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“Global debt crisis: Can regulators stop a disaster?
“The global economy is facing a formidable challenge in 2025. With total global debt now exceeding $323 trillion—over 3.3 times the global GDP—the financial world faces a systemic risk that is neither distant nor hypothetical.“
https://www.policycircle.org/opinion/resolving-global-debt-crisis/
“Gold rose to a record high, after advancing by almost 1% in the previous session, as the opening salvos of the US-China trade war stoked haven demand.
“Bullion reached an all-time peak above $2,854 an ounce on Wednesday.”
“China has retaliated after the US imposed 10% tariffs on its goods.
“Not long after the US taxes began at 5am British time, China said it was imposing 10% tariffs on American crude oil, agricultural machinery, large-displacement cars and pickup trucks. There will also be 15% tariffs on coal and liquefied natural gas, as well as an investigation into Google.”
“US Postal Service stops accepting parcels from China and Hong Kong…
“Trump’s executive order also eliminated an exemption that allowed goods worth $800 (£641) or less to enter the US without having to pay duties or certain taxes.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3w83x38zvwo
“Bonds Show Fear Tariffs Will Deliver Inflation, Growth Shocks…
“The risk that higher import prices could rekindle inflation has hovered over markets since Trump’s election in November, dashing any expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates much further this year.”
“Trump is willing to wreck the world economy. The global fightback must start now… [opinion piece]
“If the US really is prepared to keep playing this mad game of chicken – threatening ruinous tariffs against Mexico then postponing them, sowing fear and discord constantly among its allies – that risks creating the kind of all-American supernova that sucks everyone into a black hole.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/03/donald-trump-world-economy-britain-us-tariffs
“Trump’s tariffs are delayed but they have already done long-term damage to US–Canada relations…
“Canada has demonstrated its willingness to negotiate… But its response at the weekend indicated that it is prepared to retaliate against tariffs too, which may have given Trump pause. His threats appear to have activated a latent but powerful nationalism in Canada.”
“El Salvador has agreed to house violent US criminals and receive deportees of any nationality, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday…
““In an act of extraordinary friendship to our country … (El Salvador) has agreed to the most unprecedented and extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world,” Rubio told reporters Monday.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/03/americas/el-salvador-migrant-deal-marco-rubio-intl-hnk/index.html
“Migrant flight lands in Guantanamo Bay as legal questions swirl around Trump plans…
“On Tuesday, a military flight carrying migrants landed in Guantanamo Bay, according to a social media post from US Transportation Command. It was carrying around 10 migrants with criminal records, according to a Homeland Security official.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/04/politics/guantanamo-migrant-flight/index.html
“Trump Mulls Revoking Loans From $400 Billion Clean-Energy Office…
“In an email, the Department of Energy said the loans are being considered as part of an agency-wide review “to ensure all activities are consistent with President Trump’s executive orders and priorities.””
“OPEC drops US Energy Information Administration as data monitor…
““OPEC probably now sees the EIA as a [direct] US government agency,” said one former OPEC staffer… “No one really believes the monthly OPEC outlook [production numbers] at this point, though,” the former staffer added.”
https://www.ft.com/content/e6bf6489-608a-4dc6-982c-df248835dd5b
“Elon Musk tightens grip on government, sparking ‘coup’ accusations.
“Billionaire Elon Musk is tightening his control over broad swaths of the United States government at extraordinary speed, prompting growing alarm from Democrats and constitutional scholars.”
“Financial stress leading to an increase in suicide calls at 211 [Florida]…
“The rising costs of living in Florida have put many of you in a tough spot financially… “Our electricity, our water, our food, everything is going up but your paycheck,” said Reinaldo Cortes.”
https://www.wptv.com/money/consumer/financial-stress-leading-to-an-increase-in-suicide-calls-at-211
“Debt crisis as Brits turn to buy now, pay later…
“According to research by personal finance site Finder, three in 10 (31%) Brits used BNPL services last year, with one in eight (13%) doing so for the first time… despite the sector not being regulated.”
https://www.yourmoney.com/credit-cards-loans/debt-crisis-as-brits-turn-to-buy-now-pay-later/
“UK car production plummets to lowest level since 1954…
“It is a confirmation of the frailty of both consumer sentiment at home, and of the weakness of world demand, given that around eight in every 10 cars made in Britain were destined for export.”
https://www.aol.com/uk-car-production-plummets-lowest-001307887.html
“Equinor’s massive Sverdrup oilfield shut by power outage.
