the year, exports to the European Union were $163.06 billion—a decline by 0.8 percent from the corresponding period last year. Exports to Germany declined for four consecutive months, France for three consecutive months and Italy for 10 months.

These figures translated into weakening industrial output. On August 1, the official purchasing managers index (PMI), released by the National Statistics Bureau, dropped to 50.1, its lowest level in eight months. It was just above the 50 mark, which indicates expansion.

Two days later came the publication of the official non-manufacturing index, based on a survey of about 1,200 companies in 27 industries, including telecommunications, transportation and construction. It slipped from 56.7 to 55.6 in July. The service sector makes up 43 percent of China’s economy, compared to 90 percent in the US. The contracting trend indicated that Beijing’s hopes of expanding the domestic market to make up for a slowing manufacturing sector is yielding few results.

The Chinese central bank has cut interest rates twice since June and reduced the reserve requirements for banks three times since November in a bid to encourage lending. The state planning commission has sped up approval of investment projects and boosted railway spending to counter the decelerating growth.

The China Security Journal reported last week that local bank branches were instructed to provide credit support to provincial level government-owned entities in 100 better-off counties, to build roads, railways, natural gas and clean energy projects. Some cities are also increasing stimulus efforts, with Changsha last month announcing an 829 billion yuan ($US130 billion) investment plan.

Relaxing lending to local governments is part of Beijing’s emphasis on “stable growth.” However, cheap credit will worsen the debt crisis facing local governments that are still struggling with huge debts resulting from the last stimulus package. Local government debt was estimated at 10.7 trillion yuan or $1.7 trillion in 2010, but analysts say this is an underestimation.

In a report released on August 3, London-based Capital Economics warned that new local government stimulus measures, from Nanjing and Jiangsu to Changsha and Hunan, could already total 4 trillion yuan, including tax cuts, consumption subsidies and infrastructure investment. The report warned that the 2008-09 stimulus program had “aggravated domestic imbalances in the economy,” leaving investment’s share of gross domestic product close to 50 percent—“one of the highest levels ever recorded for a major economy during peacetime.”

Far from resolving the “imbalance,” the push to stimulate growth with further investment will exacerbate the contradiction. Expanding domestic consumption would involve a significant increase in wages and living standards, which is unacceptable to the corporate elite.

The labour market contracted noticeably in the second quarter, particularly in the more economically developed eastern provinces. A Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security survey found that the number of job applicants in China’s eastern region increased by 132,000 in the second quarter, compared with the first quarter, while job vacancies increased by just 5,000.

While Chinese authorities still insist there is an “over-supply” of jobs, not workers, the survey revealed the opposite. Workers in the coastal provinces continue to lose their jobs as the manufacturing sector is hit by falling export orders.

In Zhejiang province, small and medium sized factories are being forced to scale back their workforces. In the first half of the year, the province’s exports increased by just 5.2 percent—compared to 22.3 percent in the corresponding period last year. In Wenzhou alone, 140 firms have shut and one fifth of industrial enterprises with annual revenues near $3 million yuan have experienced losses.

Zhejiang Wenzhou Apparel Association vice chairman Cai Huantian told the China Security Journal in late July that the business environment was worse than during the 2008 financial crisis. “The number of orders has fallen by around 30 percent from the same period last year, and the average volume of a single order has declined by 70 percent,” he said.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Asian stocks plunge on US job data


US Unemployment stands at 9.1 percent

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/197586.html

Asian stock markets have plummeted on Monday amid concerns of deteriorating global economic downturn in the wake of disappointing US job data.

Japan's Nikkei average skidded nearly 2 percent, while South Korea's KOSPI slipped 4.4 percent. Benchmarks in Singapore, India, Taiwan, and China were also down, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, stock markets in Europe also took a nosedive at the start of trading on Monday. London's Footsie 100 Index dropped 1.6 percent at the open, while the DAX in Frankfurt tumbled by over 2 percent.

The dismal US jobs report sent the euro to its lowest level against the dollar in Asia as risk appetite was eroded by renewed worries over Greek debt crisis and fears of a possible recession in the US economy.

