“Global debt surges to new record high in blow for world economy…
“The Institute of International Finance (IIF) warned that post-pandemic efforts to reduce debt were coming to an end as governments cut taxes and increase spending amid a record number of elections this year.
“It said the increase was “primarily driven by emerging markets”, where debt surged to “an unprecedented high of over $105 trillion… This is $55 trillion more than a decade ago, with China, India and Mexico seeing the biggest increases so far this year.”
“Western public sector debt should worry us all…
“…people will not lend to a government that is engaged in such [emergency] deficit financing other than at high interest rates needed to protect them against inflation. At an extreme the economy enters a doom loop. Soaring debt costs spread to the private sector, strangling growth and weakening the public finances still further.”
https://reaction.life/western-public-sector-debt-should-worry-us-all/
“Surging rents across many developed economies are proving to be a stubborn hurdle for central banks as they struggle to nail down inflation once and for all this tightening cycle.
“In the US, UK, Canada and Australia, rapidly rising housing costs — which have a hefty weighting in consumer price index baskets — are preventing inflation from declining…”
“The long shadows of America’s growing debt…
“A well-behaved bond market hinges on clarity and confidence in government policy — as Truss could attest. Rising geopolitical instability and risks in financial markets, from private capital to liquidity problems in Treasury markets, are also exposures. Shocks could damp growth and drive harmful spikes in yields, making debt dynamics even worse.”
https://www.ft.com/content/29b43684-261c-4b5b-af7d-ab72c7c06a38
“Nearly $1 Trillion and Counting: Does America Spend Too Much on Its Military?
“Is the U.S. military becoming too expensive? The congressionally approved $95-million foreign aid package, while not technically a military expenditure, has renewed scrutiny on the U.S. military budget, prompting many to wonder: how much is too much?”
“Americans Are Racking Up ‘Phantom Debt’ That Wall Street Can’t Track.
“Consumers have embraced ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ products that allow them to pay for purchases in instalments, but it’s not clear how many of these loans are out there.”
“How rental ‘libraries of things’ have become the new way to save money [UK]…
“From baby clothes to popcorn makers, borrowing items rather than buying them is a growing trend… A year into motherhood and I can confirm two things: babies grow too fast and clothing them is an expensive business. My solution has been to rent my daughter Stella’s wardrobe.”
“Russia threatens UK military and orders nuclear drills after ‘provocation’…
“Russia has threatened to strike British military facilities and ordered its military to hold battlefield nuclear weapons drills in a move the Kremlin described as a response to comments… from the British foreign secretary, David Cameron, on using British-supplied weapons against Russia.”
“Belarus launches nuclear drills a day after Russia announces them, with Ukraine in mind…
“The maneuvers began as Russian President Vladimir Putin was inaugurated to a fifth term on Tuesday, vowing to ensure Russia’s security. Last year, Russia moved some of its tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus, which also borders Ukraine and NATO members Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.”
“German chancellor backs EU plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine arms…
“Around 90% of the revenues generated from Russian frozen assets should be spent on arms purchases for Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday, supporting an earlier EU proposal to use Russian assets’ interest payments to boost Ukraine defence.”
“Russia court allows seizure of $13 mln of JPMorgan and Commerzbank assets…
“A Moscow court has authorized the seizure of some $13.34 million of assets held in Russia by a European subsidiary of JPMorgan and Germany’s Commerzbank… The court made the ruling in favour of a case lodged by Russia’s Transkapitalbank, a lender that came under Western sanctions in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.”
“Italian troops deployed against wild boar to defend ham industry…
“The year-long deployment of 177 soldiers is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s campaign to reduce Italy’s wild boar population by up to 80 per cent in five years in a bid to prevent the spread of African swine fever.”
https://www.ft.com/content/a997a8de-3744-4579-a8c0-a64b9bd49051
“Paris Olympics defence system thinks air-con units are drones…
“Concern for the 500,000 Britons expected to attend the Paris Olympics has risen amid claims that France’s new €350 million anti-drone system cannot distinguish between unmanned terrorist aircraft and air conditioning units.”
