Top 10 World companies

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Bank of the SOUTH

this past december 9th marks the beggining of a new era without IMF and World Bank, for Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina, this a new era that those South america countries would help each other with own money and would not ask again for more "expert" advice of IMF that made so great damage to the region.

Venezuela took out more of his money from IMF so that means another crisis for that US Organization that has lost a lot of revenues cuz most of the countries pay their lends

USA no more Globalization??

Last week I was reading an article on Financial Times about what is coming for 2008 some quakes (economics) of high level that would move all the status quo that reigns today, USA began conquering most of the world markets cuz the GLOBALIZATION, but now some other big players (INDIA & China) would gAIN control and a bigger GNP that the mighty Empire.

this would be the first time in history that an Empire FALLS because economic problems!!!

Some other big economic group has a mighty GNP bigger than USA, UE no no BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) how about that??

Wall Street Crisis

Very good article about the Dollar crisis that is coming! how dollar lost nearly 63% of value against Euro

What a week for the stock market. On Wednesday the market took a 360 point nosedive followed, two days later, by a 220 point belly-flop. By the time it was over, the trading pits looked more like a sausage-packing plant than the world's financial epicenter. After the bell, downcast traders could be seen tiptoeing through the carnage on their way to the local liquor store to load up on "Stoly" and boxes of Franzia---anything that would steady their nerves and put the week behind them.

Everyone could see it coming; the train-wreck. It was mostly carry-over from the night before when Asian stocks took a thumping on reports of slower growth in the US and growing troubles in the credit markets. That put the first domino in motion. Fed chief Bernanke's announcement that the economy will face "a sharp slowdown from the housing market's contraction" and an "inflationary surge from sharply higher oil prices and the weaker dollar", didn't help either. His remarks triggered a blow-off in the currency markets while equities were frog-marched to the chopping-block.

The Shanghai market took the worst hit dropping nearly 5% before the trading-day ended. Taiwan and Hong Kong followed suit, sliding 3.9% and 3.2% respectively. Share prices in Japan fell 2%. The next morning, Wall Street crashed. It was a massacre.

This is a bear market now. The last bull was dragged from the Street on Friday with a harpoon in its chest.

The subprime contagion has now spread beyond the US and Europe to markets in the Far East. No one is fooled by Bernanke's sunny predictions that the economy will bounce back next year with a strong showing in the first quarter. That's baloney and everyone knows it. The economy has stumbled down the elevator shaft and is just waiting to hit bottom. Consumer confidence is flagging, housing is falling, foreign capital is fleeing, and the greenback is one flush away from the sewage-treatment plant. Bernanke's soothing bromides are meaningless.

"I don't see any significant change in the broad holdings of dollars around the world. Dollars remain the dominant reserve asset and I expect that to continue to be the case," Bernanke said to the Congressional Economic Committee.

Really? So why is the greenback plummeting if people aren't dumping it, Ben? What an absurd comment. The dollar has lost 63% against the euro and dropped to record lows against a basket of world currencies. Foreign central banks and investors have been ditching it as fast as they can before it loses more value. The dollar's tumble has been the most dazzling currency-flameout in modern times and Bernanke is acting like he's still asleep at the switch. It's madness.

The greenback is getting clobbered by the Fed's "low-interest" snake oil and the gargantuan current account deficit. If Bernanke clips rates again to bail out the stock market, the dollar will slip into irreversible respiratory failure. Food and oil prices will shoot to the moon overnight and the remains of the greenback will be carted off to the nearest boneyard.

September's trade deficit was another blow to the waning dollar. The Census Bureau reported on Friday that the deficit clocked in at $56.5 billion. That's $684 billion per annum! Bush has been crowing about the "shrinking deficit", but the numbers are nothing to boast about. We're still borrowing more than we're producing. We're still living beyond our means. The lower numbers just reflect the decline in home construction which is import-intensive. The fact is, we're addicted to debt-fueled consumption and forgotten that, eventually, the trillions that we've borrowed from foreign creditors, will have to be repaid. If the dollar is replaced as the world's reserve currency, then we'll have to pay back $9 trillion of outstanding debt. We might as well hang out the "Foreclosed" sign right now and get fitted for Chinese workers-suits.

This is from Bloomberg News:

"As the dollar tumbles, concern is growing that its weakness may augur the end of the U.S. currency's 62-year reign as the world's specie of choice for trade, financial transactions and central-bank reserves..The dollar owes its position as the world's premier international currency to its status as a haven during times of turmoil, the absence of a suitable rival, weak domestic demand in other countries and plain old inertia. Geopolitics also play a role."

