Author Archives: energyskeptic

Richard Heinberg – collapse in a few years to decades

China or the U.S.: Which Will Be the Last Nation Standing? Feb 3, 2010 by Richard Heinberg Silly me. Here I had thought that world leaders would want to keep their nations from collapsing. They must be working hard to … Continue reading

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Paul Kingsnorth on Collapse

It’s the End of the World as We Know It . . . and He Feels Fine APRIL 17, 2014  DANIEL SMITH    New York Times [excerpts from a very long article] Kingsnorth is 41, tall, slim and energetic, with sweeping … Continue reading

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Banks still gambling on illegal Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLO)

Banks Cling to Bundles Holding Risk APRIL 19, 2014 GRETCHEN MORGENSON New York Times Some $431 billion worth of C.L.O.s currently exist. The Volcker Rule doesn’t go into effect until 2015, but that hasn’t stopped big bankers and their supporters … Continue reading

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Have Cash by Nicole Foss July 3, 2010

Since we at The Automatic Earth generally tell people to hold cash or cash equivalents, it makes sense to expand on that a little, and to point out some of the location-specific risks of doing so. Eventually you should get … Continue reading

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Fannie & Freddie started the mortgage crisis

Reckless Endangerment. How outsized ambition, greed, and corruption led to Economic Armageddon 2011 by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner This book makes the case that Fannie & Freddie started the mortgage crisis and then Wall Street got in on the … Continue reading

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A book review of “Russia’s Food Policies and Globalization”

Preface.  Today Russia exports a substantial percent of wheat, and now that oil prices are surging is in much better shape than after the Fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.  But with peak oil likely in 2018, and money … Continue reading

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The need for trust

Beyond the Trust Horizon  Oct 1, 2010  Nicole Foss   theautomatic earth Relationships of trust are the glue that holds societies together. Trust takes a long time to establish, and much less time to destroy, hence societies where trust is wide-spread, … Continue reading

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The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind Is Designed to Kill

THE MURDERER NEXT DOOR: Why the Mind Is Designed to Kill, David M Buss http://www.amazon.com/Murderer-Next-Door-Mind-Designed/dp/0143037056 [pp. 36-44] THE COMPETITIVE LEGACY OF OUR ANCESTORS Every breath we take we owe to our ancestors-an unimaginably long and unbroken line of forebears who managed to … Continue reading

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Marc Faber

‘Buy farmland and gold,’ advises Dr Doom. 2010. business.timesonline.co.uk The world’s most powerful investors have been advised to buy farmland, stock up on gold and prepare for a “dirty war” by Marc Faber, the notoriously bearish market pundit, who predicted … Continue reading

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Gordon Long Extend & Pretend

Gordon Long has interesting ideas about what’s going on and how to invest accordingly.  I don’t agree with all that he writes, but what he has to say sure is interesting and a good overview of the incredibly widespread corruption … Continue reading

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