China
and the emerging countries question the petrodollar’s
supremacy
In 2005,
emerging countries’ consumption exceeded that of the
Western nations. The appearance of this “second”
customer, rich and gourmand, constituted an irresistible
opportunity for the producers, pushing up oil prices and
radically transforming relations between the Western
powers and OPEC. This major oil market rebalancing was
obviously not done for the Western powers’ benefit, deep
in debt and unable to pay the slightest increase in the
price of oil. The strategies then implemented by the
West have contributed to splitting the oil market into
two: on one side, an OPEC increasingly oriented towards
the emerging nations and diversifying its sales outside
the petrodollar; on the other, a “new” unconventional
market based on extraction from Western lands by
extremely polluting fracking, a market “invented” to put
downward pressure on world market prices, to keep the
petrodollar alive and reduce dependence on the world
market. It’s not difficult to see where the future
lies.
White
House, Republicans dig in ahead of budget talks
Put into law
in 2011 as part of an earlier fiscal crisis,
sequestration is unloved by both parties because of the
economic pain it will cause, but the politicians cannot
agree how to stop it. A deal in Congress on less drastic
spending cuts, perhaps with tax increases too, is needed
by Friday to halt the sequestration reductions, which
are split between social programs cherished by Democrats
and defense spending championed by Republicans...
Trans-Atlantic
Rifts: European Activists Could Thwart US-EU Trade
Deal
Consumer
watchdogs, Internet activists and European farmers are
gearing up to fight the planned trade agreement between
Europe and the United States. Many in Europe are worried
that politicians will make backroom deals at the expense
of consumers...
Release
of about 300 illegal immigrants from federal custody in
Arizona stirs up debate
Senior
Republican officials in the state, including Gov. Jan
Brewer and Sen. John McCain, sharply criticized the
releases, which the Obama administration said it is
carrying out in several states in anticipation of budget
cuts under sequestration.
Moscow
casts wide net in Mediterranean
There was a
bygone era that ended a little over four years ago when
it used to be said that the Kremlin used energy as a
"geopolitical tool". The threat perception propagated by
cold warriors in the United States principally aimed at
cautioning Europe against its rising energy dependency
on Russian supplies...
India
budget surprises with spending surge, wealth
tax
India
unveiled new taxes on the rich and large companies on
Thursday to fund higher-than-expected spending for the
next fiscal year, in a budget that aimed to revive
growth amid the country's worst slowdown in a decade
ahead of a 2014 election...
Yuan
rises to 13th as payment currency
Growing
demand has led China's yuan to overtake the Russian
ruble as a currency used for global payments, according
to SWIFT, a messaging system used by international
banks...
Vidéo:
A Strasbourg, Moncef Marzouki entre dans l'histoire du
Parlement Européen
Moncef
Marzouki a prononcé un discours, le 6 février, qui fera
date dans l'histoire du Parlement européen. Retour sur
ce discours et sur ceux, tout aussi historiques, qui
l'ont précédé...
UK
defeated as EU agrees to cap bankers'
bonuses
European
Union chiefs have agreed a package of financial laws
that includes capping bankers' bonuses at a maximum of
one year's basic salary. The bonuses will only be
allowed to reach twice the annual fixed salary if a
large majority of a bank's shareholders agrees, said
Othmar Karas, the European Parliament's chief
negotiator...
L'Italie est
entrée dans une crise politique à l'issue des élections
générales des 24 et 25 février.
Avec une Chambre des
députés à gauche et un Sénat sans majorité, la troisième
puissance économique européenne est plongée dans une
impasse qui la rend ingouvernable et dont les effets se
font déjà sentir sur les marchés...
ECB
turns €1bn profit despite rising HQ costs
The European
Central Bank (ECB) recorded a profit of almost €1
billion in 2012, according to the Frankfurt-based
institution's annual accounts, released on Thursday (21
February). Its year-on-year profits soared by 37 percent
to €998 million, with the bulk of the money coming from
interest totalling €555 million on Greek government
bonds...
Fed
admits that stock market gains are tied to central bank
manipulation
On Feb. 21,
the president of the Federal Reserve's regional bank in
Dallas admitted in an interview that the recent gains in
the stock market have come not through improvements in
corporate fundamentals, or sustainable economic
recovery, but instead through the artificial
manipulation by the U.S. central bank in the markets
themselves...
Why
Should Taxpayers Give Big Banks $83 Billion a Year?
So what if
we told you that, by our calculations, the largest U.S.
banks aren’t really profitable at all? What if the
billions of dollars they allegedly earn for their
shareholders were almost entirely a gift from U.S.
taxpayers?...
Think
there's no alternative? Latin America has a
few
Ever since
the crash of 2008 exposed the rotten core of a failed
economic model, we've been told there are no viable
alternatives. As Europe sinks deeper into austerity,
governing parties of whatever stripe are routinely
rejected by disillusioned voters – only to be replaced
by others delivering more welfare cuts, privatisation
and inequality.
Merkel
under fire for siding with Cameron on EU budget
The German
opposition has accused Angela Merkel of betraying Europe
by siding with British leader David Cameron in
negotiations on the EU budget, the first ever to be
smaller budget than its predecessors...
Gagner
la guerre des changes, c’est mourir
Guerre des
monnaies : "Si la dévaluation avait du bon, le Zimbabwe
serait aujourd’hui l’une des économies les plus
prospères."
------------------------------------
This special Press
Review reviews articles from the French and Engligh-speaking
international online media relating to the unfolding global
crisis.
It is delivered freely on a weekly basis to 60,000 recipients worldwide.
Subscription / Contact: centre@europe2020.org
It is delivered freely on a weekly basis to 60,000 recipients worldwide.
Subscription / Contact: centre@europe2020.org
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