Living Inside The Economic Volcano With Angry Gods
November 3, 2008
Elaine Meinel Supkis
One of my favorite song birds, Yma Sumac, has flown from this earth and is now gone forever. Time to memorialize her. Also, we talk about the Japanese carry trade yet again. It is being restarted with great effort by the central bankers who want to continue flooding us with debts. And Rubins and Bernstein, two of Obama's economic advisors, talk at the NYT. I rip things apart. And we discuss the Volcano Gods who happen to be in the news today.
The fine lady with the most amazing voice, Yma Sumac, has left us a fine legacy of a lot of popular, entertaining music. When I was a child, I wished I had her wide ranged voice. But alas, I was not allowed to sing well. My throat was operated on when I was still a child and I bear the big gash across the neck to this day. When I was young and the scar was very striking, I used to tell children that someone tried to slit my throat but I fought him off. Heh.
So much for lying about things! It was amusing, though. As for Yma, she sang her heart out and I am glad she concentrated on South American themes, composers and culture. During WWII, the government was worried about losing the allegiance of South American and Central American nations so they began this big, big push to popularize the cultures that are south of the US borders.
Thank goodness for that! I happen to love many different cultures. Japanese, Chinese, European, African, South American, etc.= all have something wonderful to give us! This export of cultures I highly recommend. This is quite different from destroying our own industrial base type of export/import markets. I am an enthusiastic supporter of cultural exchanges.
Back to the 1940's: the US government encouraged artists and performers from this hemisphere to produce things in Hollywood or tour the nation. So the wide variety of peoples and cultures of the South came to our nation and opened many doors here. And I remember this flood coming in the 1950's. It influenced our sense of color and space as well as the rhythms of our music, our dance. A tremendous influence. And Yma was one facet of this diamond studded gold rush. Thank you, my dear, for giving us your gifts so generously.
Today thousands of pilgrims flock to Mount Bromo on East Java each year to offer the spirits food, live animals and money and ask for prosperity and health. Bromo, a 7,641-foot volcano, is one of Java's most popular tourist attractions.
The poor arrive days ahead of the ceremony, carrying fishing nets to catch money and anything edible. They camp under tarps in the crater atop the mountain's chilly slopes.
Time for the annual human sacrifices to the Volcano Gods! The Volcano Gods are like the Lightning Gods: very, very dangerous but also the source of life and wealth. The lightning storms brought us fire and water: the falling rain soaks the parched land and things grow. Volcanoes spew out the wealth of the inner core of this planet. The mineral wealth this brings is very good for growing things but like lightning, it is also destructive.
The hammer of lightning and the forge of volcanic fire created humans. We evolved rapidly due to these forces of nature! Several major volcanic events in the history of this planet shoved evolution forwards at a tremendous pace. The skies dim under the aerosol veil as the fine dust covers the entire biosphere. This dimming of the solar energy leads to a cooler climate. This, in turn, causes starvation and death.
Indonesia's volcanoes have caused huge havoc in the past. The eruptions there nearly wiped out all early humanoids, for example. So it is no surprise to see the people there worshipping these dangerous mountains as gods. But since the best farmlands tend to be in the range of volcanic events, humans are resigned to living with this planetary hazard.
This story today interests me because it is so true to the concept of human wealth and power as well as the dangers that the poor must take to gain even small boons. Note that the rulers of this region used to use human sacrifices to placate the gods living in these mysterious deep holes that go far into the earth. Secondly, to make these gods happy, humans not only throw humans but other things into these volcanoes.
Third: despite the belief that the offerings must go to the gods, the poorest humans scramble into a very dangerous place in the hopes of catching a few of these falling items as they are pitched into destruction. Fourth: the destruction of wealth is seen as a way of protecting FUTURE wealth! This is the top item here, in my mind.
If the people fail to sacrifice something valuable today, they believe they will be punished tomorrow. So these people who often had little to give up, would assign high values to things and then pitch these into a volcano or a deep, deep lake. Often, they would make things out of gold and then toss it. This was because gold was seen as eternal and connected to the Death Gods. It had little real use in the real world.
But as a currency for the true overlords, the Gods, yes, gold was quite valuable. We must remember that the Egyptian pharaohs or the Inca emperors didn't park gold deep in lakes or deep in caves or in pyramids, etc in order to keep it for themselves. They did this for the Afterworld. What I often call, the Outer Darkness. Our museums are filled with these things that were created for the Death Gods. We pay a lot of money to view them with wonder and envy.
So let's go to today's news again. The world is in a global grip of a mega-financial meltdown which is due to the Emperor of the US refusing to pay tribute to the gods or to keep an even balance between revenues and desires to spend.
Bloomberg) -- The yen fell against the dollar and the euro as a rally in Asian and European stocks encouraged investors to step up purchases of higher-yielding assets financed with the Japanese currency.
The yen also weakened versus Australia's dollar on expectations the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut interest rates tomorrow to sustain economic growth. The Japanese currency slid against South Korea's won and India's rupee after Korea announced a $10.8 billion stimulus package and India's central bank cut borrowing costs for the second time in two weeks. The dollar declined against the euro before reports this week that may add to evidence U.S. economic is slowing.
``We're seeing a bit of risk appetite returning as things stabilize and I wouldn't be surprised to see the yen even lower,'' said Ian Stannard, a senior currency strategist in London at BNP Paribas SA, the most accurate forecaster in a 2007 Bloomberg survey. ``We should see lower-yielding currencies coming under some more pressure.''
*snip*
The yen has appreciated 8.8 percent versus the greenback since Sept. 12, the last trading day before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy. The remainder of the world's 16 most-active currencies declined as frozen credit markets and a rout in stocks that wiped out more than $13 trillion of market value fueled risk aversion. The yen may drop to 103 against the dollar in the next week, Stannard said.
Japan sighs with relief. They are absolutely desperate to get the yen above that horror level of 100 or less to the dollar. They are happy that the US government is equally desperate to restart the mega-moneymaking-machine of the Japanese carry trade. This will pour more liquidity around the planet and we will continue with our false sense of well-being as we get shoved deeper and deeper into the volcano.
If the Japanese carry trade leads to huge sums of free funny money being tossed madly into this massive volcano, we can lurk below the rim and catch some of the loot as it plunges downwards. There is a lot of economic debate going on here on this planet as people struggle to understand the nature of magical money and how it intersects with reality.