Nonsense. Who believes this rubbish? The dollar is the so-called "international currency" because the Federal Reserve and its well-heeled patrons are the directors of the US-Euro-Japan banking cabal which is at the center of the global Fiat money scam. There's nothing more to it than that. Notice the recent "unilateral" clamp-down on Iran by the US-led banking syndicate. The action was initiated without UN approval for the simple reason that the UN, the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO and thousands of NGOs are just more of the Central Banks' prime properties. Don't expect the father to ask the child for permission to punish one of his errant children. The banks are the one's who really call the shots and--behind the curtain of feigned respectability---they are the driving force behind the endless wars.

The Fed's plan to "devalue" our way to prosperity appears to have hit a few ill-placed speed-bumps. The stock market is hanging by a thread and consumer confidence is at its lowest ebb since the start of the Iraq War. The falling dollar is expected to put a damper on Christmas spending and knock equities for a loop. That can't be good for economy--especially when 72% of GDP comes from consumer spending.

We're already begun to see the telltale signs that the consumer is loosing ground and about to slip into a debt-induced coma.

According to data from the University of Michigan:

"Consumer confidence reached its lowest level in more than two years this month amid concerns over record-high oil prices, continued trouble in the housing market and higher inflationAlthough consumer attitudes deteriorated across the board, the substantial drop in expectations contributed heavily to the sizeable decline in the overall index."

The average working stiff doesn't put any stock in Bernanke's palavering. He sees what's going on for himself every time he pulls up to the gas pump or goes the grocery store. He doesn't need the University of Michigan to tell him he's getting screwed; he knows it! The economy is sinking, inflation is skyrocketing, and the country is adrift. Every farthing in the public till has been shoveled into a black hole in the Middle East. Does Bernanke really think working people don't know that? Everyone knows that. Everyone knows the economy is on life-support; just like everyone knows the country is collapsing from mismanagement. Even the flag-waving, war-mongering maniacs on the Wall Street Journal's op-ed page are starting to shutter from the avalanche of bad news. They see what's going on and they're scared---scared sh**less.

Unfortunately, the sudden shift in consumer sentiment is the hurting retailers who depend on Christmas to carry them through the year. We've already seen the sluggishness in housing and auto sales. Now it's showing up in retail. Abercrombie, American Eagle, Ann Taylor, Chicos, Dillards, The Gap and Nordstrom are all reporting sagging sales. Walmart, Lowes and the other big-box stores are lowering their projections as well. It's going to be a lean Christmas.

The poor US consumer is finally maxed-out and can't tap into his home equity anymore for presto-credit. He's mortgaged "to the hilt" and he's already run up 6 or 7 credit cards to their limit. In fact, credit card debt is a growing concern for the banks, too.

The commercial banks are the victims' of their own success. After years of seductive promotions and saturation mailings the credit card industry is at its zenith leaving consumers with a staggering bill of nearly $1 trillion. ($915 billion) More and more customers are finding themselves unable to make even minimum payments on their balances and defaults are piling up at a record pace. This is the next phase of the subprime fiasco and it has the potential to be nearly as disruptive as the housing meltdown. The problem is complex, too. After all, most credit card debt in the last 6 years has been "securitized" and passed on to investors in the secondary market. (pension funds, hedge funds etc.) That means we can expect more tremors in the stock market as corporate earnings go south after credit card-backed bonds are downgraded. It's just more of the same "structured finance" chicanery; debt stacked on debt, until the whole edifice caves in.

It's looking more and more like Reagan's "shining city on the hill" was erected on a mountain of toxic debt. It's a wonder it hasn't sunk already.

The country is headed for recession and there's nothing that Bernanke can do to stop it. The only question is whether we'll be facing a colossal economy-busting meltdown like 1929 or a milder 5 or 6-year slump. That's up to the Federal Reserve. If the Fed chief decides to pit himself against the falling markets by slashing rates and destroying the currency; then we are likely to be digging-out for years. But if Bernanke steps aside, and lets the chips fall where they may, then the pace of recovery will be quicker.

Whatever choice he makes, there's no avoiding the inevitable downturn. The hammer is poised to strike the anvil. The stock market will fall, the over-extended banks and hedge funds will collapse, and the country will go into a protracted, economic tailspin. That much is certain. Economic fundamentals can only be shrugged off for so long. When markets correct it's like a tidal-surge that sweeps-away the deadwood of bad bets and over-levered investments leaving behind a broad-expanse of empty beach.

