World Economic News and Discussion

Nearly Half of Canadians Struggling to Meet Daily Expenses Due to Rising Prices - StatCan, 08.15.2024.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Close to half of Canadians (45%) have reported that rising prices have affected their ability to meet daily expenses, Statistics Canada (StatCan) said on Thursday.

The data come from the latest cycle of the Canadian Social Survey, collected from April 19 to June 3, Statistics Canada said in the latest edition of its "The Daily" bulletin.

"In spring 2024, nearly half (45%) of Canadians reported that rising prices were greatly affecting their ability to meet day-to-day expenses, 12 percentage points higher than what it was two years earlier (33%)," Statistics Canada said.

Close to four in ten Canadians (38%) said they are "very concerned" about their ability to either afford a home or rent due to rising prices - an 8% increase from two years ago, Statistics Canada said.

In addition, nearly a fourth of Canadians reported their households as being very or somewhat likely, respectively 8% and 15% to obtain meals from community organizations in the past six months - a 3% surge over a two-year period.

In mid-June, Food Banks Canada reported that more than one in four Canadians might currently be living under the Material Deprivation Index poverty-level standard.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240815/nearly-half-of-canadians-struggling-to-meet-daily-expenses-due-to-rising-prices---statcan-1119782371.html

Gold reserves are climbing globally: the dollar is being hit with everything, from all sides.

Great news for countries buying gold like Russia and China whose gold reserves just get more and more valuable as the value of gold increases.

The official CPI in Kanada is a retarded joke. Supposedly it is 2.7%. But every price that I deal with shows annual increases of around 10%. This includes food
and construction materials. Rents are not dropping. Computer parts and electronics are increasing following the 10% annual rate. Consider the price
of all video card price categories over the last 10 years. You can't fob this off as a the result of bitcoin mining.

US statistics are also manipulated. Employment and other data are presented as rosy in the first release and then revised later. The MSM and the markets don't
react to the revised numbers which are generally much worse than the initial release.

All part of the scam... things are great... well OK, some things are not so great... but at least Putin or Xi isn't in charge.

The irony is that things in China and Russia are not perfect either, but money is being spent to make things better, and it seems to be helping.

I do not buy processed food and cook my own. So the prices I see are "raw". But the CPI treats these downsized products the same as if they were the original size.
You have all sorts of BS "hedonics" adjustments designed to lowball the CPI, but you do not have size adjustments to allow apples to apples comparisons of products.
It is not just food that is being downsized. If you pay attention to product quality it is also going in the shitter. Cars may have soft plastics, but they are built as if
if they are made from tinfoil. A common feature these days is for cars and trucks to start falling apart after the warranty expires. You are not going be driving a
pickup 20 years after you bought it since it will cost too much in repairs.

The "Titanic" of the German economy has already hit the iceberg, by Irina Alksnis for RiaNovosti. 09.04.2024.

A new chapter has opened in the chronicle of Germany's deindustrialization: the management of the Volkswagen automobile concern announced that for the first time in its 87-year history, the company may close factories in Germany. This concerns the possible liquidation of two enterprises - one for the production of cars and one for components.

No less of a public and media shock was the announcement that "the concern, in order to save money, was also considering breaking the agreement with the trade unions, which was signed until 2029." Volkswagen is considered (although, perhaps, it would be more correct to say - was considered) the "gold standard" employer in Germany: the most reliable work, the most generous social guarantees, the highest salaries. So the company's plans, of course, caused a storm of indignation, especially from the trade union structures, which announced massive resistance to the announced plans.

The authorities, for their part, are also putting pressure on Volkswagen, insisting on finding alternatives that would allow them to avoid the announced intentions. And perhaps they will even succeed in achieving their goal - for a while, since there is no point in talking about a radical solution to the problems that have arisen.

The fact is that the unpopular plans of Volkswagen management are based on an increasingly unfavorable reality. And gloomy trends for the Germans, which show no hope of being reversed even in the medium term. According to the company's CEO Oliver Blume, "Germany as a place to do business is increasingly lagging behind in terms of competitiveness," and in general "the European automobile industry is in a very difficult and serious situation."

There are many reasons for the current situation. There is the terribly expensive labour force in Germany, accustomed to the highest level of social security, and the rapid displacement of Germans from the market by the Chinese auto industry, primarily by electric car manufacturers, and the loss of Russian pipeline gas by the German industry (the cheapness of which largely compensated for the high cost of labour), and shooting at their own feet in the form of leaving the Russian market, and much, much more.

In general, one can understand the management of Volkswagen, for whom the forecast puzzle began to come together in the word "bankruptcy", and in order to avoid such an unpleasant scenario in the future, they are faced with the need to take tough measures today. And it is clear: the longer the decision is delayed, the more painful the return will be. And Germany as such is increasingly reminiscent of the "Titanic", so no one will be very surprised if Volkswagen finally decides to finally leave the sinking ship.

Perhaps the strangest thing about what is happening is the insulting, cynical openness with which the destruction of German industry is being carried out. After all, until now the West has always sugar-coated the bitter pill of reality that it wanted to feed to someone. And Germany itself has considerable experience in this: as the leader of the European Union, it successfully destroyed entire industries of Eastern European EU members under the guise of beautiful words about European unity and prosperity.

But now that Germany itself is on the chopping block, the Germans are not being treated to even the slightest bit of inspirational rhetoric. They must endure a decline in their standard of living and quality of life because Putin will attack. They must abandon nuclear power for the sake of the planet's future. They must switch to cricket meat for the sake of climate change. They must embrace the entire LGBT* madness for the sake of tolerance. They must tighten their radiator valves and their belts simply because they have to.

The results of the elections in Saxony and Thuringia on Sunday showed that at least in the eastern states of the country, most of the people have had enough of this approach. However, so far the German – as well as the Western – establishment has not shown even the slightest hint of a change in policy and is prepared to stubbornly continue to stick to its line.

It will be interesting to see what the authorities' fundamental disregard for the opinions of their own people will lead to.

* An extremist movement banned in Russia.

https://ria.ru/20240904/ekonomika-1970362304.html

Mexico's automotive sector could benefit from the China-US trade war, by Daniel García, SputnikSpanish correspondent in Mexico. 09.20.2024.

The automotive industry is one of the most important that Mexico has, as it is one of the largest foreign exchange generators and represents an important percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP); however, it is currently in the middle of the trade war between the United States and China and that could affect it.

Recently, several messages and decisions generated in the United States have set off alarm bells in the Mexican automotive industry, whose main trading partner is its neighbor to the north.

According to the most recent data from the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA), which can be consulted on its website, this sector represents 3.5% of GDP, generates over 930,000 jobs annually on average and attracted a foreign direct investment of 5,4 billion dollars.

”It's a very dynamic sector for the Mexican economy, it's strategic," César Roy Ocotla Gutiérrez, a journalist and analyst in the national automotive sector for more than 40 years, told Sputnik in an interview.

Even, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), the automotive industry was the one that generated the largest number of foreign exchange for Mexico during 2023 with a total of 188,903 million dollars, although it is not comparable with the other foreign exchange generators, because this sector depends on imports of automotive parts, machinery, metal products and other inputs.

"As you can see, we are a key piece, in addition to the fact that throughout the American continent, we are the second most important manufacturer, only after Canada and, at the same time, we are the main supplier for vehicles and auto parts and components for the United States," Alberto Bustamante, director of the National Agency of Suppliers of the Automotive Sector in Mexico (ANASPA), said in an interview for Sputnik.

The importance of the US market for the national automotive sector is reflected in the exports of light vehicles from Mexico, which, according to INEGI figures, exceeded 3.3 million units, of which about 2.55 million were exported to the United States.

