In line with the previous post, we begin today’s compendium of things economic, ecologic, and politic with the idiotic — another clueless quote from the very, very rich, this time via The Verge:
Kleiner Perkins founder says Silicon Valley elite are being treated like Jews in Nazi Germany
Tom Perkins, one of the co-founders of the Silicon Valley powerhouse venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, is afraid the next Kristallnacht — a night of violence against Jews before the start of World War II — will happen in the Bay Area.
Perkins, who is 81, perceives a “rising tide of hatred of the successful one percent” that mirrors the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany, he says in a letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal.
Class tensions in the San Francisco Bay Area recently flared up over the area’s skyrocketing rent and “Google buses,” private luxury coaches that shuttle wealthy tech workers to the office. Perkins specifically calls out the Occupy movement and the San Fransciso Chronicle for perpetuating anti-one percent rhetoric. This “progressive radicalism” is just like the fascist backlash against the Jews, Perkins argues.
On to the purely economic with a warning from CNBC:
US ‘out of ammunition’ to tackle economic ‘rut’: Phelps
The U.S. economy is in a “rut” and has been in stagnation since 1972, a Nobel Prize-winning economist told CNBC.
Edmund Phelps, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2006, said the U.S. government has run out of ideas about how to fix the economy.
“Governments have thrown all sorts of ammunition at it including concocting the housing boom. And we are kind of out of that ammunition and we have to dig deeper if we are going to get out of this rut,” Phelps told CNBC in a TV interview.
Reuters gives us another case of Banksters Behaving Badly, or so it’s claimed:
Exclusive: Bank of America’s trading practices have been probed, filing shows
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have both held investigations into whether Bank of America engaged in improper trading by doing its own futures trades ahead of executing large orders for clients, according to a regulatory filing.
The June 2013 disclosure, which Reuters recently reviewed on a website run by the securities industry regulator FINRA, sheds light on the basis for a warning by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on January 8.
The warning, in the form of an intelligence bulletin to regulators and security officers at financial services firms, said that the FBI suspected swaps traders at an unnamed U.S. bank and an unnamed Canadian bank may have been involved in market manipulation and front running of orders from U.S. government-owned mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Reuters has since learned that Bank of America’s trading practices regarding Fannie and Freddie are the subject of probes, and that the investigations are ongoing.
From USA TODAY, cause for anxiety:
Why emerging markets worry Wall Street
The big bull market in U.S. stocks is confronted with an unexpected headwind: a fresh bout of financial turbulence in emerging markets.
Wall Street is a world away from Turkey and Argentina and the other developing economies dotting the globe. But recent news of financial tumult and plunging currencies in some emerging markets, coupled with bad memories of past crises over the past 20 years that began in Mexico, Asia and Russia, has imported a boatload of financial angst back to the United States.
Indeed, the great bull market on Wall Street has suddenly run into a stumbling block that few investment strategists were even talking about at the start of the year: swooning currencies and capital flight out of vulnerable emerging markets like Turkey and Argentina.
The financial turbulence, which is being greatly exacerbated by a slowdown in growth-engine China, has raised fears of a potential crisis that could inflict damage on these developing countries’ economies and perhaps infect other nations as well. That lethal combination could ultimately crimp earnings of U.S. multinationals. It could also prompt investors to dump risky assets, a response that already seems to be underway.
Bloomberg admonishes:
BlackRock’s Fink Warns of ‘Too Much Optimism’ in Markets
BlackRock Inc. Chief Executive Officer Laurence D. Fink warned there is “way too much optimism” in financial markets as he predicted repeats of the market turmoil that roiled investors this week.
“The experience of the marketplace this past week is going to be indicative of this entire year,” Fink, 61, told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland today. “We’re going to be in a world of much greater volatility.”
Fink, who runs the world’s largest asset manager, spoke after a selloff in emerging markets that was triggered by concern about China’s economic growth and the Federal Reserve’s tapering of its monetary stimulus later this year. The MSCI World Index slid the most this week in five months.
