“The global economy is on the brink – and neither Trump nor Biden can bring it back…
“…At more than 6pc of GDP, the deficit is still worryingly high for what may be the top of the economic cycle, and the US’s credit rating has already been cut. The country is drowning in debt, and Biden’s only plan seems to be borrowing yet more. In a second term, there will almost certainly be a reckoning…
“Trump’s major plan is, much to the dismay of those who believe in free market economics, a 10pc universal tariff on all imports… A trade war on that scale would be catastrophic. Trump’s planned tarriffs could trigger the kind of global trade slump the world has not witnessed since the 1930s.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/11/18/haley-presidential-hope-between-biden-and-trump/
“Biden Uses War-Time Law to Fund Heat Pumps Citing Climate Crisis…
“The Biden administration is using the emergency powers of a Cold War-era law to fund more domestic manufacturing of electric heat pumps, which the White House says is needed to help stave off climate change and increase domestic security.”
“Glencore Bets on US Love of Coal With New Fossil Fuel Giant.
“Glencore Plc is preparing to unleash a new coal supermajor on the New York market that would – based on recent performance – churn out bigger profits than the current top 10 US listed coal miners combined. The world’s No. 1 shipper of thermal coal on Tuesday unveiled the first step in the process…”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-16/glencore-bets-on-coal-with-new-fossil-fuel-giant
“Here’s why much of the rural South is in economic crisis…
“… the rural South is ground zero for poor health in the U.S., with life expectancy far lower than the national average. So-called “deaths of despair” such as suicides and accidental overdoses are common, and rates of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke are high…”
“Broken turbine blades cause shutdown at Russian nuclear plant…
“Russia’s state nuclear power corporation has reported that turbine blades broke at a plant where the company has installed two reactors of a type it is also building in Turkey and plans to construct in Hungary. Rosenergoatom, which runs Russia’s nuclear power stations, said it was not clear what caused the blades to break…”
“Finland’s Olkiluoto 3, Europe’s largest nuclear power generator as measured by output, suffered an unexpected outage on Sunday due to a turbine problem, Nordic power bourse Nord Pool said in a statement…
“Plagued by construction delays, OL3 began regular electricity output in April this year, some 14 years behind schedule.”
“Migrants Stuck In Border Zone After Finland Blocks Russia Crossings…
“Dozens of third-country nationals are stranded at Finland’s border with Russia on November 18 after Helsinki authorities blocked frontier crossings a day earlier. Finland has accused Moscow of sending migrants to the crossings in retaliation for its decision to join NATO…”
https://www.rferl.org/a/migrants-stuck-border-zone-finland/32690350.html
“The violent gang crisis shaking Sweden…
“The Nordic country has gone from having one of the lowest levels of fatal shootings in Europe to one of the highest in just a decade. Well-established criminal gangs, largely run by second-generation immigrants, are no longer just killing each other but increasingly relatives and, in the case of Saad and others, innocent bystanders.”
https://www.ft.com/content/79f0d181-bdae-4c81-a971-861ccd8d512c
“Sweden’s housing market teeters on the edge: Is another bubble about to burst?
“The sector grew fast on the heels of cheap credit, but rising interest rates are taking their toll on the country’s heavily indebted households… “The Swedish market has gone through a classic boom-and-bust cycle over the past 15 years,” Kenningham says.”
“Bedsit Britain: Nearly 160,000 people are living in hidden, often overcrowded and sometimes dangerous bedsit-style accommodation across England, analysis has found.
“Intelligence compiled by councils suggests there are almost 32,000 unlicensed large houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). These are believed to be home to at least 159,340 tenants…”
“Stagnation nation: governing the UK when ‘there is no money’…
“Lord Philip Hammond, a former Tory chancellor, says doing politics in an era of low growth and little money is “very difficult”. He adds: “The politician who is honest about the situation probably gets voted out.””
https://www.ft.com/content/8c6461c6-e976-4563-b277-bf61ae0a2c07
“How Britain’s plague of potholes became a budget black hole…
“£8bn pledge to fix crumbling roads will just scratch the surface after years of neglect… Britain’s local roads are in the worst condition they have ever been in at least 28 years, according to the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey, aptly dubbed ALARM.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/11/20/britains-pothole-plague-budget-black-hole/
“‘Harmless’ fraud soars in UK amid cost of living crisis…
“A growing number of people are committing fraud such as cheating on their council tax or trying to reclaim money on lost gambling bets, research has found. The cost of living crisis has led to a rise in “first-party fraud” where people give false information, or misrepresent themselves, in order to make money…”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/19/harmless-soars-in-uk-amid-cost-of-living-crisis
“Spanish supermarkets lock up olive oil as shoplifting surges…
“”We are seeing a major surge in shoplifting,” said Ruben Navarro, the CEO of Tu Super supermarket chain, which operates 30 stores in Spain’s Andalucia region. “Olive oil has become an ideal product for them to steal.””