“Norway’s Equinor halted on Tuesday all output from its Johan Sverdrup oilfield in the North Sea, western Europe’s largest producing field, due to an outage in the offshore power system, a company spokesperson said.”
“Former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to become Norway’s finance minister…
“Stoltenberg, who was Norway’s prime minister in 2000-01 and 2005-13, will become finance minister on Tuesday after the previous coalition government in western Europe’s largest petroleum producer collapsed because of a row over EU energy policies.”
https://www.ft.com/content/9f1e2735-697b-46ef-9a59-7b6f7c3449ec
“Eurozone inflation rises once again as risks to 2025 outlook linger.
“Inflation rose from 2.4 to 2.5% in January, the fourth increase in a row for the eurozone. While it’s set to moderate over the course of the year, upside risks surrounding inflation have far from abated.”
https://think.ing.com/snaps/eurozone-inflation-jan-25/
“EU prepares to hit Big Tech in retaliation for Donald Trump’s tariffs…
“The EU is planning to hit Silicon Valley with retaliatory measures if Donald Trump follows through on threats to impose tariffs on the bloc, in the first use of a Brussels “bazooka” that could drag services into a trade war.”
https://www.ft.com/content/7303e57e-67ca-477a-8d00-8d5213f7120c
“Kosovo’s capital, Pristina, has declared a state of emergency due to a build-up of rubbish following the termination of a contract with a garbage collection company.
“The city’s authorities have identified a significant risk of a public health crisis due to the uncollected waste.”
https://tvpworld.com/84841393/kosovos-capital-declares-state-of-emergency-over-alarming-waste-crisis
“‘They are people’: asylum seekers caught up in ‘hybrid war’ at Poland-Belarus border…
“Once a checkpoint for cars and lorries, Poland’s border with Belarus is now a militarised zone: a steel and wire demonstration of the EU’s increasingly hardline stance towards undocumented people.”
“The war in Ukraine has become a war for rare earth dominance…
“President Donald Trump has softened his long-standing opposition to military aid to Ukraine. This is welcome news for apprehensive Ukrainians, but his offer does not come free. Ukraine must supply the US with strategically valuable rare earth metals.”
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested Tuesday that Ukraine should be given nuclear weapons once the hot phase of the war with Russia is over.
“This could deter Russia from invading Ukraine again, if Ukraine’s aim of attaining NATO membership when the war ends isn’t achievable quickly.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/give-ukraine-nuclear-weapons-says-volodymyr-zelenskyy/
“Moscow bomb kills pro-Russia paramilitary leader from Ukraine…
“Russia’s Tass news agency, citing security services, reported that the blast was an attack on Armen Sarkisyan, the head of the boxing federation in Russian-occupied Donetsk and the founder of a battalion fighting against Ukraine.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/03/moscow-bomb-kills-pro-russia-paramilitary-leader
“Georgia plans tougher penalties for protesters amid political crisis.
“The Georgian government is pushing forward with a legislative package that would increase penalties for protest-related offences – in some cases to many years in prison – as the South Caucasus country grapples with a protracted political crisis.”
“‘India and China are trying to encourage the purchasing appetite of their middle classes’…
“The two countries are experiencing a domestic consumption slowdown, which they are trying to stem by offering tax cuts or vouchers… China… is offering more and more vouchers for rice cookers, dishwashers, telephones and electric cars. And even movies.”
“Burning More Coal at Home Is Worsening India’s Pollution…
“India needs to burn more domestic coal to compensate for the lower quality… Considering the fact that India is the second-biggest coal user in the world after China, burning lower-quality coal in India will not help a global reduction in power sector emissions, either.”
