It’s Time to Remove the Psychopaths that are Destroying the World

Video Source: GRTV YouTube

Psychopathy in Politics and Finance - Stefan Verstappen on GRTV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKqs7GJ0jdY

Written Comment By: Stewart Brennan

World United News

I’ve been struggling to make sense of the trends around me as everyday the world seemingly sinks a little deeper into the pits of hell. I believe this is because of the endless negative news and actions going on day in day out across the planet. But what gives this sense of despair sharp painful teeth is that I’ve also noticed that most everyone is cheering the Worlds direction toward complete destruction without thinking of moral responsibility, common sense, or empathy for life.
 

To a person like myself where these characteristics of common sense, empathy and respect are built within and are main pillars of my emotional and spiritual being, the sense and feelings that the future has taken a hopeless, directionless, and perilous path, is very depressing indeed. That is why this interview with Stefan Verstappen by James Corbett is considered by me to be very timely and inspirational. It in-stills a little hope to like minded souls by saying “you are not alone in your thinking” because truly, the establishment HAS gone insane and you are not the only one who has noticed.

Action / Reaction

I think it’s safe to say that most of us are guilty now and then of temporary insanity from our own vitriolic verbal reactions to injustice, even when our belief is for moral justice to prevail. This verbal reaction can be strong enough to be viewed by critics as being of the same behavioural characteristic as a psychopath’s…but in terms of being psychopathic, it really depends on action and intent rather than verbal reaction to injustice. IE: Being angry is a normal reaction to injustice so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Visual Influences

Verbal anger expressed by the individual is based on the never-ending violence and immoral actions committed by a psychopathic establishment. Anger is a symptom of this mental torture that is widely displayed through Mainstream Mediums and Alternative News. Most of us have been so saturated with negative acts, wrong doings, and the establishments self justification for corruption, that anger screams out in response calling for justice and also to say that we have had enough. The experience can be likened to the feelings of being on a mediaeval rack that has stretched us out as far is it can possibly go without breaking us, leaving us in constant pain...so screaming loudly is a reaction don’t you think?

Who could not be outraged by all the evil being committed by the establishment through state and economic terrorism, especially when it is done in your name? Those in control of society are most definitely psychopaths and those that echo their sentiments are guilty of feeding them to enable the negative actions that come as a result.

Screaming for justice and disassociation from these evil minded animals and their aspirations of total domination is all we have left as individuals in a world that has become infected by greed. All “we the people” really want is a World based in morality, common sense, and empathy where we can all live and thrive together without fear of the psychopath or its enabling followers…Peace is something that a psychopath is incapable of thinking or doing, so its time to rid ourselves of these animals and their system of governance.

Problem / Solution

The real enemy of mankind are the Psychopaths that run the planet. These animals are a cancer to society and that cancer has spread throughout the World to every nation. It’s time to stop feeding this cancer by not taking part in their system. Stop feeding these monsters with praise, stop building their moral by asking for jobs in their system of enslavement. De-fund them. Do not partake in debt slavery; start living outside of their system.

It’s time to create the World you want to live in even while the Psychopaths try to burn the World down around you. Keep your spirit free from their negative influences and create positive energy. Live your life in full empathy for others. Use common sense and moral judgement and give of yourself to others to start this reversal of trends. I guarantee that you will be the first person to feel the positive energy of your actions. Understand that everyone is on the same mediaeval torture rack as you are so shift your thinking by making someone on the rack next to you smile…start sharing the positive energy by giving to others without expectation…let go of your fears and stop feeding the greedy system. It’s time to evolve past the psychopaths and their system of control.

 

Stewart Brennan
World United News & Music
http://www.youtube.com/user/2minstral

 

Read More

Canada Under Siege – Part 2 - The Economy

 

Source: World United News - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2K3x-Ci8O8

Watching the World descend into economic tyranny due to the IMF and Private for Profit only Banks, really angers the hell out of me, but being Canadian, it especially angers me for what is going on here in Canada…because our government is a party to the theft taking place right here…and that is regardless of what brand of politic sits in governance of our nation.

I was brought up believing that the Banking system in Canada was sound and far superior than the rest of the World simply because we had our own National Bank to issue our own money...and from 1935 to 1974 that was certainly true. But it has not been true since.

Born in Montreal Quebec, Canada in 1960, I’ve seen a lot of things happen to this great country of ours over the years, but I was extremely puzzled why, despite the abundance of our natural resources and government imposed high taxation that we had no money to function or healthy economy. One day I decided to find out why.

What I discovered was that there was a massive theft taking place right under our noses by the IMF and all the other private banks that secretly had embedded themselves into the fabric of our Canadian economy & community…What makes the massive banking crimes so maddening is that I also discovered that all the past and present, Federal & Provincial governments in Canada have had full knowledge of the theft and have been a party to it.

This theft has been going on since 1974 through Federal Conservative, & Liberal governments, and through the Provincial governments of the Conservative, Liberal, NDP, and Parti Quebecois parties. They ALL knew what was going on, and by their knowledge of these banking crimes, they have all committed treason against the people of  this nation for doing nothing about it. Maybe the Chamber of Commerce has something to do with it…since all political parties feast there.

By giving the power to create money to the IMF & its ring of Private Banks, and also by giving our natural resources to foreign business cartels, The Federal & Provincial governments have sold out the Canadian people!…est les Quebec libre aussi. We’re not so libre as we might like so we are all in this mess together.

