Energy is a subject that is greatly misunderstood. Its role in our lives is truly amazing. We humans are able to live and move because of the energy that we get from food. We count this energy in calories.
Green plants are also energy dependent. In photosynthesis, plants use energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide and water into the glucose that they need to grow.
Ecosystems are energy dependent as well. The ecologist Howard T. Odum in Environment, Power, and Society explains that ecosystems self-organize in a way that maximizes the useful energy obtained by the group of plants and animals.
Economies created by humans are in some respects very similar to ecosystems. They, too, self-organize and seem to be energy dependent. The big difference is that over one million years ago, pre-humans learned to control fire. As a result, they were able to burn biomass and indirectly add the energy this provided to the food energy that they otherwise had available. The energy from burning biomass was an early form of supplemental energy. How important was this change?
How Humans Gained Dominion Over Other Animals
James C. Scott, in Against the Grain, explains that being able to burn biomass was sufficient to turn around who was in charge: pre-humans or large animals. In one cave in South Africa, he indicates that a lower layer of remains found in the cave did not show any carbon deposits, and hence were created before pre-humans occupying the cave gained control of fire. In this layer, skeletons of big cats were found, along with scattered gnawed bones of pre-humans.
In a higher layer, carbon deposits were found. In this layer, pre-humans were clearly in charge. Their skeletons were much more intact, and the bones of big cats were scattered about and showed signs of gnawing. Who was in charge had changed.
There is other evidence of human domination becoming possible with the controlled use of fire. Studies show a dramatic drop in numbers of large mammals not long after settlement by humans in several areas outside Africa. (Jeremy Lent, The Patterning Instinct, based on P. S. Martin’s “Prehistoric overkill: A global model” in Quaternary Extinctions: A Prehistoric Revolution.)
In recent times, humans have added fossil fuel energy, hydroelectric energy and nuclear energy to their “toolbox.” All of these energy sources have allowed humans to stay in charge.
Whether humans’ control of energy is good or bad depends on a person’s point of view. Without humans being in charge, the human population would likely be similar in size to that of the populations of chimps or gorillas–in other words, tiny in comparison to today’s human population. Furthermore, humans would be located only in the warmer parts of the world. As we will see in the next section, humans would not have evolved in the direction they did. Instead, they would have continued with only the abilities they had as pre-humans. They would have continued living in the wild, eating raw food and spending half of the day chewing it.
How the Controlled Burning of Biomass Produced Amazing Results
Pre-humans learned to control the burning of sticks and other biomass over one million years ago. This new-found ability helped our ancestors in many ways:
(1) Pre-humans could cook part of their food. (Richard Wrangham, Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human) The ability to cook food increased the variety of food that could be eaten because some foods need to be cooked to be edible. Chewing time could be greatly reduced (Chris Organ et al.), leaving more time for tool making. Moreover, cooking allowed nutrients in food to be better absorbed.
(2) Less of the energy from food was needed for the maintenance of large teeth, jaws, and guts. Instead, more energy could go into building a larger brain. In this way, our ancestors could outsmart their predators, instead of depending on their muscles and teeth.
(3) Pre-humans could use fire as a tool to burn down unwanted trees and brush, making it easier to capture prey and encouraging new plant growth of a type more suitable as human food. Also, the fire itself could be used to frighten predators.
(4) Stone tools could be made sharper using heat.
(5) The heat from fire could be used to enlarge the range where pre-humans were able to live.
(6) Larger brains and frequent gatherings around campfires allowed language to develop.
(7) Humans, with their larger brains, were able to selectively breed different types of plants and animals, choosing characteristics that were better suited to their needs. As humans tamed fire and animals, they themselves became (in some sense) tamer.
The Physics Reason Why Energy Is So Important
We are all familiar with how the energy from food allows humans to grow. We also know how solar energy allows green plants to grow. Most physics instruction focuses on thermodynamically closed systems—that is, systems to which no new energy supply is added. Sometimes isolated systems are discussed—again a situation where no additional energy is available. In these situations, there is no growth—only a gradual depletion of the available energy supply, leading ultimately to “heat death.”
More recent analysis has shown that thermodynamically open systems, which are characterized by inflows of energy, are very different. They can, and do, change and grow. Hurricanes grow when heat from warm seawater is available. Stars grow as the result of the chemical reactions taking place within them. All of these structures (known as dissipative structures) are temporary in that they cannot continue to exist when suitable flows of energy are no longer available. They can also be undone in other ways, such as too much pollution or by other forms of “entropy.”
On earth, the energy system we experience is an open system. Energy from the sun is constantly being supplied. Energy made available by burning biomass and from burning fossil fuels is also being supplied, as is nuclear energy, in the form of electricity. The energy obtained from burned fossil fuels, in fact, reflects the re-release of ancient solar energy that was once stored in the bodies of small plants and animals. Under the proper temperature and pressure conditions, this stored energy had been slowly transformed into fossil fuels.
The Hidden Nature of Energy Consumption
When humans burn fossil fuels today, they are able to access the use of this stored energy. Some researchers have talked about the ability to utilize fossil fuel energy as being similar to having “energy slaves.” In making this analogy, it has been observed that a human adult produces roughly the energy output of an always-on 100 watt light bulb. Even when humans were still hunter-gatherers, they made some use of energy slaves, approximately tripling the amount of energy available to the economy at that time. By the time the industrial period was reached, always-on watts per capita had climbed to 8000, indicating that energy available to industrialized humans was 80 times as high (8000/100 = 80) as the amount expected based on food energy alone. The huge increase represented primarily the use of fossil fuels.
Figure 1. Relationship between human energy use and population.
In Against the Grain, Scott finds that slave labor was very widely used in early civilizations. Male slaves were often used for tasks requiring heavy labor, such as mining and building roads. Today’s fossil fuel energy slaves can do these things and much more. For example, a truck operated on a road makes liberal use of fossil fuel energy slaves partly to make the road, partly to build the truck and partly as fuel to operate the truck.
Any commercial process requires energy in one or more forms. Part of the energy can be human energy. This human energy can be used in many ways such as typing on a computer, listening, thinking, operating machinery, speaking, digging in the ground, and walking. The rest of the energy is likely to consist partly of electricity and partly of fossil fuels burned for heat. (Some of this heat energy is converted to rotary motion in order to power vehicles.) Constructing a building requires a tremendous amount of energy; manufacturing a car is also energy-intensive. Heating and lighting a building require energy. Even obtaining a potable glass of cold water requires energy.
Figure 2 is a chart showing a breakdown of non-transportation energy consumption in the United States, based on data from the United States Energy Information Administration.
Figure 2. United States non-transportation energy consumption by sector, based on information from the US Energy Information Administration.
The residential percentage of non-transportation energy consumption rose from 23% in 1949 to 29% in 2017. We don’t have a world estimate of the breakdown of energy consumption for residential use, but the United States is probably unusually high with its 29% residential share. According to a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, China’s energy consumption was only 11% residential in 2014.
If people do not understand how much of our energy consumption is hidden, it is easy for them to overestimate the benefit that can be achieved through energy conservation by individual citizens. A major use of supplemental energy (that is, beyond that available from food consumption) is to provide finished goods of all sorts, such as cars, homes, electricity transmission lines and roads. Supplemental energy consumption also provides the gift of free time. Without modern agricultural equipment, many more of us would be working long hours in the fields, leaving little time for advanced education and other modern pursuits. Another benefit of supplemental energy consumption is a much longer life expectancy, thanks to such things as clean water and antibiotics. Indirectly, supplemental energy consumption also provides jobs that pay well. Without supplemental energy consumption, there would be few jobs other than digging in the ground with a stick, in an attempt to grow food.
In a very real sense, the availability of inexpensive energy supplies that work to power existing machinery and equipment is what allows today’s economy to function.
How Can We Tell If Human Carrying Capacity Has Been Reached?
If we are discussing primates such as chimpanzees, baboons and gorillas, it is fairly easy to tell when the carrying capacity of the environments they inhabit has been reached. These primates depend on local food and water supplies. If there is not enough food to go around, the weakest and the lowest ranking will find themselves without enough high quality food, bringing the population back below the carrying capacity. In some cases, as population density rises, there may be aggression toward immigrants to the territory. Females have even been observed to kill the infant newborns of community members.
Humans have control of various types of energy supplies, in addition to food. These energy supplies make it easier to produce enough food for the overall population. People today are used to having things that wild animals do not have, such as clothing, education, climate controlled homes, transportation, medical care and retirement benefits. It should not be surprising that in our case, the first sign of reaching carrying capacity is something other than running out of food. In fact, the laws of physics suggest that reaching human carrying capacity is unlikely to be signaled by running out of any energy product, such as oil.
Instead, the issue that tends to arise as humans reach carrying capacity is increasing wage disparity. This issue arose in the 1930s, and it seems to be rising again now. Increasing wage disparity is a way, within our economy, of squeezing out some members, if there are not enough energy supplies to go around. Providing climate-controlled homes, automobiles, paved roads and electricity transmission lines for people all over the world would take a huge amount of energy supplies–far more than we have available today. Wage disparity assures that some groups cannot afford these goods and services, thereby effectively holding down demand for these goods and services.