The US economy failed to add jobs last month for the first time in almost a year, raising the odds of a new recession and putting pressure on President Barack Obama and the Federal Reserve to revive a waning employment market.

Currently the unemployment rate in the United States stands at 9.2 percent, the worst level since President Ronald Reagan was in office in the 1980s.

Experts say that current policies are crippling job creation efforts and at the rate at which America has lost jobs, an employment recovery may take years to take effect.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Moody's lowers Japan's rating to Aa3


Businessmen pass before a prices board in Tokyo. (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195437.html

Major credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Japan's sovereign debt rating by one notch to Aa3.

The ratings agency, which performs international financial analysis on commercial and government entities, cut Japan's government debt rating on Wednesday, blaming the country's large budget deficits for the downgrade, Reuters reported.

The build-up of debt since the 2009 global recession was cited as another reason for the new rating, which concluded a review begun on May 31, putting pressure on the Japanese government to address the country's growing economic woes.

"Several factors make it difficult for Japan to slow the growth of debt-to-GDP and thus drive this rating action," Moody's said in a statement.

Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda declined to comment on the Moody's move, but appreciated government efforts, saying, "The smooth sales of Japanese government bonds at recent auctions show that confidence remains unshaken.”

Japan is still struggling with aftermath of the huge quake and subsequent tsunami that hit the country back in March.

The credit rating assesses the credit worthiness of a government's debt issues, a financial indicator to potential investors of debt securities such as bonds.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Japan's premier to resign by August 30


Japan's outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan says he will resign by August 30. (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195300.html

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has announced his resignation, saying that his successor will take over by August 30 amid criticism over his handling of the nation's March 11 quake.

In an informal meeting with his ministers on Tuesday, Kan said his successor will be in office once parliament passes two key bills this week, AFP reported on Tuesday.

''I believe a new prime minister will be decided on August 30,'' he said.

Japan's centre-left ruling party will choose the new premier on August 29 on the condition that two key bills pass this week, said Secretary General of Japan's Democratic Party (DPJ) Katsuya Okada.

The DPJ's board members also agreed on the date for the party meeting to allow for the timely passage of a third extra budget to finance disaster reconstruction and for steps to tackle the strong yen, Okada said.

Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Trade Minister Banri Kaieda, former Transport Minister Sumio Mabuchi and several others are expected to run for the position.

On March 11, a destructive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and an ensuing tsunami struck Japan's northern coasts, setting off a nuclear crisis by knocking out power to cooling systems of reactors at the Fukushima plant and causing a radiation leak.

The devastating quake and tsunami also killed about 24,000 people and ravaged the Fukushima plant. The crisis has displaced about 80,000 residents from around the plant as well.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

IMF urges US to raise debt limit



US President Barack Obama

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186839.html

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged US lawmakers to swiftly increase the country's debt limit to avoid a severe shock to a still fragile economy.

In its annual review of the US economy, the IMF on Wednesday stated that the country's growing national debt is unsustainable, Reuters reported.

It further urged the US to increase its existing USD 14.3 trillion borrowing limit by August 2 in order to avoid a default on its loans.

"And of course, the federal debt ceiling should be raised expeditiously to avoid a severe shock to the economy and world financial markets," the IMF said.

Moreover, the IMF suggested that spending cuts and tax increases should be part of the plan.

Republicans and Democrats, however, are currently at odds on how to deal with the matter. So far, little willingness has been shown on either side to faster reach an understanding.

During a press conference on Wednesday, US President Barack Obama predicted that a deal with the Republicans would soon be reached.

Meanwhile, according to a report released on Wednesday, the US has so far spent at least USD 3.7 trillion in its wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. And it might end up spending as much as USD 4.4 trillion.

The report also questioned what the US has gained from this multi-trillion dollar investment.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Japan on edge of recession: Survey



Reports say Japan is sliding into recession after a massive earthquake and tsunami hit the world's number three economic power last month

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/173140.html

A new survey shows Japan will likely plunge into recession in the upcoming months, following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and a nuclear crisis in the Asian nation.

After a survey of 11 major private economic institutions, the Nikkei business newspaper reported on Tuesday that Japan's economy is feared to shrink 2.6 percent on the average.

