We keep hearing how cheap and wonderful renewable energy is for us all.
Well ask the Germans about Dunkleflaute !
It has caused them to buy electricity anywhere it can get it.
German industry has started to collapse due to the cost of electricity.
They are now in a hurry to restart their nuclear power stations.

They are further down the industrial slowdown than we are at present.
If you want to see our future read this;
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21244/europe-germany-renewable-energy
Also in todays Australian it deals with our teetering energy system.
see article by Chris Uullman

The real absurdity of our absurd Albanese government is that they ignore the bloody obvious example of countries who have found that wind and solar just does not work.

Less than a third of voters gave their first preferences to Labor at the election. Surely they must go at the next one, when they gave dragged down Australia and stuffed up everything they have had a go at - without learning a thing.

Think back to how great Australia was before the carbon dioxide SCAM and the ensuing mass hysteria; gifted with natural resources that we used to grow and become one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Now we are starting to look like another Argentina. Yes, the Argentina comparison has become a cliche, but it’s still the best example of a rich country going broke, as Australia now is.

The Albanese government was not successful in making Australia an officially racist state with the Voice; it was not successful in its attempt to remove our freedom of speech via the M.A.D Bill, and its clumsy attack on kids using social media will not work.

Its only ‘success’ has been to make Australians poorer (7 quarters of per capita recession) via mass immigration, unaffordable housing and renting, anti-Semitic and a dangerous place for Jews. Overseas investors don't want to touch us (unless they are getting huge subsidies for useless wind and solar assaults on our environment ); there are warnings out for would-be tourists to Australia - the latest one being for the bushfires, something that always has been and always will be, part and parcel of Australian summers.

It seems that the nastiness and incompetence of the ultra-Left Albanese government has caught on globally. But, apart from a few outsiders who will never amount to a political force, our political class doesn't give a damn.

We are now past the point where a change of government will make any difference. Australia is a virtual one party state, with the Coalition's only contribution being an 8-10 year take up of nuclear energy for the sake of the same SCAM: essential-to-life carbon dioxide, 97% of which is naturally occurring.

On the matter of costs of wind and solar one factor I never thought is
about the cost of transmission. A transmission line sits there 24 hrs
but only gets paid for transmitting energy for no more than 8 hours
a day in summer and 6 hours in winter if it is not cloudy.
Our bills transmission charges have to increase about 100% because the
capital cost is the same.
It gets worse the more it develops.

Germany is the World's premier example of the idiocy of an ideological power grid. Its green energy costs three times as much as French nuclear. Because biomass power generation has four times the CO2 emissions as coal, German green energy, with 25% biomass generation, generates more CO2 than it would by using coal power instead. It relies on foreign gas imports which has caused significant economic harm and compromised the nation politically. It abandoned nuclear for reasons which have been shown to be false, and continues to obfuscate and lie about the possibility of recommissioning nuclear plants.

The consequence of Australia pursuing wind and solar will be much worse than the German experience as there is no external power grid to connect to. Worse, the ideological lunatics pushing renewables seem to believe that if we just stop using fossil fuels the many resultant challenges will benignly resolve and we will move on to a better future.

What terrifies the wind and solar industry is the prospect of the nuclear ban being lifted. Because nuclear has a high capacity factor and long generating life it is much easier to finance commercially as it can enter into long term supply contracts. Because wind and solar are non-dispatchable, financing without massive subsidies and government guarantees is not commercially viable. A level playing field would mean the end of the wind and solar con.

There is an organisation of atmospheric scientists cientists who
beleive that global warming is a hoax or a fraud.
It is Clintel and has been going for a few years
They have produced this video at 1 hour 20 minutes that
demonstrates that far from being in climate warming
we are in a long ice age.
It accuses the warming movement of being hooked on
government grants and are locked onto global warming.

https://climatethemovie.net/

I suggest that you all watch this then come back to discuss it.

Evidence that the whole thing is a scam has been there as long as the scam itself. Unfortunately, politicians have ignored that evidence, and there's nothing to indicate that there will be any change. The Coalition has gone along with the scam; in fact it was the Coalition that signed up to it.

