Financial topics

[John]

** The Anti-Globalization Trend

For decades, we've been told that communications and the internet have
been creating "one world," where individual nations are less important
than the world as a whole. "The world is flat," in Thomas Friedman's
bizarre characterization.

What we're now seeing is "anti-globalization," where nations now
become more insular and more intent on protecting themselves rather
than worrying about a poor textile worker in Bangladesh. This is
consistent with the Generational Dynamics view that financial crises
are global, but generational Crisis eras are local.

[Higgenbotham]

Meanwhile, Russia is planning its revenge.

I would have to think that part of the calculation in Brussels was that Winter is a few months off so GazProm won't be shutting the gas off until late this year. Which shows that the can kicking calculations are months at most. Meanwhile, Belarus, having remained loyal to Russia, will continue to get their allotment of subsidized gas this Winter and I suppose anyone in Eastern Europe who wants to stay warm can leave the Euro and come back to the Russian side.

I don't know when this article was written; unfortunately it's not dated, but it's a fine example of what will be hitting the headlines in a few months.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... raine.html

[John]

I don't know when this article was written; unfortunately it's not dated, but it's a fine example of what will be hitting the headlines in a few months.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... raine.html

Europe plunged into energy crisis as Russia cuts off gas supply via Ukraine
Fri, October 5, 2012

Russia cut gas exports to Europe by 60 per cent today, plunging the continent into an energy crisis ‘within hours’ as a dispute with Ukraine escalated.

http://galacticconnection.com/europe-pl ... ia-ukraine

[Higgenbotham]

"The dispute, coupled with Israel's military operation in Gaza, also pushed oil up to a three-week high of $49.91 in New York yesterday."

This is from the article and there are those who know their current events better than I do, but the 2008 or 2009 time period rings familiar.

The article also notes that record cold temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius had hit Europe that night.

Suffice it to say, when record cold temperatures hit Europe this coming Winter, GazProm is going to cut the gas off and it's not coming back on.

[John]

I'm looking for ideas to add to the following:

*** Preparing for the 2020s

With the world increasingly in turmoil, you cannot assume that things
will continue as they are today. The world in 2020s will be very
different than what you see today. Here's what you should do now to
prepare yourself for the 2020s.

* Get an education. We're hearing a lot these days about how college
is a waste of time, and that it's better to go out and start a
business and get rich. From 1975:
http://www.tarleton.edu/Faculty/anewsom ... rticle.pdf

This may have been true during the huge credit bubble of the early
2000s, but it's less true today, and will be completely untrue by the
2020s. Starting with the fiscal crisis in 2008, the trend is that
less and less money is available for speculative businesses. Too many
people have been burned, and the trend is continuing. More and more,
investors are going to require proof that an idea will work and make
money, and they're going to require specific skills, skills that you
can get in college.

This means that you not only have to go to college, but you have to
actually learn as much as you can (as opposed to goofing off all day).
Every day you spend learning at college, every class you attend, every
homework assignment you complete, will be valuable to you in the
2020s.

* Use free time to develop skills. You can use me as an example of
this -- when I was unemployed, I used the time to develop online web
skills and develop Generational Dynamics. Do not waste time sitting
around drinking beer watching television, or attending parties. Use
online resources to develop skills, or else volunteer for projects in
your community, to develop skills that you can use in the 2020s.

* Develop a strong sense of ethics. Many people consider ethics and
morals to be old-fashioned concepts, and many of those people are now
bankrupt or in jail. The need for ethics and morals is trending
upward, and will be very strong in the 2020s. Do not assume you can
get away with scamming people, because you won't succeed for long.

* "Trust but verify". There are many scams going around today, and you
should not take anything for granted, but you should also not
automatically reject new ideas. Just check everything out before you
join or invest, and don't get involved in any scheme that harms
others, even if you've been harmed yourself.

* Avoid ideologies. The philosophy of everyone in Washington today --
the administration, the Republicans, and the Democrats -- is to throw
mud and point blame. Both sides are right in that sharply reducing
spending will trigger a financial crisis, and continuing to increase
debt will trigger a financial crisis. Learn to think for yourself,
and don't depend on people in Washington whose motives are suspect to
tell you how to think.