Some economists, however, painted a gloomier picture of the current situation in Japan, predicting a 7.1 percent drop in the disaster-hit country, the Japanese daily said.

It added that no recovery was expected until the July-September quarter.

Apart from the tragic human toll, the triple disaster in Japan has destroyed much of the nation's infrastructures, knocked out power and disrupted the supply chain, forcing many companies and manufacturers to shut down production.

The crisis has also slashed business confidence, reduced exports and discouraged consumer spending in the world's number three economy.

Japan has so far put the cost for last month's earthquake and tsunami, which has officially left 11,938 people dead, at 25 trillion yen ($297 billion).

The estimate does not account for wider issues such as the effects of radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.

On Saturday, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the level of radiation in the seawater near the Fukushima plant has reached more than 4,000 times the legal limit.

Reports indicate that some food products from towns around the epicenter of the nuclear crisis have already been contaminated.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Spain's unemployment rate on the rise



Unemployed people in Madrid, Spain

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/173020.html

The number of people filing for and requesting unemployment benefits in Spain has gone up by 0.8 percent, raising the country's jobless rate to a new high.

The number of applicants for unemployment benefit reached 34,406, putting the number of those registered as being unemployed in Spain at 4.3, the Associated Press reported on Monday.

Statistics from Spain's Labor Ministry suggest that the unemployment rate in March grew in all sectors in comparison with February.

According to the report, the service sector had the highest rate of job losses.

On the year, the number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 167,056, or 4.01 percent.

According to the European Union, Spain's new jobless rate currently is the highest rate in the eurozone, standing at over 20 percent, which is higher than twice the European Union's average.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Japan injects 5 Trillion Yen into troubled markets




Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170361.html

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has injected 5 trillion yens (USD 61 billion) to calm the country's upset financial markets following Japan's devastating March 11 earthquake.

The BOJ said on Thursday that its total liquidity injection reached 60.6 trillion yen (USD 739 billion) since Monday, Xinhua reported.

The injections come after the devastating temblor, Japan's strongest on record, and the ensuing tsunami on Friday, which collapsed the country's banking system.

The move would possibly decrease the value of yen and increase the country's inflation, analysts said.

The massive quake's death toll has reached 4,314 while at least 9,000 are unaccounted for.

The catastrophe and deepening nuclear crisis, caused at the Fukushima power plant reactors, could result in losses of up to USD 200 billion for the world's third largest economy.

The Japanese government on Wednesday ordered emergency workers to withdraw from a stricken nuclear plant amid a surge in radiation, temporarily suspending efforts to cool the overheating reactors.

The nuclear crisis has triggered international alarm and partly overshadowed the human tragedy caused by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake.

Meanwhile, Japanese stocks suffered their worst two-day rout since the 1987 crash on Monday and Tuesday, losing USD 626 billion in value, before rebounding 5.7 percent on Wednesday.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Spain's inflation hits two-year high





Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/167694.html

Spain's annual inflation rate has hit a two-year high of 3.4 percent in February, painting a grim outlook for the country's frail economy.

The country's National Statistics Institute says higher food and fuel prices have pushed the inflation to its highest level since October 2008 when fuel prices were soaring. Inflation was at 3.0 percent in January this year,a PressTV correspondent reported.

"This is not good for households and is going to eat in to their income. Given wage growth is pretty subdued at the moment, it's another reason to think households and the Spanish economy will have another tricky year ahead," Capital Economics economist Ben May said.

During the second half of 2008, Spain's economy slumped into recession as the global financial meltdown compounded the collapse of the once-booming property market.

In 2010, the economy shrank by 0.1 percent and the unemployment rate reached 20.33 percent, the highest level in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to Channel NewsAsia.

As for 2011, the government forecasts an economic growth of 1.3 percent, showing greater optimism than the International Monetary Fund, which has predicted a growth of just 0.6 percent.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero predicated earlier this year that declining oil prices would ease inflation. However the recent political turmoil sweeping the Middle East and North Africa has raised crude prices, adding to fears that the inflation may be driven even higher.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Uprising in Egypt unsettles global markets






Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/163026.html

Debt agency Moody's has cut its credit rating for Egypt, making it more costly for the Egyptian government to borrow.

