Reuters published an interesting analysis of the recent depreciation of the Yuan here, including implications, dangers and analyst expectations. It’s copied here below. If depreciation is market driven, a big if, then the depreciation may be appropriate and help revitalise Chinese exports and in turn western consumption. Whether or not the value has been engineered, …
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Author:astraea
Just how big is the hole in the financial system? This big …
An interesting graphic from http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2DePAZe2gA/STAqqdE8CfI/AAAAAAAAGks/WrursaMDRIM/s1600-h/expend.png The amount committed in this crisis by the US alone is close to $ 8 trillion. The breakdown by Bloomberg is here and a recent update is here. The amount actually spent so far is closer to $ 3.5 trillion, but that’s still a big number.
Babies – to make them or not to make them?
The problems of the world are underpinned by an excesisve population of humans. The exponential growth in human population has been driven by the oil age which has fuelled food and healthcare. The consequence is that the footprint of humanity is too great for the biosphere. The carrying capacity of the earth has been exceeded. …
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A new view of the early earth
Evidence from analysis of rocks in Australia have repainted our picture of the early earth. Until recently it was taken for granted that the earth, from birth 4.5 billion years ago for about 700 million years, was a hellish place of heat and flames. Geologists now almost universally agree that by 4.2 billion years ago, …
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Finally! The US has owned up to a recession.
It has been a long time coming but it looks as though the US is finally owning up to an economic recession. According to the US National Bureau of Economic Research the US entered a recession in December 2007. It does not forecast the length of the recession, however, data suggest that the slowdown is …
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World Economic Situation and Prospects 2009
The United Nations released part of their World Economic Situation and Prospects 2009 today. The chapter Global Outlook is available here (pdf) and the slide show summarising the Outlook is available here (pdf). I strongly recommend reading the slide show which should take about 5 minutes, and then continue to the chapter if you like. …
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BT Notes November – economic crisis – ecological crisis …
November started with recovery from our Halloween party which we always enjoy. Despite several days of rain before, we managed to light a bonfire which kept burning for a couple of days – warm enough to roast marshmallows on two days later. On the night marshmallows were roasted on the BarBQ. Thanks to everyone who …
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Save the banks, but let the biosphere die.
The planet is now so vandalised that only total energy renewal can save us is a passionate article highlighting the urgency of changing our consumption patterns by George Monbiot in The Guardian. The article outlines the accelerating climate change that has now reached beyond the modest changes discussed a decade ago. Today the volatility in …
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Nutritional Medicine
I recently finished reading Nutritional Medicine by Stephen Davies and Alan Stewart. I had found it on a shelf in the house and flicked it open one day. It looks a bit academic – it’s a guide with some medical terms – but interesting. It must have been read by Mum last century(!) – its …
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Yoga and the Economic Crisis
Read Pam’s essay Yoga in the Economic Crisis – Maintaining Emotional Health in Hard Times. In it she talks about how yoga help, why it works and mentions some alternatives too. Maybe it’s worth getting a bit of yoga in your life.