Expect to be paying an extra 10+% at the pump in the coming weeks.
When you're spewing about the price of petrol, thank US sanctions.
Or you can probably hedge the cost with buying some oil shares.

Come on AC, don't be like that, after all Big Oil did get into the sprit of Xmas, and reduced the price from $2.09.9 to $2.08.9 per litre over the holiday period, how much more festive do you want them to be. Wow! You know Big Oil, just like Big Supa and all the other Big A-holes are doing it tough! Just the other day the head of Big Oil said he was considering cutting back this years family holiday to the Bahamas by 5 minutes, but his butler convinced him not to, the children would be so disappointed! I bet you're not considering cutting back your family holiday in Monte Carlo this year, its going to be just like last years. Like all those other motorists taking advantage of the generosity of Big Oil's cheaper petrol. I suggest if your bill for filling up your tank is $200, you do the right thing and chip in an extra 50 bucks, just so that poor deserving family can enjoy a well deserved holiday! We've all got to play our part!

Hi Paul,
Russia's been taking 50 year old tankers designed for river use out into the Black Sea recently (a consequence of the war in Ukraine) and several have broken up and sank in heavy seas, at least 2 in the Black Sea and one in the Sea of Azov, (These are probably not suspicious) also their was another Russian ship 'Ursa Major' sank in the Mediterranean carrying 2 large cranes and 2 nuclear reactor covers for Russian icebreakers, bound for Vladivostok. (This probably is suspicious)

Janet Yellen has been talking about placing sanctions on Russias 'shadow fleet' of oil tankers and their owners which are not insured by Lloyds of London, this is expected to create a small supply shock and increase the oil price by 10+ percent in coming weeks.

We're all concerned about the cost and viability of renewables, but small events in the world are costing the whole world billions at the pump.

Net Zero madness is impoverishing us.

Albanese said: “Life will be cheaper under me”.

ABS statistics have proved him wrong. Shown him up as a liar - again.

During Albanese's disastrous regime, prices have sky-rocketed:

Electricity up 20.2%
Gas up 30.1%
Bread up 22.7%
Cakes & biscuits up 19.5%
Breakfast cereals up 20.2%
Milk up 19.1%
Cheese up 20.4%
Icecream up 17.2%
Fruit up 20.4%
Eggs up 28.6%
Take away food up 16.5%
Rents up 30%

I think they're lying about inflation.
- Reporting it as being less than it actually is.

The useless bunny, Jimbo Chalmers is now ‘pleading’ with Australians to be optimistic, because things will be ‘better next year’. Sure! As Albanese promised, things will be cheaper under him - next year, perhaps. Enough of the bullsh.t and lies.

The Old Fart "Cherry Picks" certain items to highlight their rate of inflation, of course if you're a smart shopper, you cam lessen the impact of price rises, but this bloke wouldn't be a smart shopper. Why would you be buying expensive items like cakes, biscuits and take-away meals when you can cook such things much cheaper at home. Does he mention that is aged welfare has gone up 21% or $200/fortnight for a single under Albanese, no he does not, he'd much prefer the Noalition and a pittance. His power bills, they have been heavily subsidised at the same time. Not to mention how much us taxpayer are shelling out for his 24/7 aged care, down at "The Shady Pines Rest Home for Old Farts", or his free meds of 'Doz Ezy' Nursey gives him each night for sleepy time, no he does not!

Thanks ttbn for the inflation figures.

The Woke Marxist actions against "cage eggs" seems to have created an additional inflation effect on egg prices. As others have said Woke Marxist's don't love the poor they hate the rich. In Soviet Russia they created artificial scarcity. Scarcity is power and Marxist's know it. Orwell talks about the social effects of scarcity in 1984. As Bob Whittacker said Marxism is about the workers being ruled by enlightened principles created by the academic professors.

The Marxist's don't really care about the chickens, but they do care about power gained by red tape- in this case it seems to be about blackmailing the supermarket aristocracy.

"Does he mention that is aged welfare has gone up 21% or $200/fortnight for a single under Albanese"

I'm pretty sure that number is wrong. But it is Paul after all.