Recession is a normal part of the business cycle. It can't be avoided. The economy needs to unwind so debts can get written off and businesses can retool for the future. The upcoming recession is shaping up to be worse than its predecessors---a real doozey.

The damage caused by the Fed's excessive credit has been considerable. It'll take years to mop up the red ink and set the house aright. The markets are in a shambles, investors have been battered and confidence is gone.

Structured finance has been an unmitigated disaster. It needs to be scrapped. We need a new financial system for a new epoch; a system that is heavily regulated and supervised to discourage the crooks and con-artists; a system that it maintains its essential link to the real, productive underlying economy and avoids the galaxy of complex derivatives, "securitized" liabilities, and opaque debt-instruments that have brought on the present crisis; a system that responds to the needs of working people and takes into consideration the looming problems of environmental degradation, resource scarcity, and climate change; a system that reinvests in communities, education and health-care rather than fattening the bottom-line of corporate racketeers and brandy-drooling elites. It's time to remove the rotten scaffolding and rebuild the whole contraption brick by brick.

The system is broken. Maybe Greenspan did us all a favor by blowing it up with his "low interest" dynamite. Good riddance.

Citigroup Crisis

Citigroup is on crisis now, their CEO quit after their earning drop 54% , and now the Bank faces investigation by SEC. Analist Meridth Whitney says that their only way to save the bank is to sell it by parts. In wall Street ppl start calling Citigroup the CITIcorpse. this maybe the beginning of another Enron.

Meredith Whitney: The $360bn analyst

The analyst who sparked pandemonium in global financial markets with a simple note has a colourful history

Philip Goldstein

The words of one woman were enough to knock fragile stock markets into a freefall not seen since the advent of the sub-prime crisis in August, after a pessimistic report on Citigroup's future sparked a chain reaction of panic selling.

The report of Meredith Whitney, a financial services analyst from CIBC World Market, a subsidiary of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, led to about $369 billion (£177 billion) being wiped off the US stock market value by the end of yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid more than 360 points, or 2.6 per cent.

In London, the FTSE lost £32 billion, dropping 65 points. Today another £15.5 billion has been lost, bringing the total to £47 billion. Indications are that the FTSE will make some recovery in afternoon trading.

Ms Whitney's report caused Citibank to lose more than $15 billion of market capitalisation, with its stock plunging more than 7 per cent in the first half hour of trading. In her report, Ms Whitney said Citigroup would need to cut its dividend or sell assets to avert what she said was a $30 billion capital shortfall. It was the biggest stumble for Citibank’s shares since September 2002.

“No one had the moxie to put in print what I put in print,” Ms Whitney said.

Ms Whitney, 37, the maven (and expert) of the financial industry, has been steadily accruing influence and audience, and she is frequently quoted in numerous publications, ranging from The New York Times to Business Week, from Forbes to Fortune. She is also a regular business contributor to Fox News, 82.1 per cent owned by The News Corporation, parent company of The Times.

It was when making an appearance on Fox News' Bulls and Bears programme that she met her future husband, John Charles Layfield, a professional wrestler and former World Wrestling Entertainment champion.

Mr Layfield, whose wrestling persona is based on JR Ewing, the oil tycoon from the 1980s television series Dallas, had just written his book Have More Money Now: A Common Sense Approach to Financial Management.

The two immediately clicked over dinner.

Mr Layfield later said of his wife: "She took a country boy like me and kind of refined me. I know what fork to use now at the dinner table, and I drink my beer from a glass."

Prior to her work at CIBC, where she and her team focuses on mid-to-large sized banks as well as corporate financial institutions, Ms Whitney spent four years leading Financial Institutions research at Wachovia Securities. Before that she spent six years covering Specialty Finance at CIBC World Markets (formerly Oppenheimer).

how China can Crash the US Dollar

Another good essay about this global economic issue, even that the fall of US dollar would affect all the world, the biggest damage would be in the US.

Over the last 30 years, China’s economy has grown at an average annualized rate of nearly 10%. While this statistic alone is jaw-dropping, what is more impressive is the extent to which the nominally Communist country’s economy has become intertwined in the global economy. China now exerts enormous influence over the economies of virtually every country in the world, and a slight change in its domestic economic policy has the potential to send shockwaves rippling throughout the world. Nowhere is this more apparent-and frightening-then in China’s economic relationship with the United States, which is very much at the mercy of China when it comes to prices, wages, interest rates, most importantly, the value of the Dollar.