The debt we owe today, with the National and Provincial debt combined, comes to around 1 Trillion dollars. The interest payment on 1 Trillion dollars if it was at 4% is 40 billion dollars. That works out to about 110 million dollars every day just to pay the interest on a loan that should never have been made in the first place!

The Bank of Canada:

The Bank of Canada was created in 1935 to restart the Canadian economy and regain the peoples trust through a Canadian centralized banking system. The issuance of our own currency, by our own National Bank came without interest or compound interest added, thus allowing Canada to prosper and not go into debt despite the huge work projects and social programs that were created to elevate society back from the trash heap.

Huge government programs were created to put people back to work and thus created some of the most important National Corporations between those thriving years of 1935 to 1974. These corporations were owned by Canadians under a banking system that used an interest free currency…everything belonged to us during that time, including the right to make our own budget.

Large-scale social programs such as Medicare, and social benefits for families…old age pensions all emerged out of this economic model…and it was a model that worked for everyone while it was in place.

The Personal Income Tax collected from individuals became the government’s biggest source of income to keep our own sovereign system in place. In essence, We worked and invested in our country at the same time. The nation prospered and provided us with a higher standard of living while not going into to debt.

All was well and fine until 1974 when the Government of Canada gave the IMF and private banks the power to create the Canadian dollar and to charge us compound interest on loaning us our own money. The result of this giveaway is that we no longer have control of our currency or our governing budget. It belongs to private banks and their centralized private I.M.F.

Since 1974, Federal and Provincial government budgets are borrowed from Private Banks with Compound interest attached. That means we lose large amounts of our wealth and hard earned money to pay back the compound interest that came with the loans…and since the money has to come from somewhere, Canadians became tax targets while at the same time we lose our social programs by government spending cuts directed and ordered by the IMF through banking blackmail. The international economic system is completely rigged…in other words, if you don’t do what the IMF tells you, your bond rating will be lowered and the interest on the loans will be increased…

Compound interest, by practice, steals all the money slated to maintain our infrastructure and social programs…as the interest on the loan builds, the debt increases, which then gives the governments the ok to increase our taxes, or borrow more money from the private banks. The whole charade sends the economy into perpetual inflation mode. This cycle has drastically lowered our standard of living since 1974 and All past & present governments are responsible and should be questioned on their knowledge of the theft taking place, or their incompetence of what was taking place….a thorough PUBLIC investigation into this is required at the very LEAST!

Shortly after the IMF took control of our monetary system, our National Corporations such as the Canadian National Railway, Air Canada, and Petro Canada, were sold by the Canadian government at the behest of those that control and loan us our money. Have a look into the Chamber of Commerce…there you’ll see where government business decisions come from. The Chamber of Commerce is a Private Club made up of Banks and Big Business Owners. Needless to say, National Corporations were sold to international private interests, And now they want to sell off programs by privatizing things like health care.

It is very important to note, that what disappeared with National Corporations such as Petro Canada, was the control of our natural resources and the profits they would have brought directly into the country’s coffers if we were not enslaved to the IMF and their scheme of compound debt. Instead, all profits from our natural resources go into the private pockets of the Corporate Share Holders while the rest of us pay increased taxes and allow them to steal it.

Corruption:

International Corporations pay rental fees to the Provincial & Federal Governments on the Canadian land they are raping…of course anyone in government that is pushing for corporate interests is on a committee that receives special compensation. To me this is nothing short of bribery…this type of behavior is shady, dishonest, and amounts to high treason against the people of Canada and should be publicly investigated with prison sentences for those found guilty. In light of these accusations I am making here, I find that the government is nothing more than a crime syndicate for big business, and it is time for these criminals to GO!

Now that the pillars of economic stability have been removed, Canadians find themselves at the mercy of the International banks that are TELLING us what to keep, what to sell and where to cut the budget. Our government not only sold us out, they refuse to change the economic climate for the betterment of its people…that means they do not work for the people of Canada but the private owners of the International Banks!

The next Canadian Federal election is in 2015 so we have time to organize the people of this country to take back our nation. To know which politician to vote for, make sure they are decidedly for removing the Private banks from issuing our money and to nationalize ALL our resources. It’s time to take our country back and this is the way to do it.

LINKS:

Canada Under Siege – Part 1 – The Tar Sands, Free Trade & Govt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpfOsf1f26I

Crime of the Canadian Banking System

http://www.snowshoefilms.com/
Oh Canada, Our Bought & Sold Out Land
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbACCGf6q-c
Oh Canada Movie ORDER DVD
http://www.ohcanadamovie.com/
Press for Truth
http://www.pressfortruth.ca/
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce
http://www.chamber.ca/
Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Quebec – (The Quebec Chamber of Commerce)
http://www.ccquebec.ca/
Bank of Canada – Official Website
http://www.bankofcanada.ca/
The Bank of Canada Act
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/B-2/
Banknotes of the Canadian Dollar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Canadian_dollar
Canadian Banknote Company  - Owned by American Mega Corp. RR Donnelley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Bank_Note_Company
BA International prints Canadian Dollars and is German Owned
Bloomberg - Company Overview of BA International Inc. – German Owned
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=11792219
Canadian Crown Corporation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Crown_Corporation
Canadian National Railway – Privatized in 1995
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_National_Railways
Air Canada – Privatized in 1988
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Canada
CBC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation
VIA Rail
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Rail
Petro Canada – Privatized in 2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petro_canada

 

Read More

Eurozone finance ministers approve bailout deal for Cyprus

 

French minister of Economy, Finances and Foreign Trade Pierre Moscovici (R) and International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde (L) chat next to EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn (C) prior to an extraordinary Eurozone meeting on March 24, 2013 at the EU Headquarters in Brussels (AFP Photo / John Thys)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/cyprus-eu-imf-bailout-764/

The Eurogroup has approved a deal on a 10 billion-euro bailout for Cyprus, struck early Monday in Brussels. Cyprus avoids exiting the eurozone, but will have its second largest bank closed with heavy losses expected for big depositors.