But even so, any increases in the pension were primarily due to increases in inflation. So what Paul is really admitting here is that inflation and cost of living has exploded under Albo. (Note: the pension goes up each 6 months in line with the inflation rate. So an increase in pensions doesn't make pensioners better off. It just helps them to keep up with the cost of living. Albo didn't introduce that process. Its been around for over a decade

Even before the last election I was saying that the government, whoever it was, would eventually get the blame for the increases in cost of living. In truth this government didn't cause the increases which were primarily the result of the lockdown spend-feast. (Although it should be noted that the ALP didn't oppose that spending and indeed criticised Morrison for not spending more).

While Albo and Co. didn't cause the inflation, they've done bugger all to try to reduce it and for that they can and should carry the can.

But strap in folks...its only going to get worse. (eg Aussie dollar fell again today).

Hi mhaze,
"Even before the last election I was saying that the government, whoever it was, would eventually get the blame for the increases in cost of living."
- Yes you did say that.
The whole worlds gone a little nutty.
Trumps threatening tariffs against everyone, even the EU for not buying enough oil and gas, as China has reduced it's imports by half over the last year, attacking Russian supply, wants to take back Panama Canal, and ownership of Greenland as national security.
Somehow he thinks he can re-industrialise America, which in my opinion is pretty doubtful, meanwhile everyone is paying more because of their wars and sanctions. US is circling the drain, new government shutdown looming, as nations are offloading their US bonds.

Even Australia is pretty stupid, it's imported so many people, building new houses can't keep up, meanwhile they are paying $300 a night to put any woman and their kids who claim DV or homeless people up in hotels and private rentals on booking.com and airbnb.
Seems like a grift to the ALP pollies themselves many of whom own numerous properties.

Germany is having ab economic decline due partly to high electicity prices.
They had closed their nuclear stations and went for wind and solar.
They have discovered what they call Dunkalfruche which means wind
droughts, They have been buying electricity from other countries but
they are starting to jackup on supplying Germany.
So now they are restarting their nukes.
Also restarting some brown coal stations.
We should keep an eye on Germany they may draw our path for us.

"Trumps threatening tariffs against everyone, "

No...just against countries that are running unfair trade surpluses with the US or, as in the case of Canada and Mexico, doing SFA to halt illegal traffic across their shared border.

"wants to take back Panama Canal, and ownership of Greenland as national security."

It is truly said that Trump's supporters take his statements seriously but not literally but his detractors take them literally but not seriously. You have to understand the "art of the Deal". These are merely Trump's opening bids.

If you're going to spend the next 4 years thinking every statement from Trump is his final word, you're going to be very confused for 4 years.

" meanwhile everyone is paying more because of their wars and sanctions. "

No the US, like Australia, is paying more because of frivolous and unnecessary spending during the lockdowns and things like the hilariously named Inflation Reduction Act.

If you want to see a country paying more because of war, look to your beloved Russia where interest rates are over 20% and inflation higher still.

Of course, China isn't paying more for their stuff. They're paying less with the country in a deflationary phase which ALWAYS indicates an economy in deep trouble.

"nations are offloading their US bonds."

Not true.

Hi AC,

Do you think that Syria under the Assad dictatorship could accurately be described as a vassal state?

As horrible as the conflict in Ukraine is, it seems to be adversely affecting Russia's influence in the world. Time will tell if that is a good or bad thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd6AgvAutZc

Hi Fester,
I watched your video, the first thing I'd say about that is that I really don't like Times Radio videos, I don't like their analysis, even when they have so-called experts, If I were to minimise my criticisms, I'd say it's a extremely skewed view of things. If I went the other way and maximised my criticism, I'd say it's completely devoid of a true understanding of things.

But that aside, and onto your question.

'Do I think that Syria under the Assad dictatorship could accurately be described as a vassal state?'
- Not not really, but there's no mistaking that Russia who was invited in to defend the Assad government after several years of war, saved it from western sponsored jihadis at the time, and was instrumental in helping defend it.

The reason why I wouldn't call Syria a vassal state of Russia, is because Assad was warned by Russia and Iran about the increasing threat and failed to address the issues before it was too late.

Consequently, Russia was not willing to become further embroiled in a situation that would've overstretched it's military when it's main concerns were defending the Russian homeland.

