Economy and Society

UK intel chatter – Published on Russia Today RT, May 20, 2013.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cited unclassified messages exchanged inside a UK intelligence agency to back his refusal to be extradited to Sweden. One of the messages calls sex-related allegations against Assange “a fit-up”.
The Australian, who has been stranded at Ecuadorian embassy in London for almost 12 months, cited instant messages he received from Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the British signal intelligence body. Continue Reading…

… with record stock exchange highs, the planet’s imminent plunge into recession – Published on leapGEAB.eu no 75, May 16, 2013.

Despite a feeling of relative calm given by both the media and the American and Japanese financial markets going from record to record, the world economy is slowing down badly and a widespread recession is looming. The various players are fully aware of it and, in the face of the challenges of an imminent collapse, countries or regions are putting various strategies in place to try and limit the consequences. Whilst some seem dictated by desperation or last chance solutions, others on the contrary bear witness to a real adaptation to the world’s current changes. And it’s no surprise that, in the first category, we find the “powers of the world before” which no longer have any real options.   Continue Reading…

watch this video on YouTube, 46.26 min, uploaded by David Brown, Oct 29, 2009:

• … Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 7 January 1943) was an inventor and a mechanical and electrical engineer. He is frequently cited as one of the most important contributors to the birth of commercial electricity and is best known for his many revolutionary developments in the field of electromagnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tesla’s patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current (AC) electric power systems, including the polyphase system of electrical distribution and the AC motor, with which he helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution.   Continue Reading…

Das Ende des Geldes: Franz Hörmann am Top Info Forum, 31.03.2012, 54.14 min, von TifPosi am 25. Juni 2012 hochgeladen: Geld zur individuellen Entfaltung. [warum es nicht mehr funktioniert? ... Emotionen steuern unsere Wahrnehmung:
- Angst (Tunnelblick)
- Liebe (Fehlleistung)
- Gier (Ueberschätzung)
Emotion stellt einen Wahrnehmungsfilter dar = es werden nur jene Informationen wahrgenommen, die jeweils zum Gefühl passen, das passiert automatisch und ist bewusst kaum steuerbar (Webseite)];

weiter …    Continue Reading…

• The Debate that Never Dies: Euthanasia and Ethics, 28.30 min, uploaded by etiskraad, Feb 28, 2012;
• Euthanasia: How has it worked out in Belgium? 76.47 min, with Jan L. Bernheim MD PhD, uploaded by Henrik Thomé, April 16, 2011: Mise en ligne le 16 avril 2011: Belgium introduced legal euthanasia in 2002. What are the experiences so far?
• The Phil’s Euthanasia Debate, 80.23 min, uploaded by TCDPhil, Dec 1, 2011: On 17th November 2011, the University Philosophical Society of Trinity College Dublin held a debate on the motion that this house would Legalise Assisted Suicide for all Adults. Speaking in the debate were Terry Pratchett, Dr. Philip Nietzche, Tom Curran, Kevin O’Sullivan and Maureen Junker-Kenny;   Continue Reading…

Our problems are not due to a lack of innovative ideas; they are due to an excess of financial power concentrated in the hands of an elite of bankers – Published on ROARMAG.org, by Jerome Roos, May 14, 2013;

For years already, the youth of Europe’s heavily indebted periphery has been facing mass unemployment. In Greece and Spain, a respective 59 and 56 percent of young people are now out of work, while youth unemployment in the EU as a whole currently stands at a troubling 24 percent, up from 22.5 percent last year. The “lucky” ones are those waiting tables with PhD degrees in their back pockets. Those who were forced to leave their families and friends behind to join the generational exodus to Germany or Angola don’t even show up in the statistics.    Continue Reading…

Doug Yurchey, 52.54 min, uploaded by themooreshowofficial, June 10, 2012: … Doug Yurchey was born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1951. While operating an art gallery he ‘encountered’ Katrina Satler, a super psychic who inspired him to dedicate his life to solving great mysteries. His research led him to scientific genius Nikola Tesla. Because of his study and understanding of Tesla, Yurchey has literally rewritten history. The idea that our ancestors were technologically superior is a vital theme that he currently promotes. In 1990 Doug was hired as a background artist on the Simpsons TV Show and has become a successful Internet writer and has 10,000 Google listings.

