Friday, May 14, 2010

THIS IS THE FUTURE III: GREECE

GREECE

New British Prime Minister, David Cameron, said (May 13, 2010) that his new government will be based on "[free] enterprise, markets and fiscal responsibility...and curbing the power of the state."  A breath of fresh air in a large geographis area of "social justice" that has seen slack growth -- persistently lower by1.3 percentage points than the U. S. from 1996 to 2005, with a disrupting 11% unemployment --  because of it.  Economic stagnation.  Read this Mr. Obama.  If a country doesn't grow, it cannot produce new jobs, it cannot produce the wealth necessary to finance government and the high costs of "social equity".  This economy purgatory continues as long as others are willing to loan a country money to live.

While the new guy in Great Britain is at least now paying lip service to the necessity of growth in the private sector, the year-old president of the United States of America is busily and effectively diminishing the growth of its private sector three ways.  1) By stepping up oppressive regulation of private businesses; 2) by strong anti-business rhetoric; 3) by uncertain future and complicated president taxes, which punish the successful; 4) by throwing borrowed dollars from the rooftops to economically-infeasible, but left-wing politically-popular subsidies to favored buisinesses and industries.  5) and finally by turning a blind -- or ignorant -- eye toward the competition: China and India, for example.

Joining the United Kingdom is beleagured socialist Spain which will cut public-sector wages by 5% then freeze them for a year, pensions will also be frozen and the social justice "baby check" of about $3,170 given every family for a newborn child, will be stopped.  Spain is suffering from 20% enemployment along with its huge deficits..  It aims at cutting its 2010 budget deficit to 9.3% of gross domestic product then, in 2011, to 5.6% and 3% by 2013 from 11.2% in 2009.  The leader of Spain's largest union threatens massive demonstrations and President Barack Obama, (the pot") calling the kettle black, called the Spanish socialist prime minister to tell him "the importance of Spain taking resolute action as part of Europe's effort to strengthen its economy and build market confidence".  AS IF!

CHINA AND INDIA

While president Obama is busily bashing business, stopping oil drilling and crippling coal miners, China is buying up energy assets all over the world.  Chinese state-owned China Investment Corp. (CIC) will joint venture with Canada's Penn West Energy Trust to develop oil-sands in Alberta.  [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704635204575242313379525600.html?]  This on top of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopac) purchasing from ConocoPhilips its Syncrude oil-sands project also in Alberta and PetroChina Co.'s  purchase of 60% in MacKay River and Dover oil-sands projects.  Canada's oil sands contain reserves of oil second only to Saudi Arabia, but it's much more difficult and expensive to process.

Mahindra & Mahindra one of the largest tractor makers in the world will sell its Indian-made compact diesel pickup truck in the U. S. [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704635204575242491308805662.html]  While India is entering competition against U. S.-based companies, the Obama Administration is attempting to hurt number one world-wide automaker, Toyota, by an anti-Toyota media extravaganza in investigating and fining it and paving the way for billions of dollars of class-action lawsuits to enrich a major Democratic source of funding, trial lawyers who are poised to reap upwards of $500,000,000,000 in fees, of which $50,000,000 could be tithed to the Democratic Party.  This boosts automobile trade union bosses by hurting predominantly-nonunion Toyota and undermines competition to government- and union-owned General Motors.

China has become an important investor, creditor and donor for many African nations with trade exceeding $100 billion.  While Western countries seem to give money away in part to brutal African dictators, China is also investing vast sums in infrastructure and buying up resource and energy assets.



The free markets, Prime Minister Cameron praised are no where in President Obama's vocabulary.  Having never been involved in free-enterprise and capitalism he distrusts it.  By having been in academia and government all his life it is all he understands.  He sees government as being able to lead this country into a promised utopian nirvana of social justice for all equally.  (Except, of course for the exceptional governmental leaders, they are unequally rewarded with favors, financial and otherwise.)


Federal regulators (the United States Securities and Exchange Commission -- SEC --) and state officials are examining Wall Street's role in trading securities that insured against failure of municipal bonds, or, as defined by the left-wing media: "bets" that they (munis) would go broke. (This on May 12.)

"Wall Street Probe Widens" [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704247904575240783937399958.html?KEYWORDS=wall+street+probe+widens] Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2010, Front Page, A1.

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