“Europe’s Petrochemical Industry Is Heading for Death Row…
“Petrochemicals are intrinsically energy intensive. In Europe, natural gas is about five times more expensive than in the US. Right now, it’s cheaper to buy ethylene, a building block for plastics, in Texas, and ship it across the Atlantic for further processing in Europe than producing it at home.”
“Millions of Aussies turning to credit cards amid rising cost of living: survey…
“More Australians are turning to credit cards to cope with the rising cost of living, new research has revealed… According to the findings, at least 6 per cent relied on credit to cover their daily expenses, and 5 per cent said they were looking for a credit card to pay off previous debt.”
“Japanese companies are dropping out of offshore wind projects in Taiwan, one of fastest growing markets for the technology, as rising costs and worsening delays plunge the industry into deeper trouble worldwide.
“Oil refiner Eneos Holdings Inc. said last week it may exit the Yunlin Offshore Wind Project in the Taiwan Strait, after regional utility Shikoku Electric Power Co. decided to pull out of the same project due to delays threatening its profitability.”
“China’s Problem With Unfinished Homes Keeps Getting Bigger…
“Authorities have set aside billions of dollars to help developers complete and deliver apartments that were already sold, but the logjam is growing.. More property developers are defaulting on their debt and adding to the logjam of construction delays and stalled residential developments across the country.”
“China Property’s Slump Further Reduces Growth Prospects…
“The challenges facing the property market are reverberating across sectors and worsening the economic slowdown. Local Government Financing Vehicles (‘LGFV’) face increasing credit risk due to their reliance on land sales and the use of real estate as collateral to sustain heavy debt loads.”
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4652845-china-property-slump-further-reduces-growth-prospects
“Argentina presidential election: far-right libertarian Javier Milei wins after rival concedes…
“Javier Milei, a volatile far-right libertarian who has vowed to “exterminate” inflation and take a chainsaw to the state, has been elected president of Argentina, catapulting South America’s second largest economy into an unpredictable and potentially turbulent future.”
“Copper Mining Could Endanger Panama’s Canal And Rainforests…
“Panama has erupted in protests — its biggest since 1987 when the people wanted to depose the military dictatorship of General Manuel Noriega. But environmental, social, and governance concerns cause today’s unrest… The mining site, Cobre Panama, is in the heart of the rainforests. Hence the dispute.”
“Large parts of KwaZulu-Natal [South Africa] are at risk of water shortages and possible restrictions according to a report presented to the city by uMngeni-uThukela Water (UUW) (formerly Umgeni Water).
“The utility has now urged affected municipalities to implement urgent measures to conserve water… Climate change and lower predicted rainfall levels will exacerbate the situation in years to come.”
https://www.citizen.co.za/witness/news/water-shortages-threaten-kzn/
“Acute fuel shortage badly hits police’s core functions in Punjab [Pakistan]…
“The situation has hit the police department hard as thousands of its vehicles across the province are on the verge of running out of fuel, prompting the heads of most of the police stations to explore “alternative means”, including getting obliged from private parties to meet the fuel shortage.”
https://www.dawn.com/news/1790801/acute-fuel-shortage-badly-hits-polices-core-functions-in-punjab
“Businessmen, traders and mill workers take to streets over unbridled crime in Jacobabad [Pakistan]…
“On Saturday, businessmen, traders and mill workers took out a rally from Anaj Mandi and, after marching through various roads, blocked the Sindh-Balochistan road with burning tyres and junk to protest against failure of the police to control crime in the city.”
“The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) said in a report published on Friday that Afghanistan’s economy is on the verge of collapse…
“Many Afghan families are struggling to meet their basic needs. The report blames the economic decline on factors like the return of migrants, restrictions on women’s work, and the ban on poppy cultivation without providing alternative crops for farmers.”
https://www.khaama.com/afghanistans-economy-on-the-brink-of-collapse-usip/
“Wave of arrests in government response to opposition strike in Bangladesh.
“Bangladeshi authorities on Sunday launched a fresh wave of arrests amid a two-day nationwide dawn-to-dusk strike by the opposition demanding an a neutral caretaker government ahead of a national election.”
