“Extreme weather and Red Sea crisis are driving up the prices of commodities…
“Wild weather driven by climate change is elevating the cost of energy, food and fuel; increasing the frequency of natural disasters and raising insurance costs… These wild weather patterns–coupled with geopolitical tensions–have changed the outlook for certain commodities.”
“The Floating Traffic Jam That Freaked Us All Out. The coronavirus pandemic schooled the world in the essential role of global supply chains. Have we learned anything from it?
“The pandemic laid bare the consequences of relying on faraway factories and container ships to keep humanity supplied with goods.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/02/business/economy/covid-pandemic-global-supply-chains.html
“OPEC+ on Sunday agreed to extend all production curbs into next year, a deal that likely signals oil prices will remain elevated through the U.S. presidential election…
“The further extension of cuts agreed Sunday could tip global oil markets into a supply deficit, pushing up prices.”
“The United States is lurching towards civil war…
“In short, the November election is crystalised in the mind as not about jobs or war, but a referendum on whether or not Trump should be in prison. Whatever the outcome, America will lose.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/02/united-states-lurching-towards-civil-war/
“US sees clouds of a financial crisis gathering on horizon.
“Financial bubbles, latent capital losses, opaque markets and abysmal public deficit: The warning signs of a financial shock are proliferating in an American economy that has not been able to rid itself of its slow poisons – high inflation and high interest rates.”
“A commercial real estate crisis is hiding in plain sight…
“…at least half of the banking system’s Tier 1 capital loss-absorbing capacity has already been consumed by unrealized interest rate losses on its assets. Many banks in the system are ill-prepared to absorb additional losses from commercial real estate loan defaults.”
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/4689279-the-commercial-real-estate-crisis-hiding-in-plain-sight/
“A financial storm is coming that governments cannot fight.
“Savers may be fooling themselves by thinking their money is safe from private credit… the dangers are all too obvious. What’s really driven the growth in private credit is another of finance’s enduring characteristics – the search for yield. Ultra-low interest rates have made investors increasingly oblivious to risk as they seek out higher rates of return.”
“UK Debt Hangover Ties Next Government’s Hands, Whoever Wins…
“Britain’s crumbling public services desperately need money, but taxes are at a postwar high, the national debt is at levels last seen in the early 1960s and servicing it in a world of high interest rates is costing £60 billion ($76 billion) extra a year…”
“Energy bills ‘to remain high because of delays to nuclear plants’` [UK]
“Energy bills will remain significantly higher for at least the next six years as gas-fired power stations age and as the construction of new nuclear plants is delayed, a new analysis has suggested.”
“European Gas Jumps as Unplanned Norwegian Outages Crimp Supply…
“Flows into UK’s Easington terminal, which receives Norwegian gas, and Norway’s Nyhamna gas production plant are unavailable after upstream and downstream restrictions. The duration of the outages is uncertain, network operator Gassco said.”
“Another European gas crisis is on the horizon…
“Plagued by already notoriously high energy prices, the complete replacement of Russian supply will create new costs on multiple fronts, all of which will lead to new burdens for Europe’s companies and consumers… creating new infrastructure for more expensive US or Qatari LNG will not be as easy as many believe.”
https://unherd.com/newsroom/another-european-gas-crisis-is-on-the-horizon
“ECB Rate Cut Will Be Rare Bright Spot in Troubled Euro Region…
“… despite the calm on the surface, the economy is starting to see the consequences of problems that have been decades in the making. Increasingly eclipsed by the dynamism of the US and the rise of China, the euro zone is languishing with anaemic growth, weak productivity, poor demographics, and bloated public finances…”
“French far right has big lead over Macronists in European election, polls show.
“The RN’s top candidate, Jordan Bardella, is credited with 32.5 percent of voting intentions in the poll… In France, the European Parliament elections are often seen as a key gauge of national politicians’ popularity.”
“A 29-year-old police officer has died two days after being repeatedly stabbed at an anti-Islam rally in Germany…
“Nancy Faeser, the interior minister, on Friday called for a thorough investigation into the attack. “If the investigations reveal an Islamist motive, this would be a further confirmation of the great danger posed by Islamist acts of violence,” she said.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/02/german-policeman-stabbed-rally-dies/
“Germany’s CDU hit by major cyberattack.