Could Mexico benefit?

Being the main automotive supplier of the United States, the Mexican automotive industry is in the midst of the trade war between the United States and China in the internal combustion vehicle market and, more recently, in the electric vehicles market specifically. Conflict from which it could benefit by filling the gap that the Asian country could leave, but from which it has also been affected by the ambiguous statements about the imposition of tariffs by the Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump.

On September 13, the US announced that it will impose tariffs of 100% on Chinese electric vehicles, 50% on solar cells and semiconductors, and 25% on steel, aluminum, electric vehicle batteries and key minerals, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) reported.

This announcement is in addition to the one made by the Government of Canada at the end of August, about imposing a series of measures to combat what Ottawa calls "unfair competition" from Chinese producers, among which a 100% tariff on all electric vehicles manufactured in the Asian country stands out, starting from October 1, 2024.

Thus, Mexico's two largest regional partners decided to impose tariffs on Chinese electric cars, while their presence and the interest of automakers from the Asian country to settle in their territory is growing in the Latin American country.

Contrary to what one might think, the decision of Mexico's two partners in the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC) to restrict the entry of Chinese vehicles into their markets could benefit the Latin American country, as it would have the opportunity to meet that demand.

"Recently we saw that the United States imposed a tariff, not only on vehicles, but on several final products and that benefits Mexico, because the more tariffs they put on China, the Mexicans will be covering that demand that, in fact, our country has already begun to make," the ANASPA director added.

A report entitled the Mapping of Electromobility in Mexico 2024 indicates that, between 2020 and 2023, more than 254,000 fully electric vehicles have been produced in Mexico. The document predicts that this figure could almost double in 2024, as 214,000 electric units could be produced, 96% more than in 2023.

In fact, the expert points out that these tariffs announced by the United States and Canada would not even affect the plans of Chinese shipowners to build factories in Mexico.

"So it doesn't really affect the decision-making of companies to settle in our country, because first they are going to conquer the Mexican and Latin American markets and then, in many years, they will be thinking about entering the United States," he added.

Trump's threats

Another issue that has triggered the alerts in the Mexican automotive sector are the statements of former President Donald Trump about imposing tariffs on vehicles manufactured in Mexico, although they have often turned out to be ambiguous, because he has not made it totally clear whether he refers to any vehicle manufactured in the Latin American country or only to Chinese cars developed in that nation.

"We're going to put 200% tariffs on those cars so they can't come into our country, because they will kill the United Auto workers and any auto worker, whether it's in Detroit or South Carolina or anywhere else. It will be like taking away candy from a child," Trump said at a campaign event in Michigan.

The former president said that those tariffs would make Chinese cars manufactured in Mexico not be sold in the United States, which would force Chinese automakers to move their operations from this country.

"They are Chinese-owned and built in Mexico, and there are already several of them right now," Trump said of the alleged Chinese factories in the Latin American country.

"It is a fallacy that the United States intends to impose tariffs on vehicles that have not even arrived yet; even Chinese plants have not yet been installed in Mexico. We still do not have the first stone of any Chinese automobile plant in Mexico, neither electric nor combustion," adds the expert in the automotive sector.

César Roy Ocotla adds the electoral factor is relevant: Trump's tariffs are a political flag that seeks to attract voters.

"Trump doesn't know the USMCA. We don't care what he says because he has no knowledge of the trade rules between the three countries that signed the treaty," he adds.

The analyst explains that, according to the USMCA, if a Chinese company or one from any other country settles in Mexico by investing capital in that country and complies with the 75% regional content in its products, it could export them freely without paying tariffs or taxes throughout North America.

"So what the Chinese are going to do when they arrive in Mexico is comply with the requirements to be considered regional companies. They are going to settle in Mexico, they are going to generate employment for Mexicans, they are going to have Mexican suppliers, with which they are going to meet the 75% quota,” he concludes.

Yandex Translate from Spanish.

https://noticiaslatam.lat/20240920/el-sector-automotriz-de-mexico-podria-salir-beneficiado-de-la-guerra-comercial-mexico-eeuu-1157617599.html

So if Trump gets elected you can bet if China builds car factories in Mexico and complies with the rules of the agreements they have with Canada and the US then he will have to rip up those agreements... which might actually benefit Mexico in turning towards BRICS and away from the US as that is a rather abusive relationship anyway.

There will be lots of countries in central and south America that would like cheap Chinese electric vehicles made in Mexico... the US has such an ego to think they will try to sell their cars in the US when the rest of the continent is a market for their products too.

The mexican companies that are currently making cars for the US market can continue to do so, and chinese companies can make them in Mexico for any customer that wants them.

Why does the US think everything is about them?

Let the American consumer spend more on inferior American and European vehicles... that is not Chinas problem.

CAWAT, September 19. The most militarized regions of the world for the period 2016-2023 are the Middle East and the countries of North and North-East Africa.

This is stated in the CAWAT report on global military expenditures for the next 8-year period (2016-2023).

The average ratio of global military spending as a percentage of global GDP over the past 8 years (2016-2023) was, according to CAWAT, 2.06%. This indicator can be used to judge the degree of militarization of a particular region or country.

Of the 10 regions in the world, 4 regions exceed the global average.

The most militarized region of the world by this indicator is the Middle East – 3.86%.

Second place in terms of militarization is occupied by North and North-East Africa – 3.67%.

Third place in terms of militarization is occupied by countries in the post-Soviet space – 3.35%.

The world average for this indicator is also exceeded by the countries of North America (this region includes the United States and Canada). The ratio of military spending to GDP in the North American region for the period 2016-2023 was 3.22%.

The remaining 6 regions have a rate below the world average.

In descending order of the indicator: Eastern Europe – 1.79%, Western Europe – 1.49%, Asia-Pacific region – 1.37%, Central America and the Caribbean – 1.28%, South America – 1.09%.

The top ten regions are rounded out by the countries of "tropical" Africa - 0.95%.

The most militarized countries in the world for the period 2016-2023 are Oman, Yemen and Ukraine

Among individual countries, the top ten countries with the highest ratio of military spending to GDP for the period 2016-2023 are headed by Oman (9.39%).

Second place goes to Yemen (9.07%).

Ukraine (7.98%) rounds out the top three.

For reference: in the period 2016-2020, the ratio of Ukraine's military spending as a percentage of GDP fluctuated between 2.3% and 3.11%, in 2021 this figure was 5.97%, in 2022 - 17.01%, in 2023 - 27.7%. In 2022 and 2023, Ukraine took first place in this indicator, far ahead of all other most militarized countries in the world.

The following places among the most militarized countries in the world for the period 2016-2023 are occupied in descending order of the indicator: Libya (7.01%), Saudi Arabia (6.1%), Eritrea (5.80%), Algeria (5.70%), Israel (5.05%), UAE (4.95%), Armenia (4.63%), Kuwait (4.56%), Cuba (4.5%), Jordan (4.29%) and Azerbaijan (4.18%).

The rest of the world for the period 2016-2023 has a rate of less than 4%.

https://vpk-name.translate.goog/news/918378_reiting_10_regionov_mira_i_otdelnyh_stran_po_stepeni_militarizacii_ekonomiki_po_periodu_2016-2023_gg.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en

Mario Draghi is a f*cking clown and contortionist economist much like his connational spaghetti carbonara with Pommarola, working to please Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels:

Has the EU suddenly realized how much it has screwed itself over?, by Rachel Marsden a columnist, political strategist and host of independently produced talk-shows in French and English, for RT. 09.21.2024.

The EU is having a full-blown existential crisis. Someone has really screwed up its economy, and the culprit is conspicuously absent from a new report outlining the carnage. Are there no mirrors in Brussels?

