page-loading-spinner
Home Geopolitics

Geopolitics

Image | None of This Makes Any Sense
None of This Makes Any Sense
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson

I have to confess, these are trying times for those of us trying to make sense of the markets from a fundamentals standpoint.  We are back in serious bubble territory, and during the heights of bubbles, all sorts of newly-minted rationalizations are bandied about as the new wisdom or a 'new normal'.

I am simply amazed that we are in yet another massive bubble, so soon after the last ones, and that so few remember the lessons from those events.
None of This Makes Any Sense
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

I have to confess, these are trying times for those of us trying to make sense of the markets from a fundamentals standpoint.  We are back in serious bubble territory, and during the heights of bubbles, all sorts of newly-minted rationalizations are bandied about as the new wisdom or a 'new normal'.

I am simply amazed that we are in yet another massive bubble, so soon after the last ones, and that so few remember the lessons from those events.
Image | Kicking the Can, As Expected
Kicking the Can, As Expected
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson

I didn't get too worked up analyzing what might happen in the event of a U.S. default on its debt, because I knew in my heart of hearts that such a move would have required some serious political spine.

This is something that is completely lacking in both parties right now, so I didn't worry about any other outcome besides an eleventh-hour agreement to kick the can a bit further down the road.
Kicking the Can, As Expected
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

I didn't get too worked up analyzing what might happen in the event of a U.S. default on its debt, because I knew in my heart of hearts that such a move would have required some serious political spine.

This is something that is completely lacking in both parties right now, so I didn't worry about any other outcome besides an eleventh-hour agreement to kick the can a bit further down the road.
Image | Bud Conrad: The Bursting of the Bond Bubble Is Now Upon Us
Bud Conrad: The Bursting of the Bond Bubble Is Now Upon Us
by Adam Taggart

At the recent Casey Research conference in Tucson, AZ, Casey chief economist Bud Conrad stepped up to the podium, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a balloon, which he proceeded to inflate. As it grew, it become clear the word "BONDS" was written across it. For dramatic effect, Bud continued inflating the balloon until it popped. He then looked at the audience and said, "I hope I'm making a point."
Bud Conrad: The Bursting of the Bond Bubble Is Now Upon Us
 by Adam Taggart

At the recent Casey Research conference in Tucson, AZ, Casey chief economist Bud Conrad stepped up to the podium, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a balloon, which he proceeded to inflate. As it grew, it become clear the word "BONDS" was written across it. For dramatic effect, Bud continued inflating the balloon until it popped. He then looked at the audience and said, "I hope I'm making a point."
Image | The New Education Models Offering New Hope
The New Education Models Offering New Hope
 PREVIEW
by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • The 4 higher education solutions of the Nearly Free University
  • How higher education can be both cheaper & better than today's alternatives
  • The catalytic roles played by both networking & network theory
  • Making decisions for yourself/your children in this new emerging education spectrum

If you have not yet read The (Needed) Revolution Emerging in Education, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part I, we surveyed the foundations of Higher Education and its obsolete Factory Model.  We described its predatory reliance on student loans to feed its bloated cost structure and its failure to provide students with the skills needed in the economy of the 2010s; i.e., the emerging economy.

In essence, the foundation of higher education has been completely upended.  Knowledge and instruction, once costly and scarce, are now abundant and nearly free. The only pricing power left to Higher Education cartel is the artificial scarcity of credentials.

That is not the power of a productive system; it is the power of a predatory system.

The Four Higher Education Solutions of the Nearly Free University

There are four broad technology-enabled solutions that would free higher education from its current cartel limitations on opportunities and accreditation…

The New Education Models Offering New Hope
 PREVIEW by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • The 4 higher education solutions of the Nearly Free University
  • How higher education can be both cheaper & better than today's alternatives
  • The catalytic roles played by both networking & network theory
  • Making decisions for yourself/your children in this new emerging education spectrum

If you have not yet read The (Needed) Revolution Emerging in Education, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part I, we surveyed the foundations of Higher Education and its obsolete Factory Model.  We described its predatory reliance on student loans to feed its bloated cost structure and its failure to provide students with the skills needed in the economy of the 2010s; i.e., the emerging economy.

In essence, the foundation of higher education has been completely upended.  Knowledge and instruction, once costly and scarce, are now abundant and nearly free. The only pricing power left to Higher Education cartel is the artificial scarcity of credentials.

That is not the power of a productive system; it is the power of a predatory system.

The Four Higher Education Solutions of the Nearly Free University

There are four broad technology-enabled solutions that would free higher education from its current cartel limitations on opportunities and accreditation…

Image | Jim Rickards: We’re Witnessing One of the Greatest Failed Experiments in Economic History
Jim Rickards: We’re Witnessing One of the Greatest Failed Experiments in Economic History
by Adam Taggart

Jim Rickards, author of the best-seller Currency Wars, sees the world's central banks embroiled in a "race to debase" their currencies in order to restore – at any cost – growth to their weakened economies.

In the midst of the fight, the U.S. Federal Reserve wields oversized power due to the dollar's unique position as the global reserve currency. As a result, actions by the Fed create huge percussive ripples across the battlefield, often influencing events in ways little understood by the players – and especially by the Fed itself.

