Stories Going Beyond The Mainstream
Old Chinese Curse...
" May You Live In Interesting Times"
Why Are We In A Low Growth Global Economy?
We’re in a Low-Growth World. How Did We Get Here?
One central fact about the global economy lurks just beneath the year’s remarkable headlines: Economic growth in advanced nations has been weaker for longer than it has been in the lifetime of most people on earth.
The United States is adding jobs at a healthy clip, as a new report showed Friday, and the unemployment rate is relatively low. But that is happening despite a long-term trend of much lower growth, both in the United States and other advanced nations, than was evident for most of the post-World War II era.
This trend helps explain why incomes have risen so slowly since the turn of the century, especially for those who are not top earners. It is behind the cheap gasoline you put in the car and the ultralow interest rates you earn on your savings. It is crucial to understanding the rise of Donald J. Trump, Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, and the rise of populist movements across Europe.
GOOD NEWS: Ireland Jails 2008 Meltdown Banksters - "Very Serious Crime"
Unlike US, Ireland Just Sent Three Bankers to Jail for Role in 2008 Crisis
The trio's scheme was a "very serious crime," judge says
A Dublin court has sent three former senior banking executives to jail for committing "sham transactions" in an effort to deceive customers and shareholders during the 2008 financial crisis.
"The trio will be among the first senior bankers globally to be jailed for their role in the collapse of a bank during the crisis," as Reuters reports.
Former Anglo Irish Bank executive John Bowe got a two-year sentence, former Irish Life and Permanent chief executive Denis Casey was given a sentence of two years and nine months, and Bowe's colleague and former Anglo executive Willie McAteer got three and a half years.
As the Irish Times explains,
REALITY CHECK: What Can Provide "Sustainable Future"? HOW LONG???
People Are Calling Natural Gas a ‘Bridge’ to a Sustainable Future—They’re Wrong
For America to reach full renewable energy, we need to re-focus our investments — and divest ourselves of some dangerous ideas about natural gas. Natural gas coming out of the ground in Taiwan. (Photo: Naplee12/Wikimedia Commons) It’s been a hot summer, with record-breaking heat in the United States and around the world, and the same can be said for all of 2016 so far.
According to new reports from National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Goddard Space Institute , 2016 is on course to be the hottest year on record around the globe. That makes 2016 the third year in a row to set a warming record — which should cause us grave concern. Indeed, the severe effects of climate change, including both drought and flooding in some of the poorest countries in the world, will lead to population dislocations that will likely exacerbate many of the dangerous […]
NO WIN: Global Pensions WILL Collapse Under Prolonged Negative Interest Rates
The steep fall prompted a former pensions minister to call for a national inquiry into the impact on company pensions of the Bank of England’s new £70bn bond-buying plan, launched to stimulate the economy amid fears of a Brexit-related slowdown.
Ocean Acidification And Temperature Seriously Affects Key Oxygen Source
CLIMATE NEWS
HELMHOLTZ CENTRE FOR OCEAN RESEARCH KIEL (GEOMAR)
Rising water temperatures and acidification affect important plankton organism
First laboratory study reveals effects of 2 environmental factors on copepods
Ocean acidification, rising temperatures, eutrophication and loss of oxygen: Life in the oceans has to cope with a variety of factors. How will plants and animals react when global climate change alters their environment? Laboratory and field experiments, observations at naturally extreme habitats and modelling approaches help researchers to evaluate the reactions of the ecosystem ocean.
Overpopulation Setting Stage For Humanity's Final Chapter
Can the World Sustain 9 Billion People by 2050?
The world’s population is topsy-turvy, and its exponential and uneven growth could have disastrous consequences if we aren’t ready for it. Humanity recently hit a benchmark, a population of 7.9 billion in2013. It is expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, and 9.6 billion by 2050. If that weren’t enough, consider 11.2 billion in 2100. Most of the growth is supposed to come from nine specific countries: India, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Nigeria, the United States, and Indonesia.