One cannot do this unless one first accepts the concept that all of this is magical and all of this is very connected with fires and holes deep in the earth. And the heavens, of course. And above all, death. If our cultural ancestors across the planet knew that gold and wealth was very much connected to Death Gods, we must accept this as a fact of human nature and deal with it appropriately.
The US prayed to the Kami of Japan for wealth. These Kami are often found in volcanoes. And the ocean. The magic golden fish that grants wishes lives there, for example. We begged these Kami for wealth without work. They granted our wish. But of course, this will destroy us. But being Death Gods, they are overjoyed we made this request and are very happy to grant us this wish. Throughout the history of fairy telling stories of yore, there is this common thread: wishes are DANGEROUS. One doesn't get what one imagines when one wishes. Especially if the wishes are being granted by the gods and goddesses who control access to the Cave of Wealth and Death!
The yen also weakened as volatility implied by one-month euro options against Japan's currency fell to 42.40 percent, from 43.93 percent on Oct. 31, signaling a reduced risk of exchange-rate fluctuations that make so-called carry trades unprofitable. Volatility was 49.62 percent Oct. 27, the highest level since the common European currency's debut in 1999.
In carry trades, investors get funds from countries with low borrowing costs, such as Japan, where the benchmark interest rate is 0.3 percent, and invest the money in overseas markets where returns are higher. Japan's main interest rate compares with 3.75 percent in the 15 nations that share the euro and is the lowest among industrialized countries.
Japan doesn't mind it if the US drops interest rates to Japanese levels. Since Japan already has worked well at deconstructing the US industrial base and now has outpost factories here which send all their profits to Tokyo, they are happy when our government desperately lowers interest rates and makes credit easier to obtain.
Japan's carry trade was never mainly with the US in the first place. It is with other, much smaller nations. This way, they can happily inflate the number of dollars across the planet while virtually none of this except a small overflow, goes directly to the US. This is fine with our rulers. They don't want inflation due to this flood of US dollars coming home. The violent unwinding of the Japanese carry trade coincided with the biggest inflation bubbles in commodities, by the way. All of which mainly happened in the last 2 years.
The US and Japan like it this way. The US can overspend budgets and the Japanese buy our debts so they can continue both the carry trade as well as increasing the US trade deficit. Anyone even slightly interested in fixing the present mess has to address the politics of the Japanese carry trade. It is painfully obvious to me that everyone at the top want this to continue no matter what. Let's look even deeper:
Overall tax revenue for fiscal 2008 will fall more than 5 trillion yen short of the government's 53.5-trillion-yen estimate, due mainly to poor corporate performances, the Finance Ministry said.
The shortage in the general account could force the government to issue deficit-covering bonds, which will likely push the total amount of national bonds issued this fiscal year past 30 trillion yen for the first time in three years.
The government intends to attain a primary balance surplus in fiscal 2011, at which the sum of new government bonds issued each year is kept under the total repayment of interest and principal for bonds issued in the past.
But the additional deficit-covering bonds for fiscal 2008 would make it extremely difficult to achieve that goal unless there is a sudden surge in tax revenue.
The government's tax revenue estimate for the current fiscal year was based on economic forecasts and corporate performances as of last December.
Corporate tax revenue, which accounts for about 30 percent of total tax revenue, was estimated at 16.7 trillion yen.
Japan has the cheapest credit on earth. And for a very long time, too. This was no emergency. Unless an emergency lasts forever. They have found this deep hole in the ground, one that is actually a volcano. They are happily using this to create massive global credit. This, in turn, has flooded all nations with debts. International debt levels are increasing.
Japan has the world's #2 FOREX reserves which are mainly dollars. And yet the government is running in the red! This, after strangling public services. The government could use their reserves to make the shortfall. But why do that? They are borrowing at virtually free values! What is there to stop them from borrowing even as they flood the planet with debt via their FOREX reserves? This is fundamentally very bad! But they don't care. Everyone is clamoring for them to do this.
The other matter here is the fact that Japanese corporations that make some of the highest profits via their export trade, pay 30% of the government's taxation! So let's go to the other side of this trade ledger: the US spending and taxation systems.
Deficits over the next decade are now projected to be enormous in size. A joint analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Concord Coalition, and the Committee for Economic Development projects deficits totaling $5 trillion through 2013.
An analysis by Brookings economists reaches a very similar conclusion, while Goldman Sachs projects deficits totaling $5.5 trillion.[1]
Despite the deteriorating fiscal outlook and the historically low corporate revenue collections we already face, Congress nonetheless seems poised to shower more tax breaks on corporations that would cause deficits to grow substantially larger over time .
Treasury Department figures show that actual corporate income tax revenues fell to $132 billion in 2003, down 36 percent from $207 billion in 2000.
As a result of these low levels, corporate revenues in 2003 represented only 1.2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (the basic measure of the size of the economy), the lowest level since 1983, the year in which corporate receipts plummeted to levels last seen in the 1930s.
Corporate revenues represented only 7.4 percent of all federal tax receipts in 2003.
With the exception of 1983, this represents the lowest level on record (these data go back to 1934).
I heavily amended these graphs to illustrate the forces at work here. Here is a most important fact we must never forget:
WHEN THE US RAN TRADE SURPLUSES, WE TAXED CORPORATIONS AT 30%!!!
This startling fact should be a hot topic. These graphs are very good at showing how the deterioration of corporate tax revenues corresponds quite directly with the deteriorating US trade situation. Namely, I simply made the years that we ran a trade deficit, red. And the previous period in green to reflect the profits from back then.
A general rule of thumb is very simple: if someone is doing something and it is quite successful, we should imitate them. The Chinese follow this rule very closely. This irritates the Japanese, of course. We are in competition with both China and Japan. Not to mention, the rest of the world. We can have and want global trade and I am all for this. But NOT global one-way trade.
Namely, the US cannot run deficits nonstop. There was exactly one year we ran a surplus. But this was due to Gulf War I when Bush Sr. sold our soldiers as mercenaries to the despotic rulers of Kuwait. Not because the US suddenly began to manufacture and sell overseas, more US goods.
More Yma great singing:
Here is a New York Times story about how this flood of Japanese carry trade funny money ravaged our entire corporate base even as the easy lending sent stock markets to the heavens:
Private equity firms embarked on one of the biggest spending sprees in corporate history for nearly three years, using borrowed money to gobble up huge swaths of industries and some of the biggest names — Neiman Marcus, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Toys “R” Us.
