This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Fed surprises Wall Street by continuing massive money-printing
- U.N. report contains calculations implicating Syria’s regime
- China steps up border incursions into India’s Kashmir region
- Anti-Golden Dawn protests across Greece turn violent
Fed surprises Wall Street by continuing massive money-printing
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday, announcing postponement of ‘tapering’ (AP)
The Federal Reserve has been pouring vast amounts of money into thebanking system since 2011 at the rate of $85 billion per month. Thismoney has been making its way into the stock market, artificiallypushing stock prices to astronomically high levels.
But manyanalysts, including some of the Fed governors, are demanding that thishas to end since it’s creating massive distortions in the economy. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke himself has even suggested that the Fedwould begin “tapering” this month, meaning that it would begin toreduce the $85 billion, bit by bit, possibly starting with a reductionto $75 billion in September.
So the financial community was shockedon Wednesday when Bernanke issued a statement that no “tapering” wouldoccur at this time. It’s thought that the Fed committee is soconcerned about the fragility of the economy that even a smallreduction in tapering might cause a substantial collapse of the stockmarket. As things stand, the promise of continuing the full $85billion per month caused the stock market to skyrocket to recordhighs, and interest rates (yields) on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds fellsharply after the announcement. Generational Dynamics predicts thatWall Street stocks will fall to the Dow 3000 level or below. AP
U.N. report contains calculations implicating Syria’s regime
The U.N. chemical weapons team that inspected the site of the August21 sarin gas attack in the Damascus suburbs in Syria was forbidden, atthe insistence of Russia, of determining who was the perpetrator ofthe attack. The Russians demanded that they only be allowed todetermine whether or not a sarin attack had occurred.
But apparently the U.N. team found a way to prove blame without havingto say it. In their scientific analysis of the evidence, theyincluded calculations of the trajectories of the rockets thatdelivered the sarin gas. They drew no conclusions about where therockets were launched, but they provided enough scientific informationwithin the report so that experts studying the report can show thatthe rockets must have been launched from a Syrian Republican Guardunit.
I watched an hour-long interview of Syria’s president Bashar al-Assadby two Fox News reporters on Wednesday evening. At one point, he saidthat al-Qaeda terrorists had manufactured sarin in their kitchens andlaunched the August 21 attack. At another point, he said that hisarmy could not have launched the sarin attack, because it requiredspecialized army units that have had a great deal of training. Likemany psychopathic murderers, al-Assad is such a skilled liar that evenhe doesn’t know when he’s lying. McClatchy
China steps up border incursions into India’s Kashmir region
China has stepped up military border incursions into India-governedregions of Kashmir and Jammu, the site of wars between Pakistan andIndia since 1947. According to an Indian analysis, China’s actionsare part of a larger warning to the India government not to form analliance with other countries that encircles China. China isparticularly concerned about a possible partnership between its bitterenemy, Japan, and India.
China is also concerned that the U.S. isattempting to bring India under its strategic umbrella with anobjective to check China within Asia. But while India is buildingpartnerships on China’s periphery from Myanmar to Japan, China isdeveloping partnerships with Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lankaand Maldives.Times of India and Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS)
Anti-Golden Dawn protests across Greece turn violent
Protests turned to violent clashes with police in cities acrossGreece on Wednesday evening, after a so-called “anti-fascist activist”was stabbed to death by a man who said he belonged to the far-rightGolden Dawn party. (“Far right” has a different meaning in Europe thanin America.) In Keratsini, west of Athens where the stabbing tookplace, the confrontation between the police and thousands ofprotesters lasted more than two hours. 6,000 protesters marched inThessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city.
The political partyGolden Dawn has adopted Nazi symbols and is advocating the deportationof anyone who is not “pure Greek,” even foreigners who have legallybecome Greek citizens. They’ve been blamed for an increase inviolence against immigrants, and a coalition of political leaders onWednesday evening called for legislation to make Golden Dawn illegal.
Kathimerini and AP
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke,Syria, Bashar al-Assad, sarin,China, India, Kashmir, Jammu,Greece, Golden Dawn
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