As West falters, Asia Pacific region emerging as new global economic engine

As West falters, Asia Pacific region emerging as new global economic engine

John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Despite the persistent economic headwinds which are expected to slow economic expansion this year, “growth in the Asia and the Pacific area remains better than in any other region; continuing as an anchor of stability and a new growth pole for the world economy.” That’s the guardedly optimistic prognosis […]

Collapsing Europe is in crisis and the U.S. bailout option, for once, is not available

Collapsing Europe is in crisis and the U.S. bailout option, for once, is not available

Sol W. Sanders   [See Archive] Despite the fact that Europe is in the Northern Hemisphere, the downward swirl of the euro this month took a reverse direction and started going left — counterclockwise. Maybe it is the first part of the Mayan prediction that gravity will fail later this year and we will all […]

What good are technological advances if common sense is going the way of dinosaurs?

What good are technological advances if common sense is going the way of dinosaurs?

Sol W. Sanders [See Archive Imagine a graph representing world problems: There are two mounting growth lines. One represents “technology”, defined as “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.” The other charts “common sense”, defined as “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.” At the upper corner […]

Liquidate the World Bank!

Liquidate the World Bank!

Sol W. Sanders [See Archive] An old adage holds bureaucracies may successfully pursue their original goals for only a generation. After that their efforts go to feathering their bureaucratic nest. Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae are examples: outrageous executive compensation and payoffs to Congressional friends, all contributing to a housing bust, now requiring more billions […]

Obama’s overspending ensures Euro-debt will devastate U.S.

Obama’s overspending ensures Euro-debt will devastate U.S.

Jeffrey T. Kuhner President Obama’s budget puts America on the path toward Greece. It is a reckless document, a stunning betrayal of U.S. economic interests. By its own numbers, Obamanomics leads to national bankruptcy. Unless there is a dramatic course correction, we will share the bleak fate of the Greeks: riots, chaos and internationally imposed […]

World waits for someone to do something, and then waits some more

World waits for someone to do something, and then waits some more

Sol W. Sanders Looking around the world, the striking characteristic is waiting out a number of crises. Their outcome seems almost artificially suspended, and their interaction on one another and their ultimate effect on the world is at issue. We start with the Euro. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s supplications in Beijing were perhaps laudable but a […]

High stakes: Obama’s ace, Iranian oil and the 2012 election

High stakes: Obama’s ace, Iranian oil and the 2012 election

Sol W. Sanders President Barack Obama has launched new international diplomatic poker with “a trailing hand”. It is impossible to exaggerate the forces at play, economic as well as political, foreign and domestic, and their interplay. When he signed Dec. 31st the latest Iran provisos, Mr. Obama was handed new clout to cut Iran’s energy […]

Taxpayer-backed Cadillac helped fund Chinese Communist propaganda film

Taxpayer-backed Cadillac helped fund Chinese Communist propaganda film

Lev Navrozov On Jan. 3, Yahoo! News published a speech by Chinese President Hu Jintao, delivered at an annual policy meeting of the party’s Central Committee, “Hu: Hostile Forces Seek to Westernize, Split China” (by Gillian Wong, Associated Press). “Hu’s remarks are part of the Communist Party’s broader push to reinforce socialist principles in an […]

Drastic fixes for critical crises or dodgy compromises for bumps in the road?

Drastic fixes for critical crises or dodgy compromises for bumps in the road?

Sol W. Sanders “Moderation in all things”, said a pre-Christian North African Roman dramatist, Terence [Publius Terentius Afer]. But like so many artists, he latched on to a beautiful artifact but got the logic wrong. He’s echoed these days in the oft repeated mantra from talking heads calling for compromise. It usually follows a description […]

N.Y. Times: ‘Modest’ global tax is cool with almost everyone except U.S. taxpayers

N.Y. Times: ‘Modest’ global tax is cool with almost everyone except U.S. taxpayers

Special to WorldTribune.com Based on an article by Cliff Kincaid for Accuracy in Media A New York Times story about a “modest” global tax mentions some of those supporting the idea but forgets an important one — the United Nations. At a Nov. 30 U.N.-sponsored conference in Washington, D.C., officials of the U.N. Development Program […]