Many people believe that oil prices are likely to rise very high, if there is a shortage. However, if wage disparity grows sufficiently large, any spike in prices is likely to be short lived. Instead, the energy limit that we are reaching may be prices that do not rise high enough to encourage adequate production of energy products. Without sufficient production of these energy products, there will be a shortfall of finished goods and services.
Physicist François Roddier in Thermodynamique de l’évolution : Un essai de thermo-bio-sociologie explains that when there is inadequate energy for an economy, the situation is similar to some members of the economy being “frozen out” through low wages. The same forces allow a rising portion of the wages (and other wealth) to go to the very rich. This situation is like steam rising. These individuals do not use very much of their wages to purchase goods and services made with commodities. Instead, they tend to use their wages for services (such as tax avoidance) that are not very energy intensive. Also, they tend to use their wealth in ways that tends to drive up asset prices, without adding true value. For example, buying previously issued shares of stock can have this effect.
Eventually, the poor are frozen out. In fact, in cases of extreme wage disparity, the problems can spread further as governments find it impossible to collect enough taxes to finance their spending.
What Characteristics Do Energy Supplies Need to Have?
Unless we are willing to give up our dominion over other species, including microbes, humans need to secure a supply of energy products that grows with human population. These energy products must precisely match the needs of current infrastructure. They also need to be inexpensive and non-polluting. They cannot add new problems of their own–new types of entropy.
At this point, we are running into difficulties. Fossil fuels are becoming ever more expensive to extract. They also lead to carbon dioxide and other pollution problems. Nuclear energy seems to be quite dangerous, given the problems with waste disposal and multiple accidents, including the one at Fukushima.
Wind and solar, and indeed hydropower, are not really solutions, either. For one thing, they are not very controllable. If humans expect to control their environment, they need to be in control of their energy resources. Even waterpower can vary by a huge amount, from month to month and from year to year.
Figure 3. California Hydroelectric Generation by Year, Based on data of the US Energy Information Administration.
Hydroelectric, wind and solar can be used in limited amounts, as part of a portfolio of energy products, but they cannot be used on their own, unless they are hugely overbuilt. In that case, only a very small portion (which can then be controlled) is used. Many people believe that storage can be used as an alternative to backup energy supplies, but the cost of adequate storage seems to be extraordinarily high because of the long-term nature of required storage. (Note also the apparent need for multiple-year storage indicated by the pattern on hydroelectric generation shown in Figure 3.) If humans expect to be in control of other species, humans need to be in control of the supply of energy resources.
Of course, choosing not to be in control is another option. In such a case, we can expect human death rates to rise rapidly. If this happens, women will again be valued for their ability to produce large numbers of children. Men will be valued for their strong muscles. The world will become a very different place.
No problem, as long as one has a expanding economy:
U.S. household debt rises to $13.3 trillion in second quarter
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-debt/u-s-household-debt-rises-to-13-3-trillion-in-second-quarter-idUSKBN1KZ1QZ
However——
Where fear is, happiness is not. -Lucius Annaeus Seneca
https://imgur.com/a/24mBqfo
Ummm. What’s your point?
U.S. household debt rises to $13.3 trillion in second quarter
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-debt/u-s-household-debt-rises-to-13-3-trillion-in-second-quarter-idUSKBN1KZ1QZ
FE will soon find him self in a CIA cage for inspiring ISIS.
https://m.jpost.com/Middle-East/ISIS-to-supporters-and-recruits-Set-fires-as-terror-method-like-in-Israel-477769/amp?__twitter_impression=true
Well-
http://www.moonofalabama.org/images6/oifstrikedata2.jpg
Things have slowed a bit.
UN Sanction Monitor: U.S. Watches As ISIS In Syria Recuperates, Pumps And Sells More Oil
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/08/un-sanction-monitor-us-watches-as-isis-in-syria-recuperates-pumps-and-sells-more-oil.html#more
One does wonder why an Israeli MSM …would publish this.
I didn’t think of that. I still live in innocence. The media is now controlled by the war propaganda department of each nation?
Massive forest fires ravaged Sweden during the dry summer. They had to ask Poland for help to fight the fires. No one made the connection that the fires could have been terrorist attacks.
this is perfect example the growth of more complex cars with every decade
https://youtu.be/UMVnQHCtQTE
Isn’t charming, the guy tasked with feces cleanup is dressed in all white outfit.. ?
lolz
Perhaps we need to run the video backward to figure out how to adapt to a world with less energy. For example, we need big wheels that keep cars up off of the ground, if we can no longer afford to pave roads. Tesla doesn’t seem to have figured this out.
Is it really that big improvement from 1950 and onwards? Slower, more crowded.
Article referenced by the above article: Debt for US corporations tops $6 trillion
It points out:
Some of this may be debt funding leveraged buyouts. The article also says:
Poor is relative until it no longer matters
1. How many Americans have zero savings?
The number of Americans who have no cash in the bank to fall back on is staggering. Approximately 26% of adults have no savings set aside for emergencies, while another 36% have yet to start socking away money for retirement.
2. What’s the average bank account balance?
While millions of Americans have no savings, many of them have managed to stash a few bucks in their checking account. As of 2013, the average bank account balance hovered around $4,436.
3. What is the personal savings rate in the U.S.?
The personal savings rate is the average amount of earnings people in the U.S. are putting away for rainy days. Through the end of 2014, the rate was 4.4%, which is a steep decline from the 10.5% rate in 2012.
4. How many adults don’t have a bank account?
Saving money is tough when you don’t have a place to park it. Approximately 7.7% of American households function without a bank account. That’s close to 10 million households altogether.
5. How many adults live paycheck to paycheck?
An estimated 38 million households in the U.S. live hand to mouth, meaning they spend every penny of their paychecks. Surprisingly, two-thirds of them earn a median income of $41,000, which puts them well above the federal poverty level.
6. Does race impact savings rates?
Research suggests that racial minorities face a tougher road when it comes to saving money. Around 75% of Latino and African American households have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, and nearly two-thirds of minority households don’t have anything set aside for the future.
7. Which generation is the best at saving?
Baby boomers tend to do better when it comes to hanging on to their extra money. Adults aged 55 and older have a positive personal savings rate of about 13%.
8. Which one is the worst?
Millennials, on the other hand, meaning adults who are 35 and under, have a personal savings rate of negative 2%. Between high student loan debt and stagnating wages, saving anything at all proves to be impossible for many of them.
9. Which cities are the best for savers?
Some cities make saving easier than others, thanks to higher wages and a lower cost of living. Through 2014, Baltimore made the top of the list, with a median household income of $73,816 and median expenses of $49,566.
10. Which ones are the worst?
If you like the desert, you’ll want to move somewhere other than Phoenix if you’re trying to save money. Residents here face median expenses that are $1,136 higher than the median annual income.
11. How many Americans have less than $100 in emergency savings?
Almost half of Americans would not be able to cover an unexpected expense of $500 or less. Almost a quarter would not be able to cover even $100. An estimated 22.9% of men and 22.7% of women say they don’t have at least a Benjamin in their emergency fund.
12. How many Americans have less than $500 saved?
Having $500 in the bank for emergencies can give you a sense of financial security but for 41% of adults, it’s still a pipe dream.
13. What percentage of Americans have a three-month emergency fund?
Saving three months’ worth of expenses is a lofty goal. In a survey when Americans were asked if they have a 3 to 5 month emergency fund, just 17% said they do.
14. How many have six months’ worth of expenses saved?
Twenty-three percent of adults surveyed acknowledge having an emergency fund that could last them at least six months.
15. Who’s more likely to have an emergency fund?
Age, income and race play a part in determining how Americans save for emergencies. For example, 36% of retirees have a 6-month emergency account compared to 16% of 18 to 29-year-olds. Ten percent of college grads lack any savings versus 36% of those with a high school diploma or less.
16. How many Americans aren’t saving for retirement?
The sooner you start saving for retirement, the better – but that’s something 36% of adults haven’t gotten around to yet. More than a quarter of adults aged 50 to 64 aren’t saving anything for their golden years.
17. How much do savers expect to need when they retire?
How much cash you’ll need in retirement will vary based on your current income and expenses. Among middle-class workers, $250,000 is the median amount they’re aiming to save.
18. How much are they saving each month?
Building up a quarter of a million dollars in savings takes time, and many adults may fall short. On average, workers aged 30 to 49 are saving $200 a month for retirement while those aged 50 to 59 are adding a mere $78 to their accounts.
19. What’s the average 401(k) balance?
At the end of 2013, the average 401(k) balance was a healthy $101,650. The median balance, however, was just $31,396, which means that half of the workers participating in their employer’s retirement had that much or more while the other half had less.
20. How much are people contributing to their 401(k)?
While 93% of middle-class workers are participating to a 401(k) plan, 67% of them are only saving enough to qualify for the company match. The median contribution amount for those between 30 and 59 years of age is 7% of their salary.
21. What’s the median net worth in America?
Among seniors aged 55 to 64, the median net worth is around $165,000. By comparison, those in the 35 to 44 range boast a net worth of about $50,000. The 18 to 34-year-old millennial set fare the worst, with a net worth of $11,000.
22. How worried are Americans about their financial future?
Being prepared for retirement is a top financial concern for Americans; 59% say that running out of money is their number one fear.
