Thursday, April 17, 2014

This is what "we" believe in, and we're batshit crazy

Hi there, I'm back. Sort of.

I needed to take a break from everything, my blogging sort of goes through cycles but I've also had a lot of life shit going on and I also wanted to spend some time focusing on women, sometimes you just gotta do that. However, with the death of Michael Ruppert, I started looking at the news again. Why? I dunno, everything that's going on is ridiculous beyond belief that it's just been driving me crazy to think that people might even for a second be fooled by what's going on. Whether Ukraine, the economy, or events here at home. Seriously folks, the "fair election [fraud] act" is going to be a serious topic in our next fraudulent election. Do you people not see the irony in this? How Orwellian it is? I maintain that I will not be voting next election, democracy in Canada is dead and it's time we start recognizing and accepting it as such. Only when we stop playing their game can the problems be addressed, by simply playing at this point you lend legitimacy to the results and the system they operate within. I'm not playing.

But you know what did it, though? Why I had to stop? I read this which is a response and commentary to this.

Redefining the limits to growth which after reading this piece you should correctly translate as "give more freedom to the corporations to treat people like slaves, cut back on regulation and enforcement and maintenance and bleed the stone dry". Throughout Poloz's entire "analysis" on the global situation he only mentions "resources" once and it's in the fucking conclusion! THE CONCLUSION! He's actually not mentioning them himself but rather referencing the work of the Club of Rome and then contradicts his own commentary on it with horrendous double-speak. You just can't make this shit up. Let's take a peek.
Conclusion

Let me wrap up.

Over 40 years ago, the Club of Rome published a book entitled, The Limits to Growth. To the global think tank, those limits were about finite natural resources and the environment. Although the timing remains uncertain, its arguments remain relevant today.

But within that envelope, we have the ability to define our own limits to growth. The financial crisis was nearly calamitous, and we are still working to overcome its after-effects with both macroeconomic policies and a new global financial architecture.

We continue to believe that the world economy is healing, and that Canada will benefit in the form of stronger exports. From there, we expect to see more investment and new firm creation. This will permit the emergence of a natural, sustained growth trajectory for Canada, and a return of inflation to our 2 per cent target.

But the demographic forces that are in play suggest that the growth trajectory that we converge on after the recovery period will be slower than our historical trend, and it will also be associated with lower equilibrium rates of interest than we are used to. Fortunately, global policy-makers have the ability to redefine the limits to growth by removing growth impediments, but as business people and investors, we must keep those efforts in perspective.

The world remains a complicated place, and there may be implications for your businesses and your personal savings and investment plans. I hope I have been able to add to your understanding today.
Notice the language. "But the demographic forces that are in play suggest that the growth trajectory that we converge on after the recovery period will be slower than our historical trend, and it will also be associated with lower equilibrium rates of interest than we are used to". Do you know what he's actually saying here? Young people are going to continue getting a lot poorer and as a result to keep the loan Ponzi scheme going we're going to have to keep interest rates low to encourage loans and float the overpriced housing market which an earlier part of the commentary goes on to describe as Canadians' nestegg of choice. The bank says it's unsure about time in regards to the Club of Rome analysis, and admits that "Although the timing remains uncertain, its arguments remain relevant today." Well no fucking shit, let's take a look at what's happening today.

Inflation rate in Canada ticks up to 1.5%
Consumer prices increased at an annual rate of 1.5 per cent in March, an uptick from February's level but still well within the range the Bank of Canada likes to see the inflation rate.
It's also tied for the highest the rate has been since April 2012.

Statistics Canada reported Thursday that the consumer price index was driven up by energy prices, which were 4.6 per cent higher in March. Within that, natural gas prices jumped significantly, up by almost 18 per cent in March compared to the same month last year.

Although it was a jump, it was in line with what economists had been expecting. The large increase in natural gas prices seen this winter has been making yearly comparisons look larger for several months now.

Alberta rate highest

"With gasoline prices headed for about another three per cent rise this month," BMO economist Doug Porter said, "headline CPI will take another step higher in next month’s report, possibly finally touching the two per cent target."

"Perhaps the Bank of Canada can stop fretting so much about the downside risks to inflation."

Regionally, the biggest jump in inflation occurred in Alberta, where natural gas prices skyrocketed 81.5 per cent over last year's levels and 49.6 per cent over February. The province's annual inflation rate shot up to 3.9 per cent in March from 2.4 in February.

In its latest interest rate decision on Wednesday, the Bank of Canada said it expects inflation to steadily climb to near the desired two per cent target over the next few months, largely due to energy price gains.

Outside of energy, food prices were 1.5 per cent higher in March than they were a year ago. although fresh fruit was 8.8 per cent higher, fresh vegetables cost 5.3 per cent more and meat was up 3.4 per cent.

Another major jump came from the price of tobacco, which was up 7.6 per cent largely because of a new round of excise taxes announced in the recent federal budget.
Can anyone point me to the "good news" in the post? Because all I see is praises of everything being within range when it's all energy, and food, and artificial price hikes to create the imaginary balanced budget. That's it. THIS is not growth, this is what happens when you start hitting resource limits. Let's start at the top of the points, gasoline.

What has preceded every major stall in the "recovery"? Rises in the price of gasoline. That's when you start seeing them covered on the frontpages of news papers "when will there be gas relief?" and what not. Oh yea, that's great news for "growth". Then you have the comment that the BoC can stop worrying about downside risk, and what is it premised on? The cost of resources is going up. Resources, you know the real limit to growth the BoC will acknowledge but would rather ignore? Yea.. those.

So then we come to Alberta, where natural gas (the feedstock for the oilsands, which means the cost to produce our shit quality "oil" is going up) went up an astonishing 49.6 percent. Foods up, and then to top it off in Flaherty's last move before retiring to the private sector to benefit from the fruits of his hard "public service" labour (and then dying before he could benefit from his corrupt pro-feudalist economic policy - ironic) was to balance the budget on the backs of smokers. They don't even bother lying about the tax increases being meant to stop smoking or anything now, now its just in to general revenue and to balance the budget as has been the reason all along.

Our new finance minister has pledged to support "jobs and growth", just as Harper has, just as Flaherty had, just as Trudeau has, and just as Muclair has. Its the same rhetoric, over and over and over again as they gloss up the losses you will all be taking. The safety measures that will be cut, the environmental legislation that will be destroyed, the national sovereignty that will be lost all because it's "an impediment to growth". The only concern now is how "efficient" the economy is operating, but its not really efficiency at all. It's not about producing the right amount, it's about producing the most amount. GDP, now more than ever, is a measure of energy inefficiency, not efficiency.

The stage for the future is already set: growth. There is no other option, there is no other measure, at least if you believe these banking slave masters. Like I said, I'm just not playing anymore.

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Richard Fantin is a self-taught software developer who has mostly throughout his career focused on financial applications and high frequency trading. He currently works for CenturyLink

Nazayh Zanidean is a Project Coordinator for a mid-sized construction contractor in Calgary, Alberta. He enjoys writing as a hobby on topics that include foreign policy, international human rights, security and systemic media bias.

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