Former European Central Bank president and Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, has published a new “economic competitiveness” report after a year of work at the request of unelected ‘Queen’ Ursula von der Leyen’s ‘Royal’ European Commission. And it’s a real page-turner, one of the great mysteries of our times.  

One is left to breathlessly leaf through the 400-page document looking for a culprit responsible for the massive amount of economic carnage detailed by Draghi. “For the first time since the Cold War we must genuinely fear for our self-preservation,” he told reporters in Brussels. How about starting off by not actively self-sabotaging?

Draghi said that the bloc desperately needs to keep up with China and the US, but has been failing. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the EU readily jumped in to ride shotgun alongside Uncle Sam along regime change highway, but now finds itself kicking dirt on the roadside and wanting to make its own way.

“Now conditions have changed,” Draghi said. “World trade is slowing. China is actually slowing very much, but it’s become much less open to us, and actually it’s competing with us in global markets on all accounts. We’ve lost our main supplier of cheap energy, Russia. And now we have to start for our defense again for the first time since the Second World War.” Apparently, the jokers ruling Europe from the big top tent in Brussels are shocked to discover that they’ve been victimized. Who could possibly have done such a thing?

Gotta love the use of the passive there. “Lost” their cheap energy from Russia. Like it just fell out of their pocket like a set of house keys on the way back from the store.

Listening to Draghi, you’d also think that the EU hasn’t actually adopted “de-coupling” from China as a strategy, egged on by Washington, which wanted Europe all to itself, before EU officials rebranded it a “de-risking” when they realized how stupid a move it would be to fully alienate China as the bloc’s top trading partner and customer.

And now, oh gee, the EU has to start thinking about its own defense again, Draghi said, rather than just using it to shake free some natural resources from all the places with fortuitously-located terrorist problems.

The Ukraine conflict has been an equally convenient excuse to make more weapons at taxpayer expense for the EU’s own defense after emptying out the old junk from its closets. Good thing, too, because making more weapons is about the only real easy answer for improving the economy right now, judging by the dire state of things outlined in this new report. Still, the EU can’t even do the military-industrial racket right.

Draghi has pointed out that EU members are basically idiots for buying most of their weapons abroad, with nearly two-thirds coming from the US. Big mystery as to why Washington wants to keep the party going in Ukraine when it’s making bank by drumming up the need to ramp up weapons purchases for EU members under the guise that their former top economic lifeline and energy supplier (Russia) was suddenly a big threat to them. The bonus: making Europe more dependent on the US for pricier gas, too.

The whole report is just loaded with gems, like this one: “If Europe cannot become more productive, we will be forced to choose. We will not be able to become, at once, a leader in new technologies, a beacon of climate responsibility and an independent player on the world stage. We will not be able to finance our social model. We will have to scale back some, if not all, of our ambitions. This is an existential challenge...”

Draghi’s going on about all these grand ambitions like leading new tech and being a climate and social icon, while European elites have been yelling at the plebs to turn down the heating and air conditioning to stick it to Putin and cheering mild winters like we’re living in the dark ages. Draghi also said that the EU needs another €800 billion ($890 billion), which is about 4.5% of the entire bloc’s GDP, just to be able to stay globally competitive. And that competitiveness can only be achieved by thoroughly unscrewing everything they screwed up over the past two and a half years through self-inflicted idiocy in the interests of impressing their girlfriend Vladimir Zelensky (aka president of Ukraine).

Draghi also said that the amount of cash needed to make the EU competitive now is so massive that private investment just won’t cut it. And well, you know what that means. In related news, EU taxpayers, there’s a sale right now on Amazon France for €4 tubes of lube.

But what if EU taxpayers don’t want to comply, because they’ve had enough of paying for all these screwups, as recent elections across the EU suggest, with anti-establishment parties surging. Well, here’s Draghi with a plea. Cue the violins: “Why do we care so much about growing. Yes, we have to finance these needs, and these needs are important, but why are they so important? Well, they are important because they have to do with our founding values, prosperity, equity, peace and democracy in a sustainable world. And the EU exists to ensure Europeans that they actually will benefit from these fundamental rights. And if Europe can no longer provide them to its people, it will have lost its reason for being.”

Okay, put the lube on ice, folks – he’s giving seduction a try. Queen Ursula will no doubt be along shortly to play the “bad cop.”

So basically, the EU’s ‘braintrust’ blew a bunch of cash and deregulated the economy “for Ukraine”, but now they need Europeans to be okay with handing over even more cash, because it’s totally for their own good. This time it’ll work out. Promise. Just like it did with that ex who you let crawl back into your life one too many times.

Meanwhile, von der Leyen is talking about the need for economic supply security and Draghi is saying that the EU needs more friends. Ones that happen to have a ton of resources that they can cozy up to, preferably. And he’s also saying that some countries are already trying to do that on their own, but it would be better if the EU took charge of it. Draghi added that the bloc was “punching under our power.”

More like it’s been punching itself right in the face, over and over again, if the EU’s recent policies and performance are any indication.

https://www.rt.com/news/603975-eu-mario-draghi-report/

The western elites are not acting out of retardation. This destruction is deliberate: "you will own nothing and be happy". Soros and the WEF are
running the show. I can only think of neo-feudalism as their goal. They want to go back to the good old days 200 years ago when 1% owned
everything, including the proles as serfs. Even if there will be no formal serfdom, it will be de facto. They will also cull the population down to
make it more manageable. Expect more plandemics.

The real irony is that the drive to mass produce weapons to then be put into storage or paraded around the place does not fix infrastructure and does not feed the people and does not generate income for the country.

It is a horrible waste of resources if you are not actually at war... careful what you wish for...

Draghi might be another boring gray suit. But the thing is, unlike Ursula, he is actually relatively effective at what he gets assigned to do. At least compared with people like Ursula which litter the halls of European central power today. Ursula as Minister of Defense of Germany had German soldiers training with broomsticks just prior to deployment to Afghanistan.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/german-soldiers-used-broomsticks-instead-of-guns-during-nato-exercise/

China will strangle Europe with money, by Sergey Savchuk for RiaNovosti. 09.24.2024.

The current world order continues to crack and fan out, and the global economy, primarily the economy of the real sector, is undergoing a transformation along with it. The Financial Times writes that the largest representatives of European metallurgy have addressed an official letter to the Brussels regional committee. They demand that a mechanism for protective duties on the entire line of similar products from China be developed and implemented without delay.
The metallurgists, among whom were representatives of companies such as ArcelorMittal , Thyssenkrupp Steel, Salzgitter, Tata Steel , as well as the European Steelmakers Association (Eurofer), are alarmed not even by the trends, but by the reality that has come to pass.

In it, the global and internal EU markets are experiencing excess supply, which automatically lowers price indicators, reducing turnover and profits of European companies. But this is only half the trouble: the overflow of markets is caused by the "steel flood" from China, which this year plans to export a record one hundred million tons of steel and related products. European companies, experiencing significant financial pressure due to the jump in energy prices, are physically unable to compete with Chinese steel and rolled products, which, according to a Eurofer representative, are trading below the production cost. Roughly speaking, in order to beat the Chinese offer, European metallurgists need to start trading at a loss, strictly and without options.

This topic is interesting because it allows us to go a little beyond the Russia-centric matrix in which we live and through which we perceive global processes by default. At least because it turns out that the collective West began a trade and economic war long before the start of the SVO, and not only Russia fell into its millstones . There is a historically significant struggle between two economic blocs - the old and the new formation.