When the economy was booming, the firms made huge profits by cutting costs at their new acquisitions, improving operations and then turning around and selling them. In 2007, at the height of the bubble, such deals totaled $796 billion, or more than 16 percent of the $4.83 trillion in all the deals made globally that year, according to data from Dealogic.
Firms like the Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, faced an image problem at the height of the bubble for excessive compensation and beneficial tax treatment, but their returns were so high that even investors like pension funds were drawn in. Now these firms, built on enormous amounts of debt, are being forced to go back to the financial markets just as those markets have nearly frozen up.
If history is any guide, the worst may be yet to come. Steven N. Kaplan, a professor at University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, found that nearly 30 percent of all big public-to-private deals made from 1986 to 1989 defaulted.
Why did our nation allow this? The rulers knew that this sort of debt-piling on game would have AT LEAST a 30% default rate! This is totally unacceptable. A 10% default rate can cause an entire economy to go into a bad tailspin.
Recall, please, how this present collapse is being nearly totally blamed on the poor homebuyers who are at the very bottom of the money feeding scale, the people who live on the lip of the volcano and spread their aprons and nets to catch some of the loot. How sad this all is! Innocent people trapped inside the volcano are being blamed for it blowing up.
The US ruling elites and corporate overlords knew perfectly well, the game they were playing would, AT BEST, lead to a 30% loss if things didn't continue to expand. So they continued to expand things despite knowing this. The tool they used the most was the most insidious of creations: the Derivatives Beast!
Yes, it all boomerangs back to that thing. Millions of humans will die in the volcano because the Beast lives there and is one of the Death Gods! Workers who live inside the lip of this mighty volcano were told to give their money to the guys throwing it into the volcano and if they catch some of this falling loot which were their own savings, they would get RICH! Only, they won't get rich. For none of the savers in the volcano were told that the failure rate of these loans would be at least 30%.
Instead, they were told lies about the Derivatives Beast. They were told, this deadly creature would shelter them. And so the money is lost and people will die because of this. Now, the NYT has printed a major editorial from the staff working for Obama. There are many interesting levels of this editorial which I must explore as we think about volcanoes and Death Gods:
We also jointly believe that fiscal stimulus must be married to a commitment to re-establishing sound fiscal conditions with a multi-year program that includes room for critical public investment, once the economy is back on a healthy track.
One of us (Mr. Rubin) views long-term fiscal deficits — in combination with a low national savings rate, large current account deficits and foreign portfolios that are heavily over-weighted in dollar-dominated assets — as a serious threat to long-term interest rates and our currency and, therefore, to our economic future. The other views these economic relationships as much weaker.
*snip*
One important policy question is what our fiscal objectives should be in terms of deficits and of the ratio of the national debt to the gross domestic product. In times like these, larger than normal budget deficits will add to the national debt. In more stable times, a budget deficit equivalent to roughly 2 percent of G.D.P. will keep the debt-to-G.D.P. ratio constant, a legitimate fiscal policy goal. In flush times, a smaller deficit would lower the debt ratio and that might be desirable.
We both agree that individual income tax rates and other taxes for those at the very top could be moved back to the rates of the Clinton era. It’s worth remembering that rates at this level helped finance deficit reduction and public investment that contributed to the longest economic expansion in our history.
So, they will up corporate taxes? HAHAHA. I would suggest that they read this story of mine and then explain the need for higher taxes. Namely, our deadly rivals in Japan have these higher rates. So we should, too. Period. No other excuses needed.
We also see in this editorial that the top economic advisors to Obama are split on many issues. Actually, this is a very good thing! Obama can listen to all sides and then MAKE CHOICES. The one-voice method used by Bush was a failure. We need debate. I hope I get invited to these debates over time. I would be happy if they merely read me. After all, knowledge is good. Especially if it is very old knowledge.
Free markets versus regulation and protection: We both feel strongly that there are important lessons to be learned from the disruptions in our financial system, and that significant reforms are needed. The objective ought to be to optimize the balance between increasing consumer protection and reducing systemic risk on the one hand, and preserving the benefits of a market-based system on the other.
We know, too, that Wall Street and Main Street are intimately connected. The consequences of the financial market crisis are profound for Americans in terms of lost jobs, lower incomes and reduced retirement savings. Measures to reform and strengthen the financial system should be evaluated by this measure: Do they ultimately translate into improving the jobs, incomes and assets of working Americans?
With respect to trade, the choice is not trade liberalization versus protectionism. Instead, as trade expands, we must recognize that protecting workers is not protectionism. We must better prepare our people to compete effectively and help those who are hurt by trade — not just dislocated workers, but those who find their incomes lowered through global competition. This means investing more of the benefits of trade in offsetting these losses, through more effective safety nets, including universal health care and pension coverage.
Neither advisor understands global trade. Nor does virtually anyone working for the major media. Indeed, the blind spots here are so massive, we could say that, when it comes to trade, our entire pundit class lives in the Outer Darkness. They are blind and stupefied by propaganda and hubristic imperial belief systems. Or worse, divided loyalties.
Note how these two guys who happen to be Jewish, fret about 'those who are hurt by [this idiotically unbalanced] trade! Oh dear!
Well, I have a stark message to both men: THE ENTIRE US ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IS BEING HARMED BY THIS UNBALANCED TRADE!!!
It will kill the entity we call, 'The United States'. We will become Yugoslavia: the maker of crummy cars who then fell apart with ethnic and religious infighting and is now a series of mini-states after killing lots and lots of people.
Let's look at one prime example of unbalanced trade which involves many financial experts turning a blind eye because they support other nations benefitting from US trade imbalances:
The United States of America consumes almost 40% of Israel’s total export shipments, far more than second-place Belgium at 6.5% and third-place Hong Kong at 5.9%.
Israel’s imports are less concentrated, with products from trade partners distributed more proportionately. Leading exporters into Israel include the U.S. (12.4%), Belgium (8.2%), Germany (6.7%), Switzerland (5.9%), the United Kingdom (5.1%) and China (also 5.1%).
In 2007, Israel exported an estimated US$50.2 billion worth of goods onto the international trade marketplace. Israeli imports totalled roughly $55.8 billion, resulting in Israel’s overall $5.6-billion trade deficit last year.
Despite its overall deficit, Israel enjoyed a US$7.8 billion trade surplus with its American trade partner in 2007. The most recent surplus statistic is 32.6% higher than the Israel-US surplus in 2003 but represents a 5% decrease from the $8.2 billion surplus in 2006.