Concerns about the possible closure of the Suez Canal, seen by economists as a chokepoint for global trade, is also pushing up commodity prices amid fears that supplies will be disrupted. Amid all this, the US Secretary of State had this to say:

The hesitance is no surprise -- considering the massive American business interests at stake in Mubarak's Egypt. The US sends nearly one and a half billion dollars in military aid to Egypt each year -- much of which comes back to American corporations -- which sell weapons and maintenance services to the Egyptian military.

Western oil companies have been a major presence in Egypt for decades -- drilling for oil and gas and making billions over the decades of Mubarek's rule.

Going strictly by the corporate bottom line - the Mubarek Presidency has been a profitable one for American and Western multinational corporations. Experts that Press TV has spoken to - however - are not bullish about the prospects of those corporations when the subject turns to Mubarak's replacement.

Sara Flounders - Co-Director of the International Action Center - says that there will likely be a harsh new reality for all Western companies doing business in Egypt - no matter who the new president turns out to be.

Many experts speculate that Mubarak's reign will end soon. When and if Mubarek heads out the door - he will take with him the cozy relationships he had with Western multinationals - and the massive profit margins many of them have enjoyed. According to Flounders - whoever steps into the power vacuum won't have much tolerance for Western interests.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up slightly on Monday - but not enough to recover from its plummet last Friday as investors ran to safer stocks. What will happen to investments - however - will continue to be closely tied with what happens on the ground in Cairo.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Value of US homes continues to fall


The US housing market has been hammered by soaring foreclosures. AP photo

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/154771.html


The value of homes in the US is poised to drop as much as 1.7 trillion dollars or seven percent of their total value by the end of the year.

The home market will be worth USD 22.7 trillion by the end of this year.

"Despite a strong start to 2010, by the end of the year homes lost more of their value in 2010 than they did in 2009," said Stan Humphries, Zillow real estate data firm's chief economist.

According to the firm, losses come in more than 60 percent higher than last year's. Since the peak in 2006, US homes have lost a massive 9 trillion dollars in value through the end of 2009. This figure amounts to more than 60 percent of the US annual economic output.

The firm has blamed accelerated foreclosures and negative equity for real estate value deprecation in America. Experts still forecast a declining trend through next year.

Homeowners are now demanding lower property taxes worth billions at a time when municipalities are being forced to cut services, Bloomberg reported.

“The full weight of the decline in housing values has yet to hit the budgets of many cities and property tax revenues will likely decline further in 2011 and 2012,” a National League of Cities report stated in October.

In the previous year, homeowners saw equity values fall by USD 1 trillion versus 2008. Economists say home values will not see a true recovery in the next three to five years.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

China boosts investment in Iran's energy















In ‎2009, Iran accounted for ‎‏11‏‎ percent of China's oil imports,
ranking ‎third among China's main oil suppliers after Angola
and Saudi Arabia



Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=136850§ionid=351020103


Chinese companies have invested around $40 billion in different upstream and downstream projects in Iran's oil and gas sector, an Iranian oil official says.

"Chinese companies have invested about $29 billion in Iran's upstream oil and gas sector and another $10 billion in the country's downstream energy sector, including gas, petrochemical and refinery construction projects," Iran's Deputy Oil Minister in International Affairs Hossein noghrehkar Shirazi said in an interview with Mehr news agency.

He added that the two countries are to start a new round of talks on developing bilateral oil trade and exchange.

Another Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Alireza Zeighami said earlier in July that Chinese companies have offered to finance some of the country's oil refinery development and gasoline production projects.

"Chinese companies are currently involved in building the Arak oil refinery; we intend to expand our cooperation with different Chinese firms for other oil refinery projects in Iran," Zeighami said.

Chinese companies are expanding their presence in Iran's oil refinery sector.

Last year, Chinese refiner Sinopec signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company to invest $6.5 billion for building oil refineries in Iran.

Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil producer, plans to build seven new refineries with a total investment of $23 billion.