23. How many Americans say they’ll never retire?
Working past retirement age has unfortunately become a reality for many seniors. In 2013, 7% of employees said they plan to stay on the job indefinitely. That’s a big jump from the 2% who made the same claim in 2011.
Does it matter when new record setting DoD official budget is almost $T now .. ?
Hence lot of goodies are delivered free or bellow market price to US public; obviously most of the official and black budgets on defense and intel are just stolen by the contractors, I’m aware of it..
The MIC is what backs the dollar – the world reserve currency that oil is bought and sold in. Of course the US military is also the single largest individual consumer of oil in the world at over 100,000,000 b/yr.
“fuel consumption by the military has been steadily increasing. According to U.S. government reporting, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is the single-largest consumer of fuel in the world. In Desert Storm, fuel usage was about four gallons per soldier per day. A Forbes.com article, “The World’s Biggest Fuel Consumer,” stated that, “By 2007, U.S. operations in the Middle East were using up to 16 gallons, or $3 million worth of fuel a day.” Additionally, a Reuter’s article entitled “Pentagon says cutting energy use is big priority” claims that, “In fiscal 2008, the Pentagon’s fuel bill was $20 billion a year.” https://www.qsenergy.com/news/detail/783/u-s-military-is-the-worlds-number-one-consumer-of-fuel
See Baby Doomer’s post above – That dog can’t and won’t hunt forever.
Some say this was a war crime but it was a very clear message and one that obviously we don’t mind making over and over. Don’t kid yourself that DoD budget is there for a reason. Got to spend money to get oil.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6yPFWx2kAU
https://imgur.com/a/jTMnCCG
What percentage of Americans are awash in truckloads of money and laugh at the struggling masses? .001
You should probably have a link to where that is from. I expect it is not original.
The only catch, of course, is that all of this savings isn’t helpful if the financial system collapses. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that it can stay together a little longer.
People seem to be happier if they have something to do. US Social Security was added to try to reduce the number of unemployed workers, by giving pensions to a few of the older people. It was a nice idea, but the program has ballooned to the point where it helps make the total budget unaffordable.
I obviously have comment replying to the wrong comment. I will have to figure out what went wrong.
https://www.creditdonkey.com/average-american-savings-statistics.html
This is the link – should have included it. Sorry.
https://imgur.com/a/MU8haST
Yes, a pathological hate of any thing wholesome, and a worshiping of all destructive, hate filled perversion. Can this end well?
https://twitter.com/tomi_engel/status/1029271706232336384
Baby Doomer,
You posted the other day about prepping or if it was worth it. My response was for short shocks (storms, etc..) then yes in a limited way. However for the long haul or for the end of BAU I don’t see it.
Bumpy ride does not do justice for what is coming.
These fun facts are with BAU humming along in times of plenty:
“Gun violence in the United States results in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries annually. In 2013, there were 73,505 nonfatal firearm injuries (23.2 injuries per 100,000 persons), and 33,636 deaths due to “injury by firearms” (10.6 deaths per 100,000 persons)”.
“In 2016, over 64,000 Americans died from overdoses, 21 percent more than the almost 53,000 in 2015.[7][9][10] By comparison, the figure was 16,000 in 2010, and 4,000 in 1999.[11][12] While death rates varied by state,[13] public health experts estimate that nationwide over 500,000 people could die from the epidemic over the next 10 years.[14] In Canada, half of the overdoses were accidental, while a third were intentional. The remainder were unknown.[15] Many of the deaths are from an extremely potent opioid, fentanyl, which is trafficked from Mexico.[16] The epidemic cost the United States an estimated $504 billion in 2015.[17]”
Where we go as a people when the SHTF will be the stuff of nightmares with its origins to exactly what you describe – demand outstripping supply. Infinite growth on a finite planet does not end well.
The Fracking Industry Is Cannibalizing Its Own Production, Increasing Spill Risks
https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/08/10/fracking-industry-cannibalizing-own-production-increasing-spill-risks
Nice article! (Except the photo is wrong for the article–it relates to heavy oil extraction from the Kern River field in California–it doesn’t use fracking)
Takeaways: Some recent academic articles point to the fact that the oil industry doesn’t really understand how closely wells that are fracked can actually be spaced. In the worst case, the drilling and fracking of one well can actually damage another well. In fact, it can render it “dead.” If damage occurs, there can also be spills of fluids, causing environmental harm. If the second well is by a competitor, the competitor may not really care much about the damage to the earlier well. As more wells are added, there tends to be a tendency of the new wells to cannibalize the old wells, eventually leading to lower returns.
This seems to be another example of diminishing returns to added complexity.
That Kern field is overwhelming—–
I occasionally drive by it.
It was the ugliest place I have ever been.
I agree it is ugly.
The Real Reason Behind The Next Oil Squeeze
A field decline rate of about 4.5 percent a year is commonly used for existing oil production. If we apply that decline rate to current world production of ~100mm BOPD, you can see we need to find 4.5mm BOPD of new production just to stay even at today’s consumption rate. But with demand set to increase, we will need still more production to break even.
As you can see in Figure-2, the EIA estimates that we have found roughly half of that amount so far in 2018, and its projection for 2019 is even less hopeful.
Now, only a fool tries to predict the future with any specificity, with specificity being the key word in this sentence. That said, and my 4th grade arithmetic being accurate, there is a day of reckoning out there for oil supplies at some point.
Over the short run, as shown in Figure-3, the Saudis simply cannot produce much more than they are now. The mythical reserve capacity of which they boast, remains just that. A myth. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is maxed out.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Real-Reason-Behind-The-Next-Oil-Squeeze.html
Why Saudi Arabia’s oil output figures are drawing scrutiny
A drop in the country’s production in July raises questions about what’s really happening
Saudi Arabia’s oil production is arguably the most important number in the industry, determining whether the market will be under- or oversupplied. It is closely tracked by a host of actors from oil traders to the White House, so when it throws up surprises it quickly attracts attention.
In June the kingdom vowed to raise output, in a move widely seen as responding to pressure from US President Donald Trump after crude prices reached the highest level since 2014.
But after hiking output that month, the kingdom has said that it lowered output again in July. Figures provided by Saudi Arabia to Opec and published on Monday suggest it cut output by 200,000 barrels a day last month to 10.3m b/d— reversing about 40 per cent of the previous increase.
It is fair to say the oil market — and potentially the tweet-happy occupant of the White House — might be wondering what is going on.
The kingdom has offered a prosaic explanation, saying it is simply responding to the level of demand in the market, producing the barrels its refinery customers need.
“Oil companies are not asking for more,” said one person familiar with Saudi energy policy.
But this has not been readily accepted by everyone in the market. Part of the reason the kingdom first responded to White House pressure to increase output is the reimposition of US sanctions on Saudi’s arch-rival Iran.
While oil sanctions do not take effect until November, the argument goes that Saudi Arabia should be lifting output regardless of customer demand to build up a supply buffer against the looming shortfall of Iranian barrels. Traders increasingly expect US sanctions to knock out at least 1m b/d of Iranian exports.
Consultancy Energy Aspects said it believed the reported 10.3m b/d figure was “too low and probably an attempt to support prices”, pointing to satellite imagery it said showed domestic inventories building in Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom may feel pressure from the White House to lower prices, but does not want the market to collapse given its own economic dependence on oil, trying instead to balance crude between $70 and $80 a barrel.
It also does not want to overly antagonise Iran, a fellow Opec member, which has opposed the cartel raising output aggressively.
The uncertainty has not been helped by agencies that track Saudi Arabia and other Opec members’ output putting out an unusually wide range of assessments for Riyadh’s production.
The six so-called secondary sources used by Opec — the International Energy Agency, the US Energy Information Administration, pricing agencies Platts and Argus, Petroleum Intelligence Weekly and IHS Markit — saw production between 10.3m and 10.6m b/d last month.
Argus and IHS Markit, which had relatively low assessments, both defended their numbers following a report that said some agencies had faced pressure from Riyadh to lower their production numbers.
Both said they had reached their assessments independently.
“I have never known the Saudis to take this kind of tack,” said Diane Munro, Argus Editor in Chief.
Sources at agencies with higher assessments — speaking on condition of anonymity — said they had, however, been contacted by Saudi officials who had cautioned their figures were too high.
Whatever the truth on Saudi output last month, attention will soon shift to August’s number. Traders will be bracing for the next surprise, unless more clarity arrives first.
https://www.ft.com/content/30018a5a-9efc-11e8-85da-eeb7a9ce36e4
great stuff — collapse is coming
https://www.rt.com/news/435891-sweden-youths-torch-cars/
Collapse now, and avoid the rush.
haha this is not collapsing of Sweden
but This is political. Election coming up.
They are not dressed as gang members or locals, they move methodically between the cars, well prepared and little aggression.
https://www.svtstatic.se/image-cms/svtse/1534203497/svts/article18931886.svt/alternates/extralarge/tandereldpabilar-jpg
It would be much more interesting if it was not discontented youth (who don’t have any official uniform) or insurance fraud.
They look like Ninjas Asians did it or were framed
It was coordinated in several towns at the same hour almost as a military operation.
It actually looks like ISIS.
ISIS has been cleaned out from Iraq and Syria and is now coming to Europe.
I think this is racist statement, since there are non such allegedly problem seeking communities in Sweden, France etc.