Russia is not Syria, and they are no more 'Syrian' than the Syrians themselves. Ultimately it was the U.S. capture of territory in the east, Syria's lifeblood if you wish, their food production and oil-fields - as well as U.S. sanctions that ultimately lead to it's fall.

The country was broke, could not pay it's military properly and corruption was rife.
Military on low pay were easily bribed.
Russia could've done more to try and save the situation, but ultimately I think it was a sinking ship will little path to recovery anyway, and Russia looked at this and felt that it was a somewhat pointless exercise.

Yes it was a strategic loss for Russia (and Iran), and somewhat humiliating considering many Russians died in it's defense, but come 2024 and the situation that currently existed, allowing the country to fall may have been the more practical (though unfortunate) option for Russia.

Hi AC,

"Consequently, Russia was not willing to become further embroiled in a situation that would've overstretched it's military when it's main concerns were defending the Russian homeland."

Some might describe the invasion of a neighbouring democracy differently. Also, my impression is that Turkey has been active in the fall. This makes sense to me given the past instability when Isis was more active. If this is the case then Israel has done the Turks a favour by targeting Sryia's military hardware.

A timeline of four years for a democratically elected government is a bit of a worry.

Hi mhaze,

Japan and China Dump US Treasuries Before Trump’s Victory
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-19/two-of-america-s-biggest-debt-holders-are-dumping-treasuries
'Investors from Japan offloaded record amount of US bonds in 3Q'
'Both nations may continue to sell US debt: AT Global Markets'

Yellen Panics; US Bonds Are CRASHING As Brutal Holiday DUMP Gets Worse - What’s Next In 2025?
http://youtu.be/b6bbDCiLX10

Now I don't know if this guys opinion is worth anything (video below), as I only just came across it yesterday, but maybe his arguments are valid, I don't know.

Trumps Planning to Crash the Global Economy
http://youtu.be/HRAfLJiH0qA

Hi Fester,
There's no denying the fact that Russia invaded Ukraine, but it's the reasons for its doing so that are important.
It was not a war that Russia itself wanted, but a situation the west instigated that forced Russia to act.

Yes, Turkey was very instrumental in helping HTS take down the Assad government, as was Qatar, the U.S. and Israel.

"Japan and China Dump US Treasuries Before Trump’s Victory"

When these countries 'dump' US treasuries, they don't redeem them, they just sell them to other investors. So zero effect on the US treasury. Now it is a problem because it means that since they are selling rather than buying, that means there will be less buys when the US Fed tries to sell more bonds and so interest rates may edge up.

But Japan and China aren't as important as they used to be. They used to hold and buy 25% of US debt between them. But that has now fallen to less than 8% BEFORE the latest sell-offs. So what they do is less and less important to the US debt position.

But you need to ask yourself why they are selling. You seem to imply its because they are getting out before things turn bad in the US. But the fact is they are selling in order to defend their own failing currencies. China in particular is having a really bad time economically and the exchangeable Yuan is in free-fall. Its problems are even affecting the Aussie dollar because we rely so much on China.

So the sell-off by these two isn't a sign of problems in the US but a sign of problems in Japan and vastly bigger problems in China - although I expect that you'll continue to barrack for them.

Just one other point on your link from Sean Foo, If you look further into his YouTube page and his other ventures you see that he is heavily involved in promoting and selling gold and silver and other inflation hedges. So he is pushing the bad-times-ahead schtick in order to sell his products. If you go back and look at his posts from two or three years ago he was selling the same story to the same people for the same purpose. And he was no more right then than he is now. We see it all over the internet as people sell tales of doom and then try to sell the remedy. Buyer beware.

Thanks for the information mhaze, on Sean Foo's, gold interests.
Even though Japan may be selling US bonds, I think Japan's fundamentals are relatively solid, and they will come to a soft landing, as you implied. It's good that we have allies in the East. We might need to work on their rule of law fundamentals too, for when the bad times come. They seem to have a mix of Asian and Western governing styles from the Machiavellian perspective embodied in Tokugawa and more aristocratic histories.

More broadly Marxist's are investing in instability.