* Protect yourself, your family and your community. With banking
crises going on around the world, you should not assume that you're
immune. Look for ways to protect yourself. Stock up on canned goods
and candles for an emergency. Keep some cash "stuffed in your
mattress," as they used to do in the 1930s. Stay aware of what's
going on in the world. Remember the words of satirist Ambrose Bierce
from a century ago: "War is God's way of teaching Americans
geography." Don't find yourself caught off guard by a crisis in "some
country that nobody's heard of, with people that nobody cares about."
Crises have a way of traveling fast.

[Higgenbotham]

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly ... om,00.html

Gazprom reducing supplies through Ukraine
Monday, January 05, 2009

Russia's Gazprom says it will cut the amount of gas it ships to Europe through Ukraine to make up for what it says Ukraine has stolen in recent days from pipelines crossing its territory.

The reduction of 65.3 million cubic meters, or about 20 percent of daily supply, was announced by Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller during a televised meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Miller said reductions would continue daily depending on what Ukraine steals.

Gazprom cut off supplies to Ukraine on Jan. 1 in a dispute over pricing and overdue bills but kept sending gas for Europe.

Ukraine says Gazprom has not been supplying gas needed as fuel to send the gas westward, so it has been taking gas.

Miller said Gazprom would take steps to compensate European consumers.

Come about December 2013, I would expect a repeat of this. Putin can say, sorry, the Ukraine has been stealing gas again and we will have to cut Europe off, really sorry. This has nothing to do with the Eurocrats in Brussels stealing our money, really sorry.

[thomasglee]

I'm looking for ideas to add to the following:

*** Preparing for the 2020s

With the world increasingly in turmoil, you cannot assume that things
will continue as they are today. The world in 2020s will be very
different than what you see today. Here's what you should do now to
prepare yourself for the 2020s.

* Get an education. We're hearing a lot these days about how college
is a waste of time, and that it's better to go out and start a
business and get rich. From 1975:
http://www.tarleton.edu/Faculty/anewsom ... rticle.pdf

This may have been true during the huge credit bubble of the early
2000s, but it's less true today, and will be completely untrue by the
2020s. Starting with the fiscal crisis in 2008, the trend is that
less and less money is available for speculative businesses. Too many
people have been burned, and the trend is continuing. More and more,
investors are going to require proof that an idea will work and make
money, and they're going to require specific skills, skills that you
can get in college.

This means that you not only have to go to college, but you have to
actually learn as much as you can (as opposed to goofing off all day).
Every day you spend learning at college, every class you attend, every
homework assignment you complete, will be valuable to you in the
2020s.

* Use free time to develop skills. You can use me as an example of
this -- when I was unemployed, I used the time to develop online web
skills and develop Generational Dynamics. Do not waste time sitting
around drinking beer watching television, or attending parties. Use
online resources to develop skills, or else volunteer for projects in
your community, to develop skills that you can use in the 2020s.

* Develop a strong sense of ethics. Many people consider ethics and
morals to be old-fashioned concepts, and many of those people are now
bankrupt or in jail. The need for ethics and morals is trending
upward, and will be very strong in the 2020s. Do not assume you can
get away with scamming people, because you won't succeed for long.

* "Trust but verify". There are many scams going around today, and you
should not take anything for granted, but you should also not
automatically reject new ideas. Just check everything out before you
join or invest, and don't get involved in any scheme that harms
others, even if you've been harmed yourself.

* Avoid ideologies. The philosophy of everyone in Washington today --
the administration, the Republicans, and the Democrats -- is to throw
mud and point blame. Both sides are right in that sharply reducing
spending will trigger a financial crisis, and continuing to increase
debt will trigger a financial crisis. Learn to think for yourself,
and don't depend on people in Washington whose motives are suspect to
tell you how to think.

* Protect yourself, your family and your community. With banking
crises going on around the world, you should not assume that you're
immune. Look for ways to protect yourself. Stock up on canned goods
and candles for an emergency. Keep some cash "stuffed in your
mattress," as they used to do in the 1930s. Stay aware of what's
going on in the world. Remember the words of satirist Ambrose Bierce
from a century ago: "War is God's way of teaching Americans
geography." Don't find yourself caught off guard by a crisis in "some
country that nobody's heard of, with people that nobody cares about."
Crises have a way of traveling fast.

