I got the graphic from the London Times website, while reading their election coverage. More cartoons (a particularly sharp one showing W. sniffing the arse of the British Prime minister and his rescue plan) can be found here.
It's hard for me to avoid the subject of the financial crisis, the US' $700B+ bailout and the state of the economy. I'd vowed a while ago to leave the political/economic analytical blogging to wiser heads, but ....I cannot avoid it. It's constantly on everyone's hearts and minds, and the news media is covering it ad infinitum. However, I got a fresh perspective the other day by tuning in to PBS.
Let me preface this by saying I'm not a longtime fan of PBS, but it's almost impossible to get unbiased US news without editorializing anymore. Democratic or Republican, conservative or liberal, capitalist, socialist of communist - I think we'd have to all agree that network news (let alone cable news) is about as fair & balanced as a seesaw with one rider. MNC's (multinational corporations) own mainstream media, and they have their own interests (profit) to serve. Hence me tuning out, and tuning in to PBS.
Some stories:
- the $2 trillion dollars that the EU is pledging to shore up their financial markets. This, along with Britain's banking Nationalization plan (it preceded the story about the US' plan by a day or so...)
- Food rationing in Cuba has become even more challenging, as a result of Hurricanes Gustav & Ike, and (again) loosely linked to the US economic crisis
- Bombings in Guadalajara and , Mexico - are loosely linked to the economic crisis
- Chinese companies are investing heavily in Africa, particularly Rwanda - resulting in both an influx of jobs as well as Chinese exports
Overall - if there was one underlying theme - it's that the US' economic policies aren't all we've made them out to be...it's that those policies will ultimately be our downfall. Our overwhelming desire for unbridled capitalistic industrialization - without being tempered by a cultural social consciousness - will be the noose with which we ultimately hang. Those are the Strings that are Attached.
If I haven't blogged about the BRIC's yet - I need to. Because they, collectively and individually, are going to teach us a lesson about how capitalism needs a conscience. it's alluded to in the posts under Economics, but I'll expound later. The 30-second speech is: Brazil, Russia, India and China are amongst the world's fastest growing economies, and their cultural mores embrace collectivism and social conscience. So, they're growing with an eye on the world in which they grow. We could take a lesson from them.
Strings. Nooses. Keep watching the stories from the G7/8 countries, and how they fare in this fiasco.
I know what u mean about not being able to avoid it…that is the only thing I hear, I am no financier or banker, but I find myself glued to the markets of late…
Well talking about Gordon Brown’s bail out…most of Europe hail him as a hero, and for a while it seemed like he might win some popularity, and the bail out seemed to affect the markets just 24 hours, as the Footsie tumbled the next day…hopefully the US will seriously look into its banking policies, and curb the culture of rewarding risk taking and huge bonuses for the same CEO’s who’ve made doodoo’s of the economy, well contributed to it…it sure is a lesson. I was thinking the other day whether to nationalise or not? Is it the result of privatisation? Well we’ll wait and see I guess, although I read this morning that 2 days later governments is re-considering the terms of those bail out with banks, only 2 days later.. now the issue of paying dividends before the debts is fully paid is suddenly back at the table… surely we haven’t learned have we.