“The size of financial assistance will amount to 10 billion euro,” Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem has announced at a press conference in Brussels after the eurozone finance ministers swiftly endorsed the plan.

“With this agreement we’ve put an end to the uncertainty that has affected Cyprus and the euro area over the last few days,”he added.

The new deal agreed between Cyprus and the Troika of international lenders - the EU, the ECB and the IMF - will set up a "good bank" and a "bad bank" and will mean that the country’s second largest bank Laiki will effectively be shut down.

Deposits below 100,000 euros will be shifted from Laiki to the Bank of Cyprus to create a “good bank.” Deposits larger than 100,000 euros will be frozen and used to resolve debts. It remains unclear how large the write-down on those funds will be.

The decision comes hours before the Monday deadline set by the European Central Bank, following heated talks between President Nicos Anastasiades and the Troika.

Earlier on Sunday the central bank in Cyprus has imposed an ATM withdrawal limit of 100 euros per day for the island's two biggest banks, in order to prevent a run on lenders.

Warren Pollock - market analyst and financial adviser says the financial turmoil in Cyprus is part of a broader crisis.

“In reality this is a global problem which has not been addressed since 2007-2008 and previous to that with the issuance of huge amounts of debt and leverage into the system both in Europe and in the United States,” he told RT.


“And when that debt goes bad, the only recourse which exists is to tap remaining collateral in the system which is the savings.”


Pollock believes that sooner or later this “sort of stealing” of savings may result in popular unrest. “We can definitely see smaller countries being the test to see whether savings could be stolen on a wider scale.”

Read More

Cyprus imposes ATM withdrawal limit of €100 per day for island's two largest banks

 

People queue to withdraw their savings at a Cypus Popular Bank (Laiki Bank) ATM in Athens on March 22, 2013. (AFP Photo)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/business/cyprus-bailout-withdrawal-banks-756/

The central bank in Cyprus has imposed an ATM withdrawal limit of 100 euros per day for the island's two biggest banks, in order to prevent a run on lenders.

A spokesman for the country's second largest lender, Cyprus Popular Bank, told Reuters that the new measure began at 1pm local time (11am GMT) and would remain in place until the bank reopens, or until confirmation of continued emergency funding from the European Central Bank. Cyprus Popular Bank had previously limited withdrawals to 260 euros per day.

A government official said the restriction also applied to the Bank of Cyprus.

It was initially reported that the measure was implemented on all banks in Cyprus, although it has now been confirmed that only the island's two biggest banks have been affected.

The news comes after Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades took part in last-minute crisis talks with international lenders on Sunday, in an attempt to save the country from financial meltdown. The negotiations in Nicosia to seal a bailout from the EU and International Monetary Fund failed to reach a solution.

Anastasiades then headed to Brussels to hold talks with EU, European Central Bank and IMF leaders ahead of a crunch meeting of eurozone finance ministers.

Government spokesman Christos Stylianides said in a statement on Sunday that Anastasiades and his team have a "very difficult task to accomplish to save the Cypriot economy and avert a disorderly default if there is no final agreement on a loan accord."

The news comes just one day after Cyprus and the Troika agreed to a 20 per cent tax on deposits over 100,000 euros at the Bank of Cyprus and 4 per cent on deposits held at other banks.

"Unfortunately, the events of recent days have led to a situation where there are no longer any optimal solutions available. Today, there are only hard choices left," European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a Saturday statement.

Cyprus is scrambling to come up with €5.8 billion by Monday, or face being kicked out of the Eurozone. The cash is a prerequisite for a further €10 billion in bailout funds.

Lawmakers' rejection of a previous proposal to tax all bank deposits prompted the European Central Bank to threaten to cut off emergency funding to Cypriot banks unless a deal was reached by March 25. Banks have been shut all week, and are due to reopen on March 26.

On Saturday, at least 1,000 bank workers in Cyprus hit the streets of the country’s capital of Nicosia. The demonstrators marched against the latest bailout measures taken by the country’s central bank.

Protesters carried banners that read, “Hands off provident funds” and “No to the bankruptcy of Cyprus.”

Turkey sends ‘stern warning’ to Cyprus over gas reserves

Meanwhile, Turkey has warned Greek Cyprus against using hydrocarbon reserves off the island to overcome its debt crisis without the consent of Turkish Cypriots. Ankara says such a move could result in an end to efforts to reunite Cyprus’ Turkish and Greek zones.

Turkey has contacted the US and plans to take the issue to the European Union, Today’s Zaman reported.

Ankara “had to issue a stern warning” regarding attempts to offer natural resources in exchange for foreign loans, a Turkish official said on Sunday.

Turkey has repeatedly warned the Greek Cypriot government against unilateral moves to extract natural gas and oil reserves off Cyprus, saying that Turkish Cypriots also have a say on the reserves.

The dispute recently escalated when reports surfaced that hydrocarbon exploration rights were part of Russia-Greek Cyprus talks last week over a possible deal which includes Russian financial help. However, the talks did not produce an agreement.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev expressed doubt on the inclusion of hydrocarbon reserves as a loan deal, saying there are concerns surrounding commercial viability and questions stemming from Turkish objections.