“Politically motivated cyberattacks have increased ahead of this month’s EU election, with many linked to Russian state-sponsored actors… Juhan Lepassaar, head of the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), last week told media that overall attempted attacks doubled from the last quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of this year.”
“Scholz to Putin: we will defend ‘every square inch’ of NATO territory.
“NATO’s recent move to strengthen its eastern border is aimed at deterring Russia, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday, adding that it should be clear to Moscow that the alliance will be ready to defend itself if necessary.”
“Is a broader European war with Russia becoming inevitable? Both NATO and Moscow should beware of complacency and misguided wagers.
“Europe finds itself at a perilous juncture, as a direct military confrontation between Russia and Nato appears likelier than ever.”
“Ukraine’s largest hydroelectric dam, the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, is in “critical condition” after it was hit in a Russian strike on Ukraine’s key energy facilities, authorities say.
“The head of the Zaporizhzhia region military administration, Ivan Fedorov, told Ukrainian television that the power plant can no longer produce electricity.”
“Ukraine has fired US-made weapons at targets inside Russia for the first time, according to Russian sources.
“Russia’s ministry of defence and Russian military bloggers have reported that HIMARS, long-range artillery, were fired by Ukraine at Russia on Saturday evening… Ukraine has not commented.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/06/02/ukraine-russia-war-latest-news7/
“Russia has announced plans to raise taxes on businesses and the wealthy as it scrambles for additional revenue to fund its invasion of Ukraine…
“The amendments are expected to raise about 2.6 trillion rubles ($29bn) a year, the Interfax news agency reported, citing Finance Ministry calculations.”
“The Ukraine War Has Transformed Global Grain Trade…
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the temporary blockage of its Black Sea ports have redirected the flow of grain from “the world’s breadbasket”. One of the world’s leading producers of wheat, corn and vegetable oils, Ukraine shipped much of its grain internationally prior to the war…”
“Malaysia’s chip industry falls in the crosshairs of US sanctions on Russia.
“Malaysian semiconductor maker Jatronics SDN BHD is among nearly 300 entities that Washington slapped with US sanctions last month over their alleged links to Russia’s military suppliers… Jatronics, based in Kuala Lumpur, is accused of shipping electronic parts and components to Russia…”
“US risks ‘forever’ trade war with China…
“Economist Stephen Roach criticized US trade policies against China as a “blunder” that risks creating an endless economic conflict between the two nations… “I worry that Biden is getting himself even deeper into a new ‘forever war’ against Chinese trading practices…””
“Chinese businesses are increasingly favouring investment in countries including Vietnam and Mexico as trade tensions rise between western governments and Beijing.
“During the year to March, at least 41 Chinese manufacturing and logistics projects were announced for Mexico, while at least 39 were scheduled for Vietnam.”
https://www.ft.com/content/ede919f5-0d3e-43e5-8ef9-407a17551bb9
“Chinese Firms Jostle With US Peers for Sliver of Gulf Oil Riches.
“A wave of Chinese banks, asset managers and hedge funds are ramping up in the Middle East, jostling with Wall Street firms who are making their own expansion push in a region flush with oil wealth.”
“China accuses US of seeking ‘Asia-Pacific NATO’…
“A top Chinese general has accused the US of trying to build an “Asia-Pacific version of Nato”, underlining tensions between Washington and Beijing one day after the two countries’ defence chiefs met for the first time since 2022…”
https://www.ft.com/content/b889d33c-7745-48b7-b847-64f2b3003409
“China ready to ‘forcefully’ stop Taiwan independence: Defence minister.
“Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun has said the country’s military was ready to “forcefully” stop Taiwan’s independence, in a fiery speech at a Singapore security forum… ‘whoever dares to split Taiwan from China will be crushed to pieces and suffer his own destruction’.”
“Modi eyes ‘super majority’ amid fears he will change India’s constitution…
“Right-wing Hindus have been openly campaigning to transform India from a secular state into a Hindu one, or Hindu Rashtra. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, have been most prominent in this campaign and hugely influential in Mr Modi’s policies and personality.”
