….or everything will end up in the sewer.
Sorry that the above chart (for which I’m indebted to Irish Slogger Christo) requires a good deal of scrolling, but then the list of countries in trouble at the moment is very long indeed. The ones below the arrow at 7.5% unemployment (roughly the alleged US rate) marked with a red dot are those which have been following austerity policies recently, and/or work to a heavily Globalist Friedmanite economic model. The ones marked with a green dot I have set to one side, as I would say they have socio-economic and political problems that are not really part of the ‘mainstream’ crisis of neoliberal capitalism: Egypt, South Africa, Argentina and so forth.
As you can see, those economies heading south are somewhat replete with red dots. The entire collection of peripheral, central and southern States within the eurozone are represented: and the more ‘help’ they’re being given by Brussels-am-Berlin, the higher their employment rate is.
Only sixteen countries on the planet in 2013 have below 5% employment. Only one is in the EU. None of them are pursuing either austerity or Friedmanite neoliberal economic policies.
I venture to offer the opinion that what we have here is a failing model, and an urgent need for new ideas about how to stop a quickening spiral down the plughole.
Things don’t get any better when you look at the Sovereign debt situation. And remember: the current globalist model of mercantilism has at the centre of its philosophy growth by leveraging asset value through debt.
1. Greece 155%
2. Japan 134%
3. Cyprus 127 % (nb, 18 months ago it was only 81%)
4. Portugal 112%
5. USA 108%
6. Italy 105%
7. Ireland 102%
8. France 88% (nb the fastest growing debt during 2012)
9. Britain 86%
10. Spain 72%
Some key points are instructive. First, eight out of ten are in the European Union. Second, Every eurozone ClubMed member is in there – and ‘help’ given by the Troika has made the debt worse. Interestingly though, the lowest debt to gdp level in the EU is in Spain: the one ClubMed country that has flexed its muscles to resist Troika incursions into its domestic affairs.
Third, seven out of ten have a debt bigger than their gdp. Fourth, every one of these countries would find their debt unmanageable – and be forced to default – if interest rates rose to even 2.5%.
Fifth, three of those nations – Britain, the US and Japan – have engaged in massive QE and thus increased their debts. Japan at 134% is second only to Greece, but has just embarked on the most intensive QE + currency devaluation market interventions in history.
But fact number six is the real mind-concentrator: together this lot account for almost exactly one third of global gdp. The only zero debt-laden giant outside the list, China, is about to slow down towards a hard-landing. And Russia is hugely overdependent on energy exports to a global economy which needs less and less energy with every passing week. And, um, India just put up interest rates to protect the Rupee. Oh, and – er, five Wall Street banking firms account for 60% of all known derivatives exposure: Goldman Sachs is leveraged at nearly 100-1.
But the UK Coalition’s leader says recovery is just around the corner, and his Chancellor says “the strategy is working”. My advice at this point would be, unequivocally, “Vote Labour” – but for one fact: they clearly don’t have a clue what to do either. UKip? Don’t really see why we need them any more, as we’re obviously going to Brexit anyway. Well, I do see why the Newscories want UKip around – so they can do a deal, and replace Camerlot with themselves…the very people in the UK who most admire the economic model that got us into this less-than-sweet little jam. LibDems? Hahahahahaha.
To sum up: despite this appalling outlook, we need to have a dogfight followed by a referendum about whether to leave easily the most underachieving trade group in the world; the US Congress has a bunfight 24/7 about the deficit; the biggest bureaucracy in the world, the biggest lender in the world, and the biggest debt collectors in history have (together as the Troika) made every debt situation in which they’ve been involved worse; not one MSM medium anywhere of which I’m aware is questioning the failure of Globalist mercantilism; everything tried – QE, austerity, and Zirp – has failed…but been repeated/retained; and despite the fact that fully one third of the world economy producers are drowning in debt, debt forgiveness is not on the radar, not even being suggested for the radar, and vociferously resisted by Berlin, Frankfurt and Wall Street.
Now does everyone see why, without radical creativity, the game is over? Now does everyone grasp that, without a near 100% clearout of those at the top in global commerce, geopolitics, fiscal control, and energy, the game – once over – will simply turn into a frozen tableau….followed by massive social unrest around the world?
They are, all of these worthless egomaniacs, wrong, incompetent, denialist, and self-interested censors of what’s going wrong. And the MSM are implicated – in some cases, actively complicit – in the censorship. As for the politicians, they’re just low-grade hookers.
Forget Left and Right – as terms, they no longer matter – and they get in the way. Leave the comfort zone of your tribes. Accept that the coming battle is between big controlling and small vulnerable. Look around for those with whom you can form a Coalition for Decency.
Then forget politics, and start trying to use our fiscal and economic power to rid us of these rats. They are carriers of Black Death. United we stand a chance – but engaging in divisive rhetoric and continuing to vote for idiots will get us nowhere other than under the soil.
The Slog 