SAR #12107

Our economic problems result from our inability to imagine viable alternatives.

Why Did You Do The War, Daddy? In answer to a decade of US occupation, the Taliban has launched a massive coordinated attack in Kabul and across the country. Back to the drawing board.

Hide and Go Seek: As part of its efforts to conceal the destination of its oil sales, Iran is disabling the tracking systems aboard its tanker fleet. It is part of the nudge-nudge-wink-wink game it and its customers have to go through because of the obstacles the US continues to throw in the path of its oil sales.

Charting The Course: Most measures of the housing market indicate that it has probably not bottomed, certainly has not recovered, and probably will not for a long, long time. Too much debt, too much "shadow inventory" , and most importantly, too little income.

Multiple Choices: Mitt Romney's claim that women have suffered 92.3% of the nation's job losses during Obama's presidency is (a) ridiculous, (b) misleading, (c) statistics, or (d) ridiculously misleading statistics.

Stubborn, But Consistent: In order to suck up to the Miami Cuban community and the big sugar corporations, the US government continues its 50 year blockade of Cuba. Why? What, exactly, did Cuba do, other than kick out a bunch of mafia controlled gambling operations and demand a fair price for the country's sugar?

Exhaustion Sets In: For twenty years or more the global economic system was driven by the US being the world's consumer of last resort. With the collapse of the world's major import consumer markets the system becomes unsustainable. And the plans of all the nations to become export surplus nations are doomed to failure. Things that cannot continue, will not; the current system is headed for collapse, most likely into currency wars, competitive devaluations, and trade barriers.

Annoying: The US ranks behind 18 OECD countries and another 13 non-OECD countries in unemployment benefits. And that's without the Ryan budget.

Oil Reserved: According to the US Energy Information Agency's latest figures, global production of petroleum (actual crude oil and associated condensate – the real deal) has not exceeded 74 mbd in the last 6 years. New production coming on line has not been sufficient to offset the 4% to 6% annual decline from existing fields. There is no reason to expect that this year, or any subsequent year, will take production higher.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose: “Is it equitable that 99, or rather 999 should suffer for the Extravagance or Grandeur of one? Especially when it is consider’d, that Men frequently owe their Wealth to the Impoverishment of their Neighbours.” Letter to Editor, 1765, NYC.

Among The Missing: Former wannabe Michele Bachmann - who wants to outlaw abortion and to remove female contraceptive coverage from health insurance - insists that Republicans “want women to have their own choices,” as long as they chose to be barefoot and pregnant.

Water, Being Wet: The problem with the employment-production-sales cycle is that sales are lacking. Low sales means low production means no new jobs. Yet economists sit around wondering what the problem is. Is it “aggregate demand” they ask? Yes. Now let's hear some solutions.

Cue The Band: Having passed a law encouraging teachers to proselytize for creationism, the Tennessee Senate turned its considerable intelligence to improving the state's abstinence-only sex education by determining that hand-holding is a “gateway sexual activity” that inevitably leads to abortion. Wait 'til they hear about dancing.