Hi mhaze,
"So the sell-off by these two isn't a sign of problems in the US but a sign of problems in Japan and vastly bigger problems in China - although I expect that you'll continue to barrack for them."

Ok thanks for the info, and I accept what you're saying.
But this does not change the U.S. debt position, and their reduced ability to find buyers for new bonds, is that correct?

America’s Bonds Are Getting Harder to Sell - April 2024
http://www.wsj.com/finance/americas-bonds-are-getting-harder-to-sell-c3fde4de
'Record issuance raises worries that debt sales will exacerbate volatility'

>>A series of weak auctions for U.S. Treasurys are stoking investors’ concerns that markets will struggle to absorb an incoming rush of government debt.
A selloff sparked by a hotter-than-expected inflation report intensified this past week after lackluster demand for a $30 Billion sale of 10-year treasuries.<<

You can say China isn't in a good position, but it seems the U.S. is not in such a great position either, is this not a fair statement?

Ah Sean Foo,
First of all many YouTube content creators have sponsors, simply to earn more money, so I'm not sure that in itself means anything.

One of my other regular shows Judge Andrew Napolitano, also has similar ads.
http://www.youtube.com/live/wvic5jmqbKk

But what is interesting is that gold has outperformed all currencies over the last few years, and it's the increase in U.S. money supply which is the factor driving it.

So regardless of anyone's motives, it's actually been a good investment.

Why gold is outperforming nearly everything so far this year
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-gold-is-outperforming-nearly-everything-so-far-this-year-100022695.html

Armchair, could it be that US Bonds are harder to sell because buyers
have listened to the disasters predicted to be generated by Trump and
have decided to hold off for a period to see what happens ?

"But this does not change the U.S. debt position, and their reduced ability to find buyers for new bonds, is that correct?"

True. The US position isn't great but not yet dire. It will be up to the new Trump economic changes to begin to reduce the problem if not the debt. Note that the level of debt isn't quite the issue, its the level of debt as compared to GDP. So increasing the GDP while holding debt steady is the long term solution. It will be up to the DOGE boys to reduce the budget deficit so as to allow the US to hold the debt steady. We'll see.

It should be noted that when comparing debt with GDP, the Chinese position is somewhat worse than the US....and that's if you believe the Chinese numbers, which I don't.

"You can say China isn't in a good position, but it seems the U.S. is not in such a great position either, is this not a fair statement?"

Agreed. But I think the Chinese position is far worse. The US with Trump has a clear path out of the problems. The Chinese don't, particularly if the tariffs are installed and the west continues to move against Chinese imports. http://tiny.cc/squ3001

Hi mhaze,
But Trumps tariffs are simply a tax on U.S. businesses and consumers.
It will hamper business profitability, and entrench personal debt, exasperate the cost of living, not to mention doing so at the expense of other western economies, should they go along with it

Meanwhile China and other BRICS countries will expand their trade with each other without having to pay more, and reliance on the West will be reduced.

I'm not sure that Trumps tariffs and sanctions will improve it's situation overall.
Rather it may actually hasten the end of the dollar as reserve currency.
Gold and crypto might continue to be a good investment though if Trump increases debt and expands the money supply, but I'm no financial guru.

This is why China is winning.
http://x.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1875138464070660379

Hi AC,

The flow of Chinese hardware into Russia is the sole reason the invasion of Ukraine continues. The golf carts get attention, but that is the tip of the iceberg. I'm sure that all the engines in the clapped out Russian armour and Shahed drones are Chinese.

The belt and road initiative has been a big flop, which might be why Xi's focus has shifted to a military buildup.

What I wonder about is how things will change for China if sentiment changes for wind and solar? Given the technical limits and hype, it probably will, and hopefully soon.

Hi Fester
"The flow of Chinese hardware into Russia is the sole reason the invasion of Ukraine continues."
Hmmm, how should I respond.

I guess I'd start by saying, 'Yes, so what?'
Russia does get plenty of stuff from China, but Ukraine has the might of 31 NATO countries hundreds of billions from the U.S. who spent 8 years preparing for a war, and they're still being annihilated.
Russia and China are friendly nations to each other (like that's a crime), Xi says China's relationship with Russia is more than just an alliance and that Putin is his best friend.