China has already undertaken steel expansion into the Old World, it happened when Russia moored Crimea to its side. In the period 2014-2016, Chinese metallurgists sent abroad from 90 to 115 million tons of steel. The Europeans then, albeit with losses, but survived thanks to cheap energy resources from Russia - mainly natural gas. Such are the paradoxical grimaces of the global market.

In 2024, Europe has no hydrocarbon ace up its sleeve, and nowhere to get one. Gas supplies from Norway are at their maximum, and LNG from the US has been flowing to the Asia-Pacific region for two months, as demand and price offers are higher there.

It should be noted that Brussels has already tried to close itself off from Chinese exports by lowering the tariff barrier. In 2018, blocking duties were imposed on products from China. But, as the Eurometallurgists themselves admit, this had no effect, since imports from third countries immediately increased, and it is quite difficult to track the pedigree of each rolled coil.

If you felt a sense of déjà vu at this point, you are not imagining things. We are seeing all of this today with Russian oil supplies, for example, from India . Nothing personal, just business. The parallel import-export scheme that is so worrying Washington and London was not invented today, nor was the use of a shadow fleet of oil tankers. Everything new that is successful is a well-thought-out old thing.

By the way, Western politicians and mass media endlessly repeat the mantra about the isolated Russian economy with pleasure, forgetting to mention that they themselves are often not averse to isolation. Not long ago, for example, Washington introduced 25% duties on steel from Mexico , any product was affected if the smelting and casting was carried out outside of North America . As you might guess, enterprising Mexicans, in order to increase profits, began to drive north volumes that were many times greater than their own production. The influx of cheap steel reduced the profitability of local metallurgists, which, of course, they did not like.

Today, even India, the world's second-largest blast furnace manufacturer, is considering measures to limit imports. And here we come to the main thing - the reasons for the current processes.

Western financial analysts are waiting for the US elections, but in general they are quite unanimous in their opinion that a new trade war with China is coming. The question is when and who will side with the US. The European Union is seen as the only ally of the anti-Chinese coalition.

It all comes down to the key claim that Western free market advocates make against Beijing, namely, broad and systemic support for the real sector through budgetary allocations. According to open sources, the volume of investment in the state's main assets in the national steel industry has almost doubled, from $60 billion to almost $120 billion. Among other things, this money was spent on building new coal-fired power plants and coal-based metallurgical plants. This allowed production to increase from 700 million to 1.2 billion tons per year in just ten years.

It is noteworthy that this trend is weakly related to direct profit generation. Over the specified ten-year period, Chinese steel exports showed maximum profits in 2018 and 2021, when they managed to earn about $65 billion by the end of the year. By the end of 2023, the industry as a whole was stuck at zero profitability, but with a huge caveat. Thanks to powerful government investment, partially covering the cost of energy resources, and various tax incentives, Chinese steelmakers occupied 56 percent of the world steel and sheet metal market by the end of last year.

Beijing's strategy is straightforward and uncomplicated, but it produces results. The state allocates money to its producers through a complex support system. They, like a storm troop, burst into the market with deafeningly low prices, take up a perimeter defense and wait until the corpses of their main competitors float past them along the market river. As part of this strategy, Beijing consciously incurs costs and sometimes even planned losses, but all this is repaid a hundredfold by the subsequent monopolization of the market with the ability to control its processes.

This model is not applicable to Russia - our economic structure and model are too different, and the depth of the labor market is incomparable, not to mention the climatic conditions. But it certainly wouldn't hurt to conduct a deep analysis. After all, smart people learn not only from other people's mistakes, but also from other people's successes.

https://ria.ru/20240924/kitay-1974304784.html

Gold’s status as a Central Bank and bank reserve asset is escalating. According to Bank of America, gold has surpassed the euro to become the second largest reserve asset after the US dollar. To be more precise, B of A should have specified that it is the eastern hemisphere Central Banks that are diversifying out of the US dollar and the euro and buying gold and yuan. Nevertheless, gold now represents 16% of global bank reserves. The dollar represents roughly 58% of Central Bank reserves, down from over 70% since 2002.

Interestingly, Poland was the biggest buyer of gold in the second quarter this year (though we do not have access to the actual amount of gold that the PBoC is buying). Furthermore, Poland is insisting that the gold it buys is delivered to the country’s Central Bank rather than letting London banks “safekeep” the gold. In addition, Turkey has been a big buyer of gold. Also several African countries have announced Central Bank gold-buying programs.

Though it might not happen this year or next, I think there’s a possibility that gold could overtake the dollar as a reserve asset, particularly if the reports that the BRIC/Eastern Hemisphere Alliance of countries are considering a gold-backed trade currency come to fruition. Russia is hosting a BRICs Summit in Kazan, Russia October 22nd – 24th. There are reports that the discussion of a new trading currency is on the agenda, though I have not been able to confirm that first-hand.

Russia announced today (September 5th) that it will increase its daily gold purchases from $13.5 million to $93 million (1.2 billion rubles to 8.2 billion rubles) for the next month starting September 6th using windfall oil and gas revenue. The report was released by the Russian news agency Interfax. In my opinion, this is related to the eventuality of a BRICS gold-backed trade settlement currency, if not a full-blown gold-backed currency.

I bring this topic up because the Fed has painted itself into a corner. It’s under enormous pressure from the market and Wall Street to cut interest rates. But if it does that, it risks a rapid sell-off in the dollar:

The chart above is a 5-year daily of the US Dollar Index. The dollar is currently testing the 100 level on the index, which has served as technical support since early 2023. If the Fed starts to cut, in all likelihood the dollar will drop to 90, where it was in mid-2021. That will send gold rapidly toward $3,000 and silver toward $50.

A decline in the dollar foments several problems. First, this likely would accelerate the decline in the use of dollars by global Central Banks as a reserve asset. Just as significant, if not more problematic for the US, a falling dollar and lower interest rates will make it even more difficult to attract foreign interest in funding additional Treasury debt – something which has already become problematic.

Finally, the Fed knows that inflation is running hotter than is represented by the CPI. Rate cuts will push real interest rates further into negative territory. Using the CPI, “real” rates are positive now. However, using a valid inflation index like the Shadow Stats Alternative CPI, real rates currently -3% using the 1990 CPI calculus and -6% using the 1980 CPI calculus. Negative interest rates fuel price inflation, which is part of the reason inflation has been “sticky.” Cutting interest rates will cause the real rate of inflation to accelerate.

This is why gold has been hitting new all-time highs almost on a daily basis the Fed cut the Fed funds rate earlier this month and why silver is poised to breakout into the high $30s. The precious metals “see through” Jay Powell’s rhetoric and a strong economy and a lowered rate of inflation. The precious metals also are sniffing out an eventual resumption of money printing.

https://ca.yahoo.com/finance/news/gold-rises-16-global-reserves-053200567.html

Europe is divided over the ban on internal combustion engines by 2035, 10.02.2024.

The Swedish car manufacturer Volvo, which belongs to the Chinese consortium Geely, and 50 other companies asked Brussels to comply with the ban on cars with internal combustion engines by 2035, writes the Czech portal 'Hrot24'. However, the largest European manufacturers were silent, and "they have their reasons," he adds.

"Electrification is the main measure that our industry can take to reduce its carbon footprint (...) We urge EU policy makers to focus on the steps we need to take to achieve it," said Volvo CEO Jim Rowan.

In his opinion, the shift to electric vehicles is precisely what will ensure that the European industry is globally competitive in the production of cars with an electric motor.

Other companies - including Uber Technologies, furniture maker IKEA and Spanish energy company Iberdrola - have joined Volvo, arguing that European industry needs certainty and predictable conditions for investment and business development. As the CEO of Electreon, Oren Ezer, commented, this is especially important "considering that the US and China continue to actively promote their respective electric car industries."

