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Living within a living, loving planet
Economy
Oligarchy
Sep 18th
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Cost or lost opportunity
Feb 21st
“The Sun notes that a further five-year fuel duty freeze would ‘cost the government about £4bn a year’”
I don’t think so!
This is not a “loss” but a lost opportunity for a gain.
Editorial, The Sun
A Nationwide Scandal
Jul 21st
The Nationwide Scandal Hiding in Plain Sight
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-nationwide-crisis-hiding-in-plain-sight/
“While the investigation mostly focused on California care homes, what Gollan discovered is a nationwide problem hiding in plain sight, “blend[ing] in to neighborhoods. What’s worse is that the proliferation of these homes, made possible through lax regulations is leading people to join what many see as a get-rich-quick scheme by opening and operating an elderly care facility.
“[Operators] know they can suppress workers’ wages, and then take in $4,000 a month from seniors and make up the difference,” the journalist tells Scheer on the latest installment of his podcast. “There are many, many entrepreneurs on YouTube promoting this business in particular as a money-making machine, and a place where you can get into the business, the real estate end of the business, flip a house, make a few adjustments, and care for a bunch of seniors, open a care home and make a lot of money.”
“JG: Well, so that’s the median cost per resident to stay in one of these care homes per month. So these care homes can often make, from six residents, about $250,000 a year. And so you can see why it would be quite lucrative. And they’re basically promising to provide all of the care that many, you know, working parents cannot provide to their parents, because they’re caring for their children, for example. So they’re filling a need, and the industry has grown incredibly over the last decade, and they’re taking on these increasingly ill patients.”
This reminds me of the “Grapes of Wrath” John Steinbeck, 1939. Could it really be that these kinds of exploitative practices have been going on for centuries? Capitalism has matured and become the most exploitative institution the world has ever known. Married to materialism, this union has established a worldview that will take this civilisation down.
The Next Downturn
Jul 8th
Only 6 minutes and twenty four seconds “Human Population Through Time”
“It took 200,000 years for our population to reach 1 Billion and only 200 years to reach 7 Billion!!!! As our population has grown, so has our use of Earth’s resources. Choices we make today affect the future of our species and all life on Earth.”
If you don’t look at anything else today, please take the six minutes to view this video produced by the American Museum of Natural History. It doesn’t say who funded it!.
Next Downturn
Why The Next Downturn Will Be The Most Destructive In Modern History — And The
Why You Must Act Now In Order To Preserve Your Wealth (and the Planet!)
by Adam Taggart
Tuesday, May 7, 2019, 2:37 PM
Peak Prosperity
“Our society’s pursuit of endless economic growth is unsustainable.
We’re at the point where we’ve sabotaged our future by taking on too much debt, while at the same moment, we’ve started to run dangerously low on the resources necessary to run our modern way of living, straining key ecosystems in the process.
But rather than change our behavior, we’re doubling down on our faith in growth, creating dangerous financial bubbles that threaten to ruin our economy when they burst.
And worse than that, we’re depleting our remaining precious resources — such as energy deposits, rich topsoils, underground aquifers, ocean fisheries, key commercial minerals — at rates that can never recover in our lifetime.
At this stage, it’s unrealistic to expect our government to ride the rescue in time, if at all — even if it weren’t dysfunctionally focused on protecting the very status quo that’s killing us.
Instead, we need to become our own heroes.”
Why not Jack the Price?
May 13th
“Many airlines introduced baggage fees in 2008 to cope with soaring fuel costs.
Despite historically low oil prices and record airline profits, the fees have not been revoked.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-36283233
Prevalent pricing policies bear no resemblance to market forces anymore. Prices go up simply because they can. In most cases where prices have not gone up, amounts in the package have been trimmed. We are feeling the effect of a significant change in Capitalism as we have known it. Scrap the terminology you learned in economics classes. The only surviving and meaningful word is exploitation.
Council could close half of Devon’s libraries
Apr 3rd
Council could close half of Devon’s libraries
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-26840248
“We just need to evolve the way we support them and move forward.”
“The library service in Devon has to save another £1.5m due to spending cuts, the briefing paper says, in addition to a £3m cut over the last three years.”
What’s with these “moving forward” and “evolve” euphemisms? There is nothing forward moving or evolutionary about these cuts on top of previous cuts. This is blatantly penalising the poor for the excesses of the rich.
“Plans to award MPs an 11% pay rise have been criticised across Westminster, with one minister describing them as ‘utterly incomprehensible’”.
“All three party leaders disagreed with the move when it was first proposed earlier this year but the watchdog is expected to say it will press ahead with the rise – expected to cost the public purse £4.6m.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25287108
“HSBC to unveil highest profits since start of crisis Thursday 03 April 2014” The banks are back in profit whilst social services are still being cut. Why is this?
Clever
Mar 27th
“Why aren’t more people in jail? If you rob a bank, you go to jail. If a bank robs you, it gets a bailout.” Jamie Dimon
This is from a man who quit a BIG job and dropped out.
Will China and Japan soon own the US?