/multi-occult sarc off
It would be a crime and shame if Russia didn’t try to ignite and turn all the no go zones into flames.
A nice little intifada spreading across Europe would cause turmoil.
Unfortunately, the Russian elite, incl. ~most gov structures, is largely worshiping the “dollar preference” holly cow (as anybody else globally), so they behave accordingly, two steps in that direction and only one in the “correct” national direction.
Chances are if anything they will be rather “weaponizing” other stuff than the minorities/ tomorrows majorities of Europe. Most likely in tangential trade deals and access to Russia.
Militarily, strategic interdiction of energy supplies is the key, especially in an era of declining energy supplies overall. The key is to deplete the enemy’s energy reserves faster than your own reserves deplete. This article covers it well.
https://warisboring.com/step-by-step-heres-how-to-defeat-china-in-a-war/
The article does overlook the influence of nuclear weapons. It says “It is risky to attempt to execute a decapitation strategy against a state with a significant nuclear arsenal.” However, it fails to add, “It is also risky to attempt to execute an energy interdiction strategy against a state with a significant nuclear arsenal.” That would be like strangling a man who holds a pin-less grenade in his hand.
I assume the USA, Russia and China are all now trying to figure out a “last superpower standing” strategy. The strategy needs to be one of “decline slower than the others”. Although China is going to briefly exceed the USA in economic power – it already does on the PPP (purchasing power parity) measure – China is then going to peak and decline quickly. China faces enormous problems. Its ecological overshoot is greatest, its domestic energy shortfall is the greatest and accelerating desertification and seal level rise are going to hit it the hardest. The USA also faces all these problems but not nearly as severely as China.
The USA’s greatest danger is to itself in its very poor system of national government, its current lack of understanding of modern geostrategy and the way it has permitted plutocrats to ruin and divide the Union.
Ikon, I think there are two measures of a national economy. One GDP the sum of the cost of all the haircuts given, all the laundry done, all the food eaten, etc. In this measure China is number one, the largest economy in the world. Then there is the surplus the national government can raise to buy things like an army and weapons and foreign military bases. On this measure the US is still ahead of China.
All nations much decide on their relations with others war now or war later. Which am I more likely to win?
“One GDP the sum of the cost of all the haircuts given”
I decided to cut my own hair to save money. But then I told myself, “You get nothing for nothing”, so I charged myself 50 bucks. If I force myself to have a haircut once a week, how long before I become a millionaire?
Mao: ‘They can kill millions of us, and there will still be millions left!’ Cheers of audience of millions……
“A hundred deaths are a tragedy. A million deaths are a statistic.” – Unknown.
“I must ask of you superhuman acts of inhumanity”. Himmler, to his SS men, in 1940.
“America never made up the growth it lost in the 2008 global financial crisis and the recession it triggered. A decade later, U.S. households are still counting the cost. GDP remains well below what its 2007 trend would have implied and it’s unlikely the economy will ever make up that lost ground, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco published Monday. The hit will cost the average American $70,000 in lifetime income, they estimate.”
http://time.com/money/5366008/the-financial-crisis-cost-every-american-70000-fed-study-says/
Wow!
“Russia’s grain exports have started to show the first signs of a slowdown since quality concerns over this year’s crop pushed prices to five-year highs.”
https://www.agricensus.com/Article/Tight-supply-forces-Russian-grain-export-slowdown-2840.html
“Italian Minister Claudio Borghi called for capped yield spreads on Eurozone bonds – “The situation can’t be resolved and it is going to explode” he… said, referring to the shared euro currency. His suggested remedy was a 150 basis point limit on the spread between Eurozone country’s bonds. “Either the ECB offers a guarantee or the euro will be dismantled,” he concluded.”
https://www.nasdaq.com/article/italyrsquos-league-calls-for-ecb-bond-guarantee-warns-of-euro-collapse-cm1007102
Interesting development, was not this issue (capped yield spreads on eurobonds) also debated and not allowed throughout the peak of the Greek debt crisis?
“China’s economy is showing signs of cooling further as the U.S. prepares even tougher trade tariffs, with investment growth slowing to a record low and consumers turning more cautious about spending, data showed on Tuesday… The pace of fixed asset investment was the weakest on record going back to early 1996, according to data on Reuters Eikon… Retail sales also missed expectations.”
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-activity/chinas-economy-cools-further-investment-growth-at-record-low-idUKKBN1KZ053
At some point, infrastructure projects become roads to nowhere that few will use. Rail projects can be built where the use of bicycles would be more appropriate.
There was an article earlier mentioning the 9.4% rise in electricity use in the first half of 2018, compared to the same period a year earlier. I wonder if quite a bit of that the increase relates to a change in the type of heat that quite a few people are getting. In the past, direct burning of coal has been used to heat homes. Alternatively, coal fired power plants, located in the center of cities, have provided “combined heat and power,” in which the excess heat from a coal-fired power plant is used to heat homes. Both of these are horrible from a pollution point of view.
I expect that to some extent, this type of heat is being replaced by heat from air sourced heat pumps. (Two of these heat pumps were in the apartment I stayed in in Beijing.) The electricity to power these devices can come from any source, including coal.
Switching from an essentially free heat source (combined heat and power) to a fairly efficient, but yet more expensive (from the point of the homeowners costs) energy source is not really a plus for the economy. It may help with the pollution, if the coal fired power plant in the middle of the city no longer needs to be used. It is an example of a change that is to improve quality of life, but it is really a step back in efficiency. In some sense, it takes perfectly usable coal fired power plants out of use, earlier than would otherwise need to be the case. It leaves the individual citizens with less to spend on other goods and services.
“Argentina took emergency steps to stabilize its currency in the wake of an emerging-market rout caused by Turkey’s crisis, jacking up its already highest-in-the-world interest rate by 5 percentage points and announcing it will sell $500 million to support the peso. Policy makers set the rate for seven-day notes at a record 45 percent and pledged to keep it at that level at least until October.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-13/argentina-central-bank-unexpectedly-raises-key-rate-to-45
“In normal times you would expect such a [positive] economic signal to drive the loonie higher. Instead, a few hours after the jobs results the Canadian dollar was down nearly half a cent.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-economy-global-1.4780544
45%!
“As European stock markets bounced from their lows late on Monday, it was tempting to write off the global ramifications of Turkey’s currency crisis… investors and analysts are starting to see the country’s crisis as a harbinger of things to come in an era in which central banks are rolling back a decade of monetary stimulus.
“As the plentiful liquidity of quantitative easing begins to fade and access to the dollar tightens, investors will be less forgiving of policy mistakes by governments, shine a harsher light on borrowers who have racked up debts in the US currency and used the era of easy money to put off difficult decisions.
“After ten years of monetary policy anaesthetic, the number of sceptics is growing,” said Alberto Gallo at Algebris Investments… “With an estimated $40tn added to the debts of emerging markets in the decade since the global financial crisis, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF), parts of EM look most vulnerable.
“Indeed in June, Argentina was forced to seek a bailout from the IMF after its economy ran aground just a year after it sold a 100-year bond. The size of their debts leave both South Africa and Brazil vulnerable, analysts say. In a day of volatile trading for EMs on Monday, the South African rand at one point plunged about 10 per cent and Brazil’s real has endured a 4 per cent drop over the past four days.
“Traders are picking off nations exposed to dollar obligations,” said Peter Rosenstreich, a currency analyst at the online bank Swissquote, pointing to Chile, Mexico, Indonesia, Russia and Malaysia among those countries with high non-bank dollar debt as a percentage of GDP.
“The biggest debt mountain belongs to China. It stood at 300 per cent of GDP in the first quarter, up from 171 per cent at the end of 2008, according to the IIF, although most of that debt is held inside the country…
“As the European Central Bank reins in its bond-buying programme, investors say the confidence factor will also be critical as Italy’s populist coalition prepares to unveil a budget that some expect to be fiscally aggressive. Italian government debt was a notable laggard on Monday, with the yield on the ten-year benchmark rising 11 basis points to 3.09 per cent.
“Mr Gallo said he expected investors to view Italy by the same yardstick that the market had judged Argentina and Turkey, questioning governments that “sell people a dream, create an enemy, and pursue unsustainable policies in the process”. Italy’s deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio told Corriere della Sera that the government “cannot be threatened” by the markets.
“Trinh Nguyen, senior economist for emerging Asia at Natixis in Hong Kong, said: “Contagion on financial markets has to do with risk-on, risk-off sentiment and it impacts the countries that depend on [foreign finance].”
“…China remains vulnerable to the escalating trade war with the US, as shown in a 16 per cent drop in its stock markets this year, and other EM are vulnerable to a slowdown in China. But even this is a secondary consideration against a background of rising US rates and a stronger dollar.
