News Commentary

The Smart Money is Investing Here…

"Wal-Mart paid $2.4 billion for Massmart, a major retailer in South Africa, in 2011. This year, Coke is launching solar-powered kiosks to reach some of the remotest parts of sub-Saharan Africa – parts that lack electricity – with ice-cold soda. Pepsi announced a $30 million manufacturing plant in Kenya to compete against Coke for market share of the continent. And Yum! Brands is expanding quickly, adding another 50 stores in Africa this year alone. Google is also investing in a solar plant in South Africa and developing high-speed internet access across the continent." Continue reading →

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Why Buffett Bailed on India

"Buffett isn’t alone in voting with his feet. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., ArcelorMittal (MT) SA and Posco are pulling back on investments in India that they had announced with great fanfare. What’s scaring foreigners away? A rampant political dysfunction that has stopped India’s progress cold. Headwinds from New Delhi are contributing to the slowest growth rates in a decade, a record current-account deficit and a 7.9 percent plunge in the rupee this year. Fiscal neglect has bond traders demanding higher yields for government debt than India wants to pay. Foreign-direct investment slid about 21 percent last fiscal year, and this one doesn’t look promising." Continue reading →

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Senator Wyden Warns Against the Surveillance State

"There are only two limitations to the growth of the surveillance state: practical and economic. From a practical standpoint, just who is going to sort through the nearly immeasurably large amount of data being collected? At present, as smart as computers are, and as sophisticated as the software that drives them is, it ultimately is going to take a human being to find the dangerous needle in thousands of haystacks. The manpower required to do that is incomprehensibly large and infinitely costly. The second limitation is economic: at some point deficits will become so large that funding them through debt will no longer be an option." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenator Wyden Warns Against the Surveillance State

Eric Margolis: Japan Must Face Up To China

"The 1960 US-Japan Security Treaty laid the foundation of relations between Washington and Tokyo. [...] The key to the treaty was the establishment of permanent US air, land, and sea bases in Japan. They remain, half a century later. Japan thus became a giant US aircraft carrier from which it dominates highly strategic North Asia. In exchange, Japanese industry was given open access to the US market, thus laying the base of Japan’s economic upsurge of the 1960’s. South Korea enjoyed a similar deal. This cozy arrangement is now being challenged by the rapid rise of China’s military and economic power." Continue reading →

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Paul Craig Roberts: The Two Faux Democracies Threaten Life On Earth

"The Pentagon’s 'AirSea Battle' and Lieber and Press’ article in Foreign Affairs have informed China and Russia that Washington is contemplating pre-emptive nuclear attack on both countries. To ensure Russia’s inability to retaliate, Washington is placing anti-ballistic missiles on Russia’s borders in violation of the US-USSR agreement. Because the American press is a corrupt government propaganda ministry, the American people have no idea that neoconized Washington is planning nuclear war, or of former President Jimmy Carter’s recent statement, reported only in Germany, that the United States no longer has a functioning democracy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: The Two Faux Democracies Threaten Life On Earth

Bankruptcy Litigation Does Not Generate New Wealth

"The only viable long-term strategy for claimants is to focus on doing whatever it takes to help the city/county start generating new wealth. But this is far more difficult than hoping to win some court ruling, and it also requires sacrificing the dearly held belief that fantasy entitlements should be made real by somebody, somewhere. Which brings us to the ultimate make-us-whole fantasy, the Federal bailout of every bankrupt city, county and state in the nation. Every constituency is of course first in line in terms of being deserving of 'what's owed to me.' Unfortunately for those counting on the Grand Federal Bailout, the queue at the Federal bailout window is already long." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBankruptcy Litigation Does Not Generate New Wealth

DetroitCoin: Why we should make Detroit into a Bitcoin Hub

"For one, it’s got nothing to lose. By now Detroiters should be sick of being pumped and dumped by the financial system. Detroit desperately needs to diversify its economy. Detroit and its neighbor, Windsor, form North America’s largest cross-border conurbation. It’s the ideal location for taking advantage of bitcoin’s frictionless, cross border transactions. Assets are selling like hotcakes in Detroit and lower costs mean less risk for the kind of entrepreneurs that are already starting to turn Detroit into a lab for innovation. Detroit is already the birthplace of two bitcoin exchanges. Coincidence? No. The solutions come from the people with the pain." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Where will China be in 6 months…or 6 years?

"Where will China be in 6 months...or 6 years? It is impossible to know. Goldman Sachs reduced its estimates of China's growth. But it has no better idea than Paul Krugman or anyone else. The Chinese could surprise us in either direction; the economy could be much worse than expected...or much better. But one thing does appear to be happening. After 20 years of spectacular growth, China is looking for a new way forward." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Where will China be in 6 months…or 6 years?

Bill Bonner: Where will China be in 6 months…or 6 years?

"Where will China be in 6 months...or 6 years? It is impossible to know. Goldman Sachs reduced its estimates of China's growth. But it has no better idea than Paul Krugman or anyone else. The Chinese could surprise us in either direction; the economy could be much worse than expected...or much better. But one thing does appear to be happening. After 20 years of spectacular growth, China is looking for a new way forward." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Where will China be in 6 months…or 6 years?

Life-Saving Third-World Remittances Smothered by Anti-Money-Laundering Laws

"Without a formal banking sector, millions of Somalis rely on money sent from abroad. Underground agents could potentially fill the void. Alternatively, migrant workers could simply transfer new cryptographic commodities like bitcoin, which are not against the law. Also included in the countries put on notice by Barclays are Nigeria, Ghana, India, and Bangladesh with the resulting impact certain to be felt by Somalia's neighbors, Kenya and Ethiopia. The wholesale closure of accounts parallels the situation in Minnesota last year when a local bank, citing the risk of strict penalties, ceased transfers to Somalia for migrants wanting to send money home." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLife-Saving Third-World Remittances Smothered by Anti-Money-Laundering Laws