 

Read More

Cypriot parliament votes against deposit levy

Cypriot woman shouts slogans as she holds a placard during a protest against an EU bailout deal outside the parliament in Nicosia (AFP Photo / Patrick Baz)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/business/cyprus-against-deposit-levy-501/

The Cypriot parliament has voted against a revised bank deposit levy. The tax was meant to shave 9.9% off any deposits over €100,000 and has since caused uproar in the country.

Thirty six deputies voted against the proposal to tax bank deposits in the 56-member chamber, while 19 abstained. One deputy was not present for the vote.

"The bill has been rejected," said house speaker Yiannakis Omirou, as thousands of protesters outside the parliament building in Nicosia erupted in cheers.

According to the proposal, a 6.75% rate was to be set for amounts between €20,000 and €100,000. Deposits of up to €20,000 euros were to remain untouched.

Passage of the bill was considered a prerequisite for a €10 billion European Union bailout for the Mediterranean island. EU finance ministers have warned that Cyprus' two biggest banks could go bust if a bailout deal in some form is not forthcoming. The government and opposition parties have scheduled emergency talks on the bailout for Wednesday.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has threatened to end emergency lending assistance for Cypriot banks if a bailout deal was not ensured. However, following the vote, the ECB said it would continue to provide liquidity to Cyprus as needed “within the existing rules,” Bloomberg reports.

Cyprus has discussed the tax with its European creditors. Ministers from the 17 eurozone countries urged protection for savers with €100,000 or less and for them to be spared from the levy, after the prospect brought panic to the markets and had Cyprus dealing with the prospect of Russia withdrawing its rescue loan.

The Cypriot government’s original proposal was to tax all depositors, setting the rate of 6.75% on all deposits under€100,000 and maintaining a 9.9% tax on all deposits above that level.

In the meantime all Cypriot banks have frozen the accounts liable for the tax and stopped all transactions, including electronic and closed for a long weekend until Thursday to prevent panic.

Cyprus needed to raise €5.8 billion euros for its bailout program and was hoping to get the money in the planned bank deposits levy.

Despite the precarious position Cyprus has found itself in, a default might be preferable than a bailout under the present conditions, United Kingdom Independence Party MEP Nigel Farage told RT.

“The EU has been unhappy about so-called tax havens for a very long time. Ironically, whilst continuing to turn a blind-eye to many activities that go on in Luxemburg. I mean Cyprus finds itself right now in a very difficult, desperate position. But I would say that it is better to officially go bankrupt, to default on international bond obligations. And to do that best to keep a banking industry and to keep some confidence in that country,”he said

 

Read More

Fed chairman warns US lawmakers on impact of 'fiscal cliff'

 

US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/21/273685/us-lawmakers-alarmed-on-fiscal-cliff/

US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has once again warned American legislators to ward off the abrupt and severe combination of legislated tax hikes and federal spending cuts, known as ‘fiscal cliff,’ due to take effect by the end of the year.

In a Tuesday speech at the New York Economic Club, Bernanke described fiscal cliff as a “substantial threat” to the country’s economic recovery and urged US lawmakers to put aside partisan political rivalries to avert the massive financial impact on the nation’s already slow economy.

‘‘Uncertainties about the situation in Europe and especially about the prospects for federal fiscal policy seem to be weighing on the spending decisions of households and businesses as well as on financial conditions,’’ he said, adding, ‘‘Such uncertainties will only be increased by discord and delay.’’

According to reported estimates, the impact of the scheduled federal spending cuts and the expiration of temporary tax breaks will take at least USD 500 billion out of the US economy, threatening to push it back into yet another recession.

Citing several outside economic assessments on the enormity of the ensuing tax hikes and spending cuts, Bernanke said ‘‘a fiscal shock of that size would send the economy toppling back into recession.’’

This is while the Obama administration and Congress are still negotiating over an agreement to reduce the government's massive budget deficit, which has exceeded USD 1 trillion for a fourth consecutive year.

The last time the debt limit was about to be reached, Republican lawmakers in the US Congress waited until the very last minute before deciding to raise the limit.

Saying "the deficit is on an unsustainable path," the Fed chairman further added, ‘‘As you will recall, the threat of default in the summer of 2011 fueled economic uncertainty and badly damaged confidence, even though an agreement ultimately was reached.’’

‘‘A failure to reach a timely agreement this time around could impose even heavier economic and financial costs,” he warned.

Read More

Japan posts another record trade deficit

 

(Reuters / Toru Hanai)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/business/news/japan-trade-deficit-record-219/

Japan has seen its worst trade deficit for October in over 30 years, renewing September’s record, with dropping exports to China due to the territorial dispute, and easing demand from debt-stricken Europe.

The government data showed that a 549 billion yen ($6.7 billion) visible trade deficit in October far exceeded the 360 billion yen shortfall expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and the Nikkei. This year, Japan posted trade deficits every month except February and June.

Overall, exports fell 6.5% year on year in October to 5.15 trillion yen. Total exports to China were down 11.6% year on year, compared with a 14.1% drop in September due to the growing anti-Japanese sentiment. Exports of automobiles to China were down 82% year on year, and exports of car parts were off 28.1%. The shortfall in car exports to China was the largest since October 2001, according to Japan’s Ministry of Finance.

The territorial dispute with China that sparked anti-Japanese riots in September re-emerged after the Japanese government bought a group of islands that China also claims.

Meanwhile, exports to the European Union dropped 20.1% year on year according to the data. But exports to the US were up 3.1%, supported by a rise in supplies of cars, engines and car parts.