“EU restates readiness to launch trade war with China over cheap imports…
“The EU has restated its readiness to launch a trade war with China over imports of cheap electric cars, steel and cheap solar and wind technology, with Ursula von der Leyen saying the bloc will “not waver” from protecting industries and jobs after meeting with Xi Jinping…”
“Germany sent two warships to the Indo-Pacific region on Tuesday in a bid to strengthen its military presence in the region amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan and over the disputed South China Sea.
“Those tensions were putting pressure on the freedom of navigation and free passage on trade routes, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said…”
“China-West divide threatens ‘reversal’ for global economy, IMF official warns.
First deputy managing director of IMF says creation of trade blocs based on geopolitical relationships with China, US has been detrimental to global growth. Recommends dialogue and an avoidance of worst-case scenarios, which would harm low-income countries most.”
“In rapidly ageing China, millions of migrant workers can’t afford to retire…
“The generation that flocked to China’s cities at the end of last century, building the infrastructure and manning the factories that made the country the world’s biggest exporter, now risks a sharp late-life drop in living standards.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/rapidly-ageing-china-millions-cant-afford-retire-2024-05-08/
“Japan stumps up US$1 billion for arms-race insurance with US-led hypersonic missile-interceptor project.
“The US$3 billion Glide Phase Interceptor project is being co-developed with the US to counteract advanced weapons such as hypersonic missiles. The neutralisation of Iran’s recent attack on Israel provides valuable lessons for countries looking to develop such defence systems, analysts say.”
“Japan warns of action over rapid currency moves…
“Japan may have to take action against any disorderly, speculative-driven foreign exchange moves, the government’s top currency diplomat Masato Kanda said on Tuesday, reinforcing Tokyo’s readiness to intervene again to support a fragile yen.”
https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/japan-warns-action-over-rapid-currency-moves-2024-05-07/
“Brazil floods hit food silos, disrupt routes to major grains port.
“Heavy flooding in southern Brazil has hit food storage facilities in lower areas while hampering the shipping of grains to port, jeopardizing the nation’s exports and wreaking havoc to the economy of Rio Grande do Sul state, a large soy, rice, wheat and meat producer.”
“Protesters march on presidential residence to demand food aid [Argentina]…
“Two days before a major general strike, left-wing parties, social organisations and picket groups took to the streets on Tuesday to protest against the economic policies of President Javier Milei’s government. Multiple marches were held across the country…”
“Six successive shocks over the past three years have cost South Africa’s economy as much as 850 billion rand ($46 billion)…
“The shocks were listed as the global pandemic, the worst civil unrest since apartheid in July 2021, the war in Ukraine, severe flooding in the eastern coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal province in 2022, rolling blackouts, known locally as loadshedding, and logistics constraints.”
“Mauritania holds border military drills amid increasing tensions with Mali.
“Army chiefs said the aim of the drills was to determine the “logistical needs” of military units and “to test infantry weapons, artillery, anti-aircraft guns, rocket launchers and combat aircraft”, said a statement posted on Facebook on Sunday.”
“Drought, conflict hamper Sahel’s green wall…
“Formally begun in 2007 by the African Union, the Sahel’s green wall which consisted in planting trees to fight desertification has been facing headwinds partly due to drought, conflict and lack of funding.”
https://northafricapost.com/76991-drought-conflict-hamper-sahels-green-wall.html
“Tunisia expels 400 sub-Saharan African migrants…
“According to the report, President Kais Saied repeated his claim that there was a plot to resettle these migrants in Tunisia and accused certain parties, without providing details, of receiving millions of Euros and dollars to bring about the plan.”
