Category Archives: Society

Energy and resources limits what humans can do. So do their own systems. Financial systems fail, corruption, wars, religion, politics and more all play a role in how successful societies are and how wealthy their citizens are. As the distribution of wealth grows more unfair, the population is so immiserated at some point that collapse and a new society emerge

Credit Card Fraud

Posted on April 12, 2014 by

Banks fined $1.66 Billion for illegal credit card practices that ripped off over 10 million customers Bank of America will refund up to 2.9 million customers $727 million plus pay $45 million in fines for illegal credit card practices such … Continue reading →

Posted in Banking | Comments Off on Credit Card Fraud

Who lives, who dies in a never-ending energy crisis. Book review of Nothing to Envy. Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Posted on April 6, 2014 by

Preface. Much of this post comes from Barbara Demick’s 2010 “Nothing to Envy. Ordinary lives in North Korea”.  But first I summarize why and how energy shortages led to the hardships chronicled in this book. Related Posts: North Korea collapse … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Energy Books, North Korea, Oil shock collapse | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Fall of AIG

Posted on April 5, 2014 by

2 articles below: March 18, 2009  The Real AIG Scandal by Eliot Spitzer slate.com It’s not the bonuses. It’s that AIG’s counterparties are getting paid back in full. Everybody is rushing to condemn AIG’s bonuses, but this simple scandal is … Continue reading →

Posted in Debt | Comments Off on The Fall of AIG

Unemployment

Posted on April 5, 2014 by

The Eternal Depression Oct 2009. Bill Bonner. DailyReckoning. Yesterday, we were calculating how long it would take to get the jobless number back down to ’90s levels…that is, around 5%. There are now about 131 million jobs in the United … Continue reading →

Posted in Poverty | Comments Off on Unemployment

Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes: States Seize Citizens’ Property to Balance Their Budgets

Posted on April 4, 2014 by

Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes: States Seize Citizens’ Property to Balance Their Budgets May 12, 2008. Elisabeth Leamy. abcnews The 50 U.S. states are holding more than $32 billion worth of unclaimed property that they’re supposed to safeguard for their citizens. But a … Continue reading →

Posted in Scams | Comments Off on Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes: States Seize Citizens’ Property to Balance Their Budgets

Credit Card Debt

Posted on April 4, 2014 by

May 1, 2008 U.S. Credit Card Debt Soars to Unprecedented Heights http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-4-28/69849.html Studies indicate that credit card defaults and related write-offs increased drastically since 2006. Today, lenders write off 33 percent more in credit card debt than they did two … Continue reading →

Posted in Debt | Comments Off on Credit Card Debt

Credit Default Swaps & CDO’s

Posted on April 4, 2014 by

Why Wall St. Needed Credit Default Swaps http://seekingalpha.com/article/73060-why-wall-st-needed-credit-default-swaps Take a CDO with a 50 basis point spread over US Treasures. Banks will buy credit default swaps costing them 20 basis points, but by doing so, even they seem to make … Continue reading →

Posted in Scams | Comments Off on Credit Default Swaps & CDO’s

Articles about the Stages of Collapse

Posted on April 4, 2014 by

Complexity, Problem Solving, and Sustainable Societies 1996. Joseph A. Tainter from GETTING DOWN TO EARTH: Practical Applications of Ecological Economics, Island Press, 1996; ISBN 1-55963-503-7 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1559635037 OVERVIEW   Historical knowledge is essential to practical applications of ecological economics. Systems of problem … Continue reading →

Posted in Stages of | Comments Off on Articles about the Stages of Collapse

Economics 101: Liquidity is a Loan, Why prices can go UP in a Deflation, do not buy Gold, and Much More

Posted on March 29, 2014 by

December 29, 2007. Karl Denninger. The Year In Review And a Look Ahead for 2008. market-ticker [I’ve snipped out a lot of this article, which is no longer available on the internet.  It was very prescient, and even though some … Continue reading →

Posted in Gold & Silver, Inflation or Deflation, Money | Comments Off on Economics 101: Liquidity is a Loan, Why prices can go UP in a Deflation, do not buy Gold, and Much More

Why Deleveraging is so painful

Posted on March 29, 2014 by

Why a recovery is at least 7 years away: Economy Falling Years Behind Full Speed 6 Apr 2009. Louis Uchitelle. New York Times. As the recession grinds on, more and more of the nation’s means of production — its workers, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Decline | Comments Off on Why Deleveraging is so painful