Category Archives: Business/Economics

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Former U.S. official supports my earlier posts, saying Libya is about oil & China

In an earlier posting I warned that the Libyan situation could lead to World War 3.  It’s all about not letting China have Libya’s oil.

Former U.S. Treasury official, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, admitted to Iranian media, that the so called rebellion in Libya was about oil, and not letting China have it: “In my opinion, what this is about is to eliminate China from the Mediterranean. China has extensive energy investments and construction investments in Libya.”

Roberts says the real reason the United States wants Gaddafi out, is because he refused to join the U.S. created United States African Command, which was created to counter China’s influence in the region: “The U.S. is countering this by organizing the United States African Command (USAC), which Qaddafi refused to join. So that’s the second reason for the Americans to want Qaddafi out.”

Roberts says if NATO succeeds in Libya, Syria and then Iran will be next: “If NATO, which is now the cover for the ‘world community,’ succeeds in overthrowing Qaddafi, the next target will be Syria. Iran is a major target because it is an independent state that is not a puppet of the Western colonialists.”

Roberts warned that this could lead to World War 3.  He compared what the U.S. and U.K. did to Japan before World War 2: “In my opinion, what is going on is comparable to what the U.S. and Britain did to Japan in the 1930s. When they cut Japan off from oil, from rubber, from minerals; that was the origin of World War II in the pacific. And now the Americans and the British are doing the same thing to China.”

There is much more to the interview by Press TV

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

BP blames rig owner for Gulf of Mexico oil disaster

British Petroleum is suing Transocean for at least $40 billion in damages.  BP claims the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history was caused by the failure of every safety system on the Deepwater Horizon rig.

BP is also suing Cameron International, claiming they provided a faulty blowout preventer.

Transocean, and Cameron International are suing BP, saying British Petroleum caused the problems, by making decisions based on cost savings, not safety.

Transocean is also suing Cameron International, and Halliburton, as well.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

More details about extended Toyota factory cuts

On Tuesday Toyota announced more cuts for North American factories, now more cuts in Europe and China.

For Europe Toyota announced that they will cut production, after the already scheduled production halt for the end of this month.  The reason is lack of electronic parts.  Toyota’s Chinese factories will also see production cuts, in some cases production will be down to 30%.  The production cuts, around the world, could last past May.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Toyota to cut more North American production

Toyota announced that it will have to continue cuts in production in its North American factories.  Continued parts supply problems being blamed.

Factories in Mexico, Canada and the United States will now suspend operations on Mondays and Fridays.  Production will be cut in half on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  The latest cuts will continue until June 3.

Toyota expects the new cuts to directly affect North American car sales.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World Bank & IMF not happy about economic situation

“We are one shock away from a full-blown crisis.” Robert Zoellick, World Bank President

The World bank is run by the United States, and if the current situation within the U.S. is any sign, then the world economy, influenced by the World Bank, is in trouble.

The International Monetary Fund is worried as well: “Especially because of youth unemployment… there is now a risk that this will be turned into a life sentence, and that there is a possibility of a lost generation.”-Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF chief

One analyst says fiscal and monetary policies might actually make things worse: “What they do is they very often pressure government to adopt what we call pro-cyclical policies. The economy’s weak and in recession, they want them to cut spending or raise taxes. And that can be very dangerous, I mean you can slip back into recession, you can make a recession worse.”- Mark Weisbrot, Center for Economic and Policy Research

Officials with the World Bank, and the IMF, say food prices, citizen security, justice and jobs, are the main issues for international economic stability.  Yet history shows that the policies of the IMF and World Bank actually cause some of the problems: “The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank say that they are interested in reducing poverty. All their actions however said otherwise. Their actions have instead raised the poverty level and created under-development.”-Andrew Garvin Marshall, Center for Research on Globalization

The president of the World Bank has always been a United States citizen, since 1944.

Business/Economics, U.S.