With a population of 7.1 million, Israel exported US$20.8 billion worth of merchandise to the United States in 2007, an 8.6% increase from 2006 and up by 63% in 4 years.
US exports into Israel is 12.5% but the reverse direction is 40% of Israel's exports are to the US. Ergo: Israel imports more from others while the US gets a very much smaller slice. But Israel gets to ship things with pretty much Japanese-levels of impunity to the US! And this has been climbing steeply. True, it declined a slight amount this last year. But this happened with Japan and China and is only a side effect of the US going into a steep recession.
Anyone looking at trade statistics can clearly see that nearly all trade deficit reductions in the past 35 years have come ONLY during recessions. The minute spending picks up, the US is inundated with imports pouring in all our major ports.
In the last 4 years while the US ran epic trade deficits, Israel had one of the highest growth rates. True, it is not a towering mess like from China! But Israel is a very small country, so it is no surprise the amounts are smaller. But the growth rate is not smaller.
Since none of our leaders, all of whom swear fealty to Israel before running for office, are going to stop this one-way trade with Israel, they can't go off and do this to other nations. So, to let Israel do this, they have developed a philosophical matrix that says, 'It is OK for the US to continuously run trade deficits'. Closely connected is this concept of, 'The US can run trade and budget deficits forever.'
This is very clearly seen in DC. Whenever I talked about trade deficits and the need for the US to stop piling on debts, eyes would glaze over. THIS IS TREASON. Ignoring dire dangers to the US people due to this is treasonous. The people who live in DC and run our government are REQUIRED to protect us, protect our borders, protect our Constitution and to live within certain bounds. Selling us to foreign powers is not allowed. It is quite outside the directives of our government.
Both sides expect a close finish, something of a paradox in a struggling state in a year in which the poor economy is driving support for Obama and other Democrats. Ohio lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs this decade and its median income has dropped by 3 percent, yet polls show Obama with no more than a narrow lead in a state that Sen. John F. Kerry lost to Bush by two points.
That may be because the weak economy has driven away younger and college-educated residents who lean Democratic, because abortion remains a potent issue and because an African American candidate with an unusual name remains a tough sell in some corners. But voters also say the poor economy has not swung more voters to Obama precisely because the state has been down for so long -- many have come to see the woes as systemic, and not easily blamed on a particular party.
Ever since the US launched the floating currency, the collective boats of the working class have sunk deeper and deeper. Or maybe I should say, the workers have been pushed deeper and deeper into the volcano. They are now cynical and are feeling victimized. People who are victimized turn to racism or religious fanaticism for comfort.
This is very bad! We see it very clearly in past depressions! Over and over again, no matter what country it is, when the economy goes bad, minorities get hammered. Ohio has been let down by everyone. When Ross Perot talked about the 'Giant sucking sound' he got over 20% of the vote.
So the DNC and GOP conspired to kill the sponsorship of Presidential debates so they could exclude anyone who could talk about the Federal Reserve and Free Trade. Now, we get faux debates where the people must choose based on emotions, not economic principles.
This is why things get worse and worse. The US auto workers should be demanding tariffs and barriers. But when they vote for people endorsed by their unions, these same people end up supporting free trade. This is simple: the entire Congress and the Presidential candidates are owned by the banking gnomes and international dealers seeking to drive us deeper into debt!
So everyone comes to Ohio to be pious but then goes to DC to be corrupted.
So people left behind in these dying communities are bitter, as Obama noted. They cling to guns and religion. A very deadly combo that leads to Yugoslavian solutions.
Now, back to the Derivatives Beast who lives in this volcano:
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced today that it will begin to publish aggregate market data from its Trade Information Warehouse (Warehouse), the worldwide central trade registry it maintains on credit derivatives. Starting Tuesday, November 4 and continuing weekly, DTCC will post on its website www.dtcc.com/derivserv the outstanding gross and net notional values ("stock" values) of credit default swap (CDS) contracts registered in the Warehouse for the top 1,000 underlying single-name reference entities and all indices, as well as certain aggregates of this data on a gross notional basis only. The data is intended to address market concerns about transparency.
The very secretive gnomes running the DTCC can't be trusted nor are they clear. These monsters are going to soothe markets by publishing hard information. So I said, 'Whoopee! I will haunt this website!' Only I can't!
Only certain people, namely, ONLY GNOMES can access this information! I hope some of my more connected readers can overcome this barrier for me and send me information published by the DTCC. I would love to see the actual numbers.
According to the DTCC, the actual physical losses due to Lehman Brothers was virtually nothing. Less than $10 billion. Well, this begs the question: what on earth is this stupid Derivatives Beast that is many trillions in size if it isn't big at all? And if so, why continue to keep this vital information behind a locked door that only gnomes can access? EH???
Gads. They are pulling yet another gnome trick here. Can't fool me.
Some owners deserting factories in China (LA Times)
'Government statistics show that 67,000 factories of various sizes were shuttered in China in the first half of the year, said Cao Jianhai, an industrial economics researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. By year's end, he said, more than 100,000 plants will have closed.'
China May Provide Funds to Support IMF's Bailout Efforts (ChinaStakes)
'China will probably announce a plan to inject funds into the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the G20 summit meeting, to be held in Washington on November 15.'
Kunstler said, in his latest blog entry: "The idea behind it, my paranoid fugue goes, is to jack up the stock market enough around election day to give the dimmer members of the voting public the idea that the financial fiasco is over and happy days are here again."
I agree that this is happening as the DOW has risen from 8400-ish last week to the current 9300. The week prior to last, the DOW had a 'maiacl' day when it shot up 890 points. Nothing like a good stroking (foreplay) before the final act of decimation. Just wait until next year.
I have a question for you on the 0% "Japanese carry trade."
First let me share my basic understanding -
My understanding is that any fiat money system must maintain at least a minimum amount of liquidity growth - in order to fund ongoing interest payments. For example, if the interest on our national debt is around $500 billion, then at lest $500 billion of liquidity must be added the system.
The amount of interest compounds, thus the interest required liquidity grows exponentially - it simply cannot be sustained indefinitely. The system simply must fail.
Ok, now my question -
Is a 0% interest rate eventually required in order to stave off or eliminate a system collapse?
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Is there a formula or charts for the required annual interest liquidity injection (not sure of the terminology)?
Being nothing, a hole, or maybe a volcano's center, it allows more and more debts to be piled high.
