Atlas is Getting Tired of Holding up the World Economy
It is becoming a familiar story of global uprisings and discontent outside the USA while steady economic growth in the USA remains the only thing holding up the world economy. Socialism is dead just as communism. The idea that governments can manipulate the economy to smooth out the business cycle has been a disaster. Even Keynes before he died realized he was wrong and said he hoped Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand would save Britain. He said: “I find myself more and more relying for a solution of our problems on the invisible hand which I tried to eject from economic thinking twenty years ago.”
Indeed, Paul Volcker, former Chairman of the Fed even stated in his 1979 Rediscovery of the Business Cycle:
“The Rediscovery of the Business Cycle – is a sign of the times. Not much more than a decade ago, in what now seems a more innocent age, the ‘New Economics’ had become orthodoxy. Its basic tenet, repeated in similar words in speech after speech, in article after article, was described by one of its leaders as ‘the conviction that business cycles were not inevitable, that government policy could and should keep the economy close to a path of steady real growth at a constant target rate of unemployment.’
Despite those with great credentials admitting this idea of manipulating the economy with centralized planning that failed in communism is failing in socialism, we find politicians still refusing to admit the emperor has no clothes. They are hell-bent on playing with the economy to the devastation of our future and that of our posterity. They are now disassembling everything that made the recovery from World War II with the free flow of capital to the hunt for loose change thanks to FATCA. This is all about them retaining power – not about what is good for the nation.
The great threat to Europe is its politicians. Creating the Euro created a host of jobs. The EU institutions employ over 47 000 civil servants on salaries far above those that they would receive in their home countries in public service. There are 16 salary classes with up to five categories for seniority. In addition to the salary, civil servants receive a family allowance, education allowances for kids and young students until 26 years and pension. There is also a permanent ex-pat allowance at 16 % for foreigners moving to Brussels.
There is no way the Euro will go for the better of Europe. If the Euro fails, these people are out of a job. They will gut the entire European economy before they will ever admit they are wrong. No they are working to Federalize Europe on a fast-track. From a military perspective, the strongest member economically, Germany, effectively has no army for that was prohibited by its post-war constitution. So the countries with the capacity to man an army are broke. Hence, Russia can smell the weakness of Europe.
In Asia, riots are starting for Democracy in Hong Kong. China and Japan rattle sabers. In Canada, Quebec is bankrupt and the government is just accelerating its demise. The Bricks are declining. South America is rather hopeless and has issued a lot of debt in dollars so as the dollar rises, so do their debts and this was the demise of Greece.
Atlas should get tired by 2015.75. When we turn down then, look out below. We are moving into a free-fall where there may be no bid.
Turkey Sends Back 3 Islamist fighters to France
Three Islamist fighters from France could were returned by Turkey. To everyone’s surprise, they entered France freely at Marseille airport after Turkey had expelled them and put on a plane. The French authorities knew that Turkey’s three terror suspects had put on a plane. Nonetheless, the French police were not waiting at the airport Marseille, but at Orly airport outside Paris. Actually, the Islamists should have been sent to Paris, but the pilot of the Paris-flight refused to let the three on board his aircraft. The police were never notified of the change in Paris.
The Financial Times quoted the French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian saying “It was a big failure.” The three suspects were actually noticed at passport control. Yet the computer system apparently did not work. The three Jihadists were able to freely enter France. The three went to local police station in the south of France, in order to show themselves. Amazingly, because there was no police officer present, they were asked to wait outside for 20 minutes before any police appeared. And these people have to take everyone’s phone calls and text messages to protect us from terrorists. They cannot even show up when they are informed.
France has currently 7.5% of its population is Muslim, which is about 4.7 million. It is projected to exceed 10% by 2030 according to the report published by the Guardian. France has had riots in the Muslim community and there is a higher percentage of those in support of extremist views than in most other European nations. This may only add to the problems ahead for France after 2015.75.
UBS Preparing to Delist Stock
Banks are finding that it is far better to stay out of the United States than to be in. Foreign banks are targeted to allow the government to pretend it is dealing with the banks while it is really still overlooking some favored banks in New York.
UBS in Switzerland is preparing to delist its stock. In a public announcement, the Swiss banks has stated it strategy to to create a holding company in a stock swap. UBS announced:
“With the completion of the transaction, UBS Group AG (currently a wholly owned subsidiary of UBS AG) for the holding company of UBS AG and its subsidiaries. The UBS Group AG shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (“SIX”) and on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), meanwhile, is intended to delist the shares of UBS AG pursuant to the applicable listing regulations. After the completion of the transaction and the subsequent squeeze-out, in which the remaining shareholders of UBS AG also shares the UBS AG Group in the ratio 1: 1 and get complete control of the UBS AG is to be attained, UBS expects the shareholders of UBS AG Group to propose a supplementary repatriation of at least CHF 0.25 per share.”