The London Telegraph chimes in from on high:
Emerging market rout turns serious, punctures exuberance in Davos
IMF’s deputy-director says the Fund is watching the violent gyrations around the world “very carefully”
The worst emerging market rout in five years has raised fresh fears of global contagion, puncturing the mood of exuberance at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff sought to reassure investors that this week’s currency collapse in Argentina would not spread to the Brazilian real, insisting that all contracts would be honoured and that foreign funds would be “treated well”.
“Today, the stability of our currency is a central value of our country,” she said. The real has weakened by 20pc against the dollar this year, breaking through the crucial line of 2.40 in trading on Friday.
The IMF’s deputy-director, Min Zhu, said in Davos that the Fund is watching the violent gyrations around the world “very carefully”, saying the effect of bond tapering by the US Federal Reserve is causing global liquidity to dry up.
Another ominous warning, this time from The Guardian:
ILO warns young hit hardest as global unemployment continues to rise
International Labour Organisation says firms are increasing payouts to shareholders rather than investing in new workers
The world could face years of jobless economic recovery, with young people set to be hit hardest as global unemployment continues to rise this year, a report from the International Labour Organisation warns.
As the World Economic Forum kicks off in the Swiss town of Davos on Wednesday with a focus on growing inequality, the ILO has highlighted a “potentially dangerous gap between profits and people”.
The UN agency forecasts millions more people will join the ranks of the unemployed as companies choose to increase payouts to shareholders rather than invest their burgeoning profits in new workers.
And from Jiji Press, more job killing pushed for the fast-track:
Japan, U.S. Confirm Cooperation for Early TPP Accord
Japanese Minster of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshimitsu Motegi and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman agreed Saturday that the two countries will continue cooperation in helping conclude Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade talks as early as possible, Motegi told reporters after the meeting.
At the meeting held in the Swiss resort of Davos, Motegi called on the U.S. side to show flexibility for the early conclusion of the trade talks among 12 countries.
Froman responded by saying that both Washington and Tokyo should flex their muscle, according to Motegi.
On to Europe and bankster wishes from the Irish Times:
Draghi favours quick break in link between sovereign and bank debt
Leaders have taken euro out of crisis despite end-of-the-world scenarios, says Schäuble
European Central Bank president Mario Draghi told global leaders in Davos yesterday he favoured an “accelerated time line” in breaking the link between euro area sovereign and bank debt.
Despite a “largely positive” economic outlook for 2014, he warned of a punishing market reaction if euro countries rolled back their reforms.
Discussing a European banking union to oversee and wind up banks, Mr Draghi said struggling institutions could access public money after bailing in creditors.
BBC News misses the number:
Davos 2014: Eurozone inflation ‘way below target’
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that deflation remains a real risk to economic recovery in the eurozone.
Despite signs of recovery across the world, Christine Lagarde said that potential risks must not be ignored. One of these was the fact that eurozone inflation, at 0.8%, remained “way below” the 2% target set by the European Central Bank (ECB).
She was speaking on the final day of the World Economic Forum, in Davos.
On to Britain and more austerian misery from The Independent:
‘Bedroom tax’ and benefits cuts draining councils’ emergency funds
Authorities had been forced to dip into funds allocated to other services to cope with the surge in numbers of households appealing for help
Councils have been hit by a dramatic increase in requests for emergency financial help from people struggling to make ends meet following the introduction of the “bedroom tax” and other cuts to benefits.
More than 200,000 contacted their town halls in the six months after the latest benefits squeeze came into effect, the Local Government Association has estimated.
It also said that many authorities had been forced to dip into funds allocated to other services to cope with the surge in numbers of households appealing for help.
The parliamentary outs long for the good old days, via RT:
UK shadow govt eyes reintroducing 50% tax rate for top earners
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls says Labour will reintroduce the 50 percent tax rate for people earning over £150,000. This comes as part of an election vow, together with promises to balance the government’s books and to clear the budget deficit.