“Iran’s ex-president Ahmadinejad, disqualified Larijani sign up for election…
“Ahmadinejad… who had been largely sidelined following his controversial terms in office, said he’s only heeding “a call from people from across the country” to run again, and he’s confident he can resolve Iran’s domestic and international issues.”
“South Africa election: ANC to face coalition demands as they lose majority in landmark vote…
“The cogs are turning hard and fast in the African National Congress (ANC) machinery as a bid to win the election becomes an effort to survive the loss. After 30 years of dominating South Africa’s political landscape, the ANC is set to lose its parliamentary majority…”
“Lebanon’s Hezbollah says strikes Israeli bases as clashes intensify…
“Nearly eight months of violence on the Israel-Lebanon border has left at least 451 people dead in Lebanon, mostly fighters but including more than 80 civilians, according to an AFP tally.”
https://www.newarab.com/news/hezbollah-says-strikes-israeli-bases-clashes-intensify
“Several are killed after Israeli air strike targets Syria’s Aleppo.
“Israel conducted fresh air strikes in Syria, focusing on the Aleppo region, Syrian regime media reports casualties, while a watchdog group specifies pro-Iranian militants among the dead.”
“Biden’s ‘non-starter’ Gaza ceasefire deal only demonstrates his lack of influence…
“…even as Joe Biden spelled out the proposal – leading in theory to a permanent end to hostilities, large-scale food deliveries and the start of reconstruction, there was clearly something awry… The Israeli prime minister’s political career rests instead in the hands of far-right members of the coalition, who say they will walk out if he agrees a ceasefire deal.”
“Maldives to ban Israeli passport holders from entry in protest over Gaza war…
“The Maldives says it will ban Israelis from entering the country, known for its luxury resorts, with the office of the president making the announcement as public anger in the predominantly Muslim nation rises over the war in Gaza.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/03/maldives-israel-passport-holders-ban-gaza-war
“Civilian deaths from killer drones [and killer robots] are this generation’s ‘Oppenheimer moment’…
“Fielding weapons systems that operate without meaningful human control effectively delegates life-and-death decisions to machines. This crosses a dangerous line. Autonomous weapons systems raise an array of fundamental ethical, humanitarian, legal, operational, moral, security, and proliferation concerns.”
“Debt payments by countries most vulnerable to climate crisis soar…
“The Debt Justice charity said countries at the highest risk of being affected by global heating were paying 15.5% of government revenues to external creditors – up from less than 8% before Covid-19 and 4% at their lowest recent point in 2010.”
“The uninsurable world: how the market fell behind on climate change…
““Very clearly the [insurance industry’s] models are not working,” said Lindsay Keenan, EU co-ordinator at campaign group Insure Our Future. “I’m amazed how they have managed to blag the regulators with their rhetoric that ‘It’s all OK, we have models for that’ over the years, and still today.””
https://www.ft.com/content/b4bf187a-1040-4a28-9f9e-fa8c4603ed1b
You can read the previous “Economic” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with a “Climate” thread.
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He’s GUILTY
Regan, I wouldn’t dare venture into the legalities here, let alone the politics. I’m just flagging the situation up as a potential flashpoint.
Yes, afraid things are a mess….but some are still attempting to maintain BAU as long as possible….
Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru believe the internal combustion engine can be saved by making it run on nearly carbon-neutral fuels. The world’s largest car manufacturer is working on three inline-fours while the Zoom-Zoom brand has set up a dedicated rotary team. As for Subie, it’s preparing a new hybrid setup based around its signature boxer engine. Honda wants to go purely electric in all main markets (including North America) as early as 2040.
…….To maximize fuel economy in these hybrid cars, Nissan wants to boost the thermal efficiency of a combustion engine to an impressive 50 percent. It’s been working on the tech for several years, announcing in early 2021 that a prototype e-Power achieved the milestone during testing. It’s worth noting that Toyota’s Dynamic Force lineup of three-, four-, and six-cylinder engines has already surpassed 40 percent.
Nissan Has Stopped Spending Money on New Gas Engines
It’s going all-in on EVs.
Francois Bailly was asked whether Nissan intends to develop new combustion engines: “Our future is EV. We’re not investing in new powertrain for ICE, that’s for sure.”
Modern people’s love affair with the automobile will die hard…
Don’t think these corporate suits have though this through…but we believe what we want to believe if our livelihood depends on it.