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Burning-More-Coal-at-Home-Is-Worsening-Indias-Pollution.html
“Trump set to reimpose ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran, official says…
“U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign a presidential memorandum on Tuesday to restore his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran to stop the country getting a nuclear weapon and drive down its oil exports to zero, a U.S. official said.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-set-reimpose-maximum-pressure-iran-official-says-2025-02-04/
“President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he’s given his advisers instructions to obliterate Iran if it assassinates him.
““If they did that they would be obliterated,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters while signing an executive order calling for the U.S. government to impose maximum pressure on Tehran.”
https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-assassination-88c9b1a0754165125d59d378bf4af477
“Hope turns to regret among Syrians returning home from Turkey.
“Ahmed al-Sheikh’s excitement at returning to his homeland from neighbouring Turkey after the fall of Bashar al-Assad has turned to bitter disappointment at the grim living conditions in Syria after some 13 years of war.”
“Deadly attacks in eastern Aleppo highlight Syria’s vulnerability.
“The United Nations on Tuesday condemned a deadly car bomb attack in the Syrian city of Manbij that killed 20 people, mostly women, and left many others critically injured. The explosion on Monday – close to the Turkish border – targeted a vehicle transporting seasonal agricultural workers.”
https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/02/1159776
“Donald Trump says US will ‘take over’ Gaza Strip.
“President Donald Trump has said the US will “take over” the Gaza Strip and that Palestinians should permanently leave the enclave in the strongest indication yet that he wants the 2.2mn population resettled in countries such as Egypt and Jordan.”
https://www.ft.com/content/21579349-163f-4337-8e47-1ca8e1bb9741
“Amid ceasefire, Goma residents race to bury 2,000 bodies.
“People in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Goma rushed to bury some 2,000 victims of last week’s battles for the city as they feared the spread of disease amid a ceasefire… The scale of the civilian harm was still emerging…”
https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2025/2/5/amid-ceasefire-goma-residents-race-to-bury-2000-bodies
“Hunger rises as food aid falls – and those living under autocratic systems bear the brunt…
“Major donors like Germany and the United States have reduced or suspended aid, citing budgetary constraints… to some of the neediest countries… Adding to concerns, the Trump administration has signalled that it may move to “close down” the USAID…”
“The Collapse of Globalization.
“Globalization promised us a united world, but in the end, it revealed a divided humanity—one that chose greed over grace, silence over solidarity, and self-interest over survival… we are spiralling toward a future defined by division, inequality, and moral bankruptcy.“
https://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/03/02/2025/collapse-globalization
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You can read the previous “Economic” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with a “Climate” thread.
Canada and Greenland are de facto part of the US. So that narrative is covering up the real objective of attempting to subjugate Mexico even more and escalating with China.
Mexico is a third world nation but its middle and wealthy classes can afford to believe they’re one of the cool kids. Real poverty and informalisation of employment has increased since the 80s and 90s. The US ruling class is playing with fire because they know what’s coming. Trump is just the label for a four year plan. The democrats finished their shift and the magacrats will take it from here, until the next PR campaign for the ruling class aka election.
“Canada and Greenland are de facto part of the US.”
Jupiviv, could you expand on that?
I meant, in the sense all three comprise what I would call the imperialist core. In another sense the US Mexico and Canada (but not Greenland) are de facto the same economic entity, but Mexico is different being a third world country with pockets of advanced production formally integrated into the US economy and the rest a lingering mass of surplus labour to be used and abused as the American ruling/wealthy class see fit.
We’ve got a bratty Neo-Nazi poser looting the treasury and pilfering access to all Americans’ data. A deranged Tangerine ruining diplomatic relations with every other country and threatening an occupation of the Gaza Strip and an ongoing blitzkrieg-style disembowelment of our entire federal government going so fast that nobody can keep track of it.