The precariousness of this relationship is already the subject of significant publicity, redolent of the Japanaphobia of the 1980’s that saw American economists scare-mongering about Japanese control of the US economy. [Of course this later turned out to be unfounded, but that is beyond the scope of our discussion.] With regard to China, most of the analysis is focused on its growing foreign exchange reserves, the majority of which are held in Dollar-denominated assets. This article will go beyond forex reserves and discuss several other facets of China’s economy. From US house prices to global commodity prices, from interest rates to inflation rates, we will explore how China could cripple the US economy, both willfully and unintentionally, if so desired.

Forex Reserve Diversification

Let’s begin with an examination of China’s forex reserves, which is probably China’s biggest bargaining chip in its economic relationship with the US. Up until two years ago, China’s currency, the RMB or Yuan, was pegged to the Dollar. As with any peg, there often develops a discrepancy between the fixed value of the currency and the value that the market would assign if the currency were permitted to float. As China’s economy surged ahead, especially over the last five to ten years, tremendous pressure began to build under the RMB. In order to maintain the peg and hold down the value of the RMB, China began accumulating foreign exchange reserves by withdrawing foreign currency from circulation. Today, China’s foreign exchange reserves are massive, at $1.4 trillion as of September 2007.

In the eyes of American policy-makers, this presents a problem because the majority of these reserves are held in Dollar-denominated assets, namely in the form of US Treasury securities. The US government theoretically could not be happier that foreign Central Banks are willing to finance its perennial budget deficits. However, this borrowing has reached a point where foreigners now control over 40% of the US national debt. Moreover, long-term US interest rates are market-driven, based on the buying and selling of US government bonds. In other words, the US has gradually ceded control of its long-term interest rates to foreign Central Banks, namely China and Japan.

As the Dollar has depreciated over the last five years, many Central Banks have begun “diversifying” their forex reserves, by switching from Dollar assets to assets denominated in other currencies. This is problematic for the Dollar for two reasons. First, switching from US assets to European assets, for example, directly causes the Dollar to depreciate. Second, the bulk sale of US treasury securities (whether or not they are replaced with other US-assets) causes US bond prices to decline and hence, yields to increase. Thus, if China suddenly decided to diversify its reserves, for economic and/or political reasons, it could potentially crash the Dollar and send US long-term interest rates skyward. Since mortgage rates are tied directly to government bond yields, a rise in interest rates would probably also affect US real estate prices. Higher interest rates would make borrowing for a home more difficult, which would lower the demand for houses and thus, the value of American real estate.

In fact, China recently created the China Investment Co. Ltd., capitalized with almost $300 Billion, charged with investing its vast forex reserves in higher-yielding assets. However, the company’s inaugural investment was a stock purchase in the Blackstone group, an American private equity firm. Thus, while it seems likely that China will gradually discard some of its stock of US Treasury Securities, the affect on the value of the Dollar will be minimal. Besides, while China would certainly punish US businesses and consumers by unloading US Treasuries on the market, it would punish itself even more, since the value of the government bonds that it didn’t sell would decline. In short, it seems China will probably hold off on exercising its “nuclear option” for the time being.

Currency Manipulation

The second aspect of the China-US economic relationship which China could wield to its advantage is the RMB, itself. American public officials enjoy criticizing China for failing to allow its currency to appreciate more quickly. In fact, there is a bill that has been lying dormant in the US Congress, which threatens to slap a massive across-the-board tariff on all Chinese imports if China fails to allow the RMB to appreciate adequately against the Dollar. What policymakers don’t realize is that a rapid appreciation in the RMB would actually harm the US economy.

Coupled with its growing role as the world’s factory, China’s cheap currency has made Americans wealthier, by increasing their purchasing power. As production of labor-intensive goods was outsourced to China over the last decade, prices for finished products began to fall both in real terms and in nominal terms. While the effect on US employment trends is debatable, its effect on prices has been unambiguous. Thus, even while the American economy boomed, inflation remained relatively modest by historical standards. This allowed the Federal Reserve Board to hold interest rates down and foment economic growth.

