Premium Archives
by
charleshughsmith
Executive Summary
- The obesity epidemic
- Failings of the national healthcare system
- New models for obtaining care
- The basics of prevention
If you have not yet read The Rising Threats To Our Health, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
In Part 1, we reviewed some of the major global health issues that will challenge households, economies and nation-states around the world as the global population ages and lifestyle/pollution/age-related chronic diseases affect hundreds of millions of people.
In Part 2, we look at issues that are specific to the U.S. and other developed economies, and consider the impacts of these issues on us as individuals: the bottom line is prevention is in our court.
Overweight/Obesity
While many of the problems listed in Part 1 are found mostly in developing economies (severe pollution, etc.), many others are pressing issues in both developing and developed economies (smoking, chronic lifestyle disorders such as metabolic syndrome, hypertension, heart disease, etc.)
The U.S. leads the world in percentages of overweight (generally defined as a body mass index (BMI) of over 25) and obese (BMI over 30) residents, though a number of countries are close behind.
While the specific causes of metabolic syndrome (pre-diabetes) and the causal connections of obesity to other conditions such as inflammation, sleep disorders, etc. are still under investigation, it’s clear that…
Putting Our Health Into Our Own Hands
PREVIEW by charleshughsmithExecutive Summary
- The obesity epidemic
- Failings of the national healthcare system
- New models for obtaining care
- The basics of prevention
If you have not yet read The Rising Threats To Our Health, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
In Part 1, we reviewed some of the major global health issues that will challenge households, economies and nation-states around the world as the global population ages and lifestyle/pollution/age-related chronic diseases affect hundreds of millions of people.
In Part 2, we look at issues that are specific to the U.S. and other developed economies, and consider the impacts of these issues on us as individuals: the bottom line is prevention is in our court.
Overweight/Obesity
While many of the problems listed in Part 1 are found mostly in developing economies (severe pollution, etc.), many others are pressing issues in both developing and developed economies (smoking, chronic lifestyle disorders such as metabolic syndrome, hypertension, heart disease, etc.)
The U.S. leads the world in percentages of overweight (generally defined as a body mass index (BMI) of over 25) and obese (BMI over 30) residents, though a number of countries are close behind.
While the specific causes of metabolic syndrome (pre-diabetes) and the causal connections of obesity to other conditions such as inflammation, sleep disorders, etc. are still under investigation, it’s clear that…
by
charleshughsmith
Executive Summary
- Other currencies are inflating faster than the USD
- The USD is still backed by a preponderance of the world's assets
- The potential for a global currency crisis is rising
- Why USD will be the (initial) safe haven when it arrives
If you have not yet read Part 1: How Much Higher Can The U.S. Dollar Go?, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
In Part 1, we reviewed the technical evidence in support of a second move higher in a multi-year U.S. dollar rally. Here in Part 2, we ask: What conditions might drive such a move higher?
To answer this question, let’s start with another question: What’s scarce in the world of foreign exchange (FX)?
We ask this because capital, profits and gains flow to what’s scarce and in demand. This boils down to supply and demand: gains go to whatever is in high demand and scarce, and whatever is not in demand and over-supplied will lose value.
Supply and Demand
Like every other commodity, currencies respond to supply and demand: whatever currency is scarce and in demand will rise, while currencies that are in oversupply and not in demand will decline.
Though many presume the world is awash in dollars as a result of Federal Reserve quantitative easing, the reality is that expansion of USD via bank loans (credit) and Fed money-creation is modest compared to the expansion of other global currencies such as China’s renminbi (RMB), a.k.a. yuan.
Consider this chart of bank credit expansion in the U.S. and in China since the onset of the “Great Recovery” in early 2009: China’s bank credit has soared by 260%, a sum that is roughly 140% of China’s entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while U.S. bank credit rose by a modest 12% of U.S. GDP.
If we compare M2 money supply, we find…
Why The Coming Currency Crisis Will Push The USD Higher
PREVIEW by charleshughsmithExecutive Summary
- Other currencies are inflating faster than the USD
- The USD is still backed by a preponderance of the world's assets
- The potential for a global currency crisis is rising
- Why USD will be the (initial) safe haven when it arrives
If you have not yet read Part 1: How Much Higher Can The U.S. Dollar Go?, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
In Part 1, we reviewed the technical evidence in support of a second move higher in a multi-year U.S. dollar rally. Here in Part 2, we ask: What conditions might drive such a move higher?