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240507-tunisia-expels-400-sub-saharan-african-migrants/
“‘If they see a Syrian, they beat them up’: the refugees living in fear in Lebanon…
“After the abduction and killing of a senior official in the Lebanese Forces, a rightwing Christian political party, rights groups have recorded a spike in attacks and rhetoric aimed at Syrians living in the country. Politicians have called for calm…”
“Israel sends troops into Rafah…
“Israel sent ground troops into Rafah on Monday night, seizing the main border crossing between Gaza and Egypt as international mediators struggled to continue talks aimed at ending the conflict.”
https://www.ft.com/content/69b23775-8dd5-4141-8071-fdf927cfd26c
“Maersk Says Red Sea Attacks Will Cut Asia-Europe Capacity by a Fifth…
“”The risk zone has expanded, and attacks are reaching further offshore,” Maersk said in an updated advisory to customers on Monday. “This has forced our vessels to lengthen their journey further, resulting in additional time and costs to get your cargo to its destination for the time being,” it added.”
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202405063248
“Turkey launches fresh airstrikes in Iraq as Erdogan renews threats for offensive.
“The strikes come as Ankara renews its threats of a fresh offensive in northern Iraq against the outlawed Kurdish militants and criticizes Iran and an Iraqi Kurdish political party for their lack of action to Turkey’s security concerns.”
“Iraq’s powerful Kataeb Hezbollah on Tuesday renewed its call for US troops to withdraw from Iraq, months after the Iran-backed armed group suspended attacks against American forces.
“Washington and Baghdad have been engaged in talks over the presence of US troops in Iraq…”
https://www.newarab.com/news/kataeb-hezbollah-says-us-troops-must-leave-iraq
“Hardliners at odds with ordinary Iranians over fate of Tehran park.
“The controversy has not only drawn in political and environmental activists desperate to preserve the polluted city’s few green spaces. It has also pitted ordinary Iranians against regime hardliners, in a dispute that highlights the divisions and mistrust of the authorities in Iran’s increasingly polarised society.”
https://www.ft.com/content/774d64db-cb8d-4393-b2a1-a2842329547a
“‘Bleak milestone’: UN says 3 million forced to flee in Myanmar conflict…
“The UN said the number displaced had surged by 50 percent in the last six months as fighting escalated between the military and armed groups trying to remove the generals who seized power in a coup in February 2021.”
“Friendshoring, nuclear buttons and a space race: what geopolitics is telling investors…
“There’s a real-life version of Risk going on in the world right now, but the players are all referring to different rule books… A recent report from UN Conference on Trade & Development has cited a trend of global divergence to political fracturing over recent years…”
“UN expert attacks ‘exploitative’ world economy in fight to save planet.
“The race to save the planet is being impeded by a global economy that is contingent on the exploitation of people and nature, according to the UN’s outgoing leading environment and human rights expert… Outgoing special rapporteur David Boyd says ‘there’s something wrong with our brains that we can’t understand how grave this is.’”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/07/un-expert-human-rights-climate-crisis-economy
“Multi-Drug Resistant Bacteria Found on International Space Station Mutating to Become Functionally Distinct…
“Thirteen strains of E. bugandensis, a bacterium notorious for being multi-drug resistant, were isolated from the ISS. Study findings indicate under stress, the ISS isolated strains were mutated and became genetically and functionally distinct compared to their Earth counterparts.”
You can read the previous “Economic” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with a “Climate” thread.
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Heavy metals found in all the major fast food chains too.
Excellent work.
“Moms Across America tested fast food from the 20 most popular fast food chains and found 100% of samples contained concerning levels of lead and cadmium. Experts say even small amounts of metals may impact kids’ IQ and health.”
https://www.momsacrossamerica.com/fast_food_heavy_metals
I grew up in America right at the peak of the leaded gasoline craze. They estimate my entire generation probably lost several IQ points just from that alone.
All of it just to stop engine knocking!
Nuclear Risk! Holy cow am I tickled to see that!
I actually invented a version of Risk that includes nukes! It works beautifully, and is very simple to build.
– Start with any version of the classic game of world domination. I like the ones with the little wooden blocks for troops.
– Now add golf tees, ideally of different colors, for the missiles. There should be enough for all six players.
– Now add something that looks like a radiation cloud. You can make cardboard cutouts of mushroom clouds, or cut glow-in-the-dark rubber bouncy-balls in half. Again, enough for all six players.
