The Locust Years

The Rise of the Euro-Right, Part II
A follow up to yesterday's Post on the European Elections: Anne Applebaum, writing in the Washington Post , argues that the results were a vindication of Capitalism: In last weekend's European parliamentary Elections, Capitalism triumphed, at least in its mushy European form. Admittedly, these European polls are a peculiar species of election. Far fewer people vote in them than vote in national Elections, and those who do cast ballots are Far vaguer about what their deputies, once elected...

NKorea dismisses G8 criticism on ship
AAP North Korea on Tuesday rejected Group of Eight criticism over its alleged deadly sinking of a South Korean warship, a day after the isolated Communist nation threatened to bolster its Nuclear Capability. The North's Foreign Ministry accused the G8 leaders of a "sinister political purpose", saying in a report carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency that the G8 has been reduced to an "evil group". An international investigation led by South Korea concluded in May that...

North Korea calls G-8 an 'evil group' for criticism over deadly sinking of SKorean warship
Seoul, South Korea — North Korea on Tuesday rejected Group of Eight criticism over its alleged deadly sinking of a South Korean warship, a day after the isolated Communist nation threatened to bolster its Nuclear Capability. The North's Foreign Ministry accused the G-8 leaders of a "sinister political purpose," saying in a report carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency that the G-8 has been reduced to an "evil group." An international investigation led by South Korea...

Japan and Russia agree to territory talks
Tokyo, June 29 (UPI) -- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reiterated a desire to solve the 65-year territorial dispute over the Russian-occupied Kuril Islands group. Kan and Medvedev made their statements in Canada where they briefly met on the sidelines of the Group of Eight Summit near Toronto. The G8 Summits bring together leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. Russia occupied four Japanese Islands,...

China, Taiwan sign trade pact linking economies
Beijing (AP) - China and Taiwan have signed a Trade pact that boosts economic ties and further eases political tensions six decades after the rivals split amid Civil War. Beijing hopes the deal signed Tuesday can lead to political accommodation. Taiwan is looking for the tighter economic links to keep the island from being economically marginalized as China's global clout grows. The pact will end Tariffs on hundreds of products traded across the strait and allow Taiwanese firms access to 11...

Russia furious over Cold War-style US spy arrests
Russia angrily hit back on Tuesday at US claims that it had smashed a Moscow-organised spy ring, saying the accusations were reminiscent of the Cold War and could damage efforts to improve relations. The US Justice Department said 10 "deep-cover" suspects, accused of infiltrating US policymaking for the Kremlin, had been detained on suspicion of seeking details of US Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy. Five accused appeared in court in New York on Monday and some of the suspects are apparently...

Stocks plunge on global jitters
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks plunged at the open Tuesday, following a sharp drop in Asian shares overnight, amid concerns about the outlook for the Global Economy. Dow Jones industrial average ( INDU ) dropped 197 points, or 1.9%, in the first 22 minutes of trading. The S&P 500 ( SPX ) slid 22 points, or 2.1%, and the NASDAQ ( COMP ) Composite fell 58 points, or 2.6%. Stocks ended a choppy session slightly lower Monday after world leaders pledged to cut public Deficits over the next...

N. Korea slams 'evil' G-8 for condemnation over ship sinking+
Beijing, June 29 (AP) - (Kyodo)—North Korea slammed the Group of Eight major nations Tuesday for condemning Pyongyang over the deadly sinking of a South Korea warship, calling the G-8 an "evil group." The G-8 "is heading for a cemetery of history as it has been reduced to an evil group blindly conniving at and defending its allies, far from taking principle and truth as a standard," the North's Korean Central News Agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying. "Heads of state...

Britain is squandering lives in Afghanistan to save the faces of politicians
The thrashing around of Military and political leaders in the quagmire of Afghanistan is an increasingly desperate exhibition of impotence. Yet, through the contradictions and incoherence, a familiar pattern is emerging. The latest symptom is the remarks of The Army chief General Sir David Richards, advocating talks with the Taliban: “If you look at any counter-insurgency campaign throughout history there's always a point at which you start to negotiate with each other...” Not...

Britain is squandering lives in Afghanistan to save the faces of politicians
The thrashing around of Military and political leaders in the quagmire of Afghanistan is an increasingly desperate exhibition of impotence. Yet, through the contradictions and incoherence, a familiar pattern is emerging. The latest symptom is the remarks of The Army chief General Sir David Richards, advocating talks with the Taliban: “If you look at any counter-insurgency campaign throughout history there's always a point at which you start to negotiate with each other...” Not...

Good Riddance, Robert Byrd
When Robert Byrd was a young man, he organized a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in his hometown of Crab Orchard and at the young age of 24 rose to the high office of “Exalted Cyclops.” He quickly climbed the KKK ranks, ascending all the way to “grand Kleagle,” a powerful recruitment head. Once he became a prominent Democrat in the Senate, he had to mitigate his mistake of joining the Klan. As a former Exalted Cyclops and kleagle, it was hard for him to portray himself...

Protest in Greece as general strike snarls travel
Thousands demonstrated in Athens and major cities on Tuesday as the country was gripped by the fifth general strike this year and foreign travellers faced fresh travel misery. A few thousand Communist-affiliated Protesters marched in the capital ahead of another demonstration called by the main Labour Unions. People of all Ages, down to babies in prams, took part in the earlier Protest called by the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME) to force the Government to abandon an EU and IMF-mandated...