And the worst part? Nary any “resistance” this time around. The Liberal Center has just rolled over for him despite him threatening them with destruction time after time. God, this is frustrating!
This comment might not be popular.
“Elon Musk tightens grip on government, sparking ‘coup’ accusations.”
“Democrats complaining that Elon Musk wasn’t elected isn’t the pot calling the kettle black, it’s the pot calling the kettle a pot. The catalyst for this meltdown was Musk and Trump finally blowing the whistle on USAID, which is also unelected, and part of the Executive Branch that President Trump has the power and right to manage—or to delegate the job of managing it to whomever he chooses. The agency was undeniably out of control and wasting taxpayer money with grants for Peruvian transgender comic book program, an opera in Colombia to increase “transgender representation in the arts,” a half-million dollars “to expand atheism in Nepal,” and promoting electric cars in Vietnam. Any organization showing such poor judgment can’t be trusted with taxpayer funds. The only rational course is to shut it down until it can be reformed.
A President has the power, right and precedent to select anyone he chooses to be his agent for large tasks or small. President Trump has done this with full transparency about Musk, something most Presidents have failed to do with their key advisors. (Abigail Adams was almost certainly responsible for the Alein and Sedition Acts.) This freak-out by the Axis is approaching epic “It isn’t what it is” proportions: on MSNBC, former Biden Administration paid liar Jen Psaki really and truly said, “What is happening now is a hostile takeover of the U.S. government.”
How can anyone defend that assertion? An elected President is exercising the power he was given by the people in a free election; he is fulfilling the mission he set for himself and that voters gave him the mandate to advance. How is that “hostile”?
What we are really seeing is the self-unmasking of a party that does not believe in democracy, one that thought it had gained permanent control of the culture and its values, and that is now in full scale panic.”
–Jack Marshall
Edward, this is far too politically antagonistic for my tastes. Some will see it as Jack Marshall does; many will vehemently disagree – and I do not have the mental bandwidth (or indeed the necessary knowledge of US politics) to referee that kind of chippy back and forth.
No more of these types of posts please.
Okay, I’ll sit out from now on. Sometimes you have to look at both sides even though it’s unpleasant.
Edward, some of the articles I post reflect a specific political worldview, so it is understandable that people would want to comment on them.
Knowing how and when to intervene is not easy and I will admit that I am not always consistent. I just sometimes get a sense that the comments section is potentially sliding into conflict and feel the need to rein it in. These early days of the Trump 2.0 presidency are particularly combustible, I fear.
King Kord, I have just read your (likewise politically antagonistic) comment and, in fairness, you may have triggered Edward’s by way of response.
I know that Trump is cropping up a lot in these recent threads – necessarily so because he is a hand-grenade going off in current affairs – but he is also poisonously divisive. Let’s try to not to pollute the comments section with too much of that disharmonious energy.
Noted. I’ll try to keep insults out of my comments going forward. Sorry about that.
King Kord, full disclosure – your comment’s wry candour gave me a good chuckle, but, yes, let’s please not fan the flames, just for the time being.
Aren’t we already there?:
“we are spiralling toward a future defined by division (nation states aren’t divisions?), inequality (capitalism isn’t rooted in inequality? … somehow?) and moral bankruptcy” (monotheistic religions preaching brotherhood while engaged in mass murder, insisting on spirituality while amassing mountains of material possessions, all while referring to itself as a moral majority while it proclaims Greed as a virtue: the love of money is the root of all evil, not sexuality … not my idea, it’s a direct quote from the book they call holy and then wholly ignore).
Not-so-great-Britain is experiencing the same problem as Germany’s Energiewende: -Planning a fossil-fuel-free future powered by a fossil fuel-powered industrial landscape: they both have invested heavily in manufacturing privately owned personal transportation modules that are completely dependent on a transportation infrastructure paid for with public funds. In the US those funds include taxpayer dollars paying for the “renewable” fuel to power those private vehicles as well, while EV drivers pay zero tax for the maintenance of the roads over which they fly, shredding those fossil-fuel-based tires along the way.