““What is really driving emerging markets is the tightening of dollar liquidity,” Ms Nguyen said.”
https://www.ft.com/content/61752442-9ef8-11e8-85da-eeb7a9ce36e4
“It isn’t just sovereigns. Argentine and Turkish corporate bonds are also racing each other to the bottom. Of the 10 worst-returning dollar-denominated, emerging market corporate bonds this month, six are Turkish and four are Argentine.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-13/think-turkey-argentine-sovereign-debt-is-bad-look-at-companies
“Because the [Turkish] crisis involves private rather than public debt, the IMF could find it harder to justify a bailout. The moral hazard of using IMF funds for corporate debt issues would be substantial.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/13/what-happens-in-turkey-wont-stay-in-turkey-why-this-debt-crisis-co.html
“This turmoil is about far more than the price of onions in Istanbul. Turkey’s many troubles have wide geopolitical and strategic ramifications.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/14/turkey-crisis-recep-tayyip-erdogan-hubris
“From a strategic or military point of view, Erdogan “looking for new friends” is even more worrying. Turkey suddenly has a lot in common with Iran, Syria, and, across the Black Sea, Russia: They are all the targets of US sanctions… The worst-case scenario is a Turkish government that cannot pay the army that controls its borders, in search of “new friends” to bail it out.”
http://uk.businessinsider.com/what-if-turkey-collapses-from-lira-crisis-iran-russia-syria-are-waiting-2018-8?r=US&IR=T
Erdogan is not the brightest porch light on the block.
A typical late stage capitalism leader.
I think a red porch light need not be bright.
Tucker Carlson and guest agree that colleges are “literally destroying the country” and pushing us to “a real civil war”
https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/08/13/tucker-carlson-and-guest-agree-colleges-are-literally-destroying-country-and-pushing-us-real-civil/220986
How do they think Doctors, nurses, engineers, architects and various other professionals learned their trade?
Tucker is barely smart enough to feed himself.
Education is the mortal enemy of authoritarians everywhere.
Universities are breeding grounds for DelusiSTANIS and Green Groopies.
Try calling a plumber on a weekend.
Gender studies is more popular than Law and medicine
Kim Dotcom: Invest in Bitcoin Before U.S. Debt Spirals Out of Control
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kim-dotcom-invest-bitcoin-u-201522925.html
If I run into him … (Queenstown is a small place and he’s difficult to miss)… I will be sure to let him know he is Delusional.
21st Century NNR Scarcity – Blip or Paradigm Shift (Clugston 2013)
The “Squeeze” is On
Picture a vise tightening around the collective skulls of humanity in a relentless, remorseless “squeeze”.
The handle of the vise turns at only 1/1000th of a revolution per day, which causes incremental pain that is almost imperceptible on a day-to-day basis. Over a period of 10 years, however, the vise handle makes 3+ complete revolutions; over 20 years, 7+ revolutions; and over 30 years, 10+ revolutions. While nobody can predict the timing with certainty, somewhere along the way humanity will crack…
The sad irony is that through our unsustainable natural resource utilization behavior – i.e., our continuous utilization of enormous quantities of finite, non-replenishing, and increasingly scarce NNRs – it is we ourselves who are turning the handle! The saddest irony is that we have no choice – in order to perpetuate our industrialized existence, we must persist in our unsustainable natural resource utilization behavior, thereby continuing to turn the handle!!
We are the hapless perpetrators of our own demise…
Increasingly Scarce and Expensive NNR Inputs > Slowing Economic (GDP) Growth > Moderating Material Living Standard (Per Capita GDP) Improvement
And as we “roll over”
Permanently Scarce and Prohibitively Expensive NNR Inputs > Economic Collapse > Global Societal Collapse
https://www.scribd.com/document/386142927/21st-Century-NNR-Scarcity-Blip-or-Paradigm-Shift-FINAL
Gail writes: Many people believe that oil prices are likely to rise very high, if there is a shortage. However, if wage disparity grows sufficiently large, any spike in prices is likely to be short lived. Instead, the energy limit that we are reaching may be prices that do not rise high enough to encourage adequate production of energy products.
Nehemiah: That has certainly happened in the past. In fact, it was happening quite recently, and it also happened in the 1990’s, when wells were being shut in with oil selling below $11 a barrel at the low.
But what happens when “prices do not rise high enough to encourage adequate production of energy products?” Well, if production is inadequate, shortages develop, and people with more money to spend secure their desired share by outbidding less well to do consumers (who must find ways to use less), thus driving up prices until they reach a level that elicits more production. Anyone who follows commodities closely knows that this particular feedback cycle has recurred many, many times. Now could we see the cost of production rise so high that even the Pentagon itself could not afford to bid enough money to fund renewed production? Sure, but the day the last economic barrel of oil has finally been extracted is still quite a ways off. It will be along time yet before Jeff Bezos cannot afford to fuel his Gulfstream to check on his doomsday retreat in New Zealand (where Peter Thiel also has his survival refuge).
https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardhyu/2017/04/08/jeff-bezos-the-worlds-second-richest-man-may-be-humanitys-last-hope/#23ab8eb813c7
“I keep a helicopter gassed up all the time, and I have an underground bunker with an air-filtration system.” So says the head of an investment firm preparing for the collapse of civilization, as noted in The New Yorker. LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman estimates that more than 50 percent of Silicon Valley’s billionaires have bought some level of “apocalypse insurance,” such as an underground bunker.
Yet when the middle class does it, they are labeled paranoid doomers.
These kings of industry haven’t a clue… If they’ve loaded up their DD homes with food…. they’ll be found… and killed.
Kim dot com is lurking somewhere in Queenstown…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12059129
Fat Boy Stew Recipe…..
How did you meet Kimdotcom?
He sent me a message saying I looked hot — and that he was wealthy – let’s meet for a drink – and I went over to his apartment.
So is she like.. an escort?
A very silly man…
Dotcom’s Doomsday bunker
• Ideal spot: underneath a lodge on the shores of Lake Wakatipu.
• Maybe two levels, surrounded by solid rock.
• Enough room for 30-40 people (his wife, five children, employees and friends)
• Dotcom would be the leader.
• The currency would be Kimcoin, a type of cryptocurrency.
• Human waste would be turned into drinking water.
• Power would come from solar panels and high-storage batteries.
• People would be armed with guns and know how to fight.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12091592
Those, who have amassed wealth and bunkers, are usually the first target of the masses. The oposite problem of such individuals is that they remain alone and die alone.
Bingo!
We have a winner.
These idiots will be spit roasted first.
The catch is that the oil is buried in places where it is hard to see. Food is one of them. There are food insecure families around the world if not as much in the rich countries. If the price of food goes up, they will cut out meat, or will find some other way to try to make ends meet. Buying bicycles, motor bikes, and vehicles of all kinds is another place where oil consumption is hidden. Being able to buy or rent an apartment of one’s own is another.
If oil prices are higher, the price of a lot of everyday things people buy will be higher. We are not simply talking about the price of adding gasoline to the tank. We are talking about the price of food, and the price of getting to work (perhaps on transit). People are forced to cut back.
I wrote to many politicians, newspapers, and DOD officials suggesting robot war fighters rather than our children. The response a deafening silence. not a topic we can talk about.
Ed, the DoD is a few steps ahead of you:
https://yandex.com/search/?text=pentagon%20robot%20soldiers&lr=21366
I like Yandex.com. It reminds me of the old google, circa 2008, before it went evil. Yeah, Yandex is Russian, so what? Just one more reason to like it.
They must think you are crazy…
Hopefully I’m not, but, if I were, would I know it?
Yes, better to send robots to murde.r childre.n than our own children.
Here are a few excerpts from an interesting article I recently read about yeast: I hope yeast research is not too far off topic.
https://scitechdaily.com/experimental-validation-on-how-populations-collapse/
Working with populations of yeast growing in test tubes, researchers at MIT published the first experimental validation of the theory that populations suffering a decline in environmental conditions appear stable until they reach a tipping point where the population plummets, making recovery nearly impossible.
snip
“This is thought to underlie lots of sudden transitions — in populations, ecosystems or climate regime shifts,” says Jeff Gore, an assistant professor of physics at MIT.
Gore and his students have now offered the first experimental validation of this theory. They showed that in populations of yeast subject to increasingly stressful conditions, populations became less and less resilient to new disturbances until they reached a tipping point at which any small disruption could wipe out a population.
snip
Gore and his co-authors did their experiments with populations of yeast growing in test tubes. Each of the organisms secretes an enzyme that breaks down sucrose in the environment into smaller sugars that it can use as a food source. All of the yeast benefit from this process, so the population is most successful when it maintains a certain density — not too low, not too high.
This phenomenon, known as the “strong Allee effect,” occurs whenever members of a population profit from having other individuals nearby. For example, fish benefit from traveling in a school, which offers protection from predators. The theoretical model tested in this paper should hold true for any population that shows a strong Allee effect.
In this study, the researchers simulated a decline in environmental conditions by removing a certain percentage of each yeast population from its test tube every day, representing the populations’ death rate. In real life, such deteriorating conditions could result from lack of food, overfishing, climate change, acidification of the ocean or anything else detrimental to a population.
The researchers found that as conditions decline, the population becomes less resilient. Whenever it suffers any kind of perturbation, the population is more prone to extinction, requiring more time to recover to a stable population size.
In this case, the disturbance was a salt shock, which disrupts many cellular functions in yeast and can lead to death. Populations that were closer to the tipping point collapsed, while those living in better environmental conditions were able to bounce back.
snip
Excellent points!
I notice too, that if a person is young, has a good immune system, and eats nutritious food, he or she is fairly resistant to shocks. But if there is a bad heat wave or other disturbance, it is those who are at the edge who are most likely to be disturbed.
