Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Petrodollars (huge financial surpluses accumulated among oil exporters due to high oil prices) were a major feature of global capital markets in the 1970s and 1980s. Are the western banks and financial markets in for another period similar to the 1970s and mid-80s in terms of flows?
In the same time period during which the price of oil has gone up in terms of the dollar, it has remained stable in terms of the EURO. This has prompted speculation that OPEC will change from denominating all sales of oil in the dollar to other, more attractive currencies, like the EURO, which would be disastrous for the US economy and the dollar as world reserve currency.
The Iranians are about to commit an “offense” far greater than Saddam Hussein’s conversion to the euro of Iraq’s oil exports in the fall of 2000. Numerous articles have revealed Pentagon planning for operations against Iran as early as 2005. While the publicly stated reasons will be over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, there are unspoken macroeconomic drivers explaining the Real Reasons regarding the 2nd stage of petrodollar warfare – Iran’s upcoming euro-based oil Bourse.
The period of liberal reform activism in Saudi Arabia, which had dominated the political scene since the beginning of 2003, has come to an end due to a combination of higher oil prices, a relatively successful security strategy against militants, the continuing importance to the regime of Islamist political currents and the unsettled regional environment that has put an end to this brief spell of political ferment.
This Presidential campaign has been as ugly and as bitter as any in American memory. The ugliness has flowed mostly in one direction, reaching its apotheosis in the effort, undertaken by a supposedly independent group financed by friends of the incumbent, to portray the challenger—who in his mid-twenties was an exemplary combatant in both the Vietnam War and the movement to end that war—as a coward and a traitor.
At least nine provinces will face frequent power cuts this winter, the State Development and Reform Commission warned Monday.
The Iraqi government plans to phase out slowly subsidies on basic products, such as oil and electricity, which comprise 50 percent of public spending, equal to 15 billion dollars, the planning minister said on Saturday.
People are consuming the earth’s natural resources 20
percent faster than nature can renew them–a dangerous imbalance that is
fueling the loss of species and may lead to critical resource shortages
in the years ahead, according to a World Wildlife Fund study released on
Thursday.
“The US makes dollars; everyone else makes things to get dollars.” Stan Goff explores the role of the US dollar as the standard reserve currency in the context of capitalism’s intrinsic need to expand and the global peak in oil production.
Just like rising energy demand, global warming, and racial distrust, America’s population boom is escaping serious attention from both presidential candidates. This is happening —or rather, not happening — even though the United States is growing more rapidly than it ever has before.
The month of November in a US presidential-election year is not supposed to be particularly eventful, but this year may be an exception, in the light of the gathering storm over Iran’s nuclear program, due to be reviewed by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in late November.
Yes, the presidential race has been ugly. But the accusations, smears and spin of the current campaign, although disgusting, are only reflections of a much larger problem. The plain truth is that we are in the process of destroying American democracy.