In Rickards' words, the policymakers at the Fed "think they are dialing a thermostat up and down, but they're actually playing with a nuclear reactor – and they could melt the whole thing down":

Jim Rickards: We’re Witnessing One of the Greatest Failed Experiments in Economic History
 by Adam Taggart

Jim Rickards, author of the best-seller Currency Wars, sees the world's central banks embroiled in a "race to debase" their currencies in order to restore – at any cost – growth to their weakened economies.

In the midst of the fight, the U.S. Federal Reserve wields oversized power due to the dollar's unique position as the global reserve currency. As a result, actions by the Fed create huge percussive ripples across the battlefield, often influencing events in ways little understood by the players – and especially by the Fed itself.

In Rickards' words, the policymakers at the Fed "think they are dialing a thermostat up and down, but they're actually playing with a nuclear reactor – and they could melt the whole thing down":

Image | Off the Cuff: Poking the Stick
Off the Cuff: Poking the Stick
 PREVIEW
by Adam Taggart

In this week's Off the Cuff podcast, Chris and Mish discuss:

  • Syria
    • Hard to see an upside to intervention there
  • India
    • Showing us what a full-blown currency crisis looks like
  • Japan, Brazil, the PIIGS…
    • In danger of soon following India's lead
Off the Cuff: Poking the Stick
 PREVIEW by Adam Taggart

In this week's Off the Cuff podcast, Chris and Mish discuss:

  • Syria
    • Hard to see an upside to intervention there
  • India
    • Showing us what a full-blown currency crisis looks like
  • Japan, Brazil, the PIIGS…
    • In danger of soon following India's lead
Image | The Obama Administration’s Natural Gas Policy Is Tragically Misguided
The Obama Administration’s Natural Gas Policy Is Tragically Misguided
by Chris Martenson

The Obama administration has come out in support of the idea of exporting U.S. natural gas.  This stance is counterproductive, short-sighted, and if followed will prove harmful to domestic manufacturing (i.e., value generation) – not just now, but for future generations of Americans.

While exporting natural gas would certainly prove to be an economic boon for a very select minority of companies and individuals, it makes no sense from an energy standpoint and undermines our national interests. All it will do is enrich a few, while boosting prices for all domestic consumers and shortchanging the energy and environmental inheritance we pass along to our children.
The Obama Administration’s Natural Gas Policy Is Tragically Misguided
 by Chris Martenson

The Obama administration has come out in support of the idea of exporting U.S. natural gas.  This stance is counterproductive, short-sighted, and if followed will prove harmful to domestic manufacturing (i.e., value generation) – not just now, but for future generations of Americans.

While exporting natural gas would certainly prove to be an economic boon for a very select minority of companies and individuals, it makes no sense from an energy standpoint and undermines our national interests. All it will do is enrich a few, while boosting prices for all domestic consumers and shortchanging the energy and environmental inheritance we pass along to our children.
Image | We’ve Dug a Pretty Damn Big Hole for Ourselves
We’ve Dug a Pretty Damn Big Hole for Ourselves
by JHK

The diminishing returns of technology are insidious, and they are ever with us. By this I mean the slow erosion of the quality of life, despite the impression that technological wonders only make our lives better.
We’ve Dug a Pretty Damn Big Hole for Ourselves
 by JHK

The diminishing returns of technology are insidious, and they are ever with us. By this I mean the slow erosion of the quality of life, despite the impression that technological wonders only make our lives better.
Image | We’re Living Through a Rare Economic Transformation
We’re Living Through a Rare Economic Transformation
by charleshughsmith

In 1993, management guru Peter Drucker published a short book entitled Post-Capitalist Society.  Despite the fact that the Internet was still in its pre-browser infancy, Drucker identified the developed-world economies as knowledge-based – as opposed to from industrial economies, which were were from the agrarian societies they superseded.

Drucker used the term post-capitalist not to suggest the emergence of a new “ism” beyond the free market, but to describe a new economic order that was no longer defined by the adversarial classes of labor and the owners of capital.  Now that knowledge has trumped financial capital and labor alike, the new classes are knowledge workers and service workers.

We’re Living Through a Rare Economic Transformation
 by charleshughsmith

In 1993, management guru Peter Drucker published a short book entitled Post-Capitalist Society.  Despite the fact that the Internet was still in its pre-browser infancy, Drucker identified the developed-world economies as knowledge-based – as opposed to from industrial economies, which were were from the agrarian societies they superseded.

Drucker used the term post-capitalist not to suggest the emergence of a new “ism” beyond the free market, but to describe a new economic order that was no longer defined by the adversarial classes of labor and the owners of capital.  Now that knowledge has trumped financial capital and labor alike, the new classes are knowledge workers and service workers.

Image | Off the Cuff: Red Sky at Morning
Off the Cuff: Red Sky at Morning
 PREVIEW
by Adam Taggart

In this week's Off the Cuff podcast, Chris and Adam discuss:
Off the Cuff: Red Sky at Morning
 PREVIEW by Adam Taggart

In this week's Off the Cuff podcast, Chris and Adam discuss:
Total 1193 items

Community

Top Conversation

 Prep Now for the Coming Winter Challenges
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the needs and sustainability of our family. We have six young children, our oldest just turned 12 and our youngest just turned 3 months old. I love the considerations that the article had above and thought I would add a few things that I have considered for our situation. My...
Image | hgrootveldgmail-com by hgrootveldgmail-com
36 95
View the conversation
Image | Peak Financial Investing

Peak Financial Investing

Learn more
Image | ImmuneMist

ImmuneMist

Learn more