economics – Page 4 – Nature Bats Last

Can we handle the truth?

November 10, 2009

The International Energy Agency (IEA) released World Energy Outlook 2009 today. Even before the sham was shipped, it was exposed as a big ‘ol bucket of lies. Seems the current administration thinks Americans can’t handle the truth, so we need to apply some pressure to keep the lid on the facts. If this country’s paragon of transparency (i.e., world’s leading liar) and master of hope (i.e., wishful thinking) actually trusted the American people, perhaps we could avert chaos.

Unwinding

November 3, 2009

Nine more banks failed last weekend, bringing the year’s total to 115. Along with the banks, one of the largest companies in the country declared bankruptcy, further evidence every large entity in the world will go down with energy availability. Small businesses are joining the fiesta, declaring bankruptcy like Zimbabweans, and the mother of all carry trades is headed for a collapse the size of hell and half of Montana.

The recession is dead … long live the recession!

October 29, 2009

The world’s first peak-oil recession has come to a close, according to third-quarter numbers invented by the federal government. Apparently dumping trillions of dollars onto big banks, insurance companies, and automobile manufacturers interrupted the plummeting descent of American Empire. The stock markets skyrocketed expectedly. Predictably, so did the commodities markets.

Tarnished gold

October 9, 2009

I suppose the king of Norway could endow me with the Nobel Prize for Medicine. After all, I’ve done no harm, thereby adhering to the first rule of medical practice. As a consequence, I demonstrate great promise.
But of course there would be no political reason to hand me a Nobel Prize. The Nobel committee is nothing if not political, and there is no more political act than awarding the Nobel Peace Prize.

Marauding hordes require organization

December 29, 2008

If you’re paying attention to forecasts in the blogosphere, you’ve no doubt seen James Howard Kunstler’s projections for 2009. As always, Kunstler’s writing is humorous and provocative. The forecast is a bit vague and bloated, but we’re halfway to the Dow 4,000 Kunstler predicted more than a year ago we’d hit by the end of 2009.

The anthropology of evil

December 22, 2008

I’ve written and said, the existence of Buddhist monks indicates we can power down with the tranquility of Buddhist monks. And I keep referring to this line, mostly because I’ve had damned few memorable lines that make any sense. My money, though, is on more human, less humane, behavior. Thus, my choice to stake my picket-pin in defense of the landbase and the community near the mud hut.

Change we can believe in

November 30, 2008

Recent events in Mumbai serve as a reminder, lest there was any doubt at this point, how fragile the world economy has become. The virtual center of globalization, Mumbai serves as call-center central for many of the world’s large companies. If stock traders are paying attention, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the major stock indices shed a quarter of their so-called “value” this week.