To answer this question, let’s start with another question: What’s scarce in the world of foreign exchange (FX)?
We ask this because capital, profits and gains flow to what’s scarce and in demand. This boils down to supply and demand: gains go to whatever is in high demand and scarce, and whatever is not in demand and over-supplied will lose value.
Supply and Demand
Like every other commodity, currencies respond to supply and demand: whatever currency is scarce and in demand will rise, while currencies that are in oversupply and not in demand will decline.
Though many presume the world is awash in dollars as a result of Federal Reserve quantitative easing, the reality is that expansion of USD via bank loans (credit) and Fed money-creation is modest compared to the expansion of other global currencies such as China’s renminbi (RMB), a.k.a. yuan.
Consider this chart of bank credit expansion in the U.S. and in China since the onset of the “Great Recovery” in early 2009: China’s bank credit has soared by 260%, a sum that is roughly 140% of China’s entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while U.S. bank credit rose by a modest 12% of U.S. GDP.
If we compare M2 money supply, we find…
by
Chris Martenson
Executive Summary
- The US/Russia proxy war in Syria is fast escalating to dangerous levels
- Much of the unrest today was imminently avoidable and sadly ignored
- The US neo-con model is making more enemies both outside and inside America
- The risks of full-blown war breaking out
- What to do to prepare in advance
If you have not yet read Part 1: Making The World A More Dangerous Place available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
Look, we’ve given these warnings before and unless you happen to live in one of the unfortunate countries that is being bombed or overtly or covertly supplied with the weapons of war by the west, they seem to not have amounted to much.
Such is the nature of reading tea leaves. Instead of thinking of them as binary outcomes – things that either happened or didn’t happen – think of them as ‘probability fields.’ Like the chance of rolling a three with a 6-sided die vs. the chance of rolling a three with a 20-sided die. The ‘probability field’ of the 6-sided die is a lot higher.
The probabilities and forces that push us closer to and further from war are ever changing and highly complex. They shift with events and decisions, most of which we are unaware of because they are either not reported on or reported with heavy distortion of the truth.
So reading the tea leaves is the best we can do.
Our advice for any war breaking out anywhere in the Middle East, or especially between Russia (or China) and the West would be to have all of your preparations done a year before that moment.
Anything that disrupts global maritime trade, even for a very short while will rock the financial systems of the world. Anything that calls into question the desire or ability of a country to repay its foreign debts (and wars are great excuses to stiff your creditors if they happen to be attacking you) will rock the financial world.
Heck, anything that…
How Things May Well Get Ugly Quickly
PREVIEW by Chris MartensonExecutive Summary
- The US/Russia proxy war in Syria is fast escalating to dangerous levels
- Much of the unrest today was imminently avoidable and sadly ignored
- The US neo-con model is making more enemies both outside and inside America
- The risks of full-blown war breaking out
- What to do to prepare in advance
If you have not yet read Part 1: Making The World A More Dangerous Place available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
Look, we’ve given these warnings before and unless you happen to live in one of the unfortunate countries that is being bombed or overtly or covertly supplied with the weapons of war by the west, they seem to not have amounted to much.
Such is the nature of reading tea leaves. Instead of thinking of them as binary outcomes – things that either happened or didn’t happen – think of them as ‘probability fields.’ Like the chance of rolling a three with a 6-sided die vs. the chance of rolling a three with a 20-sided die. The ‘probability field’ of the 6-sided die is a lot higher.
The probabilities and forces that push us closer to and further from war are ever changing and highly complex. They shift with events and decisions, most of which we are unaware of because they are either not reported on or reported with heavy distortion of the truth.
So reading the tea leaves is the best we can do.
Our advice for any war breaking out anywhere in the Middle East, or especially between Russia (or China) and the West would be to have all of your preparations done a year before that moment.
Anything that disrupts global maritime trade, even for a very short while will rock the financial systems of the world. Anything that calls into question the desire or ability of a country to repay its foreign debts (and wars are great excuses to stiff your creditors if they happen to be attacking you) will rock the financial world.
Heck, anything that…
Total 1184 items
Community
by hgrootveldgmail-com 
eQRP: Self-Directed Retirement
Learn more