Published on Counterpunch, by Mike Whitney, May 14, 2013.

It looks like the Fed will be tapping on the brakes sometime in the near future, although the date has yet to be determined.
Stocks headed lower on Monday following an unofficial announcement from the Fed that the Central Bank had settled on a process for winding down its bond buying program called QE. While the article–which appeared in the Wall Street Journal– did not set a specific date for QE to end, it did say that the Fed had a plan for scaling back stimulus depending on economic conditions. According to Fed-mouthpiece Jon Hilsenrath:   Continue Reading…

Der große Euro Schwindel: wie der ganze Irrsinn begann, 43.59 min, von technics1000 am 3. Juli 2012 hochgeladen: Von Tattergreisen mit gesicherten üppigen Diäten und Pensionen wurde ein blühendes Land, dessen Währung D-MARK hieß und sehr stabil war, wo Made in Germany ein weltweiter Begriff von Qualität war mit diesem Teuro völlig ruiniert und dessen Einwohner und Steuerzahler wurden nicht mal dazu befragt, dazu will man uns jetzt sogar für alle Schulden völlig fremder Eu Länder mit haften lassen, sogar mit dem Versprechen von angeblicher Rendite …;

Schlange stehen für altes Brot: Armut in Deutschland, ARD Doku, 28.34 min, von TelefonKing am 7. Dezember 2011 hochgeladen: über Armut in Deutschland.

Watch this workshop-Video, 100.55 min, published on Socialist Project.ca/LeftStreamed, in Ottawa, April 27, 2013 (also on YouTube, uploaded by Ottawaactivistnews, May 6, 2013).

The panelists discuss the history and scope of the austerity agenda, its effects on the environment, indigenous peoples and working people the world over. Who and what is driving this agenda and how do we conceive of a fight back strategy that might begin to challenge the current hegemony of corporate power:

• Janet Fraser, Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario and Organizer, Solidarity Against Austerity (Moderator), Donald Swartz, Professor (retired), Carleton University, School of Public Policy and Administration, at 1:28 min;
• Jennifer Moore, Latin America Program Coordinator, Mining Watch Canada, at 16:35 min;   Continue Reading…

• Prof. Guy Standing: Why the precariat requires a basic income, 37.06 min, uploaded by BKTVkanal, Nov 3, 2012;
• Basic Income, a new human right, 3.07 min, uploaded by RevenudeBaseFR March 1, 2013;
• Is it time for a more radical solution: a minimum income, 8.23 min, uploaded by TheBigPictureRT, April 2, 2013;
• Le revenu de base: un nouveau droit humain, 3.07 min, mise en ligne le 22 mars 2013 par RevenudeBaseFR;
• Professoren sprechen über das Grundeinkommen, 5.44 min, von daniel häni am 28. November 2012 hochfwelDEN: Prof. Ueli Mäder, Ordinarius für Soziologie an der Universität Basel im Gespräch mit Prof. Theo Wehner Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologe an der ETH Zürich … (ganzer Text);
• Grundeinkommen – ein Kulturimpuls, 98.46 min, von daniel häni am 3. Februar 2011 hochgeladen; *
• Diskussion über bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen auf dem Bundesparteitag der Piratenpartei 2010, 96.39 min, von Ueberwachungsdruck am 4. Januar 2011 hochgeladen,
• Tagesschau vom 11-05-2013 (zum Grundeinkommen), 1.58 min, von Michael Molli am 11.Mai 2013 hochgeladen;
• (schon am 10. Mai auf HBB-blog): Gedeihen: was auf der Welt wird es brauchen? 132.03 min,
  auch auf YouTube, 132,03 min, uploaded by ThriveMovement, April 5, 2012: Mehr Informationen erhalten Sie auf THRIVE MOVEMENT.com;
• Prof. Dr. Michael Vogt: Bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen ist finanzierbar, 53.26 min, von WissensmanufakturNET am 28. April 2012: Mehr zum Thema auf Wissensmanufaktur.com: Michael Vogt, Mitglied im Beirat der Wissensmanufaktur, beschreibt im Schweizer Fernsehen, wie das Bedingungslose Grundeinkommen (BGE) im Rahmen einer nachhaltigen Gesamtordnung tatsächlich realisierbar ist.   Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Karin Kuntz, May 10, 2013. (Photo Gallery).

