Category: economics

Capitalism and Socialism

Contrasting capitalism and socialism is illogical. Socialism depicts a belief that all societies’ endeavors are for human society; capitalism embodies the view that either societies or individuals need to amass and control the power to produce. A more logical contrast might be socialism & feudalism: socialism embodies the notion of egalitarianism, feudalism of authoritarianism; capitalism may advance the goals of society or of the individual’s authority.

Oil in 2008 and 2020

“On Sunday, November 9, 2008 Jeff Rubin of CIBC World Markets suggested that the economic uncertainty(usually described as a credit crunch caused by U.S. sub prime mortgages) that could produce world-wide recession, was likely caused by the third major oil shock since 1973 as the rise in oil prices acted as a severe tax on debt repayment.

As oil prices rose the cost of housing stagnated checked by the growing cash shortage; variable rate mortgage costs rose above house prices as rates were increased to attract an ever scarcer currency, home owners abandoned homes they could no longer pay for. Borrowers became cash starved as lenders stopped lending.”

In March of 2020 an economic event  happened that reflected the financial events of autumn of 2008: both include the price of oil, stock market corrections, and government bailouts to compensate financial loss. In 2008 Mr. Rubin opined that astronomically high oil/gasoline prices resulted from a third oil shock.

In 2020 it’s believed that oil prices fell to zero because the covid 19 pandemic made everyone stop accepting travelers which eliminated the need for fuel precisely  when oil producers such as Russia and Arabia couldn’t agree to produce less oil.

Like the government bailouts of 2008 government attempts to compensate financial losses caused by less economic activity have been embroiled in political debate about costs and as in 2008 the need to prohibit wealthy entities from helping themselves to funds intended for those suffering real financial hardship as a result of the economic shutdown.

While oil prices went to zero in 2020 as a result of apparent over supply, almost as if oil had become an unnecessary commodity, the price of gold, a truly useless material of emotional value to the individual and insurance to institutions continued to increase. Gold a symbolic item rose in price while oil an essential ingredient for most-twenty first century products decreased with declining stock markets. As world oil prices increased from zero, stock markets steadied: minor moves of the Dow Jones market became linked to ups and downs of oil markets.

The week ending Friday July 10, oil price was + 2.64% , Dow Jones market was +1.47%. Gold and bond prices declined.

(edited July 11,2020)

The System

“Netflix CEO and Wife Give $120 Million to Historically Black Colleges”

The Wall Street Journal

Believe it or not this is how the system operates. The system is made of social influencers from various races who gain influence through access to wealth. If the police are influencers they are directing the system if not they are victims of the system; if politicians have access to wealth they are part of the system as I’ve heard some are: if not they like the great majority without wealth are victims of the system.

Where are the Republicans?

On May 16, 2020, I was perusing The Sundance/ Conservative Tree House site, and came across comments reacting to President Trump’s recently warning Republican senate leader, Mitch McConnell, that time was running out. One of the comments was supported by a video of a speech given in 2015 to either the US congress or the senate by Republican senator Ted Cruz about the UNIPARTY system in which Republicans when controlling both congress and the senate would roll over and accept any legislation the Obama Democrats wanted as long as they were threatened with a government SHUT DOWN. That speech reminded me of the following piece that I wrote around the time of a government SHUTDOWN.

“During the 2012 Republican primaries and the presidential election that followed I was unable to detect among Canadian or American journalists anyone who admitted supporting Republican candidates or the political concerns of the Republican party. Everything said or written about Republicans stressed their representing tax breaks for the rich and in general big money. And to me “everything said or written” means easy to pick up because it’s been said ad infinitum, and almost word for word Online. So I began wondering what a confessed Republican voter would look like. Would they look like a Bush, a Romney, a Ron Paul, a Pat Buchanan or any other Republican politician, certainly not an easily identifiable news delivering journalist. Or might they resemble the writers of articles about Democrat supporters such as Exelon or BP: small money?

And today after the shut down and debt limits dust has settled and everyone needing government money can resume getting paid, and the Chinese purchasers of  U.S. bonds can stop worrying, at least until January or February 2014, that they might not receive the interest payments they need to help pay for the manufacture of consumer products that they ship to Europe’s and America’s consumers, I again ask: are there really any Republicans out there. Maybe because I don’t live in the U.S. and get only wall-to-wall news from journalists both Canadian and American: maybe if I lived in one of the states painted red that sometimes makes me think that the entire map of America except for the little blue splotches in the south-west and north-east corners, I’d know what a Republican looks like. And what’s really funny about no one acting like they favour Republicans is that most of the little bits of blue on America’s political map seem to represent areas that contain high concentrations of U.S wealth arising from technology, dwindling manufacturing, and most of all from banking in the north- east, where big money is made out of smaller money.

Today is October 19, 2013, and I’ve been reading an October 18 print Toronto Star article from Reuters that tells how Mr. Obama has been scolding congress especially Republican congress people about the way they’ve jeopardized the United States by needlessly forcing the recent government shut down. Again I can’t stop thinking about all those people from north to south who voted for Mr. Romney and Republican politicians, and wondering how they must feel about this near endless vilification of Republicans. No one says anything to defend or console Republican supporters other than we fought the good fight and lost, or a recent expression of human regard by a media person on Canada’s BNN television who asked colleagues more than once through her mid-day stint: Don’t you think they’re just kicking them(Republicans) when they’re down?”

Retributive Justice

“We will never let the great U.S. Oil & Gas Industry down. I have instructed the Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Treasury to formulate a plan which will make funds available so that these very important companies and jobs will be secured long into the future!”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2020

I remember reading a media report yesterday about a man who said that the coronavirus# 19, the new one, quarantines were all about politics receiving divine retribution in catching that real apolitical virus.

President Trump’s tweet above implies a co- motive to the possible political motive for turning off certain businesses while encouraging others: the economic motive through which politics gives power over public money given to the U.S. oil and gas industry and perhaps to the weapons industry.

PS. On Monday, April 20, the day that world oil prices were said to have been half ed, already cut in half when Russia and the oil producer cartel decided to feud over production cuts as coronavirus cases exploded with the collapse of US markets, an obscure little Canadian energy miner’s stock price increased conspicuously nearly doubling its market crash low. Yesterday that same little company’s stock was still gaining, as media continued reporting the demise of oil.

What’s money worth?

“The interest rate-sensitive S&P 500 Banks Index surged 2.5%, following a rise in U.S. Treasury yields.” Reuters September 5, 2019

For anyone who didn’t know: all that money safely buried in bonds took bond yields and stock markets down; when it returned to stocks, bond yields went up. Money buying bonds raises their price and lowers their yields: interest rates. Selling bonds to buy things like stocks lowers the price of bonds and raises interest rates.

Gold stocks also went down with the price of bonds. Since people buy gold when they are sceptical of money’s worth, will they resort to barter if money’s value is erased?

Weapons purchase ensures America’s greatness.

It’s almost 2 years (June 8,2017) since I asked why NATO was pleased with https://deremigi.wordpress.com/2017/06/08/canadas-purchase-of-war-weapons-pleases-nato/ Canada’s latest purchases of war weapons as President Trump was announcing his intended increase in USA’s weapon’s expenditures to make America great again. I don’t think any Pulitzer Prize journalist said anything about the president and his military: they seemed too distracted by his appearance and personality to bother writing about foreign policy and the making of expensive weapons to be purchased by the USA treasury.

June 21, 2020: I saw the first few minutes of President Trump’s celebrating his accomplishments at his Tulsa reelection event when he told of his glorious 2 trillion dollar weapons purchase to ensure that the US military can maintain America’s greatness.