Weaker exports have hit Japanese corporate majors such as Sharp, Panasonic, and Nissan, which heavily rely on foreign trade. Panasonic forecast a $9.5bln loss this year, 30 times bigger than analyst estimates, while Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. and Nissan Motor Co. cut their full-year profit forecasts.

Experts say Japan’s economy would experience its fifth technical recession in 15 years as it is expecting a fall in October-December, after dropping by 3.5% in Q3, which is below analysts’ expectations.

On Tuesday the Bank of Japan announced it has no plans for further stimulus measures, but experts suppose that weak figures would force them to change their mind. "With weak trade data, and likely a weak result to the BOJ's December Tankan survey, the BOJ could very probably ease in December," said Daiwa Securities senior economist Maiko Noguchi.

 

Read More

Japan in doldrums as export shrinks

 

(AFP Photo / Yoshikazu Tsuno)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/business/news/japan-economy-debt-contraction-490/

While investors are focused on the eurozone crisis Japan’s economy is showing signs of contraction as its GDP fell last quarter by 3.5%, the most since the earthquake and tsunami in early 2011, while exports and consumer spending slumped.

­The results fell below analysts’ expectations, which predicted Japan’s GDP to decline 3.4 % in the Q3, according to a Bloomberg News survey last week. It was expected to be the third technical recession since 2008.

“The GDP figures were grim," Japanese PM Yoshihiko Noda told parliament after the data was released. Noda is preparing for an election and has pledged to speed up government efforts to boost the economy. Weaker results could undermine his efforts including a crucial plan to raise the national sales tax from 2014 to boost revenues. The proposed measure would be the first tax rise in more than a decade and is considered politically controversial.

“Today’s bad economic numbers deliver unpleasant news for Noda,” Hiroshi Shiraishi, senior economist at BNP Paribas SA in Tokyo, told Bloomberg. “It will take a while for Japan to get back to a sound recovery, considering a modest pick-up in the global economy at best and the country’s damaged relationship with China.”

Japan suffered the worst September trade result in more than 30 years amid the territorial row with China. The long running dispute re-emerged after the Noda administration’s bought a group of islands that China also claims. Exports to China – Japan’s biggest trading partner – sank 14% from a year earlier to 953.4 billion yen ($12.2 billion). Meanwhile the spreading crisis in Europe also hurt Japanese exports.

Weaker exports have hit Japanese corporate majors such as Sharp, Panasonic, and Nissan, which heavily rely on foreign trade. Panasonic forecast a $9.5bln loss this year, 30 times bigger than analyst estimates, while Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. and Nissan Motor Co. cut their full- year profit forecasts and cosmetics major Shiseido Co. plans spending cuts.

At the end of October the Bank of Japan expanded its asset-purchase program by 11 trillion yen ($137bln) to 91 trillion yen for the second time in two months. With the new weak figures the BoJ is likely to continue its supporting policy under political pressure, experts believe.

High debt burden is another problem of the Japanese economy. Earlier this year the US-based Fitch rating agency cut Japan's Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to 'A+' from 'AA' and 'AA-' respectively. The move reflects “growing risks for Japan's sovereign credit profile as a result of high and rising public debt ratios,” according to Andrew Colquhoun, Head of Asia-Pacific Sovereigns at Fitch.

Japan's general government debt is expected to hit 239% of GDP by the end of 2012, compared to the average 39% for OECD economies and 8% for 'A' –rated economies. Even Greece has a debt of 178% of GDP. This debt ratio has risen by 61% since the global financial crisis broke out.

However, Fitch considers that broader private sector savings, official foreign reserves worth $1.3 trillion and the fact that the Japanese yen is a global reserve currency will help the country’s economy to stay firm.

Read More

Post-election report shows record surge in Americans using food stamps

 

AFP Photo / Spencer Platt

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/usa/news/post-election-food-stamps-476/

The number of Americans relying on food stamps to stay fed has been steadily on the rise, hitting an all-time record this year, with more than 47.1 million Americans using government assistance to obtain food.

The US Monthly Data report, released by the Department of Agriculture (USDA), is normally issued at month's end. But the most recent report, which shows the record-breaking surge in food stamp dependence, was published on November 9 – three days after the presidential election.

About 15 percent of all Americans, or 47,102,780 people, are now enrolled in the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This is the highest number on record, and surpasses the number of unemployed Americans who found jobs during the same time period.

Dave Gibson of the Examiner attributes the delayed release to the Obama re-election campaign, claiming the agency waited to release the dreary data, which could have cast a negative light on the president.

“Obviously, this dose of reality would have harmed the Democratic Party’s false narrative of a ‘recovering economy,” he wrote.

When President Obama was first elected in November 2008, 30.8 million Americans were on food stamps. As of August 2012, 47.1 million were – a rise of about 50 percent.

The Washington Post reports that many of the new food stamp users are college students struggling to pay tuition and living expenses. Rather than pay for expensive campus meal plans, college students are increasingly applying for food stamps, “an option that once carried a social stigma on campus but no longer does,” writes Post reporter Breanna Hogan.

“I am receiving about $200 worth of food stamps per month, and I can’t imagine living without them,” said Sheena Vails, a sophomore at the University of Missouri.

About 15 million additional Americans have enrolled in SNAP since Obama took office. And the number could continue to rise, especially since Hurricane Sandy left thousands homeless across New York and New Jersey.

After the storm devastated New York City, Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered $65 million in new food stamp money to be automatically placed into the cards of displaced families who live in storm-affected areas. There are 77 zip codes in the region whose residents are eligible to apply for food stamps as they struggle to put their lives back together.