BUT THESE MUST BE RENEWED! They have to be turned over. So if the rates rise to even 1%, this triggers a collapse. We saw this with the stupid ARM loans and sub prime stuff. The instant rates went up, the owners of the debts went belly up. Fast.
About the factories in China: these things were polluting the water, soil and air. They were churning out mostly junk. The communists didn't like this so they are deliberately bankrupting them. This is the way our own government operates, by the way.
About those goofy and dangerous interest rates swaps: if all the top nations go to 0%, this market becomes sort of moot, doesn't it? No interest, no interest rate swap games, I guess.
Elaine said: "About the factories in China: these things were polluting the water, soil and air."
"Were"? You're being an optimist. Now that the factories are closing or closed, the damage has been done and long after those factories are gone, their damage to the environment will go on. Think: Love Canal.
'China now produces about two-thirds of all aspirin and is poised to become the world’s sole global supplier in the not-too-distant future. But are the Chinese factories safe? Who knows? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency and other competent government regulators rarely, if ever, inspect them.'
Reading this article may have you thinking afterwards about what you are actually 'popping'.
"Israeli media reported this week that the Israeli Embassy in London and Buckingham Palace are close to an agreement on having Queen Elizabeth confer honorary knighthood on Israeli President Shimon Peres when he visits the UK next month."
Anyone have any ideas who convinced the Japs to Nuke our country with Yen Debt bomb?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rockefeller
"In 2002 Rockefeller authored his autobiography “Memoirs” wherein, on page 405," Mr. Rockefeller writes: “For more than a century ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents such as my encounter with Castro to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as "internationalists" and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure - one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it."
Rockefeller maintains that, although Bilderberg's role is not to resolve disputes, because of the wide-ranging experience of the various attendees participants are 'free to report on what they have heard' to their respective heads of government.[37]
It was a dissatisfaction with the failure of this group to include Japan that subsequently led to him forming the Trilateral Commission (TC) in July 1973, influenced by, among others, Zbigniew Brzezinski, the National Security Advisor under Carter and the author of Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era, published in 1970. They discussed forming the organization at a Bilderberg Group meeting in Belgium in 1972; Brzezinski subsequently became the inaugural United States director. The Commission also launched its own magazine, the Trialogue.
It held the founding session of its Executive Committee in Tokyo in October, 1973. In May 1975, the first plenary meeting of all of the Commission's regional groups – North America, Europe and Japan, comprising some 300 members – took place in Kyoto. In its Third Annual Report, released in mid-1976, the Commission noted that there was a "noticeably increased emphasis on trilateral ties as the cornerstone of American foreign policy".[38]
The US needed 'allies' to oppose communists. Then Nixon went and kissed Mao. One of the funniest moments in history. Certainly on par with the Hitler/Stalin pact.
U.S. Auto Sales Fall 32% to Lowest Total in 17 Years (Bloomberg)
``If you adjust for population growth, it's the worst sales month in the post-World War II era'' for the industry, said Mike DiGiovanni, GM's chief sales analyst, on a conference call. ``Clearly we're in a dire situation.''
Bye, bye GM. You won't see 2010.
Full article:
http://tinyurl.com/62upjh
U.S. Economy: Factory Index Declines to 26-Year Low (Bloomberg)
'Manufacturing in the U.S. contracted in October at the fastest pace in 26 years as a record share of banks made it tougher to get loans and faltering economies abroad eroded prospects for American exports.'
Blue Mountain Freezes $3.1 Billion Credit Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
Don't know who these guys are (except gnomes), but they don't want YOU to have YOUR money.
'Blue Mountain Capital Management LLC froze its largest hedge fund after clients asked to pull a ``meaningful percentage'' of their money even as it outperformed the industry average by almost 10-fold this year.'
Full article:
http://tinyurl.com/5gkso6
Bailout List Could Top 1,800 (MoneyNews)
That is a lot of money squanderers and top executive payouts.
In these economic hard times, divided we fall (Globe and Mail)
'All the regions of the country are vulnerable in this downturn. The Canadian economy, taken as a whole, is diversified. But we have a lot of one-industry provinces: forestry in British Columbia, autos in Ontario, oil and gas in Alberta and, increasingly, Saskatchewan. When all these industries face a downturn at the same time, sharing risk becomes a bigger challenge.'
Things are not so 'rosy' in my country of Canada either.
Impatient: I built my house and am still building it. I made some new deck/balconies so I can reach all parts of the house without using a ladder [I am getting rather on the years, long in tooth] when I banged my hand on something very, very sharp.
Bled all over the place. Had to wear a big, fat bandage. Couldn't speed type like normal. Heh. Very annoying. Now, the bandage is gone but the wound itches. Annoying as hell!
The US braces for next crisis: Credit cards (domain-b)
'The defaults that started with the sub-prime loans crisis in the US leading to a global $7.7-trillion loss in stock market value since October, are now showing signs of moving into the US credit card industry that will hit the balace sheets of the card issuing banks.'
"We are very pleased with our third-quarter performance and our ability to deliver strong financial results given the declining global economy," said Robert W. Selander, MasterCard president and chief executive officer. "At a time of unprecedented economic challenges, consumers, businesses, and governments around the world have continued to migrate toward various forms of electronic payments."
Elaine, thank you very much for the musical tip about Yma Sumac. What a voice! "When asked recently how she would like to be remembered, Sumac said: 'That I made good music and brought happiness to people's hearts.' " Words to live by.
I have been wondering why the Bush/Rove bull**** news generating engine has been so quiet these last few days, just some regular lame dirt a 5th grader could invent.
Then it dawned on me that the real silent Coup D'Etat comes on 11/15/08 G20 summit when the US is thrown to the Global Banking Predators.
I added some translation from Globalist Prick Soothing Babble-Speak to human language.
PARIS, Oct. 31, 2008 (Nouvelle Soldarite) — In a lengthy interview in Le Monde datelined today, the IMF's Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a new Bretton Woods "skeptic," gave some hints about his proposals for the upcoming November 15, Washington G20 summit. DSK will propose a new plan for "world governance" baptized "Global Regulation Strategy," openly inspired by Gordon Brown's and Ambrose Evans-Pritchards' latest schemes, diabolically called for to "avoid allowing bubbles to destroy the real economy."
The plan desperately aims at saving the dead system by 1) Installing a new lending mechanism to relieve nations from acute liquidity problems;
GK: How about INFINITE money creation of SDR's? HAHA! George Soros' dream.
