As the Economy Crumbles features selected news summaries with links to further information about the lousy economic trends affecting many of us. The rose-colored rhetoric, hype and spin from economists, bureaucrats, PR flacks and analysts emanating from Wall Street and the financial media requires a skeptical mind and a well-functioning bullshit detector.
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1. Prospects of an Oil Shock 2. Climbing Gas and Energy Prices 3. Record Homeless 4. War, Deficit & the Economy 5. Birth, School, Work, Death 6. Jobs? What Jobs? 7. Slump, Fall, Decline 8. Going Bankrupt 9. Run for the Hills! 10. European Woes Continue
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1. PROSPECTS OF AN OIL SHOCK
Venezuela and Iraq Enhance the Prospects of an Oil Shock (Gulf War II is Unlikely to be a Repeat of Gulf War I) http://www.prudentbear.com/internationalperspective.asp "The combined effect of Venezuelan and Iraqi disruptions has the potential to be the biggest shock in oil market history, even allowing for offsetting supply increases by other players." - Jim O'Neill, Goldman Sachs -- From the intro: “There is still a widespread belief that the market is amply supplied with crude, that the U.S. will fight a war that will go as easily as the first Gulf War or Afghanistan, that foreign oil companies will invest and Iraqi oil production will soar after the 101st Airborne sorts out Saddam Hussein. But capacity utilisation in global oil is almost as high as it has ever been. Crude oil inventories are lower relative to consumption than at any time in recent decades.” FROM: Prudent Bear, 11 Feb
Nigeria Oil Workers Launch Strike http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2407095,00.html Nigerian oil workers on Saturday launched an indefinite strike that could shut down crude exports in the world's sixth largest oil exporter. The strike over pay and working conditions comes as the threat of war in Iraq and a prolonged strike in Venezuela have pushed oil prices to two-year highs. Half of Nigerian exports go to the United States.... Nigeria produces close to 2 million barrels of oil a day, more than 95 percent of which is pumped by joint ventures between the government and major oil companies. FROM: Associated Press, 15 Feb
Read more: http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=03/02/17/0460157