“Creeping escalation along Israel-Lebanon border brings risk of bigger war…
“…the range and intensity of the fighting is gradually increasing. Saturday saw Israeli jets strike an aluminum factory in the Lebanese town of Nabatieh, 12 miles north of the border — well beyond the traditional zone in which retaliatory fire has been considered acceptable by both sides.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/19/lebanon-israel-border-hezbollah-gaza/
“Yemen’s Houthi rebels seize cargo ship in Red Sea, Israel blames Iran…
“The Houthis, who control northern Yemen and its Red Sea coast, said the ship was Israeli, but Israel described it as a British-owned and Japanese-operated cargo vessel with no Israeli nationals on board. Last week, the Iran-aligned Houthis said they could target Israeli ships in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.”
“Cop28 host UAE breaking its own ban on routine gas flaring, data shows.
“State-run oil and gas fields in the United Arab Emirates have been flaring gas virtually daily despite having committed 20 years ago to a policy of zero routine flaring, the Guardian can reveal. The UAE is hosting the UN Cop28 summit…”
“Oil industry rides into climate summit bigger than ever… Profits are soaring. Production is climbing — and marking a record year in the United States…
““The death of the oil industry has been greatly overstated,” said Kevin Book, managing director at the consulting firm ClearView Energy. “The realities of demand and the limitations of alternatives haven’t changed.””
https://www.politico.eu/article/cop28-climate-summit-dubai-oil-industry-bigger-than-ever/
You can read the previous “Economic” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with a “Climate” thread.
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Yeah wishfull thinking that things can rebuilt or restored once this thing crashes again. Less resources and the environment will just destroy it anyway.
Im with you Heather, each week or so, the US seems more determined to double-down on digging its own economic (and diplomatic) hole bigger and deeper, & unlike previous economic crashes I also cant see a path to a quick recovery this time. Will probably run out of road before the next election. No longer matters which political stripe gets in power either.
Trying to finance 2 wars, and provoking a 3rd with China, on top of ignoring (or worsening) their own domestic economic problems, focussing domestic spending only on the comfort of the 1% .
Was cruising travel vids the other night, and with a common theme of the visible deterioration in major western cities CB Districts, like London, San Francisco, Berlin etc empty floors in the skyscrapers and downtown hotels, famous major stores closed, increasing street crime etc. Needing to move away from downtown city centres to get to the remaining “pockets of prosperity”.
On a sudden impulse, yesterday I reorganised my remaining retirement funding away from any stock market exposure LOL
What an array of full spectrum of the plight of humanity
People experiencing homelessness seek refuge at South Florida airports. Deirdra Funcheon
https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2023/11/19/homeless-shelter-living-airports-mia-fll
The phenomenon has been happening at airports around the world — such as Chicago, Cleveland, Palm Springs and Buenos Aires — prompting police to enforce trespassing laws.
By the numbers: Miami-Dade Police recorded 352 such encounters during the six-month period ending in September, for an average of two per day, Chin tells Axios.
An increase was noticed at the onset of the pandemic.
What they’re saying: Chin said the aviation department partners with Miami-Dade County’s Homeless Trust to offer housing assistance and services.
“Historically, about 30% of the individuals who are offered this assistance accept it,” he says. “Those who do not accept assistance are escorted off airport property, and those who return to MIA are issued trespass warnings, citations or placed under arrest by the Miami-Dade Police Department.”
Last month, members of the Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity traveled to Geneva, Switzerland to voice concerns to the United Nations Human Rights Committee that laws in the U.S. that criminalize homelessness amount to human rights abuses.
Remember a documentary about a fella when lived at an airport for years….now its seems to becoming the new normal
Yes, each day’s C&E is, well, it’s really not a “full spectrum of the plight of humanity,” but how could it be?
The last item from Politico is some damned fine gallows humor, about how it’s all been one gigantic joke of stupidity & idiocy ceding all regulation to the transnational corporations of oil, etc. du jour themselves, whose moron spokes-clowns and psycopathic CEOs are such great entertainers of the myth & lie & evasion variety.
Politico’s rundown of the oil companies’ plan for species suicide is dead-on, but the epic villains will never get their comeuppance, or even a whiff of a slight mockery.