2) Increasing the IMF's resources to keep doing so—"that is what Gordon Brown is proposing";
GK: How about a GLOBAL TAX on all nations funneled to the IMF? Globalist wet dream.
3) Learn the lessons "of those economic policies that have led to these 'bubbles' that are repeated and whose bursting destroys the real economy: that is the mission which was given to us, some days ago, by the 185 members of the IMF;
GK: Must be nations having sovereign control over their constitution that caused the problem. Life would be so wonderful if we bowed before a WORLD CONGRESS!
4) Monitor the application of the new rules elaborated by the IMF using the Financial Stability Forum which is comprised, essentially, of the major central banks;
GK: Everything would be just dandy if we had a GLOBAL CENTRAL BANK!
5) "Help to rethink the world system more coherently, inasmuch as the more simple it is, the more efficient it will be because it will be more coordinated.... Beyond its role as a fireman and a mason, the IMF can also play, for a while, the role of an architect."
GK: A MASON? WTF? COULD YOU BE A LITTLE MORE OBVIOUS?
Hooray! The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates 0.75% today... following a 1% cut a month ago. Yes, they're down from 7% to 5.25% in the space of 4 weeks.
As someone with some savings (admittedly not a lot) and no debts, I am of course overjoyed at this news, especially the analysts predicting rates could be cut another 2% by Christmas (that would be a meagre 3.25%, for those not keeping score). Finally, we'll soon be able to get back to that giant orgy of debt we knew and loved!
And as if that wasn't enough, some "retailer's association" is out urging people to borrow-and-spend, as if more debt is just what the doctor ordered for a country of 21 million with a foreign debt exceeding $1 trillion, and whose households average 160% debt-to-income.
Be that as it may, both John "Oannes" McCain and Barack "Blessed" Obama were at Ground Zero for the seventh anniversary of that horrible day. Here they tossed roses- an ancient fertility symbol- into a reflecting pool, a symbol of the womb. Remember also that September 11 is New Year's Day in the Coptic (that is to say, native Egyptian) calendar, and that technically 2001 was the first year of the new millennium.
We are always surrounded by ancient symbols and systems. The entire human culture is based on past constructs of various sorts. It is fun to see intersections of all these things.
Tossing things into pools of water is what cultures that don't have nearby volcanoes do. Or in the case of some cultures that have both deep pools AND volcanoes, they do both with gusto. Archeologists prefer the watery grave method of worship because it doesn't destroy everything.
Anything tossed into a volcano is melted or incinerated. Sort of like money tossed to the Derivatives Beast. heh.
The CEO at Boeing, Jim McNerney, was a disciple of Jack Welch when Jimmy Mac was at GE. It must KILL McNerney to have to deal with the Union. American management seems to be almost pathological in its hatred of ANY organized Labor. As far as Boeing moving out of the US completely, that is a trump card Boeing management FULLY intends to play regardless. Same attitude with Bill Gates at Microsoft, although Gates prefers to import his cheap labor here rather than move his operation to outside the US. Anyways, let's strip Boeing of their defense contracts. Make them compete head to head against Airbus with NO sugar from good ol' Uncle Sammy! Let's find out how much Boeing truly loves the free market. Boeing already pisses and moans about the government subsidies for Airbus, but hey, Jack Welch says governemnt is the problem, not the solution. Let's see Neutron Jack's business model in action, unencumbered by government regs.
Some owners deserting factories in China (LA Times)
'Government statistics show that 67,000 factories of various sizes were shuttered in China in the first half of the year, said Cao Jianhai, an industrial economics researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. By year's end, he said, more than 100,000 plants will have closed.'
Full article:
http://tinyurl.com/6bkhlo
Posted by: Blunt Force Trauma | November 03, 2008 at 12:24 PM
China May Provide Funds to Support IMF's Bailout Efforts (ChinaStakes)
'China will probably announce a plan to inject funds into the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the G20 summit meeting, to be held in Washington on November 15.'
Full article:
http://www.chinastakes.com/story.aspx?id=779
Posted by: Blunt Force Trauma | November 03, 2008 at 12:29 PM
Still , the question? most of the beast is supposedly benign interest 'swaps'
Posted by: ziff house | November 03, 2008 at 12:47 PM
More from the Front Lines of the Financial Crisis (Stephen Lendman)
http://tinyurl.com/5foqch
Posted by: Blunt Force Trauma | November 03, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Kunstler said, in his latest blog entry: "The idea behind it, my paranoid fugue goes, is to jack up the stock market enough around election day to give the dimmer members of the voting public the idea that the financial fiasco is over and happy days are here again."
I agree that this is happening as the DOW has risen from 8400-ish last week to the current 9300. The week prior to last, the DOW had a 'maiacl' day when it shot up 890 points. Nothing like a good stroking (foreplay) before the final act of decimation. Just wait until next year.
Posted by: Blunt Force Trauma | November 03, 2008 at 01:00 PM
Holy type-o. That should have read; had a 'magical' day....
Posted by: Blunt Force Trauma | November 03, 2008 at 01:01 PM
Elaine (or anyone else) -
I have a question for you on the 0% "Japanese carry trade."
First let me share my basic understanding -
My understanding is that any fiat money system must maintain at least a minimum amount of liquidity growth - in order to fund ongoing interest payments. For example, if the interest on our national debt is around $500 billion, then at lest $500 billion of liquidity must be added the system.
The amount of interest compounds, thus the interest required liquidity grows exponentially - it simply cannot be sustained indefinitely. The system simply must fail.
Ok, now my question -
Is a 0% interest rate eventually required in order to stave off or eliminate a system collapse?
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Is there a formula or charts for the required annual interest liquidity injection (not sure of the terminology)?
Posted by: DrKrbyLuv | November 03, 2008 at 01:03 PM
0% is a paradoxical business.
Being nothing, a hole, or maybe a volcano's center, it allows more and more debts to be piled high.
BUT THESE MUST BE RENEWED! They have to be turned over. So if the rates rise to even 1%, this triggers a collapse. We saw this with the stupid ARM loans and sub prime stuff. The instant rates went up, the owners of the debts went belly up. Fast.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | November 03, 2008 at 01:24 PM
About the factories in China: these things were polluting the water, soil and air. They were churning out mostly junk. The communists didn't like this so they are deliberately bankrupting them. This is the way our own government operates, by the way.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | November 03, 2008 at 01:25 PM
About those goofy and dangerous interest rates swaps: if all the top nations go to 0%, this market becomes sort of moot, doesn't it? No interest, no interest rate swap games, I guess.