Not far from the glistening beaches of Bali, mentally ill people are kept in chains or locked up in small shacks. Locals simply don’t know what else to do with them. But psychiatrist Luh Ketut Suryani has made it her job to set them free … //

… A Shack Next to the Cowshed:    Continue Reading…

Published on World Socialist Web Site WSWS, by Robert Stevens, 10 May 2013.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a “Concluding Statement” May 3 demanding there be no relaxation of the austerity programme it has imposed on an already severely impoverished Greek population. The statement follows the IMF’s recent inspection mission to Greece, alongside the European Union (EU) and European Central Bank (ECB).

The reaction of the bourgeois media in Greece and internationally to the report was to stress its call for the coalition government to do more to prevent tax evasion. Typical was the BBC’s headline, “IMF hails economic ‘progress’ but warns on tax evasion.”   Continue Reading…

some links:

U.S. Vulnerabilities to Money Laundering, Drugs, and Terrorist Financing: HSBC Case History (or http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-112shrg76061/html/CHRG-112shrg76061.htm );
same on Homeland Security and Government Affairs: permanent subcommittee on Investigations;

Broadening and Connecting the Global Financial Crime Community: /Homepage, /About, (Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists ACFCS.org), /Contact;

SAS Institute Inc: A United Front, making the case for integrating fraud and anti-money laundering;
(Homepage, Sitemap, About, Contact);     Continue Reading…

Published on Center for a Stateless Society, by Sebastian A.B., April 30, 2013.

Under the cooperative model, workers own the business, reducing injustice because they have a stake in the community and because an individual will find it hard to exploit oneself. Workers often buy into their jobs (upfront or amortized), vote on major decisions in general assemblies or committees, and even voluntarily donate to the co-op for re-investment. Known as workplace democracy, this model of authentic self-determination renders state action superfluous. Continue Reading…

Published on Russia Today RT, May 5, 2013.

Maintenance of Guantanamo has been revealed to cost over $150 million each year, with immediate estimates citing it one of the most expensive prisons in the world. This comes as the hunger strike at the detention facility is far from over … // Continue Reading…

The economics curriculum: towards a radical reformation, 3d May – 31st May 2013 – Conference Guidelines – Published on Real-World Economics Review Blog, by Edward Fullbrook, May 4, 2013.

• - a World Economics Association Conference;
• – with Open Discussion Forum.

Welcome to all participants to the conference Discussion Forum: All interested in participating in the dialogue about the economics curriculum. Only when papers depart too much from normal standards of conference papers have we rejected them. Since we believe that values are necessarily involved in all papers, no paper has been rejected for ideological or political reasons. In the present situation characterized by multifaceted and complex threats to humankind, we need an open, pluralistic debate in line with normal ideas of democracy. Participation in the discussion is not limited to the authors of posted papers and we hope that all interested WEA members will contribute to the dialogue. We look forward to a constructive dialogue and hope to learn something about curriculum development, and also to learn what works logistically for purposes of future online conferences.    Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Nils Klawitter, May 02, 2013 (Photo Gallery).

For years, economists have posited that prosperity requires growth, with environmental damage as the regrettable but unavoidable consequence. A growing number of critics are now challenging this equation, though, calling for a radical revamping of the economic system.

Harald Welzer’s career as a critic of growth began with a few simple reflections. Just how progressive is it, he asked himself, when millions of hectares of land are used elsewhere in the world so that we keep down the cost of meat? How modern is it when producing a kilogram of salmon in a supposedly sustainable way requires feeding the fish five to six kilograms (11 to 13 pounds) of other types of fish? … // Continue Reading…

The US-EU free trade pact and the Trans-Pacific Partnership are about securing regulatory gains for major corporate interests – Published on AlterNet, by Dean Baker, (first on AlJazeeraEnglish), April 29, 2013.