Nov 14th
Will China and Japan soon own the US? This not impossible since they hold 48% of the country’s debt burden. I’ve always understood that when you own a company and others own over 1/2 of the debt, then you no longer own the company. Is that not right?
14 November 2012 Last updated at 00:09
US government deficit rises sharply in October
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20320862
“The US deficit came to $1.1tn dollars in the year to September 2012, or about 7% of economic output
The US government’s budget deficit rose sharply in October, highlighting the financial challenge President Barack Obama faces following his re-election.
The deficit increased 22% from a year earlier to $120bn (£75bn) as government spending outpaced tax revenues.
The deficit is the amount by which government spending exceeds its tax revenues, with the government needing to borrow the difference.”
“Public debt increases or decreases as a result of the annual unified budget deficit or surplus.[2] The federal government budget deficit or surplus is the difference between government receipts and spending, ignoring intra-governmental transfers. However, some spending that is excluded from the deficit (supplemental appropriations) also adds to the debt.”
“According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, if the White House and Congress can reach a budget deal that extends the tax cuts and avoids reductions in spending, the deficit will be about $1 trillion for this budget year.”
Sky: Here’s where I utterly fail to understand what’s going on. The Congressional Budget Office wants to [1] continue the taxcuts [2] refuse to cut spending, and this will result in a decreased deficit? They say it will be $1 trillion. But it was already $1.1 trillion in September, 2012 and rose 22% in October with no indication that it will decrease in the near future. Now as far as the trade deficit decreasing in September -*see below- that will cease as people start buying up Christmas presents from goods made overseas.
Also, looking at corporate tax and corporate tax incentives, it is doubtful if the increased tax revenues as a result of a better balance of trade will seriously decrease the budget deficit. Of course, when banks and other corporates pay obscene salaries and incentives, even when their companies are on their knees; this is an expense to the company and will decrease profits thus decrease taxable income.
“Federal debt held by the public will reach 73 percent of GDP [gross domestic product] by the end of this fiscal year—the highest level since 1950 and about twice the share that it measured at the end of 2007, before the financial crisis and recent recession.” http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43539
Sky: It is obvious to me that it is time to pay the piper. But the question is, who will pay? The political party that controls the House says the government cannot increase taxes for the 1% yet the 1% have increased their wealth by somewhere between double and triple since 2008. So who do you think is going to pay? Yep, those with the least political power. If you look at Greece for instance, the cuts mainly affected the lower income brackets. Sure, the wealthy invest in industry that creates jobs etc. But on the other hand, the increase in wealth and corporate pay has not been ignored by the have-nots and perhaps a little more should filter down to them. I don’t believe I am alone with my belief that whilst it was the well to do who broke the law and acted foolishly and greedily, the pay back is ending up on the shoulders of the poor. We need to bring back the credo of the radio program – The FBI in Peace and War – crime doesn’t pay!!
Well, I am nauseated by the whole financial picture and will end this rave.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CBO_-_Revenues_and_Outlays_as_percent_GDP.png
U.S. debt from 1940 to 2011. Red lines indicate the debt held by the public (net public debt) and black lines indicate the total public debt outstanding (gross public debt), the difference being that the gross debt includes that held by the federal government itself. The second panel shows the two debt figures as a percentage of U.S. GDP (dollar value of U.S. economic production for that year). The top panel is deflated so every year is in 2010 dollars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt
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8 November 2012 Last updated at 14:50
US trade deficit falls to near two-year low
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20254604
Exports and imports both rose during September
The US trade deficit has fallen to its lowest level in almost two years, as exports reached an all-time high, official figures have shown.
The deficit in goods and services narrowed to $41.5bn (£26bn) in September, raising hopes of increased strength in the US economy.
Economic Death Trip
Oct 27th
Richard (RJ) Eskow, Op-Ed: “Nationalism and rage have been on the rise as countries like Greece have been forced to accept humiliating economic deals in order to stay afloat, one of which is to make repaying bankers a higher national priority than serving its own citizens. That’s where austerity inevitably leads: the overruling of democratic process by financial elites. Americans have been remarkably tolerant of the economic hardship imposed on them so far.”
http://www.nationofchange.org/europe-s-agony-could-become-our-future-under-mitt-romney-1351266242
It would be a mistake to think the rage isn’t there. The evidence is there. I see it in the Yahoo pinochle and euchre games I play. Over the last two or three years the balking, delaying, cursing, claims of cheating, unpleasantness is the norm now rather than the exception. Fear of hard times and possible poverty blank out kindness and fair play. There are the abusive shouts and pressure placed on young boys in little league, for instance.
Cooperation is buried in efforts to get what you can while the getting is possible, not good, just possible. Of course it is almost impossible to measure suppressed rage, but look around, think about it when you are observing behaviour and I suspect you will find it lurking under the unkind and inconsiderate behaviour around you. I believe, even when there is compliance and the lack of criticism, that most people know when they are being marginalised and exploited by corporates; banks especially. They feel it in the belly and it gest stored up and often becomes suppressed rage that erupts in some future event. Perhaps it is healthier to bitch, protest peaceably and speak out against injustice.