Oil prices and commodities are directly correlated..
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PALLFNFINDEXQ
All commodity prices tend to move together, is what you are saying. I have been saying that too.
Two reasons: (1) “Demand” based on wages and debt levels affects all commodities at the same time.
(2) Oil is used in producing a lot of other commodities.
See the power of the owners of the Fed (which controls the IMF, BIS, and other CBs)
Instead of trying to address the problem, or beg the IMF for a bailout, the Turkish government has heaped scorn on the West. In return, the Turkish lira plunged another 8% against the dollar on Monday, to 7.04 lira to the dollar.
Seen the other way around, as the chart below shows, the value of 1 lira has now dropped to 14.4 US cents, from 25 cents just four months ago, which, if nothing else, tells people to go figure out how to invest in gold and silver. Monday’s drop brings the grand collapse over the past three days to 24%, and over the past four months to 43%:
https://wolfstreet.com/2018/08/13/price-of-cheap-debt-dollar-euro-local-currencies-come-unglued/
Warning signs global economic chaos could spread to Canada:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-economy-global-1.4780544
Economists Warn Of Impending Corporate Debt Bubble Burst
https://www.pymnts.com/news/b2b-payments/2018/us-corporate-debt-bubble-interest-rates-stock-market/
Someone has been reading FW:
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-13/sweden-burning-migrant-gangs-unleash-coordinated-fire-bomb-rampage-across-multiple
Would I root for the loosing team? No. Go Muslim Sweden, k ill the worthless paste Sweds.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scorpion_and_the_Frog
Let’s see what happens on 9 Sept.
I’m betting on 26%, which is effectively 0.
Is the Shy Tory Factor a thing in Sweden? If the Sweden Democrats become the largest single party it must count for something?
At least with the Swedish electoral system new parties have a chance of breaking through, unlike in the UK and USA.
Last election 12.9% vs 8-9% in polls.
Swedish pop is pretty docile nowadays, remember, their last outburst occurred like ~400yrs ago, it’s simply not in them anymore. Although, it would be interesting to recheck this claim-observation at the collapse stage proper in the future..
I might be wrong, but I suspect there are more aggressive Viking descendants in England than in Sweden: perhaps the cost of alcohol needs to come down in Scandinavia, to let the genie out of the bottle, so to speak? It was the naughty Vikings who taught the English to drink hard, after all……..
Maybe the aggressive vikings went abroad for the rap-ing, the docile stayed at home impregnating the women.
There are certainly a lot of Norwegian descendants in the United States–more than the population of Norway, I have been told. According to a genetic test one of my sisters took, she (and I) are more Norwegian than the typical Norwegian today.
If a person visits Norway, there are a lot more statues of women and children than in most European countries. The others seem to honor men in the military. Norway hasn’t excelled militarily since the days of the Vikings. Perhaps this is part of what has changed the role of women in the country.
I have also heard this, but it depends on the counting method I suppose. Wikipedia operates with 4.6 million norwegian americans vs 5 something million norwegians. But if you subtract recent immigrants and their descendants (in Norway) I guess the scale tips the other way again.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Americans
Black shirt, black skin.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Eritrean_Balilla.jpg
Sigh. A lot of Elon bashing lately.
Let’s go through it again.
1. He makes cool stuff.
2. He’s dating Grimes.
3. He makes rockets and cars and tigers oh my!
4. He dated Amber Heard.
5. He’s dating Grimes.
6. He just committed fraud and no one cares.
7. The government continues to give him money for absolutely no reason.
8. The stock value makes no sense.
9. Did I mention he dated Amber???
Please get back to us when he dates Amber Rudd.
I know we enjoy bashing old Musky Loins on OFW because he embodies the worst of our species’ techno-narcissism but I had no sense of him as a human being until the Thai cave rescue and his utterly embarrassing attempt to interject himself therein. Turns out that, fittingly, he is a petulant man-child. No wonder Amber Heard ditched him.
Nearly 40 percent of borrowers are expected to default on their student loans by 2023
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/13/twenty-two-percent-of-student-loan-borrowers-fall-into-default.html?__source=twitter%7Cmain
but i’m surprised that energy traders and companies are able to keep a straight face on the deck of the titanic. they keep playing the game – even as they must know the ship is crumbling beneath them.
Saudi cutting production due to weakening demand. Perhaps we really will see demand crater before supply-constraints have a chance to bite:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/08/13/saudi-arabia-reins-oil-production-demand-forecasts-waver/amp/
KSA peak? EMs busting up? Elon cracking up?
Fat lady warming up?
Do I continue to buy green bananas … or only ripe?
If we are talking plantain bananas then ripe, they taste better fried in some oil with a little cinnamon on top. 🙂
Agree—
But lose the cinnamon for me.
don’t forget the cooking sherry.
The bananas are quite superfluous to the recipe: a bottle of Tio Pepe and a nice big cigar, with a Terremoto de Jerez CD: heaven!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnfJJ7EvtUA
This is new to me…. it goes well with an Otago pinot…. a nice interlude from
https://www.rt.com/news/435883-car-london-parliament-police/
Or perhaps China cannot keep up the fast pace of economic growth. Also, with the higher oil price, China’s production is higher (or not falling – the article says “more than expected”).
I note China auto sales fall for first time in 14 months
Customers avoid GM and Ford as trade tensions rise
Mr. Clugston reminds us that even if we could magic away our cheap energy shortage problems, there are a lot of useful and not a few essential nonrenewable natural resources that are getting scarcer and more expensive as time goes by.
From 2012:
There Is More to It than Oil
By Chris Clugston, Energy Bulletin
The end of our industrial lifestyle paradigm will be dictated by Liebig’s Law, and by humanity’s response to its consequences. Unfortunately, it is impossible to know at this point which increasingly scarce nonrenewable natural resource (NNR) or NNR combination will ultimately prove to be industrialized humanity’s limiting factor. Consequently, humanity’s global societal collapse may be triggered by scarcity associated with one or more NNRs other than those commonly considered “most critical” to the perpetuation of our industrial lifestyle paradigm—fossil fuels, or oil specifically. After all, the space shuttle Challenger disaster was caused by a faulty o-ring.
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2012-01-04/there-more-it-oil/
By the way, Liebig’s Law has nothing to do with the Big Lie technique—if you’re gonna tell a lie, tell a whopper. As stated in Wikipedia, also known as Liebig’s law of the minimum, it is a principle developed in agricultural science by Carl Sprengel in 1828 and later popularized by Justus von Liebig, and it states that growth is dictated not by total resources available, but by the scarcest resource (the limiting factor).
BAU is on a similar trajectory:
‘Obviously a major malfunction …’
hahahaha… really?
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/08/07/china-restarts-coal-plant-construction-two-year-freeze/
The big takeaway from the article for me is this:
I hadn’t realized electricity consumption was us 9.4% in one year (first six months 2018 compared to first six months 2017) That is phenomenal. US electricity consumption has been close to flat since 2005 (down -1% between 2005 and 2017). Europes electricity consumption in 2017 is up by 3.3% since 2005. Japan’s electricity consumption in 2017 is down by 12% since 2005. A 9% increase year over year is phenomenal.
China’s year over year increases in electricity were
2014 / 2013 4.0%
2015 / 2014 2.9%
2016 / 2015 5.2%
2017 / 2016 6.2%
Getting a 9.4% year over year increase is utterly amazing. Someone is cranking up demand big time, probably with more debt. The 3.4% increase in coal is not bad, (more growth in other production) considering the overall result.
I now see why oil prices have been relatively high – they have been driven by China’s boom. Its slow growth in 2014 and 2015 likely contributed to the oil price collapse. China, as many other places, overestimated how quickly their electricity demand would be growing in recent years. This is what led to overbuilding of coal plants.
The article also mentioned high coal prices. All of this demand for coal is no doubt contributing to high coal prices.
“I hadn’t realized electricity consumption was us 9.4% in one year (first six months 2018 compared to first six months 2017) That is phenomenal.”
I wonder if they are massively “mining” cryptocurrencies…
and then selling them to the west…
if they have calculated that this is profitable…
then they are…
In the case of Japan, a significant factor in the steep decline in electricity consumption was the decision to offline the country’s 50-odd nuclear reactors in the year following the meltdowns of three of the six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011. Prior to 2011, nuclear power was generating 30% of Japan’s electricity, and replacing this generation with oil, coal and gas plants resulted in an approx. 20% increase in the price of electricity.
I haven’t seen the figures, but I assume this increase spurred moves towards energy efficiency power saving, including the closure or transfer of power–guzzling industrial plant to places overseas where electricity was cheaper. The higher prices would have also helped accelerate the trend among industrial, commercial and individual consumers to install newer more-energy efficient lighting, air conditioners and refrigerators. Moreover, the Japanese population dropped by 0.67% from 128,335,767 in 2005 to 127,484,450 in 2017 (according to the UN Population Division statistics), and this would have helped reduce electricity demand.
Population decline in Japan is now accelerating, which should continue to dampen demand, but at the same time electricity prices are dropping as the nuclear reactors are slowly being turned on after increased safety measures are implemented and certified, so on that basis I would expect the consumption trend either to remain flat or else decline gently for several years from here on.
