The Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard released a long awaited white paper Australia in the Asian Century yesterday, which has been “wowed” by the Australian media. The white paper basically affirms that Australia’s future lies with Asia and consequently immense economic opportunities exist for Australia to grab. The paper hinges the nation’s strategy of becoming a competitive force within the region through skills development, innovation, infrastructure, the tax system, regulatory reform, and environmental sustainability. However before a nation can become a competitive force, it must have an accepted place in the region. On this key strategy the White paper does little more than make a “rally call” to Australians to come out and make it happen.
Category: EU
The word «conspiracy» and «conspiracy theory» is tossed out by a group of individuals who fear their own global conspiracy will be exposed if the onion layers involving global conspiracies begin to be peeled back….
Martin Jacques’ latest views on China An author shares his views on the growing clout of the world’s second largest economy. AUTHOR and academic Dr Martin Jacques released an updated and expanded second edition of…
The West’s attempts to destroy the Iranian economy through heightened sanctions—including most imports, oil exports and use of banks for trade operations—is having its affect. According to Johns Hopkins University Professor Steve Hanke, Iran is…
The Virtual Recovery Since mid-2009 the US has been enjoying a virtual recovery courtesy of a rigged inflation measure that understates inflation. The financial Presstitutes spoon out the government’s propaganda that prices are rising less than 2%. But anyone who purchases food, fuel, medical care or anything else knows that low inflation is no more real that Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction or Gadhafi’s alleged attacks on Libyan protesters or Iran’s nuclear weapons. Everything is a lie to serve the power-brokers. During the Clinton administration, Republican economists pushed through a change in the way the CPI is measured in order to save money by depriving Social Security retirees of their cost-of-living adjustment. Previously, the CPI measured the change in the cost of a constant standard of living. The new measure assumes that consumers adjust to price increases by lowering their standard of living by substituting lower quality, lower priced items.
Sanctions imposed on Iran’s banks and financial institutions could lead to a humanitarian crisis. During their debate about foreign policy last Monday, President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney both agreed that the crippling unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran by the the United States and its allies must continue, until the Islamic Republic recalibrates its nuclear ambitions. Both seem to have also adopted Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s favoured refrain that “Iran must not be allowed to acquire a nuclear capability” and that such a capability constitutes a “red line” not to be crossed at any cost. Previously the inveterate refrain had been “Iran must not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon”. The definition of “capability” has continued to remain vague and ill-defined, and a number of analysts have concluded that the Islamic Republic is already nuclear capable and has all the necessary components it would need in order to assemble a bomb if it so desired. Once a country has mastered enrichment technology it is generally accepted that the decision to weaponise largely becomes a political one.
In a recent speech, Chomsky examined topics largely ignored or glossed over during the presidential campaign: China, the Arab Spring, global warming, nuclear proliferation, and the military threat posed by Israel and the U.S. versus Iran. He reflects on the Cuban missile crisis, which took place 50 years ago this week and is still referred to as “the most dangerous moment in human history.” He delivered this talk last month at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst at an event sponsored by the Center for Popular Economics. Chomsky’s talk was entitled “Who Owns the World?”
Last week, gold fell below $1,700 an ounce. This prompted caution in the metals markets as the Federal Reserve Bank continues its purchases of the mortgage-backed securities. The mainstream media touts this act as an attempt to…
West sanctions jeopardize lives of Iranian patients US-engineered sanctions against the Islamic Republic have caused a shortage of medicines in Iran, endangering the lives of many patients, Press TV reports. Iranian health authorities say recent…
Readers will no doubt recall the almost incessant Western media attention paid to the Chinese RMB during the past several years, the constant claims of China ‘cheating’ by keeping its currency undervalued, the…