In polite circles in the United States, support for free trade is a bit like proper bathing habits: It is taken for granted. Only the hopelessly crude and unwashed would not support free trade.

There is some ground for this attitude. Certainly, the US has benefited enormously by being able to buy a wide range of items at lower cost from other countries. However, this does not mean that most people in the country have always benefited from every opening to greater trade … // Continue Reading…

The enactment of FATCA has ramped up negotiations at the EU and OECD level on how to improve the implementation of taxing cross-border investment income – Published on CFO Insight, by William Amofah, April 29, 2013.

The attention paid to the elimination of tax havens by policymakers and the media has increased in recent times. One of the main reasons for this, according to Deutsche Bank Research, is the implementation of FATCA by the United States.   Continue Reading…

Published on Activist Post, by Paul Craig Roberts, April 28, 2013.

“From the end of the recession in 2009 through 2011 (the last year for which Census Bureau wealth data are available), the 8 million households in the U.S. with a net worth above $836,033 saw their aggregate wealth rise by an estimated $5.6 trillion, while the 111 million households with a net worth at or below that level saw their aggregate wealth decline by an estimated $600 billion.” Pew Research, “An Uneven Recovery,” by Richard Fry and Paul Taylor.   Continue Reading…

Published on SONECON, by Robert J. Shapiro, April 25, 2013.

America’s Gross Domestic Product — GDP — is a very powerful statistic. Markets and politicians zealously track the quarterly numbers looking for a bottom line on how investors and the rest of us feel about our conditions and prospects. Compiled by some 2,000 economists and statisticians at the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), GDP pulls together everything they can measure concerning how much America’s households and various industries earn, consume and invest, and for what purposes. Over the last two weeks, however, two new developments should have reminded us that we know less about GDP than we usually believe … // Continue Reading…

… And How To Turn It Back – Published on openDemocracy, by Guy Aitchison, April 22, 2013.

As capitalist corporations have come to dominate the internet, is it possible to fulfil the genuine democratic potential of this technology within the context of the current economic crisis? A review of Robert McChesney’s new book Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning the Internet Against Democracy, beyond the stale debate between ‘celebrants’ and ’sceptics’.    Continue Reading…

Published on Real-World Economic Review Blog RWER, by Editor and Christian Waloszek, April 24, 2013.

… In their computer simulations of human evolution, scientists at ETH Zurich find the emergence of the “homo socialis” with “other-regarding” preferences. The results explain some intriguing findings in experimental economics and call for a new economic theory of “networked minds”.  Continue Reading…

Published on WSWS, by Bill Van Auken, April 24, 2013.

Within days of the bombings in Boston, massive contradictions have opened up in the official accounts given by the Obama administration, the FBI and other state agencies as to how this terrorist attack transpired.

As in so many previous cases, once again in the Boston bombings the individual said to be the principal organizer of an act of terrorism was well known to the FBI. In 2011, the agency had been tipped off by Russian intelligence that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died last week following a shootout with police, was suspected of being a radical Islamist seeking to link up with armed groups in the Northern Caucasus.

The FBI now claims that it investigated Tsarnaev, a resident alien and Russian citizen, but found no incriminating evidence, learning nothing more about him until after the April 15 bombings … // Continue Reading…

A seminal analysis of the relationship between debt and growth comes under attack - Published on The Economist, April 20, 2013.

GOVERNMENT indebtedness matters. Default and financial panic are the stuff of finance-minister nightmares. Government borrowing can crowd out private investment, dragging growth down. Yet economists have struggled to specify when a country needs to worry about its debt load. In a 2010 paper Carmen Reinhart, now a professor at Harvard Kennedy School, and Kenneth Rogoff, an economist at Harvard University, seemed to provide an answer. They argued that GDP growth slows to a snail’s pace once government-debt levels exceed 90% of GDP.   Continue Reading…

Published on World Socialist Web Site WSWS, by Nick Beams, April 22, 2013.