HAHAHAHA.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | November 03, 2008 at 01:25 PM
Elaine said: "About the factories in China: these things were polluting the water, soil and air."
"Were"? You're being an optimist. Now that the factories are closing or closed, the damage has been done and long after those factories are gone, their damage to the environment will go on. Think: Love Canal.
Posted by: Blunt Force Trauma | November 03, 2008 at 02:04 PM
Speaking of pollution....
'China now produces about two-thirds of all aspirin and is poised to become the world’s sole global supplier in the not-too-distant future. But are the Chinese factories safe? Who knows? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency and other competent government regulators rarely, if ever, inspect them.'
Reading this article may have you thinking afterwards about what you are actually 'popping'.
http://tinyurl.com/5cf5eg
Posted by: Blunt Force Trauma | November 03, 2008 at 02:11 PM
Elaine thanks for your answer.
Here is an article the makes very clear the sense of US triumplism with its now nearly universal dollar hegemony.
http://www.financialpost.com/news/story.html?id=927271
Posted by: ziff house | November 03, 2008 at 03:29 PM
"Shimon Peres to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth"
"Israeli media reported this week that the Israeli Embassy in London and Buckingham Palace are close to an agreement on having Queen Elizabeth confer honorary knighthood on Israeli President Shimon Peres when he visits the UK next month."
http://tinyurl.com/5hmzqb
Zionism at the heart of the crown?
Posted by: DrKrbyLuv | November 03, 2008 at 05:28 PM
ziff house -
Amazing, the Fed and the US Treasury seem to be winning even though they are both broke.
Prophetic Videos:
1961 - Global environmental threat used by NWO?
http://tinyurl.com/5jjjpc
and...
"Environ-Mentalism: A New Religion for a New Age"
"The Club of Rome" & NWO plans for de-population
http://tinyurl.com/6f5dry
Posted by: DrKrbyLuv | November 03, 2008 at 05:31 PM
Anyone have any ideas who convinced the Japs to Nuke our country with Yen Debt bomb?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rockefeller
"In 2002 Rockefeller authored his autobiography “Memoirs” wherein, on page 405," Mr. Rockefeller writes: “For more than a century ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents such as my encounter with Castro to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as "internationalists" and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure - one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it."
Rockefeller maintains that, although Bilderberg's role is not to resolve disputes, because of the wide-ranging experience of the various attendees participants are 'free to report on what they have heard' to their respective heads of government.[37]
It was a dissatisfaction with the failure of this group to include Japan that subsequently led to him forming the Trilateral Commission (TC) in July 1973, influenced by, among others, Zbigniew Brzezinski, the National Security Advisor under Carter and the author of Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era, published in 1970. They discussed forming the organization at a Bilderberg Group meeting in Belgium in 1972; Brzezinski subsequently became the inaugural United States director. The Commission also launched its own magazine, the Trialogue.
It held the founding session of its Executive Committee in Tokyo in October, 1973. In May 1975, the first plenary meeting of all of the Commission's regional groups – North America, Europe and Japan, comprising some 300 members – took place in Kyoto. In its Third Annual Report, released in mid-1976, the Commission noted that there was a "noticeably increased emphasis on trilateral ties as the cornerstone of American foreign policy".[38]
Posted by: GK | November 03, 2008 at 05:32 PM
Correct, GK. But then, why was that?
Simple!
The US needed 'allies' to oppose communists. Then Nixon went and kissed Mao. One of the funniest moments in history. Certainly on par with the Hitler/Stalin pact.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | November 03, 2008 at 06:16 PM
thot u or your readers might enjoy this fairly old audio clip on carry trade:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RadioProjectFrontPagePodcast/~5/440699562/ES_081031_Show.mp3
Posted by: Tom | November 03, 2008 at 06:57 PM
U.S. Auto Sales Fall 32% to Lowest Total in 17 Years (Bloomberg)
``If you adjust for population growth, it's the worst sales month in the post-World War II era'' for the industry, said Mike DiGiovanni, GM's chief sales analyst, on a conference call. ``Clearly we're in a dire situation.''
Bye, bye GM. You won't see 2010.
Full article:
http://tinyurl.com/62upjh
U.S. Economy: Factory Index Declines to 26-Year Low (Bloomberg)
'Manufacturing in the U.S. contracted in October at the fastest pace in 26 years as a record share of banks made it tougher to get loans and faltering economies abroad eroded prospects for American exports.'
Manufacturing? There's manufacturing? of what?
Full article:
http://tinyurl.com/6r9wvq
Posted by: Blunt Force Trauma | November 03, 2008 at 07:02 PM
Blue Mountain Freezes $3.1 Billion Credit Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
Don't know who these guys are (except gnomes), but they don't want YOU to have YOUR money.
'Blue Mountain Capital Management LLC froze its largest hedge fund after clients asked to pull a ``meaningful percentage'' of their money even as it outperformed the industry average by almost 10-fold this year.'
Full article:
http://tinyurl.com/5gkso6
Bailout List Could Top 1,800 (MoneyNews)
That is a lot of money squanderers and top executive payouts.
http://tinyurl.com/58sduf
Posted by: Blunt Force Trauma | November 03, 2008 at 07:15 PM
Elane what did you do to your fingers?
Your a rehaber/remodeler, amongst many other?
If you were to describe the carry trade dilemma in steps/numbered what notational would you give it?
Posted by: Impatient Patriot | November 03, 2008 at 07:18 PM
In these economic hard times, divided we fall (Globe and Mail)
'All the regions of the country are vulnerable in this downturn. The Canadian economy, taken as a whole, is diversified. But we have a lot of one-industry provinces: forestry in British Columbia, autos in Ontario, oil and gas in Alberta and, increasingly, Saskatchewan. When all these industries face a downturn at the same time, sharing risk becomes a bigger challenge.'
Things are not so 'rosy' in my country of Canada either.
Full article:
http://tinyurl.com/5m7knm
Posted by: Blunt Force Trauma | November 03, 2008 at 07:34 PM
Impatient: I built my house and am still building it. I made some new deck/balconies so I can reach all parts of the house without using a ladder [I am getting rather on the years, long in tooth] when I banged my hand on something very, very sharp.