The rules are very simple:
– You get one missile for every continent that you occupy with troops at the beginning of your turn.
– Missiles can be placed on any territory that you occupy.
– You must declare at the start of your turn if you will use missiles or troops. You cannot use both in the same turn.
– If missiles are used the player declares the target territory, the missile is removed from the board (launched) and everything on the target is replaced with a radiation cloud (nuked).
– Missiles are guaranteed one hundred percent success. No dice rolling.
– Once a target is nuked it becomes totally neutral and is no longer occupied by any player.
– A neutral radiation territory is not counted towards any continent. Nuking a territory does not break an occupied continent. A player may occupy only one non-radiation territory and still occupy the continent.
– If every territory in a continent is nuked it is declared neutral.
– A radiation cloud can be battled with troops. The cloud gets two defensive dice every roll, no matter what. If both dice are defeated in one roll then the cloud is removed from the board and the territory is occupied with troops, as with a normal battle.
– Only one territory of a neutral radiation continent need be occupied with troops for that entire continent to be considered occupied.
– If a territory containing a missile is defeated in a troop battle then it is assumed that the dying act of the last remaining troop is to detonate the missile. The territory is declared neutral and everything is replaced with a radiation cloud. The attacking player may continue to battle the radiation cloud with troops if so desired.
I think that’s everything, I can tell you from my own hours of enjoyment that this is a wicked fun game! It cuts WAY down on the dice rolling and is usually shorter than the average Risk game.
Any troop concentration of more than about a dozen is guaranteed to get nuked, and the uncertainty of battling radiation clouds really adds a whole new dimension to the strategy.
But the fact that nukes don’t break continents insures that no one player can run away with the game.
Enjoy!
Sounds FUN! LOL I do think nukes will fly before this is all over. Getting closer every day.
“Sounds FUN!” It does. 😆
I posted an article a few days ago about how the term “apocalypse” is going mainstream, and it certainly feels like the hive mind is grappling with its own mortality.
Amazon’s latest blockbuster, “Fallout” is a series based on a video-game set in a post-nuclear-apocalypse world, I saw…
Thank you, all!
If it isn’t already clear, I should probably add that all the usual rules for the game of Risk still apply, my mods are just a layer on top.
In another life I programmed a video game version of Thermonuclear Risk. It’s 20 years old, so no guarantees it will even work, but if you’re feeling lucky and don’t mind running un-trusted apps then here’s a link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1J8_chOViPVJOLBoSost5agLAs9vHelWM
Download the entire folder and run “beta test.exe”. I even had a go at programming an AI, you can choose computer players that run different scripts. I recommend “kill all humans” for a challenging game!
Enjoy!
It is a windows app, BTW. Remarkably, it still works on my ancient windows laptop, but sadly not on my newer windows desktop. Oh, well.
If you haven’t seen it already, the Guardian posted results of a survey they conducted involving a large number of climate wonks. The results should be of no surprise to anyone here:
– The 1.5degC above baseline target is “dead, dead, dead” in the immortal words of Beetlejuice.
– Consensus is we are heading for 3degC by end of century
– That means billions will be condemned to suffer the depravities of the four horsemen as entire regions become uninhabitable.
– No one is safe.
– The scientists themselves admit, some anonymously, that they are overwhelmed with feelings of despair and hopelessness.
– A few weakly cling to the trope that “every tenth of a degree counts”. What else can they do? Somehow they have to keep going.
One thing did jump out at me, in some places night time min temps are no longer dropping below human body temp on the hotter days. I remember reading years ago that was one of the more deadly potential outcomes of relentless climate roasting. No relief from the heat, not even at night.
Rising TMin temps are already appearing in the world as a very sinister and underreported health hazard for billions of people.
“Billions will be condemned.” Make that 8,005,176,000.
Quick back of the envelope:
– Rounding to 8 billion
– Divide by 75 years
– About 100 million people every year for the next 75 years, on average
That’s two world-war-II’s worth of death and destruction. Every year. For at least the next 7 or 8 decades.
