~by Sean Paul Kelley How does the way an individual perceives time affect the way they approach risk? And can the way individuals perceive time and risk be applied on a macro scale? Let’s take a look. Sociologist Phillip Zimbardo developed a five way typology of how individuals perceive time. People who inhabit certain zones […]
End of American Empire
The core reason for America and Europe’s decline (and, in a way, Japan’s) was the belief by our elites that money was the only thing which mattered. Money is the ability command resources from anyone who will, or must, sell. People who need to sell their labor or starve—Marx’s famous “whip of hunger.” Countries who […]
This “issue” has flaired up again as Trump attacks Canada again. The short answer is that in the short term Canada is moderately dependent on the US and the long term it is hardly dependent on America at all. Right now we (Canada) have a lot of trade with the US. We buy mostly finished […]
I stand second to few in my admiration for how well China has done. But the super boosters are super tiresome. If China had been a small nation, the best they would have done is parallel Japan: do very well, then the US breaks your legs. Reminds me of Americans in 1950 or 95. They […]
The period around 1980 was pivotal to the fate of nations. In the West Thatcher and Reagan came to power and finished the destruction of the post-world War II order, setting the West on a new path. This process had been ongoing since 1968, but the form of the new consensus was not clear until […]
One of the most important things to understand about companies and countries both is the difference between sustainable prosperity and burning down the house. You’re probably aware that Boeing has serious problems. Those problems have been obviously “on the way” for a long time. When Boeing moved its headquarters from Seattle (where it makes most […]
Canada has cut a trade deal with China. This is what I have been suggesting for ages, and it’s finally happening. (Not, of course, because Carney reads me, but because it’s the obvious play and of all Western leaders he’s been the most resistant to Trump’s threats and blackmail.) Canada cuts a deal: Chinese leader […]
It seems that EU leaders have realized that the US can squeeze them, not just with tariffs, but with natural gas supplies. It used to be that Europe got most of its natural gas from Russia, till the pipelines were blown up, probably by the US. Now they pay much more to get shipped LNG […]
I think this is worth posting in full. Once again Carney and Canada are moving faster than any of America’s vassals, which is fascinating because Canada is the most vulnerable to the US of all the vassals. But then, that’s why, plus some luck. Carney was the UK’s and Canada’s central banker. He did a […]
Carney gave an important speech yesterday, which you can read here. That lead to a lot of people praising him for his honesty in noting that the rules-based order was accepted by developed nations because they benefited from it, even though everyone knew it was bullshit: if you weren’t in the club, the rules didn’t […]