The fallout from the Brexit vote continues to rock the European financial system. On Wednesday, the British pound dropped to a fresh 31-year low as confidence in the currency continues to plummet. At one point it had fallen as low as $1.2796 before rebounding a bit. As I write this, it is still sitting at just $1.293. Meanwhile, the problems for the biggest banks in Europe just continue to mount. At one point on Wednesday Credit Suisse hit an all-time record low, and German banking giant Deutsche Bank closed the day at an all-time record closing low of 12.93. Overall, Europe’s Stoxx 600 Bank Index closed at the lowest level in almost five years. What we are watching is a full-blown financial meltdown in Europe, but because it is not personally affecting them yet, most Americans are not paying any attention to it. Continue reading
Category: Economic Crisis
Watch and learn how tyrannical government keeps control of starving Venezuelan citizens through threats and force
(NaturalNews) The longer the Left-wing government of Venezuela remains in power, the more economic destruction and social chaos there will be, but no one seems capable of convincing the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro of those two realities. And so, like all authoritarians before him, he and his minions continue to double down on policies that have wreaked havoc in the once-wealthy and aspiring South American nation.
But, then again, much of what the Maduro administration is doing now is by design – aimed at keeping his people needy and, thus, more compliant. How’s that for “compassion?” Continue reading
EU leaders call for UK to leave as soon as possible
The EU’s top leaders have said they expect the UK to act on its momentous vote to leave the union “as soon as possible, however painful that process may be” and that there will be “no renegotiation”.
The presidents of the European council, commission and parliament – Donald Tusk, Jean-Claude Juncker and Martin Schulz respectively – and Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said any delay to Britain’s exit would “unnecessarily prolong uncertainty”. Continue reading…
Watch related video: Is the Brexit the beginning of the end for the EU?
Duterte on business sector’s 10-point wishlist: ‘It’s doable’
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – “It’s all doable. It’s just a matter of doing it.”
This was President-elect Rodrigo Duterte response to a 10-point wishlist presented to him by businessmen on Tuesday, June 21.
“Sulong Pilipinas,” a two-day forum held in Davao City, gathered some 450 businessmen who came up with recommendations for the incoming Duterte administration on how to improve the country’s economy and business environment.
The recommendations include improving the country’s transportation network, reduction of corporate and personal income tax, a national ID system, and improving Internet connection all over the country. Continue reading…
“We’re Hungry And Tired” – Protesters In Venezuela March Toward Presidential Palace Demanding Food
Last month we showed just how severe the collapse in Venezuela had become, as starving Venezuelans took to looting supermarkets and other food dispensaries in search of whatever food could be found.
Despite having the world’s biggest oil reserves, Venezuelans are suffering from severe shortages of food and electricity, on top of inflation that makes it difficult to buy anything to begin with. Angry citizens have had enough, and again took to the streets yesterday to march on the presidential palace, Chanting “No more talk. We want food!“. Once protesters were within about a half dozen blocks of the palace, police in riot gear blocked the road and began firing tear gas. Continue reading…
Still thinking of going to France this weekend? Half the country’s petrol stations have run dry, riots break out in Paris and human traffickers are waging war in Calais
As thousands prepare to make trips across the Channel for the bank holiday weekend, British motorists were advised to cancel trips to France today as fuel pumps ran dry and violent industrial action against employment reform spread across the country.
Up to half of the country’s 12,000-odd petrol stations are now empty, as riot police were sent in to try and lift blockades of fuel refineries.
By this afternoon, all but one of the blockades manned by union activists had been cleared away, a government spokesman said, adding that the situation is ‘improving everywhere, all over the country’.
It came as French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned that ‘this country is dying from its inability to reform’. Continue Reading…
The Lancet: Global economic crisis linked to over 260,000 additional cancer deaths, according to new study
Unemployment and reduced public-sector health spending following the 2008 global economic crisis were associated with increased cancer mortality, according to a new study published in The Lancet. The study estimates that the recent economic crisis was associated with over 260000 additional cancer deaths in countries within the Organisation for Economic Development (OECD) by 2010, of which 160000 were in the European Union.
The study is the first global analysis to look at the effect of unemployment and changes in public-sector healthcare spending on cancer deaths, and suggests universal health care coverage may protect patients from the health consequences of rising unemployment and reduced public-sector healthcare spending. Continue reading…
Generate new models of economic progress, Pope urges business leaders
Vatican City, May 14, 2016 / 06:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Economic worldviews based only on material well-being cannot contribute to dignified labor and new models of economic progress are needed, Pope Francis told a gathering of business experts on Friday.
“An economic vision geared to profit and material well-being alone is – as experience is daily showing us – incapable of contributing in a positive way to a globalization that favours the integral development of the world’s peoples, a just distribution of the earth’s resources, the guarantee of dignified labour and the encouragement of private initiative and local enterprise,” Pope Francis said May 13 to the members of the Centesimus Annus pro Pontifice Foundation. Source
President Obama: The TPP would let America, not China, lead the way on global trade
Barack Obama is president of the United States.
Over the past six years, America’s businesses have created more than 14 million new jobs. To keep this progress going, we need to pursue every avenue of economic growth. Today, some of our greatest economic opportunities abroad are in the Asia-Pacific region, which is on its way to becoming the most populous and lucrative market on the planet. Increasing trade in this area of the world would be a boon to American businesses and American workers, and it would give us a leg up on our economic competitors, including one we hear a lot about on the campaign trail these days: China.
Of course, China’s greatest economic opportunities also lie in its own neighborhood, which is why China is not wasting any time. As we speak, China is negotiating a trade deal that would carve up some of the fastest-growing markets in the world at our expense, putting American jobs, businesses and goods at risk. Source
Video: Obama on TPP: ‘Other countries should play by rules set by US & partners, not the other way round’
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew: Puerto Rico crisis is ‘immediate and real’
Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew strived to light a fire under congressional leaders Tuesday by calling the fiscal crisis confronting Puerto Rico “immediate and real,” with dire consequences for the island commonwealth’s 3.5 million citizens as well as investment markets nationwide.
Puerto Rico defaulted Monday on most of a debt payment of roughly $400 million; another $1.3 billion in bond payments are due July 1, and the island’s administration has made clear that it can’t meet the obligation. The island has been shut out of the debt markets, while creditors await action on legislation that would restructure its debt under the supervision of an independent oversight board.
Hospitals continue to lay off workers, ration medication, reduce services and close floors. … Despite the intensifying threat from the Zika virus, financial constraints have made it extremely difficult to counteract.
— Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew warns congressional leaders about the situation in Puerto Rico