Last weekend’s meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the G-20 saw further calls for policies to stimulate global economic growth. There were no concrete measures advanced to implement such a program, however, amid deepening divisions among the major powers … // Continue Reading…

The Secret Life of a Superpower, Richard Bilton uncovers a struggle at the heart of US diplomacy between the ideals of freedom and spreading democracy, and the ruthless demands of American security and narrow self-interest:

• (Ep. 1), 59.29 min, (Ep. 2), 59.35 min, uploaded by mmcetera, March April 2012;
• same, all in one episode – FULL, 119.12 min, uploaded by worldofconflict, Feb 23, 2013.

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Spiegel Staff, April 17, 2013 (Photo Gallery – see also: ECB study shows German households poorer than Cyprus’).

How fair is the effort to save the euro if the people living in the countries that receive aid are wealthier than the citizens of donor countries like Germany? A debate over a redistribution of the burdens is long overdue.

The images we see from the capitals of Europe’s crisis-ridden countries are confusing to say the least. In the Cypriot capital Nicosia, for example, thousands protested against the levy on bank deposits, carrying images of Hitler and anti-Merkel signs, one of which read: “Merkel, your Nazi money is bloodier than any laundered money.”   Continue Reading…

Published on Financial, April 16, 2013.

… The representatives of the EU’s towns and regions underline however that local roots and the human dimension are the most decisive factors in the future of European industry. In their opinion, adopted at plenary session, they also call for better coordination of industrial policies and of EU cohesion by means of territorial pacts.

Highlighting the industry’s leverage effect on the economy as a whole, especially in terms of jobs, the CoR advocates making industrial renewal a genuine political priority, on the same political footing as cohesion, infrastructure and agriculture. At the same time, as European Union said, it points out that although this imperative is increasingly recognised, it is not always supported by the Member States, as borne out by the cuts that the European Council proposes to make in the future EU budget in sectors of particular importance for industry (research & innovation and trans-European infrastructure, for example) … // Continue Reading…

with 4 graphs – Published on Real-World Economics Review RWER Blog, by mrijnknibbe, April 15, 2013.

Eurozone unemployment is, with 12%, at a historical maximum. This average masks lower levels in the core while levels in the ‘periphery’ are beyond anything ever experienced in the developed economies, post WW II (see the graphs). This is a concern for the European Central Bank (ECB). This bank has next to its inflation fighting mandate a clear, legal, and binding prosperity mandate.   Continue Reading…

Watch this video, 3.35 min, published on Russia Today RT, April 15, 2013:

Turkish pianist Fazil Say being slapped with a suspended 10-month jail term for a controversial tweet is an example of a “clear trend of abusive prosecutions” in Turkey, Amnesty International researcher Andrew Gardner told RT … //

… RT: The musician has many times been critical of the country’s prime minister, is this case personal?   Continue Reading…

• Super Rich The Greed Game, 58.31 min, uploaded by Bob Chapman Fan, April 7, 2010;
• James Corbett interviews Bob Chapman, 6 May 2011, 44.05 min, uploaded by infosemanal, May 13, 2011;
• Bob Chapman Latest News, 2.03 min, uploaded by Bob Chapman Fan, May 30, 2012;
• June 6, 2012: Bob Chapman is DEAD, on BobChapmanBlog: … Bob was a veteran of the US Army, a writer of a news letter discussing finances and economics and a regular radio commentator discussing politics as well as economics and finances. Most of his working life he served as a stock broker …;

Links:   Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Philipp Wittrock, April 12, 2013 (Photo Gallery).

… Applause Coming from the Wrong Side:

Keeping track of new members, though, is no easy task. The party claims that it is reviewing each new member for signs of a right-wing past. At the same time, though, all it takes is a quick scan of the party’s Facebook page to find the kind of language that is often used by right-wing extremists in defining their enemies. They include official entries with loaded terms such as: “state media,” an allusion to a media that supposedly filters out alternative viewpoints; “bloc parties,” the term used by the far-right, neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD) to describe the mainstream parties; and “multicultural re-education.” Little wonder, then, that the NPD itself has praised Alternative for German for the “important function it serves in breaking the ice and opening doors for the NPD’s criticism of the euro and the EU.”   Continue Reading…

Published on ZNet (first on Waging Nonviolence), by Imani Altemus-Williams, April 12, 2013.