Only When people’s most cherished fantasies about themselves are mired in such bald-faced hypocrisy can such ridiculous fantasies about a zero-emissions future completely dependent on the same hydrocarbons, (the remainder of which are already being pumped out of the ground, resulting in the release of vast quantities of unburned methane directly into the atmosphere (which is worse than actually burning it)) be accepted as plausible.
Like Energiewende, Globalization’s goal was in complete opposition to those stated, (as evidenced by the Global Policy Journal’s statement): to consolidate economic power and control into the hands of a few oligarchs by tearing down cross-border capital controls while erecting militarized barriers to the free movement of labor. If nothing else has been made manifest during this 21’st century, the fact that Globalization is merely a euphemism for hoovering cash from BRICS into the coffers of pricks is one that’s writ large.
“hoovering cash from BRICS into the coffers of pricks” is such a badass line
It is indeed. Painfully accurate, too.
Re Not-so-great Britain and bald-faced hypocrisy, our Chancellor has managed to conclude that an additional runway at Heathrow Airport is compatible with Labour’s net zero drive and stated goal of making Britain a “clean energy superpower” because it will be offset with green aviation fuels:
“Rachel Reeves, no stranger to political turbulence, has been rebuked by Wael Sawan, the chief executive of Shell, for asserting that “green” aviation fuel will reduce the emissions impact of an expanded Heathrow and other UK airports.
“The chancellor last week claimed, while fielding questions about why the government was pressing ahead with aviation expansion, that sustainable air fuel (SAF) would prove “a game-changer in the way that we fly and the carbon emissions”.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/politics-explained/heathrow-expansion-green-fuel-saf-shell-rachel-reeves-b2691465.html
I love any discussion about politics because I know political officials have no affect on the lives of anyone. “total global debt now exceeding $323 trillion” – not one elected official or their voters have anything to do with spending money that doesn’t exist. I continue to think that someone isn’t going to be repaid. I guess all pension funds, around this rock are fully funded & protected. Consequences are equal opportunity & they don’t care about anyone’s politics, because consequences come after willful ignorant decisions. What’s wrong with me? Everyone knows that voters don’t have anything to do with any unpleasant situations. Collateral damage is one of my favorite phrases that I don’t use as often as I could.
Who has the U. S. nuclear codes, today? If they are digitized anywhere they are completely safe, right? Not to worry, hackers don’t exist.
Hope no one is jealous of the pleasure I get from watching the activities of this stupid species. 😉
Yes, TR, We are on a high wire or more appropriate a “Razors Edge” as they say and a very good book and film. Yes, entertaining indeed until it hits.
“I continue to think that someone isn’t going to be repaid.”
TR, this is a solid assumption!
There will be an economic pop quiz in 15 minutes giving one time to research. Who said: ‘You Take an Airplane – It Costs You $2’? Your answer will determine your total grade for the course. I didn’t realize how good the economy is.
I will point out stupidity whenever it shows it’s stupid face & from which face it originates, & not worry about anyone’s feewings. “Pardon me, you’ve got something stupid on your lips.” 😉
Hi Pan, pretty sure only you will be reading this.
Heaps of nasty climate news in the Guardian.
I do wonder if we all lost the ability to speak that the world would be a better place.
But then, I have a Marxist analysis, believe that there exists something that is not yet in words, and I am dreadfully old.
Lovely story about the Moari in today’s Guardian. Do find time to read the good stuff, stay well 🙂
Thank you, Mad Hatter.
A total loss of speech would probably not be ideal, but we would certainly benefit from acquainting ourselves better with silence and stillness, so that when we do speak it is less insane. 😂
Even my son (27 year old) who had previously refused to be drawn when I pronounce on the appalling state of the world (evidenced by human discourse) finally snapped last night. ‘We know the future is going to be awful, we just don’t know how and it what form it will take but most of my friends remain blissfully unaware.’ Don’t look up!
I feel terrible for the younger generations. My eldest is excited for the future, planning university next year… I don’t know know what to say, so I don’t say anything.