Then again, it probably won’t be quite so linear. The flip side of exponential growth is exponential decay. Instead of doubling-time you have half-life.
Historically, our population has doubled about every 40 years. Reverse that and you get the first four billion people dying-off fairly rapidly, in only the next 40 years or so. Then another two billion in the decades after that, and so on.
If my maths are correct.
It’s quite an article for MSM:
““I think we are headed for major societal disruption within the next five years,” said Gretta Pecl, at the University of Tasmania. “[Authorities] will be overwhelmed by extreme event after extreme event, food production will be disrupted. I could not feel greater despair over the future.””
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/08/world-scientists-climate-failure-survey-global-temperature
That IS quite an article! The hopium at the end is very weak indeed.
From scientists’ record on the subject, 3degrees, given the dire impetus of the current EV manufacturing effort on top of the 35 million ICE units already in production, is far more likely to occur by 2050,, not 2100. Current CO2 accumulation = 3.2/annum, up from 25/annum during the 2010 …. Each decade since the 90’s, the rate of accumulation has accelerated.
Luckily, with each passing day the likelihood of the avatar of “climate change is a hoax” the chances of a 2’nd term for The Blob.
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/electric-car-carnage-only-just-160726555.html
There’s something wrong with that UN expert’s brain if he thinks the planet needs “saving” by us. The life-supporting capabilities of the planet Earth that humankind has seen fit to systematically poison have nothing to do with the continued existence of “the planet”. As far as we know, every planet in existence, but one, is completely devoid of life, yet their existence is not thereby imperiled. Neither, therefore is Earth’s.
His so-called “race to save the planet” simply doesn’t exist, so can’t possibly be “ impeded by a global Economy”. As illustrated by some of Pan’s posts in today’s compendium of horrors, the race to utterly destroy life on Earth is kicking into high gear:
A genie appears in front of an Englishman , a French man and a Russian and offers each of them a wish. The Englishman asks for a cottage, the Frenchman desires a vineyard, the Russian points to his neighbor in the nearby field: “My neighbor has a goat and I don’t,” he complains. “Kill my neighbor’s goat!”
The transition of the concept of freedom from meaning the freedom from Oppression to that of the freedom To oppress, with the added conviction stated by GWBush that “With the might of God on our side we will triumph”, suggests we are all Russians now. Hence the militarization that pervades and directs that global economy Mr Boyd mentions is occurring faster than a Tesla pickup truck with its accelerator pedal stuck and its much-vaunted AI and human freight helpless to stop what a fElon has ordained: Automatic Incineration.
‘I believe I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator”. Adolf Hitler
“There’s something wrong with that UN expert’s brain if he thinks the planet needs “saving” by us.”
Quite. The linguistic convention, charged with human hubris, has long made “saving the planet” and “saving humanity” interchangeable, although of course they are far from that. Indeed it is the planet’s self-regulating intelligence, coupled with our own collective lack of wisdom, that seems likely to dramatically reduce our numbers.
Our military budget is unsustainable i am sure this will implode soon as Ukraine collapses and as Israel collapses along with the empire.
God knows how these things turn out – there doesn’t seem to be much of an appetite for de-escalation on the part of those with the ability to achieve that.
I suppose that intractable conflicts are inevitable in a growth-constrained world, increasingly beset by feelings of insufficiency and unfairness.
They might not want to de-escalate but be forced to by a lack of resources and other factors.
Right. I could totally see a protagonist reaching some tipping point, political and/or economic/financial, where it can suddenly no longer compete in or facilitate these grinding wars of attrition.
Needed a break from reading the links. Read the comments & my response to some: I’m already living it. 😉
With the tornado outbreak over the last three days in the Midwest,how long before insurance companies cancel wind/tornado coverage & maybe total policies in Right wing states. No problem, that’s the free market capitalism they love. Never miss a chance to point out political delusions.
I love the glow of nuclear explosions at dawn.
“I think human conscience was a tragic misstep in evolution.”
Tough stuff here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8x73UW8Hjk