tag > Economics
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Details on India’s mixed paper import crackdown (Resource Recycling, 2020)
India has grown as a downstream market for U.S. mixed paper in recent years. "India, the largest overseas market for U.S. mixed paper, has tightened quality standards & reduced its recycled fiber import volume. Imported mixed paper will be allowed a maximum of 1% contamination and will face more rigorous inspections. The move threatens to close a major outlet for U.S. mixed paper: From January through November 2019, India imported 1 million short tons of mixed paper from the U.S., or 41% of all U.S. mixed paper exports."
“The new Indian implementation is potentially catastrophic for the U.K.,” said Simon Ellin, CEO of the U.K.-based Recycling Association. After China, India is the second-largest export market for U.K. recovered packaging, Ellin said, and the country bought more than 400,000 metric tons of U.K. fiber in 2019, most of which was mixed paper. “If they implement a 1% tolerance on non-fiber content, then it is an extremely brave person who would continue to export mixed papers there – source separated or co-mingled,” Ellin said.
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Apple AirPods Make More Money Than Spotify, Twitter, Snapchat & Shopify Combined
#Comment: Given that Apple's Airpods are an absolute environmental disaster (very short lifespan & many components are un-recyclable), this story is a wonderful illustration of the mechanics of late capitalism: the bigger the pollution, the bigger the profits. Future historians will come to see Apple & co as deeply regressive entities, ridding the tail-end of collapsing mass-consumerism culture.
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Chinese banker who embezzled US$108 million handed suspended death sentence
SCMP: "Ex-Chairman of Hengfeng Bank, Jiang Xiyun was convicted for moving 754 million yuan ($108 million) worth of Hangfeng shares to his personal account between 2008 & 2013. He also took bribes of more than 60m yuan together with another bank executive. Jiang had ordered others to destroy records for over 600 million yuan of transactions. Hengfeng Bank received about $14 billion bailout package. A reprieved death sentence may be commuted to a life sentence if the person shows good behavior within the allotted period." (alt: bloomberg)
#Comment: When is the last time one of the (many) super corrupt and criminal bankers in western countries had to go to jail or face justice? Probably zero times in the past 40 years?
Chinese scientist He Jiankui involved in gene-edited babies jailed for 3 years
SCMP: "Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who created the world’s first “gene-edited” babies, has been sentenced to three years in prison and fined 3 million yuan (US$430,000). He, along with two others named Zhang Renli and Qin Jinzhou, was convicted by a Shenzhen court on Monday on charges related to the “illegally carrying out human embryo gene-editing intended for reproduction”, which led to the births of three genetically edited babies, according to state news agency Xinhua."
#Comment: What message does jailing a single scientists ("bad sheep") send, in a time when Synthetic Life ("Internet of Life" as one Chinese initiative is called) is entering the hot period?
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“I don’t think Facebook Libra has a chance in its current form, because central banks will not accept the basket of currencies underpinning it. The project, in this form, has thus failed.” - Ueli Maurer, Switzerland’s finance minister & President
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Uniqlo's Tokyo Warehouse is 90% Robotic (Financial Times)
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"Blood now makes up well over 2 percent of total U.S. exports by value. To put that in perspective, Americans' blood is now worth more than all exported corn or soy products that cover vast areas of the country's heartland. The U.S. supplies fully 70% of the world's plasma, mainly because most other countries have banned the practice on ethical and medical grounds."
"The people who show up are a mix of disabled, working poor, homeless, single parents, and college students. With the exception of the college students who are looking for booze money, this is probably the easiest and most reliable income they have. Your job may fire you at any time when you're on this level of society, but you always have blood. And selling your blood doesn't count as a job or income when it comes to determining disability benefits, food stamps, or unemployment eligibility so it's a source of money for the people who have absolutely nothing else."