Thank you Justin for the grouping today. Yes, extreme weather is hitting hard on the economy…insurance, transport including. Air travel, food production, ect.
We are in for a ruff days ahead, I’m afraid..looks like our leaders are resorting to the old ways of handling matters..pity us
You are welcome, Vince!
It’s hard not to be cynical about EV’s. As far as I can see, the only environmental benefit they offer is some localised reductions in pollution. But then that’s all we can really do – tinker with the trivial details of our consumption whilst denying the monolithic fact of it.
The internal combustion engine is being squeezed out in a very aggressive timeframe here. By law, 80% of new cars sold in Great Britain will have to be zero emission by 2030, increasing to 100% by 2035. I am sceptical that we will have the necessary infrastructure to support that.
2035?
“But a team in Scotland are warning exactly that—we’re running out. Fast. Alister Hamilton is a researcher at the University of Edinburgh and the founder of Zero Emissions Scotland. He and his colleagues self-funded research into oil depletion around the world and the results are shocking: We will lose access to oil around the world in the 2030s. “?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r79rxfOFJJY&t=2571s
Thanks, James. Rachel Donald has been putting out some very good videos recently.
I guess the EV infrastructure issue becomes moot if we have no access to oil, as we’ll be totally effed, to put it bluntly.
Regan, at this point I dont care which embarrassment the USian voters try to pick 🙂
Im glad I live in a country where we havent been flooded 24/7 by TDS.
Tho I did think the latest meme floating around of Snoopy typing on his doghouse “And in the end, America was saved by a porn star” hilarious 😆😎😆.
Just another chink off the Imperial armour sliding off .. when the only candidates for Emperor, in a country of 300+ million, comes down to the “Evil of 2 Lessers” , you can tell you are in decline.
But never mind, as the song says Americans only vote around which Party is offering the best gas prices on the day.
And either way USian taxes and gigantic debt will keep funding, arming, training, aiding and abetting (and hugging & inviting to standing ovations in Congress) any neo-nazis, or bloodthirsty zionists, hindustanis, CIA black ops in forcing regime changes on any leader, “No thanks”… to install an even worse terrorist (A bastard, but hes our bastard) etc
to wage wars on kids, forced starvation paradigms, holocausts, and economic sanctions in the name of “democracy”, Truth, Justice and the American Way.
But thats US Foreign Policy… and as they say, Americans dont ever vote on foreign policy, its about 15th down the list of American voter priorities, and because both Parties were joined at the hip at birth on Defence and Foreign policy, it doesnt matter anyway!
I cant see you in any danger of civil war.
Was it General Wesley Clark who said something like “America cant fight actual wars, we just smash countries”.
“I cant see you in any danger of civil war.”
For the time being, this is hyperbole, but then this is a fast-moving era. Who would have thought ten years ago that we would see an angry mob storming the Capitol after an election? Crazy.
“Science is revealing why American politics are so intensely polarized. Political psychologists say they see tribalism intensifying, fueled by contempt for the other side… This country, though politically fractious since its founding, is more polarized than ever, the rhetoric more inflammatory, the rage more likely to curdle into hate. It’s ugly out there.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2024/01/20/polarization-science-evolution-psychology/
Saw a good tweet today:
How come there are a billion novels and movies envisioning the apocalypse and “end of the world” scenarios..
But not one has been able to envision “the end of capitalism”?
Beautiful!
We are run by a bunch of criminals in my opinion. I stopped voting long time ago it doesn’t matter who is in office same shit. They all ripping us off and if the war on Palestine shows it doesn’t matter what party you belong they all support Israel and they are completely complicit in this horrific genocide they all need a padded jail cells.
“I stopped voting long time ago it doesn’t matter who is in office same shit.”
As KRS-One once rapped:
“No politician can give you peace
If you trust Jesus, why do you vote for a beast?
“…You either vote for the mumps or the measles
Whether you vote for the lesser of two evils, you vote for evil”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqmIW74vQR4
The US Global War of Terror is anything but civil:
During the world’s botched handling of the Covid crisis, the Long Emergency, the tent was blown off the Circus of US politics revealing the thunderous sky above, showing its inhabitants and the world via flashes of lightening that it isn’t a circus at all, it’s an arena. And a damned grim one.