Japan, Paraguay vie for World Cup quarter-final spot
Japan and Paraguay stand on the brink of history ahead of their second round clash at the Loftus Versfeld stadium here on Tuesday. Neither side has ever made it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup before so one team is guaranteed to be the greatest that their respective country has ever produced. This match-up is one of the most unexpected and unlikely in the second round and in some respects courtesy of the failings of others. Paraguay were expected to be playing for second place in their...

Okada negative about G-8 expansion to include China+
Tokyo, June 29 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Tuesday expressed a negative view about expanding the Group of Eight forum to include China as a member, saying the forum should maintain its principle of bringing together "developed countries that share the same (democratic) values." Prime Minister Naoto Kan proposed during a working dinner of G-8 leaders in Canada on Saturday that the forum invite China "in some cases" to help make Beijing more responsible in the...

Why Obama is Sabotaging U.S. Economic Growth
They do not want the United States of America to drive Global Growth anymore. If the Financial Reform Bill passes, the bad Wall Street will win, the good Wall Street will not. And investors and American

EU: Eurozone business and consumer confidence barely moves in June
Brussels — Business and Consumer Confidence in the 16 nations that use the euro hardly moved in June, according to an EU survey published Tuesday that points to a slow and uncertain Economic Recovery in the region. Economic Growth in Europe's currency Union currently relies far more on exports than Growth at home, where people are still reluctant to spend and companies aren't keen to take on new hires. Unemployment in the Eurozone reached a ten-year high of 10.1 percent in April. The...

How do other nations balance their trade? Try Germany
As America continues to contemplate its Trade mess, the question naturally arises how other developed nations manage to Trade with the world without Deficits and without turning high-wage industries into low-wage industries to compete. Although some other developed nations, like Britain and Spain, have Trade situations almost as bad as ours in recent years, some have been quite the opposite. Germany is perhaps the best case in point, as this Montana-sized country of 82 million people was the...

What Is Goldman Sachs Thinking?
By Simon Johnson The next Financial boom seems likely to be centered on Lending to emerging markets.

Ex-spy: May be 50 undercover Russian couples in US
London (AP) - One of the Cold War's most famous defectors says Russia may have as many as 50 deep-cover couples spying inside the United States. Oleg Gordievsky, a former deputy head of the KGB in London who defected in 1985, said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev would know the number of illegal operatives in each target country. The 71-year-old ex-double agent told The Associated Press on Tuesday that, based on his experience in Russian Intelligence, he estimates that Moscow likely has 40...

Stock futures tumble on global economic worries
NEW YORK (AP) - Stock futures and Interest Rates tumbled Tuesday after fresh signs of a Global economic slowdown spooked investors. Asian Markets tumbled overnight when Japanese data showed its country's recovery slowed and China's Market was hurt by an initial public offering that pulled investors away from the rest of the Market. European indexes opened sharply lower after Greek workers again walked out of their jobs to Protest steep Budget cuts. Interest Rates fell in the Bond Market as...

Economic Outlook: Split decisions
Splitting the differences does not make the U.S. Supreme Court many fast friends, but it does some scores anyway. The nation's highest Court Monday upheld the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act that established the five member Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which was a reaction to the Accounting scandals of the 1990s, most notably the case of energy firm Enron, where creative auditing reached a peak. But the Court ruled the PCAOB was part of the government and needed to be under presidential...

UN: human traffickers make $3 bn a year in Europe
Madrid (AP) - Traffickers who subject women and Children to Prostitution and forced labor are engaged in one of Europe's most lucrative crimes—a euro2.5 Billion a year, modern-day slave trade whose Victims are growing by 50 percent annually, a United Nations agency said Tuesday. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that more than 140,000 people are currently controlled by organized gangs. Many Victims are tricked into leaving lives of Poverty in Eastern Europe, Africa...

EU: Eurozone business and consumer confidence barely moves in June
Brussels — Business and Consumer Confidence in the 16 nations that use the euro hardly moved in June, according to an EU survey published Tuesday that points to a slow and uncertain Economic Recovery in the region. Economic Growth in Europe's currency Union currently relies far more on exports than Growth at home, where people are still reluctant to spend and companies aren't keen to take on new hires. Unemployment in the Eurozone reached a ten-year high of 10.1 percent in April. The...

Sticking the public with the bill for the bankersapos; crisis
Last week, The Globe and Mail published a fascinating article about the origins of the G20 . It turns out the entire concept was conceived in a meeting back in 1999 between then Finance Minister Paul Martin and his U.S. counterpart Lawrence Summers (itself interesting since Mr. Summers was at that time playing a central role in creating the conditions for this Financial Crisis allowing a wave of bank consolidation and refusing to regulate Derivatives). The two men wanted to expand the...

Summit Backstage
The biggest news at the Canadian G-8 and G-20 summits was that the United States held to the position of the need for additional Stimulus, while the other majors all had decided the time had come to tighten their belts. The Obama Administration just doesn't get it. But we knew that beforehand, didn't we? What was important was what swirled around the event. The arrest of the ten deep cover agents of Russia at the end of the G-8 and G-20 summits carries with it a significance far beyond the...