While the data for November food stamp usage will not be released for some time, the additional applicants could close 2012 with a much higher, record-breaking number of SNAP members – a number that clashes with rising job figures and the narrative of an improving economy.

Read More

Cuts and more cuts Athens passes 2013 budget

 

Demonstrators stand outside the Greek Parliament protesting against austerity measures in Athens on November 11, 2012 (AFP Photo / Panayiotis Tzamaros))

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/greece-government-austerity-budget-439/

The Greek government has passed a 2013 budget stipulating new rounds of harsh budget cuts. It comes just after Greece announced the passage of more austerity measures, triggering violent clashes in Athens.

The budget was approved with 167 voting in favor and 128 opposed, while 5 abstained.

The recent austerity package, passed in a narrow vote, was apparently insufficient to appease eurozone finance ministers into granting the cash-strapped nation another tranche of much-needed bailout money.

Without the rescue loan, Greece would effectively default on November 16, the date it must repay a three-month treasury bill worth €5 billion.

Greek trade unions called for another demonstration outside Parliament on Sunday ahead of the lawmakers’ vote on the budget.

Earlier in the week, around 70,000 demonstrators rallied as Parliament voted on the new austerity program.

On Saturday, MPs began debating the 2013 budget. It was the second budgetary test the Greek government has faced in less than a week.

Athens is planning further spending cuts totaling 9.4 billion euro, mainly in state wages, pensions and benefits, all of which have already seen drastic reductions over the past two years.

Several hundred Greek civil servants staged a protest on Saturday in front of parliament, where initial discussions over the 2013 draft budget were held ahead of the vote. The protesters railed against the reduction of 125,000 civil servant jobs by 2016, part of the new austerity package that squeezed through parliament on Wednesday.

 

Protesters demonstrate outside the Greek parliament against the new austerity measures in Athens on November 11, 2012 (AFP Photo / Aris Messinis)

Cutting it close

Greece's 2013 budget predicts that the economy will shrink by a worse-than-expected 4.5 percent next year, and that the country's debt will swell to 346 billion euro ($434.3 billion), or 189 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Athens is hoping to securing a further 31.5 billion euro of desperately needed international aid. Even then, it would still need to borrow over 68 billion euro next year, the draft budget says

This is in addition to the new austerity package, which includes 18.5 billion euro ($23.6 billion) in cuts and labor law reforms.

Greece has so far avoided default by introducing a series of austerity measures needed to secure two huge bailout loans from a 'Troika' of creditors: The EU, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.

The recent push for further austerity has sparked popular anger in a country facing its sixth year of recession, while unemployment rose above the 25 percent mark in July.

Meanwhile, the government admits that the program is unfair, and will probably drive the country deeper into recession, Dimitris Yannopoulos, an Economist and Editor at the Athens News newspaper told RT.

According to Yannopoulos, the only benefit the new set of austerity measures will bring is the long-awaited rescue package – which Germany is in no hurry to release.

“Berlin implies that we want more conditions attached to the program dealing with the control of these funds as well as the control of the budgetary administration [in Greece],” he explained.

 

Riot police guard the Parliament building during a demonstration against austerity measures as Greek deputies consider a budget vote (AFP Photo / Panayiotis Tzamaros)

 

Demonstrators march to the Greek Parliament protesting against austerity measures in Athens on November 11, 2012 (AFP Photo / Panayiotis Tzamaros)

 

Read More

China to pass US as top economic superpower by 2016

 

In this picture taken on June 21, 2012 shows workers building a car on the Geely Motors assembly line in Cixi, 50km from Ningbo in China's Zhejiang province. (AFP Photo/Peter Parks)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/usa/news/china-us-economic-economy-373/

America’s days of economic dominance aren’t over just yet, but one international thinktank says it might come sooner than once thought. According to one group, China will have the biggest world economy by 2016.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) out of Paris writes in a new report that China will be the world’s leading nation in terms of economy in just four years’ time, with other BRICs nations likely to usurp the current top dogs during the next few decades as well.

“The next 50 years will see major changes in country shares in world GDP,” the OECD report released this week reads. “On the basis of 2005 purchasing power parities (PPPs), China is projected to surpass the Euro Area in a year or so and the United States in a few more years, to become the largest economy in the world, and India is projected to surpass Japan in the next year or two and the Euro area in about 20 years.”

Additionally, the OECD predicts that China and India will together have a GDP that will beat out that of the G7 nations by as early as 2025, and by 2060 they expect Indian to out-perform the US on its own.

"As the largest and fastest-growing emerging countries fully assume a more prominent place in the global economy, we will face new challenges to ensure a prosperous and sustainable world for all. Education and productivity will be the main drivers of future growth, and should be policy priorities worldwide," said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria adds in an accompanying statement published with the report.

Asa Johansson, senior economist at the OECD, says, "It is quite a shift in the balance of economic power we are going to see in the future." According to projections published in the report, the United States’ share of the global gross domestic product will shrink to 18 percent in 2030, then 17 percent three decades later. Currently, the US is responsible for nearly a quarter, but by 2060, India is expected to have a slightly larger economy, generation 18 percent of the world’s GDP, as Japan and the Euro zone lose influence in international finances.

Last year, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission predict that China’s yuan, or renminbi, could become the main reserve currency for the world economy within the next decade if it continues to rise up over the US dollar.

“Chinese economic dominance is more imminent and more broad-based – encompassing output, trade and currency – than is currently recognized,” economist Arvind Subramanian wrote last year. "By 2030, this dominance could resemble that of the United States in the 1970s and the United Kingdom around 1870. And this economic dominance will in turn elevate the renminbi to premier reserve currency status much sooner than currently expected.”