"Desperate Americans are allowed to donate twice per week. But losing that much plasma could have serious health consequences, most of which have not been studied [...] Around 70 percent of donors experience health complications. Donors have a lower protein count in their blood, putting them at greater risk of infections and liver and kidney disorders. Many regulars suffer from near-permanent fatigue and are borderline anemic. All this for an average of $30 per visit."
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Assorted Peculiar News:
Italian Police Arrest Over 300 in Raids on Organized Crime (NYtimes)
Glencore named in Congo child labour case targeting Big Tech (swissinfo)
Global Wave of Debt Is Largest, Fastest in 50 Years (worldbank)
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Basel Committee calls for 'prudential' rules for crypto as they pose risks to banks
Image source:"Central bank cryptocurrencies" (BIS) The Bank for International Settlements, has published a discussion paper, saying that the growth of cryptocurrencies and related services could pose risks to financial stability and banks, and therefore, a “conservative prudential” treatment to cryptocurrency exposures should be applied.
“If banks are authorized, and decide, to acquire crypto-assets or provide related services, the Committee is of the view that they should apply a conservative prudential treatment to such exposures, especially for high-risk crypto-assets,” it said.
Related: They’ve Got a Secret - by Michael Hirsh (NYTimes, 2013).
Related: Comment by Carroll Quigley about the BIS. -
Quotes from Carroll Quigley's (1910 - 1977) book "Tragedy and Hope" (1966):
"It is clear that the West believes in diversity rather than in uniformity, in pluralism rather than in monism or dualism, in inclusion rather than exclusion, in liberty rather than in authority, in truth rather than in power, in conversion rather than in annihilation, in the individual rather than in the organization, in reconciliation rather than in triumph, in heterogeneity rather than in homogeneity, in relativism rather than in absolutes, and in approximations rather than in final answers." - Pg. 1227 of Tragedy and Hope
Impaled Classical Sculptures by Artist Bai Yiluo "The powers of financial capitalism had another far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole.
This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences.
The apex of the system was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basle, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world’s central banks which were themselves private corporations.
Each central bank, in the hands of men like Montagu Norman of the Bank of England, Benjamin Strong of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, Charles Rist of the Bank of France, and Hjalmar Schacht of the Reichsbank, sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world." - Pg. 324 of Tragedy and Hope
Impaled Classical Sculptures by Artist Bai Yiluo “There does exist an international Anglophile network which we may identify as the Round Table Groups. I know of the operations of this network because I have studied it for twenty years and was permitted for two years, in the early 1960’s, to examine its papers and secret records. I have no aversion to it or to most of its aims and have, for much of my life, been close to it and to many of its instruments. I have objected to a few of its policies but in general my chief difference of opinion is that it wishes to remain unknown, and I believe its role in history is significant enough to be known.” - Pg. 950 of Tragedy and Hope
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People in Japan are wearing exoskeletons to keep working as they age (newscientist)
Elderly Japanese workers wearing exoskeletons Japan has one of the largest populations over the age of 65 out of any country, comprising about 26% of the total population (2015). Japan has both the world’s highest life expectancy and the lowest birthrate. As Japan’s workforce continues to decline, the right-wing government of Shinzo Abe has sought to grapple with labor shortages and increased public spending on the senior citizen population by raising the retirement age from 60 to anywhere between 65 and 71.
But now, Japanese tech companies hope to use these exoskeleton suits to allow them to continue their labor well into their advanced age, with some suits costing only $1,300 and allowing people to lift up to 55 pounds. The suit can be charged through a hand pump that fills the “muscles” with pressurized air.
Automotive giant Toyota has also poured funds into its motorized exoskeleton research division, in part out of hopes to support the aging workforce. Panasonic, too, has created the popular Atoun Model Y, a $5,500 suit that adds 22 pounds of lifting force to wearers.
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What would happen, if global leaders would start focusing on DAO instead of the DOW?
#Comment: Contemporary capitalist "businesses" are directly modeled after military armies (Chief Executive OFFICER" etc.). Instead of focusing on the mind/body health and development of employees, customers and partners ("win/win/win") - it's a permanent war "game" against imaginary "external" enemies - a race to exploit and pollute everything as radical and fast as possible ("zero-sum"). Unsubstantial behavior on all levels.
