To all those Sloggers in the US, UK, EU, Africa, Asia and Anglospherical diaspora who are all electioned out – and tired of 24/7 propagandised crypto-electioneering before and after the non-event itself – I offer my heartfelt agreement. I suggest it’s time we all refocused on fiscal, financial and economic realities around the world. For my suspicion is that events in those areas are about to take centre-stage again.
There was Brexiphobia, then Trumpshock, then Macronmania, then Maynotmakeit – and now we have Brusselsbullies as the UK tries to get deselected rather than elected.
But beyond this waltz of the onanistadors, the psychos are still at work…..
Thus spake ECB boss Mario Draghi a few days ago. And as a valued threader at The Slog put it to me, “What a load of tosh”. A few translations are in order:
- ‘Lacklustre’: a global econo-fiscal crisis which – without at least $37 trillion of our money, invented money and printed money being thrown at it – would have been seen for what it was: a deep depression
- ‘recovery’: a fragile, febrile, stuttering response with few signs of real demand beyond that generated by free borrowing
- ‘productivity’: screwing every last worker’s wage rate and hours into the caldera of an active volcano until the value of them has been vapourised
- ‘normalisation’: something replaced by denialist neoliberal fantasy nine years ago, and now extinct
- ‘investment’: money leaving the eurozone at a rate so terrifying, the ECB hides the figures from most eyes
- ‘durable and self-sustaining’: something globalist neoliberal economics will never deliver because “Productivity” destroys the power to consume.
Two days ago, ‘Oil prices sharply pulled back as the market reacted to preliminary data that suggested U.S. crude stockpiles unexpectedly rose last week.’
So wrote Reuters on Tuesday. The day before, CNN opined, ‘Crude oil prices plunged to $42 a barrel last week, sinking into a bear market amid renewed concerns about a massive supply glut…’
Oh dear…..news out there that there’s an oil glut….can’t have that: within twenty-four hours, we got this (my italics):
- CNBC: ‘Oil prices surged 2 percent as traders covered bets that oil prices will fall further and the market anticipated a drop in U.S. crude inventories.’ (WhyTF would it do that?)
- Marketwatch: ‘Oil prices settled higher Wednesday, lifting their tally of consecutive gains to five, as U.S. government data revealed a sizable weekly decline in domestic crude production, although an unexpected rise in supplies kept gains in check’. (WhyTF was it unexpected?)
But as my new Parisian friend is fond of saying, “They’re all FOS”. How very true.
In ten days time, the G20 is to meet in Hamburg. My sincere hope is that they might use up their session in the most effective and healthy way possible: by going immediately to the Reeperbahn…….remaining there until getting professionally laid returns them to something approaching reality.
The added bonus is, of course, that while the Great and Good are tumescing their way from one bordello of the Bad and Beautiful to another, they will not have the time to turn SNAFU into SNACFU.
But be under no illusions: it is heading for SNACFU whatever they do. There are three obvious conclusions real people will reach – first, the eurozone should probably be renamed the ozone for all the substance or depth it has; second, oil prices are only where they are because the oil business and its sovereign protegeurs cannot survive with prices where they should be….viz, at $25-30 per barrel; and last but first, consumer debt is going to explode the entire can of worms.
The Slog 