Economic Recovery? More Lies from the Lying Liars

“GDP that stems from new debt — mainly deficit spending — is phony: it is debt-financed consumption, not prosperity. Net of deficit spending, our prosperity is nearly unchanged from 1998, 13 years ago.”-Rob Arnott, Research Affiliates

Arnott says the Democrats and Republicans are to blame.  They continue to play games with the voters/taxpayers.  While tax revenues have steadily dropped since 1998, because of a bad economy, both major political parties just spend spend spend.

Yes, Arnott says the declining economy started back in 1998, it just didn’t impact the system until 2007, when the housing bubble burst.  One reason the Federal Government is having a problem with its spending is that our elected officials think our incomes are up, and as a result, tax revenues should be as well.  But they’re not; Arnott says tax revenues are at 1994 levels.

Arnott says part of the problem with the politicians is that current economic  statistics are flat wrong.  Economic stats, showing consumer spending and GDP, include deficit spending. In other words, credit cards and loans are being used to make it look like the average person has money.  And this has been going on for a while.

By using purchases made with credit cards, or loans, it makes it look like people have money, and that the economy is good.  These stats are used by our politicians to justify spending tax payer money.

When you throw out the debt spending by consumers, the real GDP figures show we’re stuck in the 1990s.  Arnott calls GDP minus debt spending “structural GDP”.  Also, he says government spending is another misleading factor used in GDP stats.  He says that should be left out as well, only private sector GDP should be looked at, and it’s not pretty.

Another analyst, Max Fraad Wolff, says historically countries go down the drain when their government debt gets close to its GDP levels: “We are approaching national debt on par with the total GDP of the country. This is very serious because most economic research suggests that countries tend to decelerate in their growth and have more and more severe economic problems, once their debt-to-GDP ratio gets above about 90 per cent. And we’re about to go through that level.”

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Iran threatens higher oil prices, says “No way will it fall below $100”

“Iran can have an effect on world energy and fuel. Fuel prices will go up dramatically. If sanctions are not removed, particularly sanctions against banks and other economic sanctions, the price of oil will go above $150 a barrel.”-Mahmoud Bahmani, Iran’s central bank

A top U.S. Federal Reserve official said that gasoline prices above $4 a gallon would throw the U.S. economy into another recession.

Iran is the world’s third-leading oil exporter, and thanks to U.S. backed sanctions, has just expanded their own oil refining abilities, now making them an exporter of gasoline as well.

On top of any threats of increased oil prices, Iranian oil Minister Massoud Mir-Kazemi, said factors remain that will ensure that oil prices will continue to go up, regardless of how much oil is pumped out of the ground: “The price of oil depends on two things: First, the fundamentals, including supply and demand, and then the political, psychological and unforeseen elements. Based on these factors, oil prices should increase again by end of the year.”

 


Business/Economics, International

Iran and Pakistan speed up pipeline development, Germany onboard

The Iran-Pak (or Pak-Iran) Gas pipeline just got a boost from Germany.  A German company signed a deal to lay the new pipeline between Pakistan and Iran.

The German company might be ILF Consulting Engineers, who were hired to do a feasibility study earlier in the month of April.

The pipeline will begin from Iran’s Assalouyeh Energy Zone in the south, run through Pakistan, and could end up in China, depending on future deals with China.  Originally the pipeline was to run to India, but there were issues with the Indian government.

Business/Economics, International

Iran and Germany sign Gas deal, so much for U.S. backed UN sanctions

Germany has agreed to provide Iran with the latest technology and training, to take advantage of the South Pars natural gas fields in Iran.

Iran is also working with several European countries for similar deals: “We are in talks with many foreign companies to attract U.S.$20 billion of investment.”-Mahmoud Zirakchianzadeh, Managing-Director of the National Iranian Offshore Oil Company

Iran has already signed a deal with South Korea.

Iran had signed a deal with the French, but said the French failed to live up to their end of the bargain.

Iran hopes to push production of the South Pars gas fields up to 1.1 billion cubic meters per day.