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Fascinating research essays by Anthony Judge:
From ECHELON to NOLEHCE - enabling a strategic conversion to a faith-based global brain (2007)
#KM #Complexity #Philosophy #Magic #Politics #Economics #Cryptocracy #Military
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Sentient World Simulation - Synthetic Environment for Analysis and Simulations (SEAS) - "a synthetic mirror of the real world with automated continuous calibration with respect to current real-world information".
The DoD is developing a parallel to Planet Earth, with billions of individual “nodes” to reflect every man, woman, and child this side of the dividing line between reality and AR. Called the Sentient World Simulation (SWS), it will be a “synthetic mirror of the real world with automated continuous calibration with respect to current real-world information”, according to a concept paper for the project.
“SWS provides an environment for testing Psychological Operations (PSYOP),” the paper reads, so that military leaders can “develop and test multiple courses of action to anticipate and shape behaviors of adversaries, neutrals, and partners.” SWS also replicates financial institutions, utilities, media outlets, and street corner shops. By applying theories of economics and human psychology, its developers believe they can predict how individuals and mobs will respond to various stressors.
Links:
- Sentient world: war games on the grandest scale. Sim Strife - By Mark Baard (2007, theregister)
- Sentient World Simulation (SWS): A Continuously Running Model of the Real World. A Concept Paper for Comments - Government POC - by Tony Cerri (JFCOM J9)
- Lessons from a Large-Scale Deployment of SEAS in Afghanistan - by Rashmi Chaturvedi, President Simulex Inc
- Alok R. Chaturvedi - Professor of Information Systems and the founder and the Director of SEAS Laboratory
- Executing the modeling and simulation strategy making simulation systems of systems a reality (2007) - by James W. Hollenbach (The Defense Modeling and Simulation Office) and William L. Alexander (SAIC)
- It is Alive – Sentient World Simulation: A Continuously Running Model of the Real World
- Synthetic psychological environment (wikipedia)
- Cyber Node Report - by Frank Catanzaro, Chair Cyber Futures at WFUNA Millennium Project (2007)
- Predictive policing (wikipedia)
- Considering All the Strategic Options - Whilst ignoring alternatives and disclaiming cognitive protectionism - Produced on the occasion of the NATO Summit (Strasbourg, April 2009)
- "Path Leading To Failure" - video interview with William Binney & Dr. Robert Duncan (formerly NSA)
- Former Defense Secratary Donald Rumself (83) Marches Into New Territory: Videogames (2016)
- Comprehensive Analysis of Synthetic Monitoring Market 2019 | Industry Overview
- Google's "Selfish ledger"
A clip from "Eagle Eye" (2008)
A clip from "Colossus - The Forbin Project" (1970)
#Military #VR #Bots #BCI #InfoSec #Economics #Politics #Cryptocracy
- Sentient world: war games on the grandest scale. Sim Strife - By Mark Baard (2007, theregister)
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Inauguration of a new US$55 billion gas pipeline "Power of Siberia" helps cement increasingly close Beijing-Moscow ties that are moving beyond economics into security.
Nordstream 2 is nearing completion but controversy remains (DW)
"The Nordstream 2 natural gas pipeline being built by Russia's Gazprom is nearing completion. Critics of the project, including the US and Poland, fear that the EU will become too dependent on Russian gas."
Power of connection: why the Russia–Europe gas trade is strangely untouched by politics (nature)
"Thane Gustafson argues that fuel pipelines foster stability."
Texas Oil Explorers Say Predictions of Growth Contradict Dire Reality (bloomberg)
"Then there’s the rapid decline of shale-well production. In the top five shale basins, wells that came on in 2018 are declining at their fastest rates yet, according to David Ramsden-Wood, the former COO of Permian producer Franklin Mountain Energy."