A promise to bring back the tax on bank bonuses and reduce pension tax relief for the highest earners came in a speech to the Fabian Society Balls delivered on Saturday. However, he admitted that these measures would not be enough to balance the books.
“And when the deficit is still high, when tough times are set to last well into next parliament, when for ordinary families their real incomes are falling and taxes have risen, it cannot be right for David Cameron and George Osborne to have chosen to give the richest people in the country a huge tax cut,” he said.
The last Labour government, under Gordon Brown, raised the upper tax band from 40% to 50% in response to the recession in 2010, but the coalition cut it back to 45% in April 2013.
And from the Lancashire Telegraph, expressive downsizing:
Thwaites sign leaves Blackburn brewery bosses redfaced
BREWERY bosses were left red faced when their iconic lighted sign was turned into a profanity.
Some of the Thwaites Brewery letters atop the Blackburn building fell into darkness as people left town centre shops and offices last night.
With just the words H, I and E blacked out, the embarassing message was broadcast to the entire town.
It comes after news this week that the brewery is to axe up to 60 jobs.
The sign in question, via Nothing to do with Abroath [and, yeah, th word’s sexist, but there were just those letters to work with, so we’ll give a pass and a smile]:
On to Sweden and a refreshing note from CBC News:
Bastion of tolerance, Sweden opens wide for Syria’s refugees
Asylum offer testing Swedes’ patience, but forcing Europe to respond
On the northern fringes of Europe, Sweden has offered its hand to more Syrian refugees than any other Western nation, granting those who make it here permanent residency. And while its generosity has caused some tensions on the home front, including a modest rise in the anti-immigrant right, that has not stopped the Swedish government from lobbying its European counterparts to open their doors as well.
By way of contrast, here’s how Carlos Latuff sees the immigration policies of Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras:
Samaras’ anti-immigration policy
From Deutsche Welle, fighting the right:
Demonstrations against Viennese right-wing ball turn violent
Several protesters have been arrested during protests against a ball in Vienna that is a traditional venue for right-wing figures. Police reported a number of arrests and cases of vandalism.
Police in the Austrian capital, Vienna, say they arrested about a dozen people on Friday evening after initially peaceful protests, involving some 6,000 demonstrators, against the so-called Academics Ball (Akademikerball) in the city’s Hofburg palace turned violent.
“We have several arrests and also injured police officers,” a police spokeswoman said. Police also reported damage to storefronts and at least one police vehicle.
Police closed off large sections of the inner city ahead of the ball, which forms the focus for left-wing protests every year. Parts of the area were also closed to journalists, a move that drew criticism from Austrian news organizations as limiting media freedom.
On to Paris and holding steady with TheLocal.fr:
Moody’s maintains French debt rating
Moody’s held its French credit rating at Aa1 Friday but maintained a negative outlook, days after President Francois Hollande announced a batch of business-friendly measures to fire up growth.
The US agency affirmed the bond rating one notch below the top AAA rating.
Moody’s voiced scepticism about the reforms Hollande announced earlier this month, a “responsibility pact” which includes lowering labour taxes in exchanges for fresh hiring by companies.
“The implementation and efficacy of these policy initiatives are complicated by the persistence of long-standing rigidities in labour, goods and services markets as well as the social and political tensions the government is facing,” the agency said in a statement.
But the London Telegraph sounds an alarm with a backhanded compliment:
France could destroy the euro, says Christopher Pissarides
Nobel laureate believes the ability of France to reform will decide the eurozone’s fate
France could destroy the euro if the government’s gamble on supply side reforms fails to pull the economy out of its chronic malaise, Nobel laureate Sir Christopher Pissarides has warned.
Sir Christopher, who won the the 2010 Nobel Prize for economics, said the ability of Europe’s second largest economy to implement sweeping changes would decide the fate of the single currency.
He warned French president Francois Hollande’s special blend of “supply-side socialism” would leave the fragile economy vulnerable to shocks for several years.