 

Read More

Spain’s economy contracts 0.3% in third quarter of 2012

 

People wait in line at a government employment office at Santa Eugenia's Madrid suburb on January 27, 2012.

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/30/269528/spain-economy-shrinks-in-third-quarter/

Official data show Spain’s economy has shrunk by 0.3% in the third quarter of the year, 2012, as the country continues to grapple with economic woes.

According to new data released by Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) on Tuesday, country’s gross domestic product contracted by 0.3% from July to September.

This comes as one in four workers is unemployed in the recession-hit country.

On Friday, the Spanish institute also issued a statement saying that the country’s unemployment rate climbed to 25.02 percent in the third quarter, up from the previous 24.63 percent.

INE also pointed out that a total of 5.78 million people were out of work in the July-September quarter, up 85,000 from the previous three months, while the number of Spanish households in which every member is unemployed rose to 1.74 million.

On October 11, Standard and Poor’s rating agency (S&P) downgraded the country’s credit rating by two notches with a "negative outlook" citing “mounting risks to Spain's public finances, due to rising economic and political pressures.

The Spanish government has been sharply criticized over the austerity measures that are hitting the middle and working classes the hardest.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s proposed 2013 draft budget is expected to slash the overall spending by 40 billion euros ($51.7 billion), freeze the salaries of public workers, and reduce spending for unemployment benefits.

Battered by the global financial downturn, Spain’s economy collapsed into recession in the second half of 2008, taking with it millions of jobs.

Read More

Germany orders a check on its gold reserves

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/business/news/germany-gold-reserves-check-472/

German federal auditors have requested the Bundesbank checks Germany’s gold reserves, a major part of which has been stored at banks abroad since the Cold War.

­Germany’s gold bars, stored in the United States, Britain and France "have never been physically checked by the Bundesbank itself, or other independent auditors, regarding their authenticity or weight," reveals a report prepared by the Federal Auditors' Office. Instead, the Bundesbank relies on a "written confirmation by the storage sites."

Germany has placed as much as some 3,400 tons of gold worth an estimated $190 billion at current values in the vaults of the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of France and the Bank of England since the late 1940s. The reason was to secure the country’s gold reserves in a case of a possible war with the Soviet bloc. Currently only about 30% of Germany’s gold reserves are kept in Germany, at the facilities of Frankfurt-based Bundesbank.

Since then, the Bundesbank has seen no reason to check its gold reserves. "There is no doubt about the integrity of the foreign storage sites in this regard," it said in a statement.

Concerns about Germany’s gold reserves arose this year after a group of German federal lawmakers wanted to check gold bars stored at the Banque de France in Paris. But they were turned away by local officials who said there were no facilities to visit the vaults, Deutsche Welle reported.

German worries about the situation with its gold reserves reflect the worries of the German politicians that the country has enough gold reserves to resist the spreading eurozone crisis.

The Bundesbank has reportedly decided to ship 150 tons of gold from the New York Federal Reserve to Germany, according to German daily Bild. After returning to Germany the gold will be melted down to test the overall purity of each consignment before being re-cast into standard gold bars.

Read More

Financial Turbulence: New Downturn in the Global Economy

 

By: Nick Beams

Source: Global Research
http://www.globalresearch.ca/financial-turbulence-new-downturn-in-the-global-economy/5309872

There are increasing signs that the global economy is about to enter a new period of financial turbulence, coupled with deepening recession in a growing number of countries.

In the immediate aftermath of the global economic breakdown that began in 2008, set off by the collapse of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers, governments around the world took on increased debt as they made available trillions of dollars to prevent a complete collapse of the financial system. Meetings of the Group of 20 were dominated by pledges there would be no return to the conditions of the 1930s and assurances that the lessons of history had been learned.

The writings of John Maynard Keynes, the British economist of the 1930s who advocated increased government spending to counter depressions, were suddenly back in vogue. But a sharp turn came in June 2010, when a meeting of the G20 initiated a turn to austerity, emphasising the necessity to impose “fiscal consolidation.” The essence of this program was to claw back the money given to the banks through massive cutbacks to government spending, especially on social services.

However, this program brought a contraction in economic growth leading to decreased profit opportunities for major corporations. Faced with this situation, the US Federal Reserve initiated a policy of “quantitative easing”—the provision of unlimited supplies of money to banks and financial institutions. Central banks around the world cut interest rates to record lows and followed that up with their own versions of quantitative easing (QE). Under conditions of a stagnant real economy, these measures were aimed at boosting the value of financial assets, thereby providing a new avenue for finance houses to realise speculative profits.

While the QE program and its equivalents have been touted as a means of preventing a slide into global recession—US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke claimed the recently enacted QE3 program was motivated by continuing high unemployment—they have done virtually nothing to boost the real economy. Their only significant impact has been to increase profits through financial manipulation, with the ultra-cheap money provided by the central banks.

But now there are signs that a new stage in the global breakdown is underway, marked by growing recessionary trends, as the impact of the central bankers’ program wanes.

Share prices in the US, which had been lifted by the QE program, have started to fall as companies report a downturn in sales and profits amid announcements of further job cuts. This week American companies pointed to weakening global demand and the fears generated by the continuing financial crisis in Europe.