… In Hawaiian indigenous culture, the very idea of GMOs is effectively sacrilegious.

“For Hawaii’s indigenous peoples, the concepts underlying genetic manipulation of life forms are offensive and contrary to the cultural values of aloha ‘??ina [love for the land],” wrote Mililani B. Strask, a native Hawaiian attorney.

Deadly practices:   Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International (with the kind permission of Project Syndicate), by Investor George Soros, April 10, 2013.

Despite a period of relative calm last year, the euro crisis is creeping back in 2013. In an essay for SPIEGEL ONLINE, star investor George Soros argues that the situation would improve dramatically were Germany to accept Eurobonds. Absent such acceptance, Berlin should consider leaving the euro zone, he argues … //

… Eurobonds Would Not Ruin Germany’s Credit Rating:   Continue Reading…

News April 11, 2013:

• British Virgin Islands slam company leaks as illicit: Government of British Virgin Territories calls journalists’ investigation ‘illicit’ as European countries adopt action plan against tax evasion, on South China Morning Post/Economy, by Toh Han Shih, April 11, 2013;
• Offshore Leaks: Bras de fer entre médias et gouvernements, Québec appuie Ottawa dans ses démarches pour obtenir de Radio-Canada/CBC les noms des Canadiens apparus dans l’enquête sur les paradis fiscaux, dans Le Devoir, par Mélanie Loisel, le 11 avril 2013;
• Schäuble will deutsches Steuer-FBI /(german-minstre) Schäuble wants a german tax-FBI), April 11, 2013;
• Offshore Leaks: le curieux tri sélectif du Monde, dans Causeur.fr, par Luc Rosenzweig, le 11 avril 2013: Au lieu de balancer tout le monde ou personne, on choisit ses victimes …;
• Release of offshore records draws worldwide response, on Public Integrity.org, by Mar Cabra and Michael Hudson, April 11, 2013;
• Secrecy for Sale: the existence of a global network of sham company directors can now be revealed. In this series, ICIJ’s worldwide research which will identify, country-by-country, thousands of the true owners of offshore companies/Stories in this series, on Public Integrity.org;   Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, by , April 08, 2013 (Photo Gallery: Casting Light on a Shadowy World).

Tax havens cause hundreds of millions of euros in annual damage to national economies around the world and they create an uncontrollable parallel economy. The recent Offshore Leaks investigative reports are helping to fuel efforts in Europe and the US to have them eliminated.

What do a now-deceased German playboy and the daughter of the former Philippine dictator have in common? What connects a Russian oligarch and the former campaign manager of the French president?    Continue Reading…

Interview with Peer Steinbrück published on Spiegel Online International, by Konstantin von Hammerstein and Gordon Repinski, April 08, 2013 (Photo Gallery – Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan).

In an interview with SPIEGEL, Peer Steinbrück, the 66-year-old Social Democrat German chancellor candidate, says Chancellor Angela Merkel’s strict focus on austerity in the debt crisis has been wrong. He also vows to crack down on tax evaders and raise taxes on high earners.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Steinbrück, following the revelations about trillions of euros in assets deposited in offshore tax havens, you have called for a tougher approach against tax evaders. Why have you waited so long? You would have had an opportunity to do this when you were finance minister.  Continue Reading…

… hands Citigroup/Banamex a Pass over Drug Money Laundering – Published on Dissident Voice, by Tom Burghardt, April 7, 2013.

In October 2005, at the height of the speculative financial bubble that eventually cost taxpayers trillions of dollars and devastated millions of lives, Citigroup Equity Strategy analysts Ajay Kapur, Niall Macleod and Narendra Singh published their provocative, though accurate portrayal of bourgeois amorality, Plutonomy: Buying Luxury, Explaining Global Imbalances.  Continue Reading…