A more upbeat take from Independent.ie:
Schaeuble ‘very optimistic’ on France economy after Hollande plans
GERMAN Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said today that he was optimistic France would emerge stronger once it implements the economic reforms announced last week by President Francois Hollande.
“France is and remains a strong country and France will make the right decisions,” Schaeuble said at the World Economic Forum in Davos in response to a question about whether Germany’s neighbour had done enough to bolster its struggling economy.
“We’ve seen that the French president has made the necessary decisions and I think it is the right path,” Schaeuble added. “I am very optimistic that the role of France will be strengthened through this and that we can bring Europe forward together.”
And from FRANCE 24, wiseguys on the farm:
Organised crime targets French countryside
On January 21, French gendarmes broke up a highly specialised international criminal organization. It wasn’t robbing armoured cars, luxury jewelry stores in Place Vendôme or tourists on the Paris Métro – it was stealing tractors.
The gang had mainly targeted dealerships for John Deere farm machinery, later selling the stolen tractors in Germany, Hungary and Romania.
The robbery that led to the network’s undoing occurred on the night of November 2-3, 2012, when three tractors were stolen from a farm machinery dealership in Haute-Vienne in the centre of France. Despite the apparently unusual nature of the crime, the local police quickly realized that this was not an isolated phenomenon. They suspected the existence of a criminal organization, and passed the case to the gendarmerie’s Central Office for the Fight against Itinerant Crime, which uncovered a network of international scope.
Off to Spain and business as usual from El País:
Tech giants taunt the taxman
Major US technology groups paid Spain’s revenue agency just 1.2 million euros in 2012
Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, eBay and others use fiscal engineering to avoid payments
All the major US technology groups continue to dodge the Spanish taxman. The fiscal engineering tactics developed by their advisors allow them to pay hardly any tax on their business operations in Spain. Financial data for the main Spanish affiliates of Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Yahoo, eBay and Microsoft show that their joint provisions for tax on profits in 2012 — the last year for which figures are available — was just 1,251,608 euros. That’s to say: 1.2 million in taxes among seven giants of the industry.
This aggregate figure is not taken from their tax filings but from their annual accounts, which must be deposited at the Spanish Business Register, and which reflect the money that the companies provision in a given year for tax on profits.
This aggregate figure conceals the fact that some companies paid taxes while others claimed tax credits or deferred tax payments after incurring losses. The accounting provisions may slightly differ from the actual tax filings because of timing issues.
thinkSPAIN departs:
Exodus of foreign residents from Spain rises 13-fold in one year
FOREIGN residents in Spain who have left the country due to lack of work have multiplied in number by 13 in the last year, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
By the end of 2011, a total of 15,229 non-Spaniards had returned to their countries of origin or moved to other nations altogether due to being unable to find a job – but by the end of 2012, this number had grown to 190,020.
Figures for 2013 will not be known until this time next year.
And El País looks for help from above:
Saint “might help Spain out of crisis,” says interior minister
Jorge Fernández Díaz says he is convinced 16th-century nun is “interceding”
Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz on Friday disclosed the existence of a previously unknown factor that might help Spain pull out of its deep economic crisis.
Speaking at the tourism fair FITUR in Madrid, Fernández Díaz said he was convinced that Saint Teresa of Ávila, the 16th-century nun, is “interceding” for Spain “during these harsh times.”
The revelatory statement was part of the presentation of “Huellas de Santa Teresa” (or, Traces of Saint Teresa), a project to celebrate the 500th anniversary of her birth through a tour of 17 cities where the saint established outposts for the Discalced Carmelites, a branch of the Carmelites that she founded.
While thinkSPAIN downsizes:
Coca-Cola staff facing redundancy go on strike
STAFF at the four Coca-Cola factories due to be shut down in Spain have gone on an ‘indefinite’ strike after hearing the firm planned to axe 1,250 jobs.
The plants in Fuenlabrada (Madrid), Alicante, Palma de Mallorca and Colloto (Asturias) are set to go at the end of February and 500 employees will be relocated whilst the rest will join the dole queue.