1. Learn a trade/skill. Don't just get an education.
2. Study about and learn about what fruits and vegetables you can grow where you live. Familiarize yourself with and learn about gardening, composting, etc.
3. Cash is King, but also keep some gold and silver for use during the transitional period. We think the dollar has been around forever, but the dollar as we know it is only 100 years old. That's clear indication that we will once again change currencies. As such, you need something to buy/barter with during the transition to whatever currency we will use after the crisis is over.
4. Stock up on first-aid supplies. Especially antibodies and disinfectants.
5. Cleaning supplies.... believe it or not, chlorine bleach has many, many uses other than just for washing clothes. A case or two of bleach can go a long way.

Those are just some quick thoughts....

[Higgenbotham]

I'm looking for ideas to add to the following:

I think it would be of interest to readers to go back to when you were 20, 40, 60, or some series of ages and tell the readers what you would have done at those ages if you were there now with the upcoming crisis and resolution as you see it happening, and why. For example, if you were 18 now, would you go to an expensive college and incur a lot of debt, work and take a longer time to get your degree and avoid debt, go to a community college for 2 years, delay it until the education bubble bursts and costs come down, go to a college that is closer to family, time your graduation for an improving job market so the degree doesn't stagnate, or how would you do it. I think suggesting that someone get an education applies to all times, but the discussion needs to be more about what needs to be different in these times.

[Reality Check]

It looks like the Cyprus deal is very "good news" for American banks.
Institutional investors will be moving their money out of Spain's,
France's and Italy's banks, and moving it to UK or American banks.
Meanwhile, Russia is planning its revenge.

Cyprus has been, and will continue to be, a very interesting test case for what is going to happen in the world. What is actually going to happen in Cyprus is in the very early stages.

John, as you have repeatedly identified, the Banking System in the Western World has become nothing but an organized crime network.

What appears to be happening in Cyprus ( actually it has not happened yet but things are starting to happen and detailed plans are continuing to be developed ) is a battle over which criminal gangs are going to be allowed to control the portion of the organized criminal network ( known as the European banking system ) headquartered in Cyprus ( and also operating their Cyprus based criminal enterprise through out Western Europe ).

The individuals driving what is happening are the individuals controlling the established criminal gangs in Europe and their strong desire that the laws and regulations of the Euro-zone, which they so carefully crafted, not be used by other criminal gangs to defraud the very people who set up the organized crime network in the first place.

The two criminal groups who have jointly taken control of the portion of the European Banking system Headquartered in Cyprus are the political and banking elites of Cyprus making up one of the two groups, and the Russian business men and their allies, making up the other group.

The Euro-Zone wide criminals appear to have forced the political elites of Cyprus and at least some of the banking elites of Cyprus to switch sides and swear total loyalty to the Euro-Zone group of criminals.

What remains to be done is to use the legislative, regulatory and executive ( dictatorial ) powers of the political elite of Cyprus to re-write the laws, regulations and banking practices in Cyprus on an emergency basis to wipe out any remnant of control the Russians, the Russians allies, and the portion of the banking elite of Cyprus who have not switched sides have over the criminal enterprise based in Cyprus. They Euro-zone criminal gangs must also coerce the political elite of Cyprus to re-write the banking laws, regulations and practices of Cyprus to prevent any significant amount of monies being removed from banks in Cyprus, or removed out of Cyprus, until a targeted purge and a targeted confiscation of monies is complete in Cyprus. The later will take many months and the assets must be frozen in place in Cyprus until this process is complete.

The unintended consequence of this, of course, is to expose to the world the ability of the European Banking elite to change the rules of the game, and the ability to take your own money out of a bank, or out of the country, at their whim and their command ( overnight ).

That is why they are trying so hard to blame the capital controls, the confiscations of money, and the bank liquidations that are about to be dictated in Cyprus on the government elite in Cyprus alone.

[aedens]

The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men. – Plato

http://mikesmithspoliticalcommentary.bl ... n-car.html