Russia and China are great fit for each other, what each one of them lacks, the other one has, and it was the West who responsible for driving the two together.

"I'm sure that all the engines in the clapped out Russian armour and Shahed drones are Chinese."
- Russia still has a huge technical ability inherited from the soviet era and fairly large military industrial capacity of it's own.

Maybe you've fallen victim to the Western lies that told you 'Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country'.

The same crap that told us Russia is using chips from washing machines?

"The belt and road initiative has been a big flop, which might be why Xi's focus has shifted to a military buildup."
- Russia and China are not stupid. They know the wests intentions, and are actively preparing for any eventuality.

Russia hasn't yet had a general mobilisation, they're not really in a full scale war, it's just a special military operation.
The Russian people know the cost of war, every family was touched by it in WWII. Putin is going slow because a full general mobilisation would result in pushback from the citizens, right now he has their full support. Russia is more stronger now than it was at the beginning of the war. Wages have increased the Russian people are now a proud, unified people defending their sovereign nation defending against Western aggression.

As for the Belt and Road initiative, it sounds like you want people to not be able to have the same living standards as we all enjoy?
The West is actively using terrorists, overthrows and every trick in the book to hamper it.

It's actually pretty strange you know when you think about it.
Is america for or against terrorists?

It has no problem using them funded by the CIA to serve their foreign interests, but when it happens at home, then it's against it.

Here's some Headlines for you.

Zelensky: Ukraine Army Exhausted, Desertions; Budanov: War Lost; EU Gas Price Surge
http://youtu.be/Zg9UX87dWgY

BRICS Success in 2024 Proves We're Living in a MULTIPOLAR WORLD
http://youtu.be/EgWHlUnQACU

Economic BOOM! Why Industry is Driving Russia's Growth
http://youtu.be/Cks-BcDcvj0

Gold, Bitcoin & Oil Prices Will Spike As Global Economy Crashes!
http://youtu.be/KyvFX3mFKO0

China Now Has Zero Fear; Major Warning For G7 Economies
http://youtu.be/40va8SQOnGo

Hi AC,

"I guess I'd start by saying, 'Yes, so what?'"

I think it the general consensus that when you see someone set upon violently for no good reason you don't rush to the aid of the perpetrator. Did you see that the Russian puppet government in Georgia had an election poster with an image of the Tiblisi skyline next to an image of a leveled Ukrainian town and a caption along the lines of "Elect a Euro-centric government and Russia might make your home look like this."?

Putin's meat wave tactics may yet win out, but it has cost him most of his ground based hardware and a million lives so far. His popularity is due to a state based propaganda empire. Vlad would be well aware that such control even made Hitler popular.

My guess is that Trump's ultimatum to Putin will be "Get out of Ukraine else free Ukraine joins NATO.". There is a lot of talk that there is little Russian armour left. I'm sure that the Ukrainian military is keen to see if beam weapons are effective against glide bombs.

"But Trumps tariffs are simply a tax on U.S. businesses and consumers."

I'm afraid you rather badly misunderstand the nature of the tariffs. Tariffs will increase inflation, little doubt. But it also increases internal economic activity and therefore jobs. Jobs that have been exported overseas by the free trade mantra for 30 years. Those jobs are coming back.

You might want to look out for big business etc but Trump is looking out for workers. Its what the MAGA revolution is all about. If you don't get that you're going to spend the next 4 years being awfully confused.

The Russian economy is unravelling with inflation at around 20% and interest rates higher still. Putin desperately needs the peace that Trump will impose.

China likewise is in serious economic strife and can ill-afford the hit that Trump's tariffs will bring.

"Here's some Headlines for you."
Still falling for the youtube charlatans I see.

Armchair Critic said "Ah Sean Foo, First of all many YouTube content creators have sponsors, simply to earn more money, so I'm not sure that in itself means anything."

A- I get the impression that Sean Foo is a 'committed gay' Marxist Singaporean from Monash University and studied Arts and Accounting in Melbourne.
I suppose Melbourne is the "gay Marxist" centre of Australia (or maybe Canberra).
Singapore does have a lot of Socialist policies such as housing too, in spite of it's reputation as a key business hub, ship and air facilities, etc. Singapore has fairly totalitarian laws too.

