Have you been paying attention to what has been happening in Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Ukraine, Turkey and China? If you are like most Americans, you have not been. Most Americans don’t seem to really care too much about what is happening in the rest of the world, but they should.
In major cities all over the globe right now, there is looting, violence, shortages of basic supplies, and runs on the banks. We are not at a “global crisis” stage yet, but things are getting worse with each passing day. For a while, I have felt that 2014 would turn out to be a major “turning point” for the global economy, and so far that is exactly what it is turning out to be. The following are 20 early warning signs that we are rapidly approaching a global economic meltdown…
#1 The looting, violence and economic chaos that is happening in Argentina right now is a perfect example of what can happen when you print too much money…
For Dominga Kanaza, it wasn’t just the soaring inflation or the weeklong blackouts or even the looting that frayed her nerves.
It was all of them combined.
At one point last month, the 37-year-old shop owner refused to open the metal shutters protecting her corner grocery in downtown Buenos Aires more than a few inches — just enough to sell soda to passersby on a sweltering summer day.
#3 Widespread shortages, looting and accelerating inflation are also causing huge problems in Venezuela…
Economic mismanagement in Venezuela has reached such a level that it risks inciting a violent popular reaction. Venezuela is experiencing declining export revenues, accelerating inflation and widespread shortages of basic consumer goods. At the same time, the Maduro administration has foreclosed peaceful options for Venezuelans to bring about a change in its current policies.
President Maduro, who came to power in a highly-contested election last April, has reacted to the economic crisis with interventionist and increasingly authoritarian measures. His recent orders to slash prices of goods sold in private businesses resulted in episodes of looting, which suggests a latent potential for violence. He has put the armed forces on the street to enforce his economic decrees, exposing them to popular discontent.
#4 In a stunning decision, the Venezuelan government has just announced that it has devalued the Bolivar by more than 40 percent.
#5 Brazilian stocks declined sharply on Thursday. There is a tremendous amount of concern that the economic meltdown that is happening in Argentina is going to spill over into Brazil.
A tense ceasefire was announced in Kiev on the fifth day of violence, with radical protesters and riot police holding their position. Opposition leaders are negotiating with the government, but doubts remain that they will be able to stop the rioters.
As China’s CNR reports, depositors in some of Yancheng City’s largest farmers’ co-operative mutual fund societies (“banks”) have been unable to withdraw “hundreds of millions” in deposits in the last few weeks. “Everyone wants to borrow and no one wants to save,” warned one ‘salesperson’, “and loan repayments are difficult to recover.” There is “no money” and the doors are locked.
Wall Street was rattled by a key reading on China’s manufacturing which dropped below the key 50 level in January, according to HSBC. A reading below 50 on the HSBC flash manufacturing PMI suggests economic contraction.
#10 Japanese stocks experienced their biggest drop in 7 months on Thursday.
Rioters in Ukraine’s capital Kiev are reportedly holding 2 policemen hostage authorities also say an officer was found shot dead in the city centre with another in hospital with stab wounds. And the fury in Kiev is spreading to Ukraine’s West – as RT’s Alexey Yaroshevsky reports. Meanwhile President Yanoukovich has agreed to several concessions – reshuffling his cabinet and pledging to review recent laws that introduced harsher punishments for rioters. However opposition leaders have called for citizens across Ukraine to form militias and “take control into their own hands” – RT’s Paula Slier travelled east of the capital to see if those calls were being heard there.
The Western media has tacitly acknowledged, faced with overwhelming evidence, that the opposition rebels have not only committed countless atrocities, they were also behind the chemical weapons attack of August 21.
In the wake of these tragic events, a new dribble of media disinformation is unfolding.
The evolving media narrative –which coincides in a timely fashion with the Geneva 2 Peace Conference– consists in distinguishing between two categories of Al Qaeda affiliated rebel organizations.
The story runs roughly as follows:
There are moderate Al Qaeda rebels (“good guy Jihadists”) including those affiliated to Al Nusrah, which are now part of the Western supported moderate Islamic Front. The latter is now openly supported and financed by the US and its allies.
And then there are the so-called extremists associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Three blasts hit Cairo on Friday, targeting police HQ, a metro station and a police station. They apparent string of militant attacks claimed at least five people and injured scores of others.
Welcome to http://NewWorldNextWeek.com — the video series from Corbett Report and Media Monarchy that covers some of the most important developments in open source intelligence news.
Story #1: Ukraine Opposition Sets 24-hour Deadline As Protests Rage http://ur1.ca/ghhxb
Putin Scores a New Victory: What Really Happened In Ukraine http://ur1.ca/ghhxc
Ukraine Texts Citizens: Hey, We See You’re In a Mass Disturbance http://ur1.ca/ghhxe
Reddit: Ukraine Revolt Livestream http://ur1.ca/ghhxh
State Of Emergency Begins As Thailand Copes With Protests http://ur1.ca/ghhxk
Geneva II: Day 1 of Syria Peace Talks Ends on Fragile Ground http://ur1.ca/ghhxl
Story #3: Homeland Security Special Agents Hold Up Google Glass Moviegoer http://ur1.ca/ghhxs
Google Unveils ‘Smart Contact Lens’ to Measure Glucose Levels http://ur1.ca/ghhxv
Like an infectious disease that initially spreads and then abruptly dies, Facebook’s growth is set for a rapid decline within the next few years, according to a new study from Princeton University.
Researchers at Princeton’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering predict that Facebook will lose 80 per cent of its peak user base between 2015 and 2017.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, used epidemiological models used to track the spread of infectious diseases and publicly available Google search query data, to explain how users adopt and abandon online social networks.
by Michael Snyder
by Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Marlene Leung, CTVNews.ca
PN 