As the RMB appreciates, Chinese producers will become ever-more forced to pass along some of the price increase to consumers. Now, if China was to suddenly revalue its currency by the 25%-30% that western policy-makers are demanding, prices on a whole host of Chinese products would jump up overnight. This would adversely affect American purchasing power and limit consumption to such an extent that the US would be in danger of slipping into recession. While the trade deficit that is the bane of American politicians’ existence might decrease in the long-term, it would skyrocket in the short-term. Besides, as many analysts have been quick to point out, there is not much overlap between Chinese and American production. Thus, a more expensive Yuan would send production to other parts of Asia, rather than back to America. While the US-China trade deficit might narrow, it would be offset by increased imbalance with the rest of Asia. Just like with the case of its foreign exchange reserves, however, China is unlikely to exercise this option because it would deal equal harm to itself. China’s ruling Communist party derives most of its legitimacy from the strength of its economy, and especially exports. If a more expensive Yuan forced producers to relocate to other parts of Asia, it would certainly spell trouble for the CCP!

Direct Competition with US Exporters

A more potent (and plausible) weapon would be to compete more directly with US exporters, by expanding into high-technology products. Currently, China specializes in manufacturing labor-intensive products, which have long since been manufactured outside of the United States. As previously stated, a revaluation of the Chinese Yuan would surely not return production to the US. However, if China were to expand into capital-intensive and/or high-technology products, it could easily steal marketshare and jobs from the US.

Limiting the Importation of US Products

Of course, there is also the imports side of the trade equation. China is quickly becoming one of the United States’ largest export markets; limiting the importation of US goods and services would certainly be felt in the US. In fact, China already requires multinational companies in many industries to form joint ventures with Chinese companies in order to produce and/or sell their wares in China. Other anti-competitive measures include tariffs, import taxes, quotas, or a simple ban on the importation of certain types of products. Each would have a devastating impact on the US trade deficit with China and would probably result in retaliatory sanctions by the US.

Wage Pressure

Next, there is the impact that China has exerted on global wages. When Deng XiaoPing’s famous tour of the South in 1979 ignited three decades of dizzying growth, hundreds of millions of Chinese were added to the global labor pool overnight. Yet, the majority of China’s population remains concentrated in rural areas. In fact, there are perhaps 500 million Chinese peasants that have yet to join the modern labor force, which means the full effect of China’s economic explosion has yet to be fully realized by the rest of the world. Already, there is no hope of unskilled work that has already been outsourced returning to the US. If/when China begins to expand into the production of high-technology goods and more complex services, it will encroach on the territory of American businesses. Unfortunately for the US, China will likely make these undercapitalized sectors of its economy more of a priority in its next five year plan.

One popular method for estimating GDP is the income approach, which as its name suggests, represents a summation of the reported incomes of a given country’s domestic population. Logic dictates that downward pressure on the wages of skilled American workers would negatively impact US GDP, and at the very least, would curtail the purchasing power of American consumers. This would also limit US exports to China, since Chinese would have homegrown alternatives to choose from.

Raw Material Pricing

In addition, there is the impact that China’s economic growth has exerted on global raw material prices. It has been said that 25% of the world’s construction cranes are currently located in China, to support the country’s building boom. These massive development and infrastructure projects require proportionally massive quantities of raw materials, namely cement and steel. Unfortunately, China is especially inefficient at converting raw materials into finished products. Combined with the CCP’s emphasis on the near-term (which inherently prioritizes low cost over efficiency), this is placing a tremendous strain on global energy supplies, driving prices skyward.

Competition for Energy

The global prices for oil and coal are already at record highs and China only consumes 1/15 the amount of per-capita energy as the US! Chinese energy companies are becoming increasingly visible, scouring the globe for stable supplies of energy and often coming head-to-head with American energy companies. Conveniently, China does not recognize the ethical issues which arise from purchasing energy from dictatorships and corrupt regimes, whereas US companies are limited from doing business in these places. From Sudan to Myanmar to Kazakhstan, Chinese companies have set up join ventures where US companies could not. While energy prices have certainly risen in the US, they have not kept pace with global energy prices. In this way, China is able to ensure that its citizens and its businesses have the oil, coal, and natural gas that they require, while their American counterparts may be forced to conserve.

Two years ago, the Chinese National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) attempted to purchase an American energy company, Unocal, for over $18 Billion. However, the deal was blocked by the US Congress, which feared Unocal’s energy reserves would be supplied to China at the expense of Americans. It did not help CNOOC’s case that 70% of the Company was effectively owned by the CCP. Needless to say, Chinese government officials were not happy with the outcome; (Unocal was ultimately sold to Chevron for a lower price). China has already shown its willingness to use extreme tactics to secure an adequate energy supply. It seems reasonable to expect its energy policy will continue to oppose and inconvenience the US.