I agree with Armchair Critic that having sponsors may not mean anything on it's own, but mhaze is correct too, it's a smoking gun.
________________

mhaze said- "You might want to look out for big business etc but Trump is looking out for workers. Its what the MAGA revolution is all about. If you don't get that you're going to spend the next 4 years being awfully confused."

A- The way I see it-
I think that Trump transcends the class warfare picture of business against worker. If products and services are provided through US companies everyone benefits- business and worker. The US is the biggest consumer market per capita in the world. He believes that class warfare has sucked the wealth out of the US to China at both the supply and demand ends- in the long term this brings US culture closer to the disfunctional authoritarian Chinese one.

There are obviously issues with US consumerism as created by Edward Bernays and his authoritarian vision of public emotional control, subverting public needs, and Uncle Freud's fear of the masses.

There is also problems with Marxist and Unionist elements creating conflict between business and worker for their own nefarious ends

Hi Fester,
"I think it the general consensus that when you see someone set upon violently for no good reason you don't rush to the aid of the perpetrator."
Yes Russia invaded, by they're not the instigator / aggressor nor was this a war they wanted, nor did they specifically want more territory.
Russia wants a new security agreement where it's interests are respected.

"Did you see that the Russian puppet government in Georgia had an election poster with an image of the Tiblisi skyline next to an image of a leveled Ukrainian town and a caption along the lines of "Elect a Euro-centric government and Russia might make your home look like this."?"
Georgia Dream aren't Pro-Russian, they're Pro-Georgian.
They don't want western puppet rulers using the country and it's people to open a second front against Russia lest the country ends up like Ukraine.

"Putin's meat wave tactics may yet win out, but it has cost him most of his ground based hardware and a million lives so far. His popularity is due to a state based propaganda empire. Vlad would be well aware that such control even made Hitler popular."

They're not meat-wave tactics, they're going slow and methodically, and winning. They're not short on military hardware, and it's the Ukrainians who have a million KIA. Putin's popularity isn't due to propaganda, it's because he pulled his nation from the brink and has improved the living standards of the Russian people.

"My guess is that Trump's ultimatum to Putin will be "Get out of Ukraine else free Ukraine joins NATO.". There is a lot of talk that there is little Russian armour left. I'm sure that the Ukrainian military is keen to see if beam weapons are effective against glide bombs."
Russia's been preparing to fight NATO if necessary, but they don't want to. Trump's right now is being laughed at like a buffoon.
Surrounded by foreign policy morons who still want to win, not end the war.

Russia sets the record straight on Ukraine.
No NATO, No Peacekeepers, No end of War, No Peace Summit.
http://youtu.be/xWUeL1n7xzg

Hi mhaze,
"I'm afraid you rather badly misunderstand the nature of the tariffs."
- No it's a tax on business and consumers alright.

Yes he hopes to create more jobs, but not much point in doing so if a pointless U.S. toaster factory produces a base level toaster for $40 when the Chinese import is $10.
Yes you can create more jobs, but can you be competitive?
Trumps deportation plans will hit the US businesses pretty hard as many rely on cheap foreign labour.

"Jobs that have been exported overseas by the free trade mantra for 30 years. Those jobs are coming back."
- They were exported overseas by greedy companies looking to increase profits. They screwed the American workers then, and the tariffs and deportation will screw the rise the cost of everything and screw the American worker again, even if more are employed.
Re-industrialisation will cost the U.S trillions, and still they wont be able to compete.
We'll see if America is better off under Trump in the years ahead.

"The Russian economy is unravelling with inflation at around 20% and interest rates higher still. Putin desperately needs the peace that Trump will impose."
It's not the same picture as inflation in our countries, the real truth is Russia is short of workers and wages have increased, the Russian people are earning more cash, and that's impacting inflation.

"China likewise is in serious economic strife and can ill-afford the hit that Trump's tariffs will bring."
- They're hitting their 5% growth targets.
BRICS nations will offset losses in US markets with trade increases amongst themselves, meanwhile for the US, the world s slowly dedollarising.
BRICS nations are continuing to increase GDP while G7 nations are continuing their slide downwards.