Fracking Blows Up Investors Again: Phase 2 of the Great American Shale Oil & Gas Bust (wolfstreet)
"In 2019 through third quarter, 32 oil and gas drillers have filed for bankruptcy, according to Haynes and Boone."
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Will the China of tomorrow run on the technology behind bitcoin? (scmp)
"I worry that people have oversold blockchain to Xi as a magic cure-all" - James Andrew Lewis, Centre for Strategic and International Studies
China's blockchain tech adoption inflated? New expose reveals truth behind tall claims (ibtimes, via "China: Marketing Blockchain")
“According to the Global Times, which is a Chinese state-run media house, numerous companies in China seem to find it simpler to claim that they are utilizing blockchain technology than to truly practice its application. Various Chinese firms across a variety of industries reportedly state that they are employing the use of blockchain tech in some form or another, but lack real evidence to prove that they are doing so. Global Times in their expose report that out of over 3,000 registered businesses, about 500 firms claim to be incorporating blockchain tech in their day-to-day operations, but only about 40 of these have been able to demonstrate that they are actively doing so.”
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Assorted links about the collapsing cryptocracy and its comedic dreams of a cybernetic planned economy, based on full spectrum dominance & greed:
Jim Simons, Bob Mercer Even Better At Printing Money Than We Thought
"From 1988 to 2018, Medallion returned 66.1% annually before fees. Net of fees, the gains were 39.1%. Est. trading profits during those 30y amounted to $104.5 billion."
How Jim Simons built the world's most lucrative black box"Robert Mercer is a preternaturally calm and measured scientist, brilliantly rigorous and evidence-based in all things market-related. Yet outside of mathematics, he believes the wildest unfounded conspiracy theories."
Will America's Billionaires Start a Second Civil War?"The aftermath of Mercer's political activities resulted in an uprising within the firm from David Magerman, one of the creators of the hedge fund's trading system."
"Each time, forces of massive accumulated or inherited wealth have nearly succeeded in taking full control of our nation, replacing a democracy, where the will of the people is accomplished through their elected representatives, with a form of government where most government functions reinforce the power, wealth and control of the morbidly rich. Because the oligarch’s campaign is now international, a third world war is not impossible, particularly as China allies itself with the oligarch-controlled nations against those that are still nearly functioning democracies."
The Undying Octopus: FBI and the PROMIS affair: Part1 (Part 2)
"The PROMIS scandal lives on according to a recent FBI FOIA response. The affair centered around the government’s theft of the PROMIS software, a forerunner to the infamous PRISM, and the far-reaching fallout which allegedly included everything from fraud, to covert operations and surveillance, to Danny Casolaro’s mysterious death, and remains the subject of an investigation decades after the Department of Justice declared the matter officially closed."
Military Defeat as a Financial Collapse Trigger
"The function of the US military is to intimidate other countries into letting the US buy whatever it wants by printing US dollars as needed, essentially robbing the rest of the world at gunpoint. Once their ability to intimidate the world into submission is gone so will be their ability to endlessly fleece the planet. And once that ability is gone all that will remain of the “richest country in the world” is a pile of worthless paper."
Book: Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil - by Michael C. Ruppert (2004)
And some loosely related fun high weirdness:
- The last circle - by Carol Marshall (1994)
- The Octopus - by David Guyatt (2001)
- Take a slide down the labyrinthine rabbithole of CIA wizard, Michael J. Riconosciuto - by Iona Miller (2009)
"Understanding “the Octopus” is like the old story of the blind men trying to comprehend their first encounter with an elephant: the parts you touch can appear to be completely different and totally unrelated."
Book: The American Deep State: Big Money, Big Oil, and the Attack on U.S. Democracy - by Peter Dale Scott (201)
"This provocative book makes a compelling case for a hidden “deep state” that influences and often opposes official U.S. policies. Prominent political analyst Peter Dale Scott begins by tracing America’s increasing militarization, restrictions on constitutional rights, and income disparity since World War II."
- The last circle - by Carol Marshall (1994)