I often used to think, when I heard a MAGAt raving about the glorious USA!, USA!, about Freedumb and all that crap, what it must sound like to a meat-packing worker, or an employee of Amazon working in henhouse conditions while Bezos rockets off into “space” on what should have been his workers’ salaries. While they cheer! No wonder the world sees us all as crazy. We are crazy. We’re just a roiling pack of spoiled brats and senile idiots.
What we call life is a five-and-dime-store romance. That enthusiasm underneath … what is it? What to call that cheap optimism bordering on idiocy which turns the stomach of any ordinary human being? It’s mere illusion. No; illusion’s too good a name for it. Illusion means something. No, it’s not illusion, it’s delusion. Sheer Delusion. We’re like a herd of wild horses with self-installed blinders over our eyes.
Entire nuclear-armed nations have gone on the rampage … stampeding … right over the precipice, right over anything of beauty or value that happens to get in their way. Nurturing only whatever feeds the love of violence and descent into utter confusion. The entire population addicted to Limbaugh ravings. On! ON! No matter where. While foaming at the mouth with inchoate rage the whole time. Shouting Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For no reason whatsoever.
It’s just in our fervid blood. It’s the climate. It’s the virus. It’s a whole lot of things … It’s the end, too. And we’re intent on pulling the whole world down with us. We don’t know why, and we don’t particularly care. It’s our destiny, as the world’s exceptional Nation. Everywhere else is just a shithole country, so what do they matter?
Excerpt from https://robertlowrey.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-corponations-hegemonic-rule.html
Rob, I’ve intruded on your comment to engage in a spot of paragraphing – I hope you don’t mind!
“We’re like a herd of wild horses with self-installed blinders over our eyes.”
I’ve often thought of us as passengers trapped on an ever-accelerating bus, headed for a cliff-edge, Thelma and Louise-style.
Fair bit of exaggeration there. A majority of US and Aians are not the stoopid, numbskull caricature you depict – Limbaugh addicts and that.
But “them guys” have inordinate social and political power, granted.
I’m not here to feel “shitty” by being associated with the idiocies of complete enemies.
Martin, that is a fair point. It is easy to forget in these febrile times that there are still millions of people who are not highly politicised and just getting on with life.
The rush to war is indeed terrifying.
Watched “Asteroid City” last night, got floored by the best line ever:
“If you wanted a nice, quiet, peaceful life…, well, you picked the wrong time to be born.”
Oh, OH! I feel a meme coming on!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yj6bb6j7PtcgDwm316-srmbfEvKHkZUL/view
Another little gem from the movie:
Man: “I don’t like the way that guy looked at us…”
Woman: “Which guy?”
Man: “The alien.”
Woman: “Well, how did he… How did he look at us…?”
Man: “Like we’re doomed!”
Woman: “Maybe we are.”
That reminds of the old joke, “Is there life after death?”
‘Yes … just not yours”.
Reflecting Henry Adams’ statement that individually, we are mortal, it’s only society that is immortal.
Of course, it’s apparent now that neither the flip answer nor Adams’ statement can be taken for granted as being true.
Reminds me of the dialogue about humanity between Vision and Ultron in the second Avengers movie:
Ultron: “They’re doomed.”
Vision: “Yes… but a thing isn’t beautiful because it lasts.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rli8cccrGeQ
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/30/business/zero-down-mortgages-making-a-comeback/index.html
Looks whats back from 2000 tge zero down mortages look out for a housing crash is coming
“The central risk is that because they put down no down payment up front, homeowners will be starting with no equity. That means they’d find themselves instantly underwater (owing more than the home is worth) if the red-hot housing market suddenly cools and home values go down.”
Well, I’m sure that could never happen. 🙄
This might be appreciated by a few.
https://collapseofindustrialcivilization.com/2024/05/31/last-rites-for-a-dying-civilization/comment-page-1/#comment-76042
This might interest some.
The IMF is (very) concerned:
https://youtu.be/oG_8U8J6zss?si=zfpPJbNHVUSWtFFd
I would like to ask the IMF & Central Banks, how’s that capitalism & money printing working out. Sounds like someone is going to face some consequences.