"Still falling for the youtube charlatans I see."
- No, WE shall see.

Hi Canem Malem,
"Singapore does have a lot of Socialist policies such as housing too, in spite of it's reputation as a key business hub, ship and air facilities, etc. Singapore has fairly totalitarian laws too."
- Well the answer to homeless people is 'build more affordable housing' not 'import more people' into a service economy that produces little.

The mining industry is projecting huge decreases in exports in the coming years, the good times are over, thanks to all this 'Us against them' crap, China is moving to source it's goods from more friendly countries like BRICS which have now expanded to include 9 more countries.

"I think that Trump transcends the class warfare picture of business against worker. If products and services are provided through US companies everyone benefits- business and worker."
- Not if the toaster costs $40 instead of $10.
The consumer isn't better off if they're forced to pay 4 times the price, they still have to be competitive or the whole thing is pointless.

AC, you're always talking about what WILL happen based upon the claims of people with a vested interest in predicting a grim future.

If you want to see the effect of Trump's MAGA policies go back and look at what DID happen 2017-2020. Its a complete refutation of your claims about the effect of Trump's policies on inflation, manufacturing, wages and fuel costs.

The Trump years were so good economically that the anti-MAGA and anti-US groups (really the same people) both within and without the US try very hard to forget it. Low inflation; low fuel costs; the US became the world's leading oil producer; lowest ever black unemployment; lowest Hispanic unemployment for 2 decades; rapidly rising overall employment; foreign adversaries cowed; no new wars etc etc.

If you want to see what WILL happen look back at what DID happen rather than what carpetbaggers on youtube propound.

"AC, you're always talking about what WILL happen based upon the claims of people with a vested interest in predicting a grim future."

Many of the people I listen to don't get a single cent from the content they produce.
You think the guests on Judge Napolitano and Dialogue Works get paid for their time?

"If you want to see the effect of Trump's MAGA policies go back and look at what DID happen 2017-2020.
- He added 8 trillion to the national debt in 4 years and couldn't even get his wall built, surrounded himself with idiots.

I'm not saying he didn't do some good things, but did the gains outweigh the costs?
- and that question also lingers over his coming term.

US Credit Card Crisis Hits HIGHEST DEFAULT In 14 Years
http://youtu.be/DCk1QbYwEOU

Lies, damned lies and statistics.

True that $7T (not 8) was added to the national debt during the Trump years. But over half of that occurred in the 3 quarters when the country was closed down due to the anti-Covid policies. The fact is that the debt had stabilised before then and was in fact steady for the 2 quarters prior to Covid.

Its interesting that you focus on this one thing but when I point out that China's debt is higher as a percentage of GDP, you rapidly look the other way.

" but did the gains outweigh the costs?"

Well if you're a black worker who suddenly found work.... yes.
If you're a miner who suddenly found his mine save....yes.
If you're a factory worker who saw jobs returning.... yes.

But it seems the numbers on Wall St or in the Federal Reserve are more important than the welfare of the workers. That's not how MAGA works. Its going to take a generation for that to sink in.

Armchair Critic said-

"Yes he hopes to create more jobs, but not much point in doing so if a pointless U.S. toaster factory produces a base level toaster for $40 when the Chinese import is $10. Yes you can create more jobs, but can you be competitive? Trumps deportation plans will hit the US businesses pretty hard as many rely on cheap foreign labour."

A- If the US toaster lasts more than four times as long as the Chinese one then you get the same value and you need less foreign workers. Probably help Credit Card Debt. There is an ex-South African ex-Chinese resident "Serpentza" that criticises the quality of Chinese goods and CCP.

http://www.youtube.com/@serpentza

Armchair Critic- You seem to be a bit of a fan of Napolitano....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Napolitano

"He is a libertarian and has gained prominence in part due to his criticism of the administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.[2] Beginning in 1997, he became an analyst for Fox News, commenting on legal news and trials. He has written nine books on legal and political subjects... He hosted a daily libertarian talk show called Freedom Watch that aired on Fox Business Channel. Frequent guests on Freedom Watch were Congressman Ron Paul, Lew Rockwell and Peter Schiff. He promoