Zero Interest Rates in EU: The Myth of the Poor German Saver
Yves here. We’re featuring this post primarily to highlight how little wealth most Germans have, despite Germany’s status as an export powerhouse. On the one hand, this may not seem as big a deal in the US, since in Germany most people rent, tenants have strong rights, and rentals are low by Anglo-Saxon standards. Germans also have better social safety nets than Americans.
Australia Talks: are we more self-centred than we used to be?
Analysis Posted Thu at 7:48pmThu 7 Nov 2019, 7:48pm Are we more self-centred than we used to be? The majority of Australians think we are — 72 per cent, to be exact. Of all the findings from the Australia Talks National Survey, I'm sure to many, this seemed obvious. Of course Australians are more self-centred than they used to be — look no further than social media: a narcissistic parade of puffy-lipped peacocks and popinjays, would-be-gourmands uploading their every mouthful, happy families with curated lifestyles and associated merchandise, popularisers of every pea-brained health theory, travellers travelling only to present themselves travelling.
Best Lawyers
For many years, banks have partnered with Fintech companies to offer online loans to consumers. Some of these bank partnerships have been challenged by consumer advocates through so-called “true lender” litigation in state and federal courts, by state regulators, and through criminal prosecutions. The crux of the true lender challenge is that, at the time a loan is originated, the lender on the face of the loan paper, the bank, is not the true lender. Rather, the true lender is the Fintech company that marketed and sold the financial product or service to the consumer. If a true lender challenge is successful, the Fintech company may face significant civil and criminal penalties for failing to be licensed as a lender, and the loans may be usurious and void in some jurisdictions.
It's too late for hand-wringing – globalisation is already dead
The world is getting smaller. That is the unbidden meme of our generation, thanks to the juggernaut of growth unleashed by an outpouring of global bodies, free trade agreements, technology and international capital. Every business and person now has a global reach and audience. Today’s paradigm is globalisation and free trade is its evangelical mantra.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Preprocessing (E.M.D.R.)
"Leggo My Ego" by Jennifer Barbieri, LCSW With snot dripping from the end of his nose and a body physically drained from crying and shaking, he takes a deep breath and asks when he can get more. No, it isn't a drug scene; it's the end of an E.M.D.R. session. Eye Movement Desensitization and Preprocessing (E.M.D.R.) is a trauma processing method developed by Francine Shapiro in 1989, after she discovered that painful traumatic memories can be reduced by using bilateral stimulation while a patient recalls the trauma. Although it is not yet understood exactly why or how E.M.D.R works, its effectiveness emerges consistently from controlled studies. Brain scan research suggests the amygdala and hippocampus are stimulated by the E.M.D.R. process.
Public Banks Are Essential to Capitalism - Room for Debate
To ask whether public banks would interfere with free markets assumes that we have free markets, which we don’t. Banking is heavily subsidized and is monopolized by Wall Street, which has effectively “bought” Congress. Banks have been bailed out by the government, when in a free market they would have gone bankrupt. The Federal Reserve blatantly manipulates interest rates in a way that serves Wall Street, lending trillions at near-zero interest and pushing rates so artificially low that local governments have lost billions in interest-rate swaps.
Climate change denier among those appointed to EPA science board
The appointments by acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler come following the former coal lobbyist and Republican Senate aide's confirmation hearing last month for him to assume the role permanently. Wheeler said at the hearing that he "would not call (climate change) the greatest crisis," adding that he considers it "a huge issue that has to be addressed globally." One of the newly appointed board members is Dr. John Cristy, a professor at University of Alabama in Huntsville who's a known climate change denier. "I see neither the developing catastrophe nor the smoking gun proving that human activity is to blame for most of the warming we see," Cristy wrote in a 2007 Wall Street Journal op-ed when he was on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a co-recipient of that year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Capitalism Is Not the Only Choice by Penn Loh
Since the breakup of the Soviet bloc and China’s turn toward free markets, many economists have pronounced an “end of history,” where capitalism reigns supreme as the ultimate form of economy. Perhaps “there is no alternative” to a globalized neoliberal economy, as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher often said. Indeed, free markets in which individuals compete to get what they can while they can are glorified in popular culture through reality shows such as Shark Tank. But many of us in the 99 percent are not feeling so happy or secure about this economy’s results. Many are working harder and longer just to maintain housing and keep food on the table.
Inequality’s Dead End—And the Possibility of a New, Long-Term Direction - Non Profit News For Nonprofit Organizations
This article is from NPQ’s Spring 2015 edition: “Inequality’s Tipping Point and the Pivotal Role of Nonprofits.” It is easy to be distracted by what passes for economic news these days, focused as it is on short-term fluctuations and assurances of recovery and revitalization. The simple truth, however, is that year by year, decade by decade, life in the United States is steadily growing ever more unequal. Statistics illuminating this historical trajectory are easy enough to come by. For a start, the income of the top 1 percent has more than doubled in the past two decades, from roughly 10 percent of all income in 1980 to more than 22 percent in 2012.1 Meanwhile, wages for the bottom 80 percent of American workers have been essentially stagnant in real terms for at least three decades.2 The growing gaps in income inequality are matched or even exceeded by gaps in wealth.
Children need microbes — not antibiotics — to develop immunity, scientists say
By Brandie WeikleSpecial to the Star Thu., Oct. 20, 2016 Yes, it’s important to wash your hands.
Battlefield Casualties and Ballot Box Defeat: Did the Bush-Obama Wars Cost Clinton the White House? by Douglas L. Kriner, Francis X. Shen
Abstract America has been at war continuously for over 15 years, but few Americans seem to notice. This is because the vast majority of citizens have no direct connection to those soldiers fighting, dying, and returning wounded from combat. Increasingly, a divide is emerging between communities whose young people are dying to defend the country, and those communities whose young people are not.
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by Hannah Schulzefigures by Sean Wilson If you’ve ever felt lonely, know that you’re not alone. According to a study from the British Red Cross, over nine million adults in the U.K. feel the same way—that’s about 1/5 of the country’s population! Loneliness is increasingly being considered a hazard to human health comparable to obesity and smoking.
Canadian province trials basic income for thousands of residents
Canada is testing a basic income to discover what impact the policy has on unemployed people and those on low incomes. The province of Ontario is planning to give 4,000 citizens thousands of dollars a month and assess how it affects their health, wellbeing, earnings and productivity. It is among a number of regions and countries across the globe that are now piloting the scheme, which sees residents given a certain amount of money each month regardless of whether or not they are in work. Although it is too early for the Ontario pilot to deliver clear results, some of those involved have already reported a significant change. One recipient, Tim Button, said the monthly payments were making a “huge difference” to his life. He worked as a security guard before having to quit after a fall from a roof left him unable to work.