However, the ambitious goals of the European Union to reduce greenhouse gas emissions "have been increasingly criticized" in recent months by some senior managers of European companies.

For example, the largest European car manufacturer, Volkswagen, has been forced to admit that the transition to electric cars (EV) is progressing with difficulty and will have to close some plants and lay off staff. Mercedes-Benz also stated that the deadline to stop selling cars with an internal combustion engine (ICE) should be reconsidered.

"Paradoxically, Volvo also recently announced that it will offer a hybrid model from 2030, although it had previously promised that it would exclusively produce and sell EVs," the portal highlights.

Proponents of the ICE ban argue that Europe should catch up with American and Chinese competitors in the production of EVs by refusing to invest in the development of such engines. On the other hand, it is observed that sales of this type of vehicles are falling in the European market, "which makes most manufacturers question the need to switch completely to EVs," the outlet elaborates.

Moreover, the postponement of the ban on ICE is now also being pursued at national level by Italy, the third largest economy in the European Union. Thus, Stellantis, the largest car manufacturer on the Apennine peninsula, has already stopped the production of Fiat 500 electric cars at its Turin plant due to the lack of buyers, which worries the authorities in Rome.

According to Bloomberg, the country's Prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, argued that Brussels' ecological policy "is self-destructive," and Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso insisted that the EU's emissions reduction plan be thoroughly reviewed.

Otherwise, predicts Hrot24, "hundreds of thousands of jobs will disappear" in the European car industry. But if internal combustion engines are maintained, "the introduction of synthetic fuels and biofuels would be possible" and the industry would stay afloat, summarizes the Czech outlet.

Yandex Translate from Spanish.

https://noticiaslatam.lat/20241002/lucha-por-el-motor-europa-se-divide-ante-la-prohibicion-de-los-motores-clasicos-para-2035-1157930460.html

America's main weapon deemed extremely dangerous, 10.14.2024.

Analyst Antonov: A non-obvious factor is influencing the decline in the dollar's share in settlements.

MOSCOW, 14 Oct — RIA Novosti, Elena Savelyeva. The share of the dollar in world government reserves has fallen to a 30-year low. The American currency is also losing weight in international trade. This is explained not only by the actions of the United States and the desire of countries for financial independence. There is another, less obvious factor.

Protect reserves

According to calculations by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the dollar lost 0.7 percentage points in the second quarter and 1.2 percentage points over the year. It now accounts for 58.22% of international reserves, which has not happened since 1995.

Central banks are cooling off for several reasons at once. First, the issuer, the US, is increasingly using currency as a tool to put pressure on those who are undesirable.

"The dollar is dangerous. After unprecedented financial sanctions against Russia, more and more countries are looking for an alternative," stated former Brazilian representative to the IMF Paulo Nogueira Batista.

As a result, global central banks are increasing the share of less “toxic” monetary units and transferring assets into gold, reducing risks.

“Non-traditional reserve currencies are attractive because they provide diversification and relatively good returns, and because they are becoming easier to buy, sell and store thanks to the development of digital financial technologies,” explains Evgeny Shatov, a partner at Capital Lab.

"Technical de-dollarisation"

Analysts also point to another factor that is often overlooked.

Official IMF statistics do not reflect the full picture due to the growing role of stablecoins, in particular USDT, notes Vladislav Antonov, financial analyst at BitRiver.

"The formal reduction of the dollar's share in official reserves can be compensated by stablecoins tied to it. This creates a kind of "technical de-dollarisation" through the cryptocurrency market," he explains.

Is there money?

The endless growth of the US national debt does not add to confidence: it is already more than 35 trillion. About two percent of GDP is spent on servicing it alone. And the budget deficit is five percent. Investors doubt the financial stability of the US.

"The hegemony of the dollar is a legacy of the Bretton Woods agreement. Back then, the American currency was actually backed by gold. Now, its main advantage is its universality. Global trade is tied to this; without the dollar, most payments in the world would be paralyzed. The lack of real security is evidenced by the inflation of the national debt; the government is forced to regularly raise its bar to avoid a technical default," says Alexander Shneiderman, head of the customer support and sales department at Alfa-Forex.

Settlements in national currencies

The dollar still maintains its dominant position in world trade. However, many countries are switching to alternative payments.

"First of all, it is China, which is striving to expand the yuan zone. Russia is also trying to switch primarily to the ruble," says Evgeny Shatov, a partner at Capital Lab.

Moscow has cut the dollar's share in international transactions by almost half, to 17%. The ruble accounts for 67% of payments for exports to Europe, an absolute maximum. In trade with Asia and Africa, national currencies - Russian and partners - account for 80% and 84%, respectively.

This is not only a necessary measure, but also a strategic decision that provides certain advantages.

"Firstly, currency risks and dependence on the American financial system are weakened. Secondly, direct interbank relations with partners are formed. Thirdly, the development of our own financial infrastructure is stimulated," lists Vladislav Antonov, an analyst at BitRiver.

In countries with unstable national currencies, payments in rubles look more reliable, since it is a partially convertible currency, which is important for partners, adds Ruslan Pichugin. In addition, conversion costs are reduced.

The bet on national currencies is not only made in the Asia-Pacific region.
In Europe, the idea of ​​de-dollarisation has long been promoted by, for example, Switzerland. States of the Global South and individual monarchies of the Persian Gulf (for example, Saudi Arabia) are also increasingly diversifying settlements, clarifies Yevgeny Shatov.

What's next?

Washington is concerned about this. In October 2022, Colin Weiss, an economist at the Federal Reserve System (FRS) International Finance Department, considered various geopolitical scenarios. One of them envisages the dollar losing its dominant position if China, Hong Kong, and a number of countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East switch export payments to yuan with those controlled by the US.

Weiss considered such a development unlikely - in the coming years. However, in the long term, much depends on the success of alternative financial systems developed within the BRICS and other international associations, Vladislav Antonov points out in turn.

BRICS plans to create BRICS Pay, based on blockchain. The decentralized cryptocurrency system will allow to do without the dollar and trade with Russia without fear of secondary sanctions.

A corresponding report will be presented at the summit in October. In any case, de-dollarisation will accelerate - the process is already irreversible. This is a natural evolution of the global financial system towards multi-polarity.

https://ria.ru/20241014/dollar-1977675255.html

America has failed math. We'll have to invent a new one, by Dmitry Kosyrev for RiaNovosti. 10.20.2024.

The most interesting changes in the world are those that are not very noticeable at first. They happen in people's heads, and only then do behaviours change: of people and entire countries. There are plenty of such creeping psychological revolutions now, and here is an example with Japan and the USA. More precisely, with who they are today and by what right do they behave the way they do.

Japan has made its mark on the world stage because parliamentary elections will be held there on October 27, but there is already a new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba (they were afraid to go to the vote with the old one). Ishiba managed to hold a diplomatic premiere - to go to Laos for a series of ASEAN summits with partners and put forward there a very old idea of ​​creating an "Asian NATO " plus say much more.

And now an article by an American working in Tokyo , Brad Glosserman, a man from the Carnegie Foundation, appears in the Japan Times. He says: why are you, Japanese, so active? You have a systemic and total crisis. For example, Germany has just overtaken you economically. And India is about to overtake you . And by 2050, Indonesia too.

Here, a person familiar with the games and quirks of statistics discovers that, yes, Germany overtook the Japanese at the beginning of the year. But such a person will also quickly recall that there are as many as three systems for determining economic ratings by GDP, and they give very different results. According to the most decent system, by purchasing power parity of currencies, Japan and Germany have long fought for relatively prize-winning places, while Russia has overtaken the Germans . Although if Germany - with its current collapse and stagnation of the economy due to the well-known events with the "Ukrainian crisis", the explosion of the "Nord Streams" and other things - has simultaneously overtaken Japan, then this really does lead to sad thoughts about the latter.