Conclusion

In short, China has several economic “weapons” at its disposal for countering the US, ranging from the manipulation of its currency to the diversification of its burgeoning stock of forex reserves. It also has several less blunt options to choose from, such as enabling Chinese companies to compete more directly and effectively with US companies, and opposing the US in securing a domestic energy supply. On all of these fronts, the US is essentially being held hostage, since it has become so dependent on China as the world’s factory. Ultimately, it seems unlikely that China will deliberately butt heads with the US unless it is first provoked, but America should nonetheless be on its guard, since its economy hangs in the balance.

China Nuclear option vs Dollar

Washington is now in trouble since last year they started talking about trade sanctions against China cuz the Yuan hasnt been revaluated and now China has a retaliation option (nuclear) to attack the US Dollar with its massive Reserves nearly $1.3 trillion. This could be use as a bargain to reach an agreement and solve the problems, so now USA lost it's economic power and most of the US debt is in hands (44%) of Japan, China and many other countries.

China threatens 'nuclear option' of dollar sales

Ron Paul: END OF DOLLAR HEGEMONY

Ron Paul a US senator and a very well known economist tell everything u want to know about why the US dollar is falling and ending his hegemony in the world.

The first reason inflating their money, US treaty with saudi Arabia so the Oil would be sell in US Dollars

GOOGLE VIDEO HERE

Speech here (text)

China, Africa and OIL .(and USA)

Africa means 30% of Oil to Chinese big growing economy that also became the 2^nd largest importer of Oil with 6.5 millions barrels a day, Chinese has a very effective way of getting the oil using their $1.3 trillions dollars reserves, they are giving lots of money to the continent and building lots of school, roads and other things to help this poor continent.

Last year China closed great contract with Nigeria (USA provider) to take control of 45% of a big Oil deposit, at the end of 2006 China give loans to Nigeria, Angola and Mozambique for $8,000 millions of Dollars, in contrast World Bank only gave $2,300 MOD, best of all is that Chinese loans doesn’t have special rules like open the market to USA or privatize this and this…

The conflict on Darfur is for Human rights and genocide incited by USA just to get OIL, they are giving tactical training and WEAPONS to Chad and Ethiopia to get Sudan cut in 2 states and they would control the Oil rich of course, with that conflict USA want full MILITARY access of UN so they can protect the Oil opps Innocent people from there; SUDAN has received $15,000 MOD from China and it gives them 8% Oil china needs.

AFRICA Oil & Gas Reserves, Here a bigger picture

On 2006 Chinese represents visit all the continent searching for Oil contract and secure the Oil Fountain that Africa represent today.

Controlling Darfur means having a US base to secure the Horn of Africa and the transit of most of the Oil, US company began exploring for Oil on the continent on 1970’s but they decide to abandon project cuz the Regional conflicts, now Chevron (back by Condi Rice) has a big pipeline of $3.6 billion dollars to transport 160,000 Barrels a day from Chad to the Atlantic ocean Refineries to be shipped to USA.

NEWS LINKS

China and USA in New Cold War over Africa’s Oil Riches Darfur? It’s the Oil, Stupid...

Oil Production of 42 countries in the World

U.S. "imperialism" means new arms race: Putin

Great Poverty in the world by Subsidies

Last year I was reading a very interesting article made by CEPAL about how the agriculture subsides made the Poor people more POOR, and how all the world would be better if they tear down all of them.

In the USA 25% of all Farms receive nearly 89% of subsidies money (Ted Turner and Rockefeller family), the subsidies has the effect to make the prices of products from other countries reduce and the farmers win less money, most of EU (Europe Union) budget goes to subsidies.

OCDE states that in the period of 1999-2001 all the subsidies in the 1^st World were nearly $300,000 Millions of Dollars, and were spent in this way:

“European Union, 112.700 Millions of dollars; USA, 95.500 millions; Japan, 64.800 millions, other OCDE countries, 56.600 millions. The main beneficiaries’ products were MEAT (47.300 millions of dollars), Milk (42.100 millions), rice (26.400 millions), wheat (17.400 millions) and corn (12.900 millions).”

USA in 2005 spent in subsidies $23,000 millions of dollars directed to only 1% of the population, but 72% of the money is taken by only 10% of the “farmers”. Another example of this crazy spent of money is Japan they spent $4329 dollars per cow and EU $975.

Just for subsidies countries of the 3^rd world lost $40,000 millions of dollars every year, Other thing that makes things worst are the Tolls when the products enter a 1^st world country.

If subsidies were eradicated in all world, there would be earnings of $800,000 millions of dollars and the Industrialized Countries would take 40% of that cake, there would be a reductions of poor people aprox of 410 millions peoples.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE OF CEPAL IN SPANISH (PDF)

THE NEW 7 SISTERS

The “new seven sisters”, or the most influential energy companies from countries outside the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development OCDE, have been identified by the Financial Times Newspaper.

They are Saudi Aramco, Russia’s Gazprom, CNPC of China, NIOC of Iran, Venezuela’s PDVSA, Brazil’s Petrobras and Petronas of Malaysia.

They control almost one-third of the world’s oil and gas production and more than one-third of its total oil and gas reserves. In contrast, the old seven sisters – which shrank to four in the industry consolidation of the 1990s – produce about 10% of the world’s oil and gas and hold just 3% of reserves.

Even so, their integrated status – which means they sell not only oil and gas, but also gasoline, diesel and petrochemicals – push their revenues notably higher than those of the newcomers. This article also said what happen with PEMEX (Mexico) that lost most of their vertical integration and it’s dying because the Mexican government put lots of taxes on the company.

FINANCIAL TIMES SOURCE

Gold best than Dollar

Now that the Dollar is in Free Fall and USA government is doing NOTHING to stop that, many governments like Germany & China are buying more & more Gold to protect their foreign Reserves, that means that the US DOLLAR is going to loose status as World International Trade Money, in the last 2 years dollar loose 25% of value against EURO.

USA is facing another DANGER countries like Russia, China, Saudi Arabia are buying more US Treasury Bonds, that’s a danger because that countries can use it as geopolitic weapon against the unilateral power of the US.

Lots of Multimillionaires (Gates, Warren Buffet) are buying more and more GOLD to protect their fortunes against the free fall of the Dollar

Gold price was for months at $643 per onze and it would begin rising.

In 1920 with $20 dollars worth 1 onze of gold, today $600 dollars worth 1 onze of gold.

For more information and links about the DOLLAR FALLING check my other post, End of Dollar HegemonY.

LINKS

US DOLLAR IN FREE FALL (GOLDMONEY)

GOOD BYE US DOLLAR, HELLO GLOBAL CURRENCY

WHO OWNS US NATIONAL DEBT?

XXI century Great Game

During XIX century 2 great empires (British & Zarist Russia) where fighting for the dominance of Central Asia Region (from turkey to India) and this was call “Great Game”, now this region is a key element because of all Gas & Oil reserves, making it a battlefield of USA, Russia, and China. Even that Russia lost most of its influence in the region (4 million of kilometers² and 50 millions of people) with the breakdown of USSR, now Russia under the leadership of Comrade Putin all the country has been rebuild and retaken most of the power lost and its rightful place.

Azerbaijan Oil lake.

Dick Cheney has been traveling on Kazakhastan (2006) and other neighbors to secure those oil reserves and offer US “help”, Cheney has also been talking against Russia saying that “Russia is using all his Energetic reserves blackmailing the entire region and intimidating”.

Many of the countries in that region are autocratic and all the presidents has been there since the fall of the Soviet Union (15 years ago), USA doesn’t care that they don’t have any democracy they only want to secure Oil for their American Way of Life.

Shangai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was created in 1991 by China, Russia, Kazakhastan, Uzbekistán, Kirgystan y Tadjikistan to secure the interest in the region one of their best movements was to expel US from a base in Uzbekistán used in the war against Taliban.

USA consider that organization a bad influence to the region because it invites most of the members to China and show them: "Look I have a communist government and autoritary and my economy is open and everything is ALL RIGHT", Kazakhastan is a great example the president there give money and some state contracts only to his family but even with that he has made the country grow more than 9.1% last year, this country in the past was a Soviet Gulag and nuclear dump and test site.

FACTS

· Caspian region has between 17,000 and 44,000 millions of barrels but in all Great Game region it might be 80 and 150 mil millions of barrels

· SCO continue getting more influence inviting India and Pakistan and Iran as observer

· Russian Oil Export are 15.2% of world oil with reserves of 68,000 millions of barrels and nearly 25.8% of World Gas

· For 2010 the region could give 5% to World oil production.

Caspian Sea Oil Data

Russia Reinvented Empire

End of Dollar Hegemony

Since Bretton Woods the Gold stop backing World currencies (Dollar) and the OIL “Black GOLD” took that place (PetroDollars), US Made an agreement with most of the monarquies of the OPEP to pay for oil with dollars in exchange for protecting them against insurrections and foreign interventions, this system began trembling ‘cuz IRAK wanted EUROS for Oil exports sell using the UN program Oil for food… and now IRAN has a program to make an Oil Exchange Market (Kish International Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Bourse (KIOB) ), using only EUROS if they succeed it would be 3^rd behind London and New York, the only country that is thinking in joining is Syria.

Even that US spend $3 trillions of Dollars since the invasion of IRAK that doesn’t matter because the US is using world funding to pay for it, PRINTING DOLLARS with any value. China, Japan and other countries Borrow USA $5.8 billion dollars per month buying US Treasure Bonds.

Graphic of US Debt

The real fear of Bush is not the Islamic Terrorism, is the end of Cheap Oil & End of Dollar Hegemony that’s why he would never order the withdraw of US troops from Irak and it would make it a permanent Base to threat the Arab World if they want to turn to Euro. On March 23, 2006 Federal Reserve stop publishing M3 indicator that tells how many dollars are in the world with that the Reserve can continue printing dollars to flood the markets, with the only inflate the value of dollars a lot.

If more Arab countries continue to shift to Euro that lil’ change would make Dollar (Dollar is only back by Military power now) loose confidence in world markets and all the Paper without any value would return to US making a massive inflation there. Last year was going to happen something like that when China Main Bank want to shift most of his reserves to Euro but it decide not to do it.

USA doesn’t have to invade all IRAN it only need to secure Ormuz region (where most of oil flows to Europe and Asia) and also invading & securing Khuzestan near Irak having probed reserves of 26 billions of barrels. Iran has nearly 132 billions of Barrels, 10% of world oil reserves, if USA capture those reserve it would force China & India to continue buying Oil with dollars

FACTS

• Russia has reserves of $402,000 millions of Dollars of that 50% is in Euros other Oil countries are following that path in their Foreign reserves. Every year Russia add $170 billions to Reserve and Oil Stabilization Fund.
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• Because of Cheney statements against Russia is working in putting online his Oil & Gas Stock Exchange
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• Asia Main Bank (ADB) with 64 countries alert all members about a possible collapse of Dollar
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• Many countries has begun understanding that the Weak point of US EMPIRE is the DOLLAR
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• Today the USA has a HUGE déficit of $805,000 millions of Dollars, a public debt of $424,000 millions of Dollars and Private debt of reach 90% of GNP, all that makes a Grand total of $38 billions nearly World GNP. The interest for all that debt is $300,000 millions annually. That doesn’t include adventures of Bush in Irak & Afghanistan
• Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and George Soros, began to put their Huge Fortunes in Gold and Silver

Links:

GOODBYE US DOLLAR HELLO GLOBAL CURRENCY

Recession or Slowdown in US 2008

US DOLLAR IN FREE FALL (GOLDMONEY)

The End Of Dollar Hegemony by US Senator Ron Paul

The Real Reasons Bush Went to War (Irak)

Petrodollars Analysis

Iran May reduce use of Dollars in Oil Sells

Real Reason why US (Bush) want to attack Iran

Russia Money Reserves

World Money Reserves

China Reserves Exceed $1 Trillion Dollars

Housing Market Bubble Collapse soon

USA a Weak & Wounded Empire

US has a lots of problems now…. and with a weaken economy and industry the problem is worse... but this got worst just because the Texas Cowboy well know as W. BUSH. After World War II country all US companies where the best and was on top of production of all the world, now they have poor efficiency and production, a great example is the car industry now US only have 2 of 10 world car industries FORD & GMC (both with a great debts).

Even with that the country has a great power on IMF (International Monetary Fund) and WTO (World Trade Organization) both promote the free flow of investment & Commerce (and money) around the world, but this is very bad for the EMPIRE because it became very dependant of money from outside to finance the MEGA DEBT that grow at rate of $1.74 mil millions of Dollars since September 30 2005 and now its $8,386,272,505,202.03 Trillions of Dollars. The other great danger of US economy is the housing market bubble that would collapse and make recesion worst, most US citizen has mortage and today that exceed $1 trillion of dollars

Even that most of XX century was dominated by them this could not be achieve this new Century because the new players like China, India and the reborn from ashes of Russia BEAR.

This would be the great legacy of Cowboy BUSH for his 8 years Imperial Presidency.

KARL MARX says “the system makes his own destruction”

US National debt Clock growing everyday link:

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

LINKS

WHO OWNS US NATIONAL DEBT?

Congress set Debt limit to $9 trillion

Housing Market Bubble Would explode soon