A US official said Thursday that Washington is worried that Iran continues to attract investment from China despite a new round of UN Security Council sanctions imposed on Tehran.

Chinese companies were "aggressive" in investing in Iran's oil and gas fields, Joseph Christoff, head of the Government Accountability Office's international affairs and trade department, told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Christoff said international and unilateral sanctions were "not changing their (the Chinese) behavior" toward Iran.

Addressing the same panel, another official said that the US will press China to abide by international sanctions on Iran.

"China is of concern to us," AFP quoted Robert Einhorn, special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control at the State Department, as saying on Thursday. "We need for them to enforce the Security Council resolution," he said.

Friday, July 30, 2010

China investment in Iran worries US















Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=136724§ionid=351020101


Washington is worried that Iran continues to attract investment from China despite a new round of UN Security Council sanctions imposed on Tehran, a US official says.

Chinese companies were "aggressive" in investing in Iran's oil and gas fields, Joseph Christoff, head of the Government Accountability Office's international affairs and trade department, told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Thursday.

Christoff says international and unilateral sanctions were "not changing their (the Chinese) behavior" toward Iran.

Addressing the same panel, another official said that the US will press China to abide by international sanctions on Iran.

"China is of concern to us," AFP quoted Robert Einhorn, special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control at the State Department, as saying on Thursday. "We need for them to enforce the Security Council resolution," he said.

Beijing should not "backfill" by doing business with Tehran while other countries are "distancing themselves from Iran," Einhorn said.

The US and its Western allies accuse Iran of seeking a military nuclear program. Tehran rejects the charges, stressing that as a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it will not forgo its right to peaceful nuclear technology.

The UN Security Council adopted a US-drafted sanctions resolution on June 9. Ever since the US, European Union, Australia, and Canada have adopted unilateral sanctions against Iran.

However, China and Russia, two permanent members of the UNSC, as well as many other countries say they would not abide by the unilateral sanctions.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

China rejects US accusations on yuan
















Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=130062§ionid=3510203



World Trade Organization rules do not support US attempts to include Beijing's exchange-rate policy in trade investigations related to government subsidies, China says.

US attempts to punish Beijing unless it allows the yuan to rise, would not be supported by the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, Yao Jian, spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, said.

"It's against facts and lacks the support of WTO rules," China's commerce ministry spokesman told a news conference on Saturday.

"The WTO regulates trade policies, not financial or foreign exchange policies," he added.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, under fire for delaying a Treasury report to Congress due in April that could have labeled China a currency manipulator, said Thursday that the yuan was an obstruction to the global rebalancing of economies.

According to legislation proposed by US Senator Charles Schumer, US companies would be allowed to seek import duties to compensate for an undervalued currency by labeling it as a subsidy.

Critics argue that the yuan is artificially undervalued, adding that such low rating keeps exports relatively cheap granting Chinese exporters an unfair advantage over their rivals.

Earlier in March, the Governor of the People's Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan, said his country would eventually shift away from its special exchange rate policy.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

US Fed chief warns of spending cuts
















Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=129826§ionid=3510203



US Central Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke has warned the Capitol Hill against further spending cuts that might lead to another economic relapse.

In his Wednesday testimony before the House Budget Committee, the US Federal Reserve chief said, "Right now I do not think is the time -- this very moment is not the time -- to radically reduce our spending or raise our taxes because the economy is still in recovery mode and needs that support."

His comments come after Congressional Republicans followed by a number of Democrats made an attempt recently to cut the federal government's budget deficit, US media reported Wednesday.

The US administration has been blighted by a burgeoning budget deficit projected to top $1.6 trillion in 2011, which is about 10.6 percent of the nation's total output.

Bernanke also urged the Congress to draw up a plan in an attempt to bring the deficits to a more sustainable level.

Termed in the US media, as the "Great Recession," the latest economic downturn has also led to the loss of about eight million jobs, making America's exit from the recession a phenomenon botched by jobs scarcity, figures from the country's Labor Department suggest.

The lack of jobs has led economists in the US Fed to call the phenomenon a "jobless recovery."

ICJ delivers ruling in favour of South Africa

South Africa's Closing Argument Against Israel for Genocide at the ICJ