Monthly Archives: March 2013

Rise of the Job Scarcity Meme

"What saps employment from an economy is monetary inflation and subsequent busts. Concentrate on reforming the banking system rather than worrying about machinery taking over. Robotics advances technology. The Luddite mentality that advances are destructive and job sapping should have been discarded a century ago. Of course, we notice the solution being advocated by people such as Martin Ford is redistributive. He wants government to get involved in subsidies that support displaced workers. Create a problem and then advocate for a government solution. The equation never seems to vary." Continue reading →

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About The Principality of Sealand

"The history of Sealand is a story of a struggle for liberty. Sealand was founded on the principle that any group of people dissatisfied with the oppressive laws and restrictions of existing nation states may declare independence in any place not claimed to be under the jurisdiction of another sovereign entity. The location chosen was Roughs Tower, an island fortress created in World War II by Britain and subsequently abandoned to the jurisdiction of the High Seas. The independence of Sealand was upheld in a 1968 British court decision where the judge held that Roughs Tower stood in international waters and did not fall under the legal jurisdiction of the United Kingdom." Continue reading →

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Russian Authorities Raid German Foundations and NGOs

"Russia's recent large-scale crackdown against organizations designated as 'foreign agents' has now been extended to German political foundations. Russian state prosecutors have launched investigations of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), a political think tank aligned with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union party, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), the think tank of the center-left Social Democratic Party, according to German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung." Continue reading →

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See You in Court: Russians May Sue Over Cyprus Losses

"Big depositors- many of them Russian — face losses of up to 40 percent as the result of a so-called 'bail-in' to back 10 billion euros in EU financial aid to stabilize the Cypriot banking system. 'It's worth trying, it's not going to be easy, its not going to be a one-off, 24-hour court case, but the nature of the action itself sounds like expropriation,' said Andrey Goltsblat, at law firm Goltsblat BLP. There could be a basis to sue either Cyprus or individual banks, say lawyers who have been contacted by current and prospective clients seeking redress. 'People are just frustrated and ... are trying to find a way to get their money off Cyprus,' said Goltsblat." Continue reading →

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The Next Domino: Slovenia Government Bond Yields Spike

"The country, another relative newcomer to the euro, is struggling with its own banking problems. The IMF expects Slovenia will have to recapitalize its three largest banks this year, which could cost a billion euros. That will increase Slovenia's budget deficit, which is bad news because the country is already having trouble selling sovereign bonds on the open market in order to finance the government. So, the question is whether Slovenia will be the next EU member state to need a bailout. Slovenia's top central banker, Marjo Kranjec – who also sits on the ECB Governing Council – says it's not going to happen." Continue reading →

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Cyprus’ New Reality: Cash Society Without Cash

"Cyprus’ sudden acquiescence to demands by international lenders to confiscate 40 percent or more of bank deposits over 100,000 euros ($130,000) and limit withdrawals to 100 euros per day, while keeping the banks shut, has turned much of the country overnight into a fright-filled society with many people unable to get their hands on enough cash to pay for anything except food. Credit cards weren’t being accepted because businesses believe they won’t be paid, making the instruments as worthless as the plastic of which they are made. Checks weren’t being accepted either as Cyprus has become a cash society, even if most people are cashless." Continue reading →

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Think Twice Before Accepting Bank Transfers For Online Payment

If you're a seller on Ebay or any number of other peer-to-peer commerce sites, chances are you've run into a buyer who either maliciously charges-back the transaction despite having received the product, or a buyer who is operating using someone else's stolen credit card or other financial account. The accepted wisdom is that a bank transfer is the safest payment option to accept, on the basis that it cannot be reversed once it is credited to the recipient's account. Unfortunately, that is not true in the case of ever-increasing online fraud. Continue reading →

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The dangerous drift towards world war in Asia

"A former adviser to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) says a rising cadre of officers has slipped the leash and picked up attitudes all too like the Japan's firebrand officers in the 1930s, when they defied orders from Tokyo. He said these young bloods are on a 'collision course' with the US-dominated global system. As `black swans' go, an outright war between the two great powers of Asia would surely be dramatic, and it could not easily be contained since America is bound by treaties to defend Japan if it is attacked. This includes an attack on the Senkaku islands. One shudders to think what would happen if China and the US itself came to blows in any form." Continue reading →

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‘Mr. Yen’ cautions on Japan’s ‘unsafe’ debt trajectory

"'A debt ratio of 245pc of GDP is not really safe, and it is not happening because we are investing,' said Takehiko Nakao, Japan's 'Mr Yen' or vice finance minister in charge of the exchange rate. Mr Nakao said the scope for further fiscal stimulus is running out and the country must restore public finances to a sustainable path by the middle of the decade. The comments touch on an acutely sensitive topic. A number of global hedge funds and banks have begun "shorting" Japan's debt, the world's biggest at $23 trillion. They are mostly taking positions through the credit default swap (CDS) market, betting that Japan will be the next big crisis theme." Continue reading →

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Whom to Believe on Gold: Central Banks or Bloomberg?

"Based on current data, the net increase in central bank gold buying for 2012 was 14.8 million troy ounces – and that's before the final 2012 figures are in for all countries. This is a dramatic increase, one bigger than most investors probably realize. To put it in perspective, on a net basis, central banks added more to their reserves last year than since 1964. The net increase – so far – is 17% greater than what was added in 2011, which was itself a year of record buying. Whatever gold's price movements, positive or negative, central bank officials have continued adding a lot of ounces to their reserves." Continue reading →

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