A series of demonstrations are planned by the Fuenlabrada workers, and it is expected staff from the other three plants will join in.
The company, Coca-Cola Iberian Partners, is financially healthy, but wants to ‘consolidate’ its operations by centralising production more ‘to improve efficiency’.
After the jump, the Greek crisis continues, Ukrainian compromise, Indian economic woes and cola wars, Thai elections, Singapore in a sling, Chinese inflation and austerity, Japanese bankster profits, toxic microbeads in California water, tar sands pushes, purple GMNO tomatoes, and Fukushimapocalypse Now!. . .
For our first Greek headline, a fascist attack from Kathimerini English:
GD supporters attack leftist hangout in Keratsini
A group of Golden Dawn supporters on Saturday threw rocks at Resalto, a leftist, anti-establishment hangout in the Piraeus suburb of Keratsini located near the spot where rapper Pavlos Fyssas was stabbed to death by Golden Dawn member Giorgos Roupakias on September 17 last year.
The supporters of the ultranationalist party conducted a military-style parade in the Piraeus suburb’s center prior to attacking the leftist establishments.
Kathimerini English ponders consequences of screwing grandparents:
Council of State weighing appeals over cuts to pensioners’ lump sums
In the wake of a leaked decision by the Council of State deeming wage cuts imposed on members of the armed forces and emergency services to be unconstitutional, the court is considering appeals by other groups of civil servants against reductions to the lump sums they receive on retirement, Kathimerini understands.
The appeals being weighed by the country’s highest administrative court have been lodged by civil servants but also by social security funds, according to sources.
On to the Ukraine and a compromise from BBC News:
Ukraine’s President Yanukovych offers PM position to opposition leader
Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych has offered the position of prime minister to an opposition leader, Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
Mr Yatsenyuk is an ally of the jailed ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko.
The offer came after talks on Saturday with opposition leaders in a new effort to end the worsening unrest that has spread across the country.
The interior minister had earlier said efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully were “futile”.
And some opposition from EUobserver:
‘Overwhelming majority’ of EU countries against Ukraine sanctions
An “overwhelming majority” of EU countries believe the time is not right to talk of sanctions on Ukraine.
Lithuania was the only one who said the EU foreign service should draft a list of potential sanctions at a meeting of the bloc’s Political and Security Committee in Brussels on Thursday.
The rest followed Germany’s line that EU diplomacy should concentrate on stopping violence instead.
Asia next, starting in India with the Times of India:
Indian business leaders cautiously optimistic at Davos
As the WEF’s annual meet draws to a close, Indian business leaders say their main takeaway would be cautious optimism about their country, even as the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and evolving political scene seemed to dominate India discussions at this global gathering.
This year’s World Economic Forum (WEF), which is being held against the backdrop of a slow global recovery, has a large Indian delegation in attendance.
Diversified group Mahindra & Mahindra’s senior executive Pawan Goenka said: “There is enough optimism about India. Therefore, I don’t think that India story is dead at Davos”.
The Economic Times lends a hand:
India, Japan to cooperate in energy, telecom sectors
India and Japan have signed agreements on cooperation in the energy and telecom sectors during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to New Delhi.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held talks with Abe on Saturday.
Singh said that India also was discussing with Japan the possibility of buying an amphibian aircraft called the US-2 and its co-production in India. Abe arrived in New Delhi on Saturday for a three-day visit.
And Nikkei Asian Review tries to cool it:
India’s central bank ponders target for tamping down inflation
The Reserve Bank of India is thinking about setting an inflation target as part of a monetary policymaking overhaul.
Reforms under consideration at the South Asian nation’s central bank also include making policy decisions by committee, rather than having the governor make the calls alone. Measures to revamp the RBI’s operations have been discussed by a panel formed by Gov. Raghuram Rajan; this panel has put forth recommendations.
India’s economy is beset by a double whammy of rising prices and slowing growth. Immediately after taking office in September, Rajan expressed a desire to strengthen public confidence in the central bank. He set up the reform panel and put a deputy governor in charge of it.
