March 16, 2016 The Mayan Lesson Human nature does not change; it only repeats itself. The ancient Maya, a singularly gifted civilization that peaked, declined and collapsed almost simultaneously with the Roman Empire, left a vast historical record. It is the tale of an unholy alliance of kings, priests, and … Continue reading
Category Archives: Economy
Jefferson’s Warning: Perpetual Debt, Trade Deficit, Bubbles, Derivatives
March 6, 2016 Two hundred years have passed since president Jefferson wrote this letter, and not only have we not acted to reduce the risk of total collapse of our financial system, it’s actually worse by many orders of magnitude -and there’s no relief in sight. Today our largest private … Continue reading
Job Losses Up 218% in January 2016
February 4, 2016 Challenger, Gray and Christmas, an outplacement firm, released its job cuts report for January. Layoffs increased by 218%, the highest since last summer, mostly due to a loss of 16,000 jobs at Wal-Mart, America’s biggest non-government employer, and 4,800 at Macy’s. The low-wage retail sector suffered cuts … Continue reading
OXFAM Inequality 2016
January 18, 2015 According to a new report from OXFAM: • In 2015, just 62 individuals had the same wealth as 3.6 billion people – the bottom half of humanity. This figure is down from 388 individuals as recently as 2010. • The wealth of the richest 62 people has … Continue reading
2002 Buffett on Derivatives
January 16, 2016 Excerpt from Warren Buffett’s 2002 Letter to Shareholders explaining what derivatives are and why he considers them “financial weapons of mass destruction.” ”Derivatives, in fact, deserve an extensive look, both in respect to the accounting their users employ and to the problems they may pose for both … Continue reading
COP21 And The Distribution Of Wealth
January 1, 2016 Background COP21 is a pragmatic face-saving agreement for politicians, nothing more. Essentially, signatory nations have agreed only to commit individually and severally to maximum annual carbon emissions. Reporting the results is mandatory, but unlike global lending institutions that routinely force helpless quasi-bankrupt governments into painful austerity programs … Continue reading
Paris FCCC 2015 Final Agreement
December 12, 2015 The Paris conference is over, and member nations have unanimously adopted a resolution to keep global mean temperature within 1.5°C of that which existed before the industrial era and to help needy nations cope with the effects of global warming. Pundits are already criticizing it due to … Continue reading
Source of the U.S. dollar
December 2, 2015 The U.S. has had a debt-based banking system since 1864. As a result, it is currently impossible to extinguish government debt without simultaneously extinguishing our money supply. The Federal Reserve, established in 1913, is a for-profit corporation owned by private member banks. It has no reserves to … Continue reading
The South China Sea & Climate Change
11/24/2015 Background So what does the South China Sea have to do with climate change, the yawning gap in the distribution of wealth and income and the approaching water crisis? In a word, everything. In “Asia’s Cauldron: The South China Sea And The End Of A Stable Pacific,” Robert D. … Continue reading
President Obama on Inequality
October 23, 2015 Excerpt of President Obama’s full remarks on mobility and inequality on December 4, 2013. …I believe this is the defining challenge of our time: Making sure our economy works for every working American. It’s why I ran for President. It was at the center of last year’s … Continue reading