World poised for low growth
The inevitable failures of neo-Keynesian economics and the days of printing fiat currencies to paper over cracks on balance sheets are finally coming to an end.
It is unclear whether Greece or Puerto Rico will herald the first wave of sovereign defaults, with the resulting ripples smashing the bond and credit default swap markets, which are 60 times global GDP.
Argentina and some high-risk countries in Africa are barely managing their economies through capital and exchange rate controls, declaring eminent domain over projects funded by foreign investors and staggering rates of corruption.
When Russia had its brief ruble crisis not too long ago, folks cleared store shelves to stock up on “hard assets,” you know, stuff you can eat or resell. Venezuela’s store shelves are empty and there are long lines outside because of price controls, and now Greece is the same because everyone’s expecting a disaster. Capital and border controls are on the horizon.
Let us go back in time. When brilliant investigative journalist Matt Taibbi famously called Goldman Sachs a “vampire squid,” they were busy trying to bury Greece’s debt under loads of complicated paper contracts so that Greece could qualify. Greece should never have been in the euro in the first place, and the Olympics was a massive graft-fueled boondoggle.
The European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is a former employee of Goldman. It does not take a huge leap of imagination to see that he is in a cabal with his former coworkers.
Just like the now-famous “Coming Money Trust” cartoon discussing the Aldrich Plan to set up the US Federal Reserve 103 years ago turned out incredibly prophetic, Goldman and JPMorgan are vampires sucking on the well-being of the public at the expense of the environment and the poor.
It should be no surprise that Greece needs to, and will, default. Their long history of corrupt politicians, its citizens’ proud failure to pay taxes and many other factors mean that Greece will never restart its economy unless it wipes the slate clean, like Iceland did (they also threw their bankers in jail, kudos).
The next “black swan” event could also arrive from China, home of millions of illiterate stock traders who are using increasing amounts of leverage to destroy equity markets throughout the country. In one recent case, an umbrella company’s stock surged 4,000 percent in one day. This is not a big company that owns a lot of smaller companies — it is a small firm that manufactures and sells umbrellas!
The global economic situation has never been this fragile. Investors must prepare by stocking up on physical assets they control, including precious metals, farmland and low water-consumption gardening technology like Friendly Aquaponics makes.
Taiwan must become a self-reliant island nation and promote creating all our food and energy. When Japan was in charge, Formosa was a net exporter of foodstuffs. Taiwanese need to return to the land!
We do not need petrochemical plants to expand, because the world is entering a permanent low-growth phase. We have the best solar panel makers on the planet. If Taiwan cannot become sustainable, who will?
Torch Pratt
New Taipei City
Taiwan drained dry, like pool
“Taiwan water park fire” — this paradoxical headline title has been used in news media. Readers wondered why there was fire in a water park. Many parents of the young fire victims raised the same question. The swimming pool at the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) water park in New Taipei City was used for a drowning first aid exercise. A few days later, the water in the pool was drained and the dry pool was used for the Color Play Asia party. About 6,000 people attended the party in the park, which has a capacity for 400 people.
This is a typical case of “hanging a goat head, but selling the dog meat” and “packing sardines in a can.” What happened to the New Taipei City Government and the Environmental Protection Administration?
Cornstarch mixed with edible dyes of different colors was sprayed on the audience in the dry pool to create an atmosphere with a special effect. Possibly because of overheated lights or smoking, the cornstarch and dyes suspended in the air ignited and burned at a high speed.
As result of the fire, 498 individuals, mostly young people, suffered burns to their faces and on as much as 99 percent of their bodies. Two victims have passed away and more than 200 patients are in intensive care.
A Japanese medical team offered to help these victims recover from their burns. Unfortunately, the government in Taiwan has refused, citing that the Japanese physicians do not have licenses to practice medicine in Taiwan!
Government officials are good at criticizing victims, but poor at providing safety guidance and handling emergency situations. Fire victims suffer because water was drained from the pool and cornstarch was sprayed. Like these fire victims, Taiwanese live in “hot fire” and scream with pain because the capital, technology and sovereignty have been drained from Taiwan, which used to be called a place where “money floods to the knees.”
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
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