Bled all over the place. Had to wear a big, fat bandage. Couldn't speed type like normal. Heh. Very annoying. Now, the bandage is gone but the wound itches. Annoying as hell!
But I can live with it.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | November 03, 2008 at 07:38 PM
The US braces for next crisis: Credit cards (domain-b)
'The defaults that started with the sub-prime loans crisis in the US leading to a global $7.7-trillion loss in stock market value since October, are now showing signs of moving into the US credit card industry that will hit the balace sheets of the card issuing banks.'
Full article:
http://tinyurl.com/6qrbxt
MasterCard Incorporated Reports Third-Quarter 2008 Financial Results (MarketWatch)
"We are very pleased with our third-quarter performance and our ability to deliver strong financial results given the declining global economy," said Robert W. Selander, MasterCard president and chief executive officer. "At a time of unprecedented economic challenges, consumers, businesses, and governments around the world have continued to migrate toward various forms of electronic payments."
Full article:
http://tinyurl.com/6n4t5w
Posted by: Blunt Force Trauma | November 03, 2008 at 07:44 PM
Elaine, thank you very much for the musical tip about Yma Sumac. What a voice! "When asked recently how she would like to be remembered, Sumac said: 'That I made good music and brought happiness to people's hearts.' " Words to live by.
Posted by: KC | November 03, 2008 at 08:06 PM
this comment from Denningers, the further deindustrialization of america, Boeing, amazing;
http://www.tickerforum.org/cgi-ticker/akcs-www?post=69952
Posted by: ziff house | November 03, 2008 at 10:40 PM
I have been wondering why the Bush/Rove bull**** news generating engine has been so quiet these last few days, just some regular lame dirt a 5th grader could invent.
Then it dawned on me that the real silent Coup D'Etat comes on 11/15/08 G20 summit when the US is thrown to the Global Banking Predators.
I added some translation from Globalist Prick Soothing Babble-Speak to human language.
http://www.larouchepub.com/pr/2008/081102imf_dictatorship.html
PARIS, Oct. 31, 2008 (Nouvelle Soldarite) — In a lengthy interview in Le Monde datelined today, the IMF's Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a new Bretton Woods "skeptic," gave some hints about his proposals for the upcoming November 15, Washington G20 summit. DSK will propose a new plan for "world governance" baptized "Global Regulation Strategy," openly inspired by Gordon Brown's and Ambrose Evans-Pritchards' latest schemes, diabolically called for to "avoid allowing bubbles to destroy the real economy."
The plan desperately aims at saving the dead system by 1) Installing a new lending mechanism to relieve nations from acute liquidity problems;
GK: How about INFINITE money creation of SDR's? HAHA! George Soros' dream.
2) Increasing the IMF's resources to keep doing so—"that is what Gordon Brown is proposing";
GK: How about a GLOBAL TAX on all nations funneled to the IMF? Globalist wet dream.
3) Learn the lessons "of those economic policies that have led to these 'bubbles' that are repeated and whose bursting destroys the real economy: that is the mission which was given to us, some days ago, by the 185 members of the IMF;
GK: Must be nations having sovereign control over their constitution that caused the problem. Life would be so wonderful if we bowed before a WORLD CONGRESS!
4) Monitor the application of the new rules elaborated by the IMF using the Financial Stability Forum which is comprised, essentially, of the major central banks;
GK: Everything would be just dandy if we had a GLOBAL CENTRAL BANK!
5) "Help to rethink the world system more coherently, inasmuch as the more simple it is, the more efficient it will be because it will be more coordinated.... Beyond its role as a fireman and a mason, the IMF can also play, for a while, the role of an architect."
GK: A MASON? WTF? COULD YOU BE A LITTLE MORE OBVIOUS?
Posted by: GK | November 04, 2008 at 04:54 AM
Hooray! The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates 0.75% today... following a 1% cut a month ago. Yes, they're down from 7% to 5.25% in the space of 4 weeks.
As someone with some savings (admittedly not a lot) and no debts, I am of course overjoyed at this news, especially the analysts predicting rates could be cut another 2% by Christmas (that would be a meagre 3.25%, for those not keeping score). Finally, we'll soon be able to get back to that giant orgy of debt we knew and loved!
And as if that wasn't enough, some "retailer's association" is out urging people to borrow-and-spend, as if more debt is just what the doctor ordered for a country of 21 million with a foreign debt exceeding $1 trillion, and whose households average 160% debt-to-income.
Posted by: e | November 04, 2008 at 05:14 AM
Hi Elaine, any plans for election day discussion of ancient Egyptian symbology? ;-)
http://secretsun.blogspot.com/2008/11/very-sirius-election-stairway-to-sirius.html
Be that as it may, both John "Oannes" McCain and Barack "Blessed" Obama were at Ground Zero for the seventh anniversary of that horrible day. Here they tossed roses- an ancient fertility symbol- into a reflecting pool, a symbol of the womb. Remember also that September 11 is New Year's Day in the Coptic (that is to say, native Egyptian) calendar, and that technically 2001 was the first year of the new millennium.
Posted by: GK | November 04, 2008 at 06:19 AM
We are always surrounded by ancient symbols and systems. The entire human culture is based on past constructs of various sorts. It is fun to see intersections of all these things.
Tossing things into pools of water is what cultures that don't have nearby volcanoes do. Or in the case of some cultures that have both deep pools AND volcanoes, they do both with gusto. Archeologists prefer the watery grave method of worship because it doesn't destroy everything.
Anything tossed into a volcano is melted or incinerated. Sort of like money tossed to the Derivatives Beast. heh.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | November 04, 2008 at 08:02 AM
The CEO at Boeing, Jim McNerney, was a disciple of Jack Welch when Jimmy Mac was at GE. It must KILL McNerney to have to deal with the Union. American management seems to be almost pathological in its hatred of ANY organized Labor. As far as Boeing moving out of the US completely, that is a trump card Boeing management FULLY intends to play regardless. Same attitude with Bill Gates at Microsoft, although Gates prefers to import his cheap labor here rather than move his operation to outside the US. Anyways, let's strip Boeing of their defense contracts. Make them compete head to head against Airbus with NO sugar from good ol' Uncle Sammy! Let's find out how much Boeing truly loves the free market. Boeing already pisses and moans about the government subsidies for Airbus, but hey, Jack Welch says governemnt is the problem, not the solution. Let's see Neutron Jack's business model in action, unencumbered by government regs.
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