Electricity prices declining may have to do with the crazy impacts of subsidies given to renewables. They can lower the overall electricity price level, depending on how it is done, and how the subsidies are put back into the rate structure.
And now we learn more about how the crazy Take-Tesla-Private Scheme was hatched. Musk wrote a blog post:
https://www.tesla.com/en_CA/blog/update-taking-tesla-private?mod=article_inline&redirect=no
From the blog post:
So the Saudi fund will have something else to collapse. And reporting on financial results can be hidden.
I don’t understand what makes Musk want to keep Tesla operating. Surely he has enough money to retire. Surely, he knows it is not a viable business. Seems the Saudis would know this as well. Why all the smoke and mirrors trying to hide financial results? Why keep the charade going? To what end? Is it just Musk’s ego? Or, is there some other group wanting Tesla to remain in the news? The Tesla story just keeps getting weirder by the month.
It is hard to understand.
If I were a Tesla shareholder now, asked to stay on at the $350 share price, the question I would be asking is, “What will I be able to sell these shares for in a year? In five years? How will these share prices be valued?” Perhaps Tesla can keep all of the “goodwill” on its balance sheet. But how does it continue to manufacture more?
Also, what happens when Tesla needs its next cash infusion? Does it go to the debt market, as a private company, and ask for more debt? I suppose so.
”I don’t understand what makes Musk want to keep Tesla operating.”
Still hoping for a second date with Amber?
Musk is not ‘operating’ Tesla — he has ZERO management experience.
He is a front man — for the renewable energy/EV industrial complex… which is a division of the Hopium Department at the Ministry of Truth.
That’s right!!!
I do not understand also. As a Canadian i understand Nortel…Not short.
EGO !!!
Sometimes it’s not about money but more about power. I would bet that Elon Musk wants to be viewed as a visionary who can shape the future as well as a success story regardless of whether his Tesla idea is good or bad financially.
Tesla should not exist. Therefore someone with a great deal of power… must want it to exist.
Will it be kept alive until the bitter end?
I can feel BAU shuddering …. she is taking very hard body blows.
Notice the ~pressure as they really wanted for past 2 1/2 yrs park their money into..
How many others such yet undisclosed offers and meetings have been likely taking place in the US and around the word..
should be past ~1.5yr instead, very bad math, sorry, lolz
too much “Junckering” as of lately I suppose..
I also spotted that the Saudis are pumping $10 billion into South Africa’s troubled energy sector:
“Power cuts are rife in the country thanks to its ailing state-owned utility Eksom, which is hungry for investment. According to Ben Payton, head of Africa research at consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, 12 of the country’s 15 coal plants are due to decommissioned in the next 20 years. Eskom “is in no position to finance new facilities,” he told CNBC via e-mail.
“But, investment and reform could be a long way off. “Projects in the energy sector are almost invariably delayed due to opposition from NGOs (non-governmental organizations) or trade unions,” said Payton. “South African government agencies are often unreliable partners,” he added, citing the regular failure of municipal governments, who purchase from Eskom, to meet their payments.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/13/saudi-arabia-to-invest-billions-in-south-africa-energy.html
We have to have some kind of energy. Perhaps they can keep So. Africa’s coal production from falling too much. Or perhaps they think that coal prices will rise.
Doesn’t So. Africa need to produce coal for jobs, domestic economy, and foreign exchange?
Right. But its production has been close to flat since 2004. Internal consumption of coal has been falling since 2009, presumably because they need to sell a larger share of the coal if they are to have enough foreign exchange to buy oil and gas.
Interesting—-
I have many South African friends, but most are in the States now.
Seems really unstable.
I see it as unstable too. Race could blow up catastrophically. There are some very flawed concepts underlying social and economic structure. Like everywhere else. But the history of ethnic division must surely make a bad situation worse.
Especially when the interlopers obtained their lands by beating torturing and killing the indigenous people….
To be fair to the Afrikanners, S. Africa was lightly populated by Khoisan when they arrived. The Bantu “stereotypical Black people” showed up later. Not making excuses for apartheid or racism that followed, but the Bantu were no more indigenous to S. Africa than the Dutch.
One could say exactly the same thing and not be far wrong about the Lakota, the Maoris, the Masai, Sting’s Amazonian friends the Yanomami, or hundreds of other peoples. Interloping, raping pillaging, killing, enslaving and generally being really really mean to outsiders has long been a human survival trait. Mr DNA endorses it unreservedly. He just wants. His creatures to be fruitful and multiply. And unlike the God of Abraham and Moses, He doesn’t give fig leaf about how they go about it.
The European colonials preferred to see themselves as bringing civilization and Christianity to the savages and barbarians of the less developed parts of the world who were often even more brutal and callous than the whites themselves were. As fictional hero and “good man in India”, British officer Scott said to the Dutchman upon witnessing the aftermath of a terror raid on a train in North West Frontier: “All right then, Van Leyden. Have a look. Have a good look! – and see what happens when the British aren’t around to keep order!” It’s not a politically correct attitude that would be tolerated in our post-free-speech era, of course. And it would be double plus ungood for anybody these days to endorse such rac-ist, paternalist and white suprem-acist sentiments.
Might makes right. Always
“Really, Holmes,” I said. He had been getting so irascable lately, so insulting. Part of this could be excused, since he became very nervous without the solace of tobacco. Even so, I thought…
The thought was never finished, The cobra struck, and Holmes and I both jumped, yelling at the same time.
Something hissed trough the air. The cobra was knocked aside by the impact of a missile, and it writhed dying on the ground. An arrow transfixed it just back of the head.
“Steady, Watson!” Holmes Said. “We are saved, but the savage who shot that may have preserved us only so he’ll have fresher meat for his pot!”
Suddenly, we leaped into the air again, uttering a frightened scream.
Seemingly out of the air, a man had appeared before us.
My heart was beating too hard and my breath was coming too swiftly for me to say anything for a moment.
Holmes recovered first.
He said, “Lord Greystoke, I presume?”
http://www.goodshowsir.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/PeerlessPeer-187×300.jpg
To be fair to the Afrikanners, S. Africa was lightly populated by Khoisan when they arrived. The Bantu “stereotypical Black people” showed up later.
Yep– but that is little known by the proletariat.
Africa is black, right?
Isn’t it best to turn back the coal plant decommissioning if possible? Am I correct in sensing here a most colossal cluster…k generated by the “clean energy” community?
You are right about the clean energy story being ripe for a major turnaround.
I wonder, too, if there is an affordability problem for coal, just like there is for oil. If the price of coal rises too much, people cannot afford its output. That is why coal production tends to plateau and eventually fall. Coal prices can’t rise high enough. So Africa might be reaching a downturn in its production for this reason. Also, I understand that washing the coal takes a lot of water. This is a problem if water is in short supply.
It worked so well in Rhodesia may as well double down
I’m really disappointed to see Tesla go private. I was hoping to short it during the next stock market crash.
Alex Jones flees to Vimeo, is immediately banned there as well
https://thinkprogress.org/vimeo-banned-alex-jones-5b29ac3141fe/
https://www.godlikeproductions.com/sm/c3549d16.gif
another internet “service” for us to not use any,ore.
Adding insult to injury, Alex Jones has been banned from YouPorn
https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/08/alex-jones-youporn-ban/
The MoT … would appear to have a problem with AJ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmVhTbvmDls
I also never heard of them
This was an editorial in the WSJ today, written by an assistant professor of public policy and economics at Duke University:
The Phony Numbers Behind California’s Solar Mandate
Same play book as the G Ws.
1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed
From about 1500 BC to 1200 BC, the Mediterranean region played host to a complex cosmopolitan and globalized world-system. It may have been this very internationalism that contributed to the apocalyptic disaster that ended the Bronze Age. When the end came, the civilized and international world of the Mediterranean regions came to a dramatic halt in a vast area stretching from Greece and Italy in the west to Egypt, Canaan, and Mesopotamia in the east. Large empires and small kingdoms collapsed rapidly. With their end came the world’s first recorded Dark Ages. It was not until centuries later that a new cultural renaissance emerged in Greece and the other affected areas, setting the stage for the evolution of Western society as we know it today. Professor Eric H. Cline of The George Washington University will explore why the Bronze Age came to an end and whether the collapse of those ancient civilizations might hold some warnings for our current society.
https://youtu.be/bRcu-ysocX4
Bronze Age collopse remind me of our industrial civilization
plus this also
Dave Montgomery – Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations
David Montgomery has discovered that the three-foot-deep skin of our planet is slowly being eroded away, with potentially devastating results. In this engaging lecture, Montgomery draws from his book ‘Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations’ to trace the role of soil use and abuse in the history of societies, and discuss how the rise of organic and no-till farming bring hope for a new agricultural revolution
.https://youtu.be/sQACN-XiqHU
There is also his book by the same name, that I liked.
Once they reached peak bronze, it was downhill all the way.
Ok–
https://webbreacher.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/picture1.jpg
https://youtu.be/GEstgTAXyec
Juicy yet odd details on the following:
– latest Turkish pressure (threat or beyond?) kicking out US AFB out of the country, incl. steps leading to issue int warrants for US generals and other stationed officers for their role of the 2016 failed antigov coup attempt..
– early missile strike warning system shenanigans..
https://youtu.be/dY2sm4RtC6s?t=237
starts at ~4min
Well, the US will still have over 700 military bases out of the country——–
What’s losing one.