But Glosserman keeps hitting the Japanese over the head with other figures. You guys had 18 percent of the world's GDP in the "golden eighties", now it's four percent, and by 2050 it'll be three. Who are you anyway?

The logic is clear: Americans don't really like the idea of ​​eroding Tokyo's colonial mentality. But that's not what we're talking about: let's look at the same psychological battles in the US. Here's an article by Nadia Shadlow , a person from the Trump camp, she explains to the public that America under Donald will have to restore its global competitiveness by the harshest methods, building up such armed forces that they can wage several wars simultaneously. And - at the very end of the publication - she suddenly says: the goal of such a strategy is not at all to achieve first place in the world, "that era is behind us." We must learn to be at least second.

But they have indeed long been second after China — in terms of purchasing power parity. And the US share in the global economy has now fallen below 15 percent for the first time, although in 1990 it was 20.16 percent. And China today is 18.76 percent.

And here the multi-trillion dollar question arises: so what? At least what the aforementioned Glosserman and Shadlow, and several other rather prominent publicists say: America (Japan, and so on down the list) will have to learn for a long time to behave like second or sixth, and not like first or fifth.

That is, it is not the numbers themselves that matter, but their perception, the psychology of national leaders and entire nations. And this is where the most interesting things happen in our era of change.

In the previous era, relatively quiet and stable, a not very healthy cult of ratings developed. Ratings by GDP, but also by military-strategic part or by part of "soft power", which some are also trying to digitize. That is, to award each nation mathematical indicators even in terms of influence on foreign minds. And this is not to mention financial ratings, when a group of indisputable comrades awarded each country a negative or positive, and the verdict was not subject to appeal.

The world, according to such a system, was supposed to resemble a rigid and hopelessly stable pyramid, where you can’t flutter. Which is what we observed, until it suddenly turned out that the all-powerful West is losing its prize places at the top, and the countries that are part of BRICS today or want to get there are leading even in these ratings, which were conceived for completely different purposes. In particular, for moral suppression.

And what started it? Chaos, including rating and statistical chaos. The first sign was Joe Biden this year, who began to explain that the US is overtaking the Chinese. Let us recall that there are three systems for calculating GDP, and Biden chose the one he liked best. And even before that, his entire propaganda machine began to explain on a global scale that everything is actually bad in China.

Conclusion: we should expect anyone to try to recalculate all world ratings anew, but only in their favour. The result could be a collapse of faith in any ratings at all, a breakthrough from their psychological trap. This has already happened - the same Japan, when in December 1941 it attacked the navies of the USA and Great Britain at once, hardly compared GDP. And for four whole years it caused a lot of trouble to the powers.

Let us repeat, the main changes occur in the minds, especially those inclined to not submit at all to the suffocating magic of numbers, real or false. Recently I had to listen to a story from one prominent dog breeder about how in a normal situation the behavior of dogs is predictably built depending on who is big and who is small. But there are exceptions, for example, in the face (muzzle) of a Scotch Terrier. This is a small dog who thinks he is big - and behaves like one. The result: unpredictable plots on the dog playground.

So, the era of changes on the world stage is also when there are suddenly many such scotches. And even big dogs are confused, not understanding how to behave.

https://ria.ru/20241020/amerika-1978884419.html

And the world cracked in half: debtors attack creditors, by Victoria Nikiforova for RiaNovosti. 10.21.2024.

Dozens of world leaders representing the most influential countries in the world, thousands of journalists, hundreds of events and meetings - and all this is Russia, Kazan, the BRICS summit. All the flags will be visiting us, but for what purpose?
In essence, on October 22-24, in the most beautiful Russian city, the world majority will declare a new, more just world order. The mothballed chatter about "rules-based order" is proposed to be thrown into the trash.

The fact is that the creators of "POP" ("rule-based order") failed in all their endeavours. They failed. Instead of order, the West offered the world only chaos - first controlled, and then - whatever happens. Inciting conflicts, pitting nations against each other, drawing entire countries into war, blood and death - that's all the notorious "POP" has come down to.

It is clear that Western countries did this to delay their own inevitable bankruptcy. But it didn't work out here either - bankruptcy is already underway, camouflaged by tales of "negative growth" and a "soft landing".

All the countries of the "Big Seven" are drowning in debt, de-dollarisation is on the march, the number of homeless poor people vividly recalls the Great Depression, and Western megalopolises are turning into dirty homeless shelters right before our eyes. All the gilding has peeled off the golden billion.

This means that they have no more perks for the global majority, because the main perk was a rich and constantly growing consumer market. Now Western consumers are saving even on food and water, they are becoming uninteresting for the global factory.

But, paradoxically, Westerners continue to lecture the global majority and wage a trade war against it with sanctions and outright robbery. And when that doesn't work, sovereign states begin to terrorize them with threats of war - a real, hot one. In essence, the situation is very similar to what developed in the world in the 1930s: debtor countries have once again turned against creditor countries.

At the same time, all international organizations have been bought out by the Americans and it is simply naive to expect any reaction from them. All the countries - founders and members of BRICS - have been under this pressure. Russia is not the only one that has faced outright robbery.

India (its space industry was developing too successfully there), Brazil (its farmers were competing too successfully with the Americans), and South Africa have all been under American sanctions in their time . It goes without saying that China is currently the subject of a brutal trade war against the West.

That is, under the mantras of "the market that will decide everything", the West simply killed its competitors. Equal partnership relations? No, they have never heard of such a thing there. After all, what were the sanctions needed for? Businesses, primarily those involved in the extraction of valuable resources, are going bankrupt. The population is protesting, changing the government. That's when American corporations come in and buy up everything that was bankrupt. That's how the "invisible hand of the market" has been strangling all competitors for decades.

Well, that won’t happen again – BRICS membership provides countries with reliable insurance against the lawlessness of Western corporations.

The New Development Bank is successfully operating under the chairmanship of Dilma Rousseff, a great admirer of Russia and Mayakovsky.

The BRICS Pay payment system is being prepared for launch. First, it will allow foreigners to pay with their smartphones in Russia, and next year, Russians themselves will be able to use it for cashless payments abroad.

Our Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Russia will present the BRICS Clear project, a system of depository settlements between states, invented to replace the scandalous and unreliable Euroclear. The transition to this system alone will allow participating countries to save 30 billion dollars a year.

Fair and equal cooperation within the BRICS framework allows countries to develop and grow rich peacefully, avoiding conflicts with each other. It is not without reason that countries with a huge number of historical contradictions work successfully and amicably within the association.

With its very existence, BRICS proves a simple truth: war ruins, peace is beneficial. While the West spends more and more on weapons, it is plunging into recession: meanwhile, the BRICS countries have overtaken the notorious "Big Seven" in terms of share in global GDP. Now we are twice as fast as the Westerners in terms of economic growth, and this is far from the limit.

And we also know how to achieve success without the boring agenda of transgender rights and other queer people that Westerners manage to shove into any economic initiative. We don't need that.

It is no wonder that there is a queue at the doors of BRICS - more than thirty countries want to join the alliance. Among those wishing to do so are such unusual countries as, for example, NATO member Turkey . The President of the Republic of Srpska Dodik will also come to Kazan. Thailand , Malaysia , and Azerbaijan are waiting for their turn . There is no doubt that after the end of the NWO, European countries will also rush to join us - they are also oh so tired of living under the monstrous American pressure.