The panel has suggested that curbing inflation should be the RBI’s top priority. It has also called for using the consumer price index, instead of the wholesale price index, as the key gauge. India’s CPI has been showing year-on-year price growth of about 10% in recent months.
RT evicts:
Indian officials push to demolish ‘illegal’ Coca-Cola bottling plant
Officials in a province in northern India have promised to destroy a Coca-Cola bottling plant that has for years infuriated citizens in the area who claim the facility extracts more than its fair share of groundwater.
Coca-Cola sales are thriving in India, in part because of the country’s rapidly growing middle class. But the company is unpopular with residents in the state of Uttar Pradesh, who say a bottling plant was built on village council land and is therefore “illegal.” The local revenue administration thus ordered the demolition of Mehdiganj plant in Varanasi last month, according to Agence France-Presse.
Manoj Rai, the subordinate revenue administrative officer, said Friday that he expects to “implement the demolition orders in a couple of days. There is no question of not following the order.”
The Vansari plant is one of 58 Coke plants throughout India. However, its apparent propensity to extract too much groundwater and pollute soil in the area has inspired protests for years. One such event, in 2006, lasted for over three months and culminated with a hunger strike among the local population and activists demanding the plant cease operations.
On to Thailand and a vow from BBC News:
Thailand protesters ‘promise not to obstruct voting’
Thai protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban has promised that his supporters will not obstruct advance voting for next week’s general election.
Mr Suthep says protesters will not try to stop people from casting their ballots from Sunday, but will demonstrate outside polling stations.
They want the PM to step down and the political system to be reformed.
But the government says the vote will go ahead, despite a Constitutional Court ruling that it can be delayed.
Forbes sees insular catastrophe parallels:
Why Singapore’s Economy Is Heading For An Iceland-Style Meltdown
In 2007, Iceland was celebrated for attaining the world’s highest standard of living according to the U.N.’s annual Human Development Index report. In less than a generation, the tiny North Atlantic island had transformed from a traditional fishing and tourism-based economic backwater into a finance and banking powerhouse, rocketing the country’s wealth and living standards to enviable new heights. Sadly, Iceland’s economic boom was an illusion based on a reckless credit and asset bubble that led to a terrifying financial crisis when it popped in 2008.
It has been just five years since the Global Financial Crisis, and the world – in brazen defiance of the lessons of 2008 – is already back to blowing massive bubbles and naively praising the countries that are benefiting from these “fool’s gold” economic booms. The Southeast Asian island nation of Singapore is currently inflating one of the most egregious examples of these post-2009 bubbles, and is displaying parallels to Iceland’s bubble that are causing me to believe that its boom will end in a similar (but not necessarily identical) manner.
China next, and the elder inflationary clues from the Global Times:
China Focus: Bigger pensions win little praise
China’s yearly increases in pensions in the past decade have drawn less praise than questions as surging prices, widening gaps and regional unbalance dampen the happiness of the country’s 74 million-plus retirees.
Official data showed that the pension per capita rose from 714 yuan ($116.98) per month in 2005 to over 2,000 yuan in 2014 following another 10-percent pension lift. The increase, a move regulated by the State Council, China’s cabinet, became effective on the first day of this year.
Li Zhong, spokesman of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), told Xinhua that the pension increase in 2014 was determined by factors such as average salary growth, price hikes, pension funds and financial capacity.
However, retirees haven’t had time to celebrate the extra cash, as they still have to budget carefully for expenditures due to the growing cost of life necessities.
SINA English gets austere:
High-end consumption falls
China’s high-end consumption has dropped significantly since central authorities launched a crackdown on official banquets and extravagance, a senior official said Thursday.
Sales of 11 high-end baijiu, or white liquor, monitored by the Ministry of Commerce fell by 7.2 percent in 2013 from a year earlier, Vice Minister of Commerce Fang Aiqing said.
Sales of autos with an emission more than 3.0 liters slumped by 20.7 percent year-on-year in the first 11 months of 2013, he said.
