Canary in the coal mine...

jaduncan — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:32:11 -0800

Iceland's last non state-owned bank is nationalised, with subsidiaries shut down in Finland, refusing to pay depositors in the UK and in adminstration in Luxemberg. Iceland has had to shut down trading on the stock market to stop panic dumping, and has become one of the most state run economies in the world. For everyone who wondered what true worst case is, this might be it (saving the Weimar scenario, but the US is too sane for that).

The neighbors are fighting again

msalt — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:42:01 -0800

After the president of Mexico introduced his bill, legislators stormed and barricaded the podium in the House; Senators began fasting in protest. The occupation continues after 2 weeks, with opponents camping out and padlocking the doors of Congress, aiming to run out the clock until adjournment on April 30th. Mexico's top electoral body ordered a TV ad (comparing opposition leader Lopez Obrador to Hitler) off the air. Here in the U.S., little notice: the WSJ calls this "heated debate." Background: Oil production at Mexico's huge Cantarell oil field is down 8.5% from last year. President Calderon, who narrowly beat Lopez Obrador in a disputed 2006 election, proposes to open Mexico's oil resources to foreign investment, to better drill under the Gulf of Mexico for one thing. Oil resources have been nationalized since March 18, 1935 and are a potent nationalist symbol. Lopez Obrador has been riding this issue back to prominence after a year of quiet following his election loss. He claims that the ruling PAN and the PRI cut a secret deal to limit debate on the bill to 3 weeks, and is demanding 4 months of debate.