The BRICS summit, which starts tomorrow in Russia, is a purely peaceful undertaking, and the leaders of the countries that make up the group never tire of repeating that their alliance is in no way directed against the West. The Russian president has spoken about this, too.

However, objectively, the global geopolitical puzzle has developed today in such a way that on one side there are countries hopelessly mired in debt and loans, and on the other side there are states that are themselves developing at an accelerated pace and even manage to lend. On one side there are debtors, on the other side there are creditors.
Exactly the same situation developed in the world in the 1930s. The United States, ruined by the Great Depression and Britain by World War I, threw money at the main bankrupt of Europe - Germany , in order to set Hitler against the Soviet Union, which was developing at an incredible pace and was flying towards world economic leadership like an armoured train.

But the tragedy is repeating itself like a farce: today the West is doomed to defeat, it is in the minority, it has lost its wealth, its military power, and its authority. Making small mistakes is all that the former "golden billion" is capable of. Meanwhile, the BRICS armored train will rush forward with the wind, into a peaceful future.

https://ria.ru/20241021/dolgi-1978998446.html

Slowly but steadily, without fatal errors and further regrettable decisions in a most complex task, is the right remedy for achieving this:

The West breathed a sigh of relief: Moscow failed to achieve the main thing, by Irina Alksnis for RiaNovosti. 10.24.2024.

The West's worst nightmare associated with the BRICS summit did not come true: it was a possible announcement following the event about the creation of an alternative financial system. In reality, the matter was limited to an active discussion of this topic in Kazan and rather vague formulations in the final declaration of the summit.

However, there is no particular joy among Western commentators and experts — and for good reason. Because both the discussion at the summit and the Kazan Declaration, despite the careful statements, clearly indicate that the process in this direction is not just ongoing — it has already gained such speed and scale that it is impossible to stop it. The declaration mentions many programs, platforms and structures, both those being developed and those already operating within the association — from the New Development Bank to the BRICS Clear cross-border settlement and depository infrastructure, the point about which attracted the special attention of specialists.

However, there are still plenty of disappointed (from supporters) and mocking (from opponents) voices: “We thought that Kazan would become the new Bretton Woods and bury the dominion of the dollar, but it all ended up as another talk show.”

The comparison to Bretton Woods is a good one, and it is worth discussing in more detail because it is now clear, 80 years later, that the seeds of the inevitable future collapse of the dollar system were planted in July 1944 in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire . There, a monetary and financial conference was held to establish a framework for international economic cooperation and to rebuild the shattered world economy after the war. The twenty-day event resulted in the birth of the dollar as the world's reserve currency, and the creation of the basic institutions of the system in which we live today, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The Bretton Woods Conference was attended by 730 delegates from 44 countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, and as a result they handed over the financial keys to the world to the United States. Today, such a decision seems simply absurd. How could such an injustice, carrying enormous risks, have happened? The answer is very simple: there was simply no other option. The world needed urgent restoration - America, which had not suffered from the war , was ready to provide the tools for this. The only one who could theoretically challenge the United States and demand the creation of a more balanced and fair world financial system was the USSR , which also participated in the conference. But the socio-economic problems facing it and the need to overcome the devastation were the most acute - and the Soviet Union supported the decisions taken.

We now have the opportunity to see what that system has degenerated into - with wild abuses, with insane debt, with completely irresponsible policies and with frankly frightening prospects, because it seems that Washington is ready to do anything to maintain the status quo.

And against this background, the unhurried but steady process of creating a new financial and economic system under the BRICS umbrella, with long discussions, periodic failures and gradual groping for optimal solutions, looks much more attractive and promising. Because it is a search for compromises between equal partners. Because it is the construction of a truly fair system, without bias in favor of anyone. Because it is a real coordination of interests, taking into account the extreme complexity and fundamental innovativeness of what is happening - due to the development of digital technologies that can and must be used in creating a new system.

Twenty days at Bretton Woods led to 80 years of global dollar dominance, leaving the United States as a megalomaniac who is dangerous to the planet.

BRICS has learned from the past, and the circumstances are now qualitatively different - no country has the opportunity to use the difficulties of others to impose its will on them. As a result, the process is much slower than in 1944, but this is for the better - the result promises to be much fairer and more reliable.

https://ria.ru/20241024/zapad-1979716706.html

The IMF and the World Bank have upset the global minority more than Putin, by Elena Karaeva for RiaNovosti. 10.28.2024.

While in Kazan at the BRICS summit they were making plans for the future of the four and a half billion inhabitants of our planet, in Washington the "golden billion" of inhabitants of the same planet was falling into dust. Far from bright in color, since at the annual meeting of international financial organizations - the IMF and the World Bank - each subsequent forecast turned out to be gloomier than the previous one.

The feeble and local economic growth, something like "the average temperature in a hospital", will not exceed three percent. If, of course, this growth is observed. But in the "Garden of Eden" a systemic slowdown of economies is observed. In Europe (meaning the EU) not only production suffers, but also labor productivity. "International currency traders", sitting, naturally, in Washington, note that all this is "due to the low rate of opening new companies and the slow growth of firms".

The reasons for the degradation are not mentioned, but it is clear to anyone that the slowness is due to the colossal growth of costs. First of all, in the energy segment.

It used to be cool, with Russian gas at a fixed price, delivered strictly according to the schedule. But now, with energy resources, or rather, their cost, we have to stretch our legs.

Often buying the same Russian gas, but at an exorbitant price. Meanwhile, stockbrokers are happy, since the quotes for blue fuel have sharply jumped up. There are two reasons. Smoke on one of the Norwegian gas production platforms (and the suspension of production) and the need to make LNG more expensive in order to entice suppliers. The latter prefer to work with Asia , where they pay more generously than in Europe.

And so, against the backdrop of a widely announced serious economic illness, the G7 group comes out, all in white, and announces a "strengthening of the sanctions regime" against us. A ceiling on oil and gas prices. And so on down the list.

Everything, just the way they like it. A joint declaration, adopted within the framework of the same Washington meeting. And it doesn't matter that this "Seven" has turned from big into small against the backdrop of BRICS. And it doesn't matter that two members of this "Seven" - France and Germany - are openly called "two European patients" in their own media.

In the club of the world minority, they live in different categories. Aplomb, aggression and arrogance are the main engines of this descent into economic, social and political hell.

Aplomb is an unwillingness to take into account the realities that have changed in recent years. Aggression is when normal instincts, both human and state-level, to protect and support are perceived exclusively through the prism of threats to the interests of the hegemon. Arrogance is when, in violation of all norms, only that which brings or can bring profit is considered right.

The roots of the current economic crisis are absolutely man-made. Senseless and boundless emission, when, according to Vladimir Putin, said during the BRICS summit, the USA issued six trillion dollars, and the EU members of the Eurozone - three trillion euros, to console only their beloved selves. The time has come to pay the bills for this injustice. And this is only the first tranche, as financiers say. From now on, everything will only get worse.

These are the strokes of political behavior of the world minority in just the last few days. Bloodless, I must say. As well as irresponsible. It is scary to look deeper, since the spectacle of hellish injustice on international platforms, the same shamelessness and lack of principles is definitely not useful.

All these "Washington currency traders" still felt like kings of the universe a relatively short time ago; for them, neither state borders nor national characteristics of different countries existed.

It took decades for the masks to finally fall off and the makeup, if there was any, to run.

And the world saw the difference. Between what was happening in Kazan and what was happening in Washington. The world understood where real geopolitics is being decided today, how it is being decided, and most importantly, for what purposes. The world became convinced that an alternative to the rule that the strongest is always right is possible. The West has been engaged in collective predation for too long for its statements or actions to be treated with understanding and seriously now.