Russia has about 20—
It’s interesting for several reasons, offer quickly some striking details:
– I didn’t know (as msm hushed it somewhat) that Turks already blocked supplies/power to that shared US AFB facility
– obviously it’s NOT the average base at all, it’s super top priority base used for nuclear strikes against Russia as well as ME theater operations support
– if Turks eventually manage kick them out and or cripple AFB’s functionality enough, this US AFB moves out, and next most likely candidate is Poland, which even offers paying money for an unspecified US base (to the annoyance of Germany which in turn again puts on fire those “smart” Poles); now the distances between Kalinigrad (Russian Baltic military enclave), Russia proper (e.g. St. Petersburg) and Poland are minuscule vs. other bases, which means shorter response time, which means much higher probability war or provocation going hot..
+ this particular media channel “Trunews” is kind of getting interesting, quality geopolitical analysis, picking up elsewhere unheard details etc., supposedly catholic grassroots funded, but this is too quality stuff for that, so there is likely some sort of upper catholic faction support behind it (bishops, Vatican intel..), i.e. again closer to the source stuff what’s going up there in upper echelons of power
I know, it is a important one.
But still—-
Poland? Really a problem.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/11/europe-far-right-populist-nazi-poland/524559/
That was nothing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7xqwm_c1_k
I just cant put my finger on why they dont trust Germany an Islam…Could of read a history book…All I got
Talking history, do yourself a favor, work out comparative spreadsheet scoring how the polish guy did against their enemies/vassals/subjugated when they had their turn and upper hand for a while, it was not dissimilar to German or Russian rule, moreover on several historical occasions even much worse..
LOL you cant make this stuff
Rose will make her debut as Batwoman in a crossover episode involving other characters from the DC Comics universe.
From your link
https://www.rt.com/usa/435771-baltimore-police-punch-mcgrier/
“I think we’re bound for something a lot worse than a recession. We’re going to continue what we began in 2008… the central banks around the world are going to have to raise interest rates. And that’s when there’s really a disaster, because we can’t afford the higher interest rates. We can barely afford the higher interest rates we have now.”
https://www.salon.com/2018/08/12/the-end-is-near-a-play-by-play-of-the-coming-economic-collapse/
The FX traders consider the euro to be train wreck. They expected the euro to bounce on its support line, but it just crashed through it.
The dollars pause is over and it will now be a kiIIer as it rises. All currencies will crash around the dollar.
As the Fed shrinks its balance sheet and the world experiences a dollar shortage, central banks will have no other option than to print their own currencies, which will cause hyper inflation and the collapse of the value of their currencies.
Meanwhile the trade war rumbles on:
“China is not just another front in President Donald Trump’s war on trade. Unlike Mexico, Canada, Europe and other targets of the president, China will be a source of economic conflict for years to come.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-08-13/china-u-s-trade-spat-is-just-a-start-to-the-economic-cold-war
And the UK continues to fumble the ball on Brexit:
“Sterling’s decline has recently resumed, albeit gently. Perhaps the only surprising thing about that statement is its last word. Seasoned market watchers are surprised that the pound is not a lot lower, such is the utter chaos surrounding the UK’s preparations for its imminent departure from the EU.”
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/chris-johns-brace-yourself-for-the-brexit-fudge-crisis-1.3593669
An additional stress for an already struggling economy:
“…the UK has experienced a slump in productivity growth since the financial crisis that shows no sign of coming to an end. The slowdown has been more acute than any other western country.”
https://www.ft.com/content/6ada0002-9a57-11e8-9702-5946bae86e6d
“U.K. house prices fell for a fifth month in a row in July, the longest stretch of declines since the financial crisis.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-12/u-k-house-prices-are-on-the-longest-losing-streak-since-crisis
Falling asset prices are bad for repayment of loans, unfortunately. Our economy seems to depend on ever-rising asset prices.
Falling energy consumption per capita is not good for productivity growth.
https://gailtheactuary.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/uk-energy-consumption-per-capita.png
This chart does not have the most recent year’s data in it. The most recent year seems to be down a bit more.
That chart sends a shiver down my spine – the decline is so precipitous and the trend so obviously irreversible. And now we have in effect voted ourselves further into the economic periphery via Brexit. Soon we will be a banana republic without the bananas… 🙁
On the up-side, you can be very proud of the reduction in your per-capita carbon footprint. Monbiot for one must be chuffed.
Or at least as chuffed as someone with prostate cancer can be; poor George.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/08/my-prostate-cancer-surgery-key-to-good-life
George always manages to look on the bright side of life, doesn’t he. Happy to have prostate cancer, is he? Seriously? I warned him not to eat roadkill!
Reminiscent of Christopher Hitchens, who when he was dying of cancer of the esophagus brought on by excessive smoking and drinking (unless Hillary did it!), assured the public that even if he’d have known he was going to get this disease, he wouldn’t have acted any differently.
The arrogance and bluster of these characters!
If I contracted something serious now .. I would not seek medical attention … all that suffering .. to survive to suffer even more…
Nope – a big world tour — sponsored by Fentanyl and various pain killers
Gail,
The latest figure I have for 2017 is 121.3 GJ per capita per annum. With 1 tonne of oil equivalent rated at 41.868 GJ that’d give a figure of 2.897 on your chart. It’s the lowest value going back to 1965 (which is all I have data for)
Cheers
Thanks! I can believe that.
“Italy’s bonds led losses among euro-area sovereign debt markets as the Turkish currency turmoil fueled fears of a contagion effect across riskier assets. Yields on two-year securities climbed to the highest levels in more than a week as stocks worldwide declined following a tumble of more than 28 percent in Turkey’s lira this month. The Italian 10-year spread over German bunds hit the highest since May. Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio was reported as saying in an interview Monday that his country won’t be subject to an attack by speculators.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-13/italian-bonds-slump-as-shock-waves-from-turkish-turmoil-spread
“The plunge in the Turkish lira has set off a wave of selling across emerging market assets, reviving the spectre of contagion that has been the sector’s Achilles heel for decades… the South African rand and Brazilian real tumbled in its wake… “It’s the usual classic emerging markets story where people wake up, see bad news in one country and start selling everywhere,” said Bart Turtelboom, chief executive at APQ Global.”
https://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKBN1KW04Z-OZABS
“The rupee on Monday joined the emerging market currencies rout as the domestic unit opened at a low of 69.47 against the US dollarNSE -0.96 %. The rupee nosedived to its life-time low of 69.62…”
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/forex/rupee-hits-fresh-record-low-breaches-69-50-level-against-dollar/articleshow/65381521.cms
“In spite of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s attempts to revive the country’s struggling [South African] economy, there is a strong possibility it may slip into recession. Economists have predicted negative growth for the second quarter (April to June), which would throw the country into recession. The rand fell to its worst level against the dollar in nearly 18 months this week…”
https://www.iol.co.za/weekend-argus/economy-teeters-on-the-brink-of-recession-16511517
“The Australian dollar fell to an 18-month low against the US dollar on Monday, as worries about an impending financial crisis in Turkey prompted selling in the currency with strategists warning of more downside ahead.”
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/australian-dollar-at-1-year-low-as-turkey-worries-rise-20180813-p4zx6z.html
South Africa is very dependent on coal. At the same time, its population is rising. It seems to be another country with falling energy consumption per capita since 2008.
Don’t get the idea I’m sold on Nostradamus, but he did write an interesting first part of a quatrain that may have something to do with what has started in Turkey with massive devaluation of the Lira and now a contagion to Italy’s bonds:
“The false trumpet concealing madness will cause Byzantium to change it’s laws.”
Byzantium use to be a term for Constantanople, which is now Istanbul in Turkey.
Interesting! Does the rest of the quatrain say anything that is possibly relevant?
“The Turkish lira fell almost 9% in early trading on Monday and the euro hit a one-year low as investors feared that the country’s financial crisis could spread to European markets.
“Despite defiant words by the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the weekend pledging as yet unspecified action to reverse the slide, the currency slipped alarmingly against the US dollar on Monday.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/13/turkey-financial-crisis-lira-plunges-again-amid-contagion-fears
“”Just to put it in context: the amount of money borrowed by Turkey is similar to the amount of money that was borrowed by Bear Stearns-it’s about $400 billion. Bear Stearns of course had off-sheet liabilities as well, but on-sheet liabilities of $400 billion. Lehman Brothers was $600 billion, so that puts it in context. This is a big number and it’s lent from outside the system so it does have issues for financial stability, particularly in Europe and we need to make that clear.””
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4197961-turkey-default-risk-spikes-2008minus-2009-crisis-levels-possible-contagion-warns-russell
“The bid-ask spread or the difference between the price bidders are willing to buy and sell the [Turkish] lira at, has widened beyond the gap seen at the depths of the Global Financial Crisis, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers.”
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/international-business/turkey-crisis-in-charts-worse-than-lehman-similar-to-1998/articleshow/65384647.cms
Not good!
Unlike Greece, Turkey is a major economy.
We shall see comrades——
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/08/12/another-bloody-chicago-weekend-gun-violence-leaves-1-dead-27-wounded.html
Let’s aim for 1000 shot in a single day….
There are around 100 people shot every day in America..