Less popular austerity from South China Morning Post:
The PLA declares war on fun as entertainment troops face cutbacks
Groups of entertainers charged with raising military morale face disbandment amid drive by the party to curb perceptions of excess
The People’s Liberation Army is taking aim at its 10,000 entertainment soldiers, with most of the army’s 30 troupes slated to close, according to military sources.
The groups of singers, dancers, actors, acrobats and other artists have long been a key part of the army, putting on shows to raise morale as well as define patriotism for the nation.
But amid a state-backed drive against excess, the crossover of the PLA and show business has become a highly visible target.
International Business Times sounds another alarm:
China’s Rising Financial Stress: Farmers’ Financial Cooperatives In Juangsu Province Fail to Pay Depositors
Multiple rural credit unions in eastern China designed to improve financial services in the countryside have been unable to pay depositors since the start of 2013, yet another sign of rising financial stress as interest rates rise and the economy slows.
The so-called farmers’ financial cooperatives (FFCs) were part of a pilot program in rural areas administered by the city of Yancheng in the eastern province of Jiangsu, China National Radio reports (in Chinese). According to the state-owned broadcaster, three FFCs have closed operations, while several others have run out of money to pay depositors.
FFCs are small companies set up by farmers to share financial resources and meet internal demand for small loans. FFCs do not take deposits from the general public. Instead they take deposits only from members. They are not owned by the government and do not have access to the lending facilities at the People’s Bank of China, Nomura economist Zhang Zhiwei wrote in a note.
Instead of making small loans to farmers who would use the money in agricultural activities, some of the cooperatives’ managers misused funds by lending to property projects.
On to Japan and banksters benefitting bodaciously from Nikkei Asian Review:
Japan’s megabanks to book 30% profit surge for April-December term
Japan’s three biggest banks are together poised to post 30% year-on-year profit growth for the first three quarters of fiscal 2013, which runs through March.
The so-called megabanks — Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group — are expected to log a combined consolidated net profit of around 1.9 trillion yen ($18.2 billion) for the period. The expected strong showing is partly attributable to lower valuation losses on stock holdings, thanks to higher share prices.
Reduced losses from bad-loan disposals — a result of corporate borrowers’ improving health — are also prettying up the three banks’ profit picture.
Next up, Fukushimapocalypse Now!
We begin with NHK WORLD, droning on:
Radiation monitoring drone tested in FukushimaAn unmanned aircraft equipped with a radiation monitoring device has been tested over a town close to the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The remotely-controlled aircraft took off on Friday from the evacuated town of Namie. The small plane circled the area for about 30 minutes and measured ground-level radiation. The results were immediately sent to land-based personal computers.
The drone aircraft was jointly developed by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, or JAEA, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA. Unlike manned aircraft that must keep a minimum altitude of 300 meters, the drone can fly lower to follow the outlines of an area’s topography.
NHK WORLD again, in opposition:
Iwate Prefecture files petition against TEPCO
Prefectural and municipal governments in Iwate, northeastern Japan, have filed a petition with a state arbitrator to demand that the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant pay nearly 14 million dollars in damages.
The claim is the first by a prefectural government against Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, since the nuclear accident at the facility in 2011.
Iwate Prefecture’s government and municipalities, along with other organizations, had demanded that TEPCO pay 73.8 million dollars in decontamination and labor costs. The firm refused to pay about one fifth of the amount.
On Thursday, officials representing 25 claimants, including the prefecture, many of its municipalities, and a garbage disposal service provider, filed the petition with the Center for Settlement of Fukushima Nuclear Damage Claims in Tokyo.
The Mainichi divides:
Young voters split over nuclear power’s emergence as election issue: survey
On Jan. 23 the Mainichi Shimbun launched a poll targeting 15 students and workers, mostly in their 20s, who are eligible to vote in the capital’s Feb. 9 election. The pollees — including one 19-year-old who will have come of age by voting day — will be surveyed a total of four times between Jan. 23 and Feb. 9 over their impressions of the various campaigns, their criteria for singling out a candidate to vote for, and which candidate they actually voted for. None of the pollees has any particular party affiliation, and at the start of the survey, none of them had decided who to vote for.
