New York Times (June 10)
“There has never been a disaster like the G7 meeting that just took place. It could herald the beginning of a trade war, maybe even the collapse of the Western alliance. At the very least it will damage America’s reputation as a reliable ally for decades to come; even if Trump eventually departs the scene in disgrace, the fact that someone like him could come to power in the first place will always be in the back of everyone’s mind.”
Tags: Ally Disgrace, Collapse, Damage, Disaster, G7, Power, Reliable, Reputation, Trade war, U.S., Western alliance
Salon (November 26)
“A wholesale collapse of Pine Island and Thwaites would set off a catastrophe. Giant icebergs would stream away from Antarctica like a parade of frozen soldiers. All over the world, high tides would creep higher, slowly burying every shoreline on the planet, flooding coastal cities and creating hundreds of millions of climate refugees. But “what we do now will determine how quickly” this ensues. “A fast transition away from fossil fuels in the next few decades could be enough to put off rapid sea-level rise for centuries. That’s a decision worth countless trillions of dollars and millions of lives.”
Tags: Antarctica, Catastrophe, Climate refugees, Collapse, Flooding, Fossil fuels, Icebergs, Pine Island, Shoreline, Thwaites, Tides
Bloomberg (November 20)
“After 12 years in office that have made her Europe’s anchor of stability in times of crisis, Merkel failed to stitch together an alliance that’s never been tried at the national level. While the breakdown leaves her in charge as acting chancellor, the collapse may signal the limit of her pragmatic, non-ideological style of governing and leaves her options for staying in power for another four years dramatically narrowed.”
Tags: Alliance, Breakdown, Chancellor, Collapse, Crisis, Europe, Germany, Governing, Merkel, Non-ideological, Pragmatic, Stability
Newsweek (October 25)
“The power of a U.S. passport has plummeted under President Donald Trump. American passports have now fallen behind those of 18 countries in terms of global mobility—a staggering collapse…. In 2015, the United States tied for first place with the United Kingdom on the list; last year, it slipped to fourth place. Americans now trails 18 countries, including Belgium, Japan, Sweden and first-place Singapore.” Japan tied for fourth place behind Singapore, Germany, Sweden and South Korea.
Tags: Belgium, Collapse, Germany, Global mobility, Japan, Passport, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Trump, U.S., UK
New York Times (July 30)
“President Trump and Republicans in Washington have shaken the confidence of their supporters after a punishing and self-inflicted series of setbacks that have angered activists, left allies slack-jawed and reopened old fissures on the right.” The “seemingly endless sequence of disappointments and blunders” includes “Mr. Trump’s attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions; a vulgar tirade by his new communications chief, Anthony Scaramucci; and the collapse of conservative-backed health care legislation.”
Tags: Attacks, Blunders, Collapse, Disappointments, Health care, Republicans, Scaramucci, Self-inflicted, Setbacks, Tirade, Trump, Vulgar
Wall Street Journal (October 22)
“Much has changed since Beijing sparked a rare-earths panic in 2010. China was home to 95% of the world’s production, so when it tightened export quotas by 40% and then cut off shipments to Japan over a territorial dispute, buyers world-wide feared scarcity and prices rose tenfold.” Ironically, this spurred innovation, the use of substitutes and the reopening of mines in other countries. “By 2012 the world faced a glut of rare earths. Prices collapsed as much as 80%.” The rare-earths rollercoaster demonstrates “the ability of markets and human ingenuity to adapt to ill-advised attempts to hold natural resources hostage. When they’re allowed to work, markets always defeat mercantilism—a useful lesson for Beijing’s economic reformers.”
Tags: Beijing, China, Collapse, Export quotas, Glut, Innovation, Markets, Mercantilism, Natural resources, Prices, Production, Rare earths, Scarcity, Substitutes
Washington Post (August 26)
“First was the dot-com bubble, then the housing bubble. Now comes the commodities bubble.” The stock market’s current turmoil is “driven at least in part by a bubble of raw material prices. Their collapse weighs on world stock markets through fears of slower economic growth and large financial losses.”
Tags: Collapse, Commodities bubble, Dot-com bubble, Economic growth, Housing bubble, Raw material prices, Stock market, Turmoil
Institutional Investor (July 14)
Brazil hopes that a return of foreign capital might provide “an economic boost.” The country sure needs it. The economy has slumped “from 7.5 percent in 2010 to just 0.1 percent in 2014.” It is now in recession. “The end of the global commodities supercycle and the oil market collapse explain much of the decline, but domestic policy problems—including a growing deficit and accelerating inflation—are also to blame.”
Tags: Brazil, Collapse, Commodities, Deficit, Economy, Foreign capital, Inflation, Oil, Recession, Supercycle
New York Times (May 19)
“With North Korea in possession of nuclear weapons and a well-oiled machinery of oppression, a regime collapse may not happen soon. But the Kims will surely fall at some point, quickly and brutally, and when they do South Korea and its allies must stand ready to rescue a nation that has suffered horribly. In the meantime, the United States and America’s allies must remain vigilant and continue to search for ways to deter Mr. Kim.”
Tags: Allies, Collapse, Kim, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Oppression, Regime, South Korea, U.S., Vigilant
Forbes (April 15)
It’s easy to underestimate the loss of Greece. “While it may be true that the economic damage of a Greek collapse would largely be confined to Greece itself, it nonetheless would undermine the great post-WWII dream of a united Europe that would never experience another catastrophic war….. Thanks to remarkably bad leadership, Europe’s post-WWII order is in mortal danger, threatening unimaginable political and economic repercussions.”
Tags: Collapse, Danger, Economic damage, Europe, Greece, Leadership, War, WWII