Having lost the trust of the global majority, the global minority has turned into a dull troupe of talentless puppets, performing against the backdrop of long-shabby scenery. Even if this show is still called the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank and is held in Washington. The inability to live in the rhythm of time is punished harshly. And how harshly, we will see. But the fact that the time for shameless predation is over is already clear today.

https://ria.ru/20241028/mvf-1980378980.html

However, there are still plenty of disappointed (from supporters) and mocking (from opponents) voices: “We thought that Kazan would become the new Bretton Woods and bury the dominion of the dollar, but it all ended up as another talk show.”

Who said it would be a new Bretton Woods system? I bet it wasn't Modi or Putin or Xi... it was probably speculation by some nobody that many latched on to...

The same with the current conflict in Ukraine, I am sure there are several who think Russia should at least block the Black Sea to what ever is left of Ukraine... if there is anything left of the Ukraine, but that is just an idea someone has put forward that solves a few problems for Russia like access to renegade regions of Moldova and of course territory on the Danube gives access to the river to the heart of Europe with reasonably sized ships... which is actually more efficient transport than air or truck.

But it might end up Russia ends up with just the territories that have joined the RF and no more... it is not the job of Russia to save the Ukraine if the Ukraine does not want to save itself.

BRICS is solving lots of problems but there are a lot of things that need to be organised and worked out first.

It is better to get it done right than to get it done now.

Why the German Auto Industry is Closing Down, by Olga Samofalova for VZGLYAD. 10.29.2024.

German auto industry can't withstand trade war with China.

It has become so expensive and unprofitable to produce cars in Germany that the German auto concern Volkswagen is forced to close its factories for the first time in its 87-year history. Three enterprises will be hit at once. Moreover, for the first time in 30 years, the concern has decided to fire people and violate the obligations specified in the employment contract. VW embodies the seriousness of the problems not only of the entire German auto industry, but of the German industry and economy as a whole.

One of the world's leaders, the German auto concern Volkswagen (VW), intends to close at least three plants in Germany to save money, Bloomberg reports, citing a decision by the board of directors. The remaining plants will also suffer: the company will have to cut tens of thousands of jobs, which was previously impossible by law. The concern will have to go against its own rules, which have been in effect for 30 years, and cancel the system of employment guarantees that have been spelled out in labour contracts since 1994 and prohibited dismissals until 2029.

The company's reversal of its employment commitments highlights how far Europe's largest economy has fallen behind in terms of competitiveness, Bloomberg reported.

Many departments of the concern are planned to be closed or moved outside Germany. VW workers held an hour-long strike on October 28 amid announcements of a 10% wage cut.

What will happen to the plants that are being closed is still not entirely clear. According to the works council, the plant in Osnabrück, which recently lost an additional order from Porsche, is at the greatest risk. It is not known about the other plants that will be closed.

Another German brand, Mercedes, is also in trouble. The company's profit fell by 48% in the third quarter. The margin from July to September fell to 4.7%, with a target of 8%. Moreover, this is the lowest margin level since the end of 2021.

"I wouldn't be surprised if in 10 years companies like Mercedes-Benz and BMW are history. As brands, they will probably remain, but they will follow the fate of Volvo, which was sold to China. In other words, they will effectively cease to be European cars," Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation Maxim Oreshkin stated earlier.

The Swedish brand Volvo was sold to Chinese manufacturer Geely back in 2010. Since then, the company's sales and profits have grown.

It is still unknown which option will be chosen with regard to the closing VW plants. “It could be the preservation of the enterprises, their final sale, or sale with subsequent buyback. The transfer of the company’s enterprises to other countries is unlikely; rather, the purchase of automobile components may be increased, and the final assembly of cars and the production of key components will take place in the same place as before,” says Dmitry Baranov, leading expert at Finam Management.

"We do not rule out the further transfer of all production from European countries to China. And this is a normal situation, logical, and perhaps this is the only right decision," says Artem Deev, head of the analytical department at AMarkets.

What happened to Volkswagen? The situations were different, but never in its 87 years of existence has the concern resorted to closing factories and decided to reduce personnel for the first time in 30 years.

The dismissal of employees is a serious problem for the concern, because in Germany the automobile trade unions are very strong and the employees themselves are well protected by law. VW management will most likely have to pay large severance pay, in particular, it was reported that 50 thousand euros would be paid for voluntary dismissal, and for managers even 450 thousand euros.

The concern itself explains such tough measures by falling sales. VW CFO Arno Antlitz said that the concern cannot sell 500 thousand cars a year due to the shrinking European market, which is equal to the capacity of two factories. According to him, the European market has not recovered from the pandemic and has not recovered to the 2019 level, when 16 million cars were sold. Now 2 million fewer cars will be sold in Europe per year - 14 million cars. Given VW's share of the European market, they calculated that they would lose half a million cars in sales. The Russian market, where about 200 thousand VW cars were sold, could have smoothed out the situation, but the concern left our country due to sanctions.

There is also no reason to count on sales growth in China. Mercedes directly blames the Chinese market for its collapsed profits, where the brand's sales are falling. Firstly, the Chinese economy as a whole has slowed its growth rate. Secondly, European cars are losing the competition to Chinese cars.

German Volkswagen, Mercedes and BMW have created three joint ventures in China, where more than 3 million cars are produced. However, their fate is in great question due to the trade war between the EU and China. Brussels is threatening to impose high tariffs on Chinese electric cars, and Beijing's response could hit the German auto industry hard.

But the main reason is, of course, VW's inability to reduce its increased costs. The company is probably afraid that if everything is left as is, it will lead to the bankruptcy of the entire automobile concern, when it will no longer be possible to save it.

"VW's decision is connected with a sharp increase in costs and a fall in profitability. The problems at Mercedes-Benz also point to systemic problems in the industry. One of the main challenges is the huge increase in production costs in Germany," says Deev.

Why have costs increased so much? Because energy resources have become more expensive after the cessation of energy supplies from Russia and the general restructuring of the European energy market, the expert notes. Costs for more expensive electricity and metals have increased.

Electricity in Germany cost 17 euros per megawatt-hour in April 2020, and then its price began to rise steadily and reached a record 470 euros by August 2022. This was a colossal blow to the entire German industry; many chemical plants, where gas is a raw material, stopped working almost immediately. It was the incredible rise in gas prices that led to this situation. The German energy market has been restructured, but electricity is still expensive - 82 euros. This is a fourfold increase compared to 2020.

This triggered an increase in the price of all goods and services in the country. As a result, the entire industry and the entire economy of the country suffered. Of the European countries, Germany is in the worst position, where statistics show a recession. In Germany itself, they expect a 0.2% drop in the country's GDP this year.

"The German auto industry, and the German economy in general, are going through very difficult times. The reasons are the high cost of labour, which has become accustomed to a high standard of living and social security over the decades, high energy prices, as well as huge competition from the Chinese auto industry, to which the Germans, it must be admitted, are losing out completely, since the Chinese auto products are no worse technologically, and are much cheaper due to lower production costs," says Nikolai Vavilov, a specialist in the strategic research department at Total Research.

https://vz.ru/economy/2024/10/29/1294911.html

At $75 trillion, Russia has the largest natural resource reserves on the planet.

The Visual Capitalist portal has published an infographic "Top 10 countries by the value of natural resource reserves." In the presented rating, Russia leads by a wide margin, with reserves estimated at $75 trillion. In second place is the United States, with resources valued at approximately $45 trillion, and Venezuela closes out the top ten resource giants.

https://x.com/Zlatti_71/status/1855554960542363869/photo/1