Dow Chemical announced it would axe 2,400 jobs, 5 percent of its global workforce. It also said it would shut 20 plants and cut capital spending by $500 million, citing a “slow-growth environment in the near term.” DuPont, the largest US chemical group, announced 1,500 layoffs and a loss for the third quarter. It pointed to a sharp drop in sales to the Asia-Pacific region, where volumes were down 10 percent compared to a year ago, dealing a blow to claims that so-called “emerging markets” would provide an alternative source of global demand.

Overall, US corporate profits and earnings are expected to fall for the first time since 2009. The latest data on the US economy show that gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of only 2 percent in the third quarter, well below that required to maintain employment levels. Were it not for the effect of an increase in defence spending, the figure would have been significantly under market expectations.

The most significant feature of the US GDP data was investment spending. Its continuing decline reduced the overall growth figure by 0.1 percentage points for the quarter, while imports and exports both fell, taking off 0.2 percentage points.

While the central bankers will continue to pump money into financial markets, these measures will do nothing to turn the situation around. This week, in a major speech, the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, noted that every increase in the money supply had a declining impact on the real economy.

His warnings are confirmed by historical trends. Writing in the Financial Times, financial analyst Satyajit Das pointed out that between 2001 and 2008, borrowing against the rising value of houses contributed about half the growth in the US. “But ever increasing borrowings are needed to sustain growth. By 2008, $4 to $5 of debt was required to create $1 of US growth, up from $1 to $2 in the 1950s. China now needs $6 to $8 of credit to generate $1 of growth, an increase from around $1 to $2 15-20 years ago.”

At the meetings of the G20 in 2009, government leaders insisted there would be no return to the protectionist measures of the 1930s which had such a devastating impact on world trade. But the QE program is producing a twenty-first century version of the beggar-thy-neighbour policies of the Great Depression. The flood of money from the US Federal Reserve has pushed down the value of the US dollar, hitting the export markets of its competitors and leading to the development of “currency wars” as they try to maintain their position.

Furthermore, the boosting of financial assets under conditions of slowing economic growth threatens to replicate the conditions that sparked the 2008 collapse on an even broader scale. This is because, unlike the situation four years ago, the central banks themselves are now heavily involved in financial markets and stand to lose massive amounts in a market collapse.

The central bankers and capitalist politicians claim that while their actions may not have promoted growth, they have at least averted a return to the conditions of the 1930s. These claims are belied by the conditions in Spain and Greece, where unemployment is already at 1930s levels.

Moreover, when viewed from an historical perspective, their self-congratulations are somewhat premature. The Great Depression came after a decade of financial and economic turbulence set off by the breakdown of global capitalism that began with the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

This time around, the capitalist breakdown began with a financial crisis that has now set in motion a deepening contraction in world economy.

Like their counterparts in an earlier period, the ruling elites have no response to the historic crisis of the profit system other than a social counterrevolution against the working class, militarism, and the imposition of dictatorial forms of rule.

Far from ending, the global economic crisis is only just beginning. The working class must respond by developing its own independent program based on an intransigent political struggle for the overthrow of the bankrupt capitalist profit system and the bringing of the banks and major corporations under public ownership in order to establish a planned world socialist economy.

Nick Beams

 

Read More

Thousands march in Madrid against government austerity measures

A picture taken on October 27, 2012 shows placards on a fence installed by police to protect the Spanish Congress during a protest against the government's austerity reforms and the public payment of bank's debts in Madrid (AFP Photo / Dominique Faget)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/madrid-austerity-protest-march-396/

A massive police escort accompanied tens of thousands of Spaniards marching on the country’s parliament in Madrid as part of anti-austerity protests.

­The 2.3-kilometers march organized by the "Surround parliament" protest group was closely guarded by law enforcement with dog teams, vans with reinforced windows, officers in full riot gear as well as mounted police.

At the Parliament, the crowd was greeted by an even larger police presence and pushed them back behind a chain of metal rail barricades.

Demonstrators were protesting against the latest measures introduced by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government as tens of thousands of jobs were lost in the third quarter with a bank bailout in sight.

“And now they are going to give banks a bailout, rescue them as if they were princesses,” Alan Pipo told the AP. “They should be put out on the streets, just like all those families who are being evicted from their homes because they are unable to keep up with mortgage payments! "

Demonstrators held a minute’s silence with their backs turned on parliament to show their condemnation of the government’s policies, that’s as a quarter of Spaniards are now unemployed.

The crowd also moved in front of Bankia Bank, where a group of protesters have been camping out since Monday, in an effort to pressure the bank to halt evictions that have so far affected 400,000 families in Spain.

Earlier on Saturday, nearly 3,000 off-duty police officers had also taken to the streets to voice their anger over austerity measures and the withdrawal of their Christmas bonuses.

Overall the Spanish economy has been struggling for years and now faces a staggering unemployment rate among the young of 52.34 per cent according to country’s National Statistical Institute.

In an effort to rebound the economic growth PM Rajoy has hiked taxes, cut spending and introduced harsh labor reforms in an effort to persuade investors that his government can manage Spain's financial trouble without a full bailout.

But some researchers believe that instead of cutting spending, it might be wise to increase it.

“The alternative is actually not to cut spending, but to invest in the economy, to invest in growth to make sure that there’re jobs. And the only way to ultimately get out of this debt, is to grow out of debt and not to cut your way of debt,” Jerome Roos, a researcher on the EU debt crisis at the European University Institute in Florence, told RT.

Spain’s economic output has shrunk for five quarters in a row and the country’s banking sector has been given a €100 billion loan by the 17 Eurozone states.

 

Demonstrators take part in a protest against the government's austerity reforms and the public payment of bank's debts in Madrid on October 27, 2012 (AFP Photo / Caesar Manso)

Read More