Why, look at the new Sphere in Las Vegas, where a stupendous amalgamation of CO2 fossil fuel manufacture and production and contracted continual entertainment services passed all laughable “regulatory” hurdles – OK, they don’t exist, and never will in the US – to broadcast Bono’s stupid warmed-over Catholic rocker bullshit in mega999D until the Collapse hits the grid supplying the Sphere’s gargantuan, preposterous LED-array-of-a-small-country’s-entire-display.
The competitor site to C&E, r/collapse, is now full-on doomer. Hopium addicts don’t even mewl there anymore.
Shit’s beyond toast, fam. Why keep track anymore?
Climate complacency: study finds even the most informed people would rather take the easy option
https://theconversation.com/climate-complacency-study-finds-even-the-most-informed-people-would-rather-take-the-easy-option-217879
Would rather & have taken the easy option for decades, which is hard wired & thus no choice.
The two main psychological strategies seem to be to (pretend) to believe the denial propaganda or the COP, Enviro “we’re working on it & mean it this time” propaganda.
For the tiny few who gave up their high energy/consuming lifestyle, your efforts do not show up in the statistics at all. The stats look like the humans did everything in their power to grow and use as much energy as their abilities allowed. An alien species would think either the humans were completely unaware of the dangers of environmental destruction (shitting where you eat) and global warming OR, that in spite of knowing, they were not in control of their own behaviour and unable to stop. No free will or real choices.
Explained: Why our brains are programmed to keep wanting more even if it leads to unhappiness
“The researchers said in their paper: “From ancient religious texts to modern literature, human history abounds with tales describing the struggle to achieve ever-lasting happiness.” ”
https://www.wionews.com/science/explained-why-our-brains-are-programmed-to-keep-wanting-more-even-if-it-leads-to-unhappiness-505218
Unhappiness = unprecedented human Overshoot with the destruction of techno industrial civilization and a mass die-back as the minimum consequences. It may even be worse, but that’s academic.
~~
” The single most-important lesson for me was that we cannot re-wire (literally, because thought is physical) our basic political agendas through reading or discussion alone. Moreover, since our thoughts are subject to physical law, we do not have the free-will to either think or behave autonomously.”
“Despite decades of scientific warnings, we continue to destroy our life-support system because that behavior is part of our inherited (DNA, RNA, etc.) hard wiring.”
“I am totally certain. The “net energy principle” guarantees that our global supply lines will collapse.”
“The rush to social collapse cannot be stopped no matter what is written or said. Humans have never been able to intentionally-avoid collapse because fundamental system-wide change is only possible after the collapse begins.”
“Today, when one observes the many severe environmental and social problems, it appears that we are rushing towards extinction and are powerless to stop it. Why can’t we save ourselves? To answer that question we only need to integrate three of the key influences on our behavior:
1) biological evolution
2) overshoot, and
3) a proposed fourth law of thermodynamics called the “Maximum Power Principle”(MPP). The MPP states that biological systems will organize to increase power[2] generation, by degrading more energy, whenever systemic constraints allow it.”
“Organisms are required by the Second Law of thermodynamics to dissipate energy.“Power” is energy dissipation for a purpose and equals:
forces x flows = work rate + entropy produced. Organisms evolved a bias to maximize fitness by maximizing power. With greater power, there is greater opportunity to allocate energy to reproduction and survival, and therefore, an organism that captures and utilizes more energy than another organism in a population will have a fitness advantage.”
“Politics” is power used by social organisms to control others. Not only are human groups never alone, they cannot control their neighbors’ behavior. Each group must confront the real possibility that its neighbors will grow its numbers and attempt to take resources from them. Therefore, the best political tactic for groups to survive in such a milieu is not to live in ecological balance with slow growth, but to grow rapidly and be able to fend off and take resources from others.”
https://jayhansonsdieoff.net/overshoot-loop-evolution-under-the-maximum-power-principle/
“— the onset of World War II led to an impressive economic growth spurt.”
Killing is great for profit.
I lived & worked in the South most of my life. I know stupid redneck white trash (SRWT). I’ve ridden motorcycles in many of the poorest areas & it’s a sad sight to see. At least there are some great natural sites.
They will fly their Rebel flags & shout U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
And they feel they have been “throwed away.” What in this hell do they expect?
Pop quiz – Who said this?
“2024 is our final battle. With you at my side, we will demolish the Deep State, we wll expel the warmongers from our government, we will drive out the globalists, we will cast out the Communists, Marxists, and Fascists, we will throw off the sick political class that hates our Country, we will rout the Fake News Media, we will evict Joe Biden from the White House, and we will FINISH THE JOB ONCE AND FOR ALL!”
Wonder how this will affect the economy?