When asked whether nuclear power was appropriate as a campaign issue in the Tokyo election, the respondents’ answers were largely divided, though the small sample results cannot be interpreted as representing the general trend among young people. Out of the three response alternatives, four said nuclear energy is appropriate as a campaign issue, while seven answered in the negative, with the remaining four saying they didn’t know.
Another fuel, another problem. From EurActiv:
European tar sands imports set for steep rise, US study says
A new study by the US Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) today (23 January) warns that imports of tar sands into Europe are likely to skyrocket if the block does not take measures.
Tar sands imports to Europe are set to rise dramatically, to over 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2020, up from 4,000 bpd in 2012, according to the study. This, it says, would result in an emission increase in transport equivalent to six million additional cars on European roads.
The EU’s current Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) aims to reduce greenhouse gas intensity by 6% by 2020, but the NRDC report suggests that rising tar sands imports will lead to a 1.5% increase of greenhouse gas intensity”.
Tar sands are considered 23% more carbon intensive than conventional oil, experts say. An EU review of the FQD currently underway will soon decide exactly what carbon intensity label should be applied to tar sands. But under a new climate package unveiled yesterday, the FQD’s writ will run out in 2020, a development that will please Canada.
An admonishment from Independent.ie:
Don’t block fracking, Cameron warns EU
Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Prime Minister said the development of “cheap and predictable” energy sources could help to reverse the “off-shoring” of European jobs to the rising economic powers of Asia where labour costs are lower.
But he warned that the opportunities presented by shale gas – which had helped transform the US economy – could be undermined if the European Union sought to impose unnecessary new regulations.
“To relocate in Europe, businesses will be encouraged by cheap and predictable sources of energy,” he said.
Another GMO ready to roll from BBC News:
Genetically-modified purple tomatoes heading for shops
The prospect of genetically modified purple tomatoes reaching the shelves has come a step closer.
Their dark pigment is intended to give tomatoes the same potential health benefits as fruit such as blueberries.
Developed in Britain, large-scale production is now under way in Canada with the first 1,200 litres of purple tomato juice ready for shipping. The pigment, known as anthocyanin, is an antioxidant which studies on animals show could help fight cancer.
And a very important warning about consequences belatedly discovered from the Los Angeles Times:
Microbeads a major problem in L.A. River
The tiny plastic beads, common in personal care products and not biodegradable, are an emerging concern among scientists and environmentalists.
Scientist Marcus Eriksen stood ankle deep in the murky Los Angeles River on Friday and dipped a net into the water, looking for a problem.
Eriksen was searching for “microbeads,” bits of plastic no bigger than salt grains that absorb toxins such as motor oil and insecticides as they tumble downstream and into the Pacific Ocean.
The tiny polyethylene and polypropylene beads are an emerging concern among scientists and environmentalists. The beads come mostly from personal care products such as facial exfoliants and body washes. They are not biodegradable, however, and because they are not removed easily by wastewater treatment plants, they flow out to sea and enter the food chain.
“Microplastic is now a ubiquitous contaminant in the Pacific Ocean — and seas around the world,” said Eriksen, a scientist with the 5 Gyres Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to researching plastics in the world’s waterways. “We believe that 80% of it comes from coastal watersheds like Los Angeles.”
And for our final item, stating what should be obvious but sadly isn’t, via EurActiv:
More consumption not necessary for human well-being, says UN report
Greater food system efficiency and curbs to the expansion of cropland are necessary to prevent the collapse of global ecosystems, says a report presented today (24 January) by the UN at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The report, by the UN Environment Programme’s science think tank the International Resource Panel (IRP), says that policymakers must break the link between greater resource consumption and human well-being.
The authors say that rising demand for food could lead to a 320 to 850 million hectare (ha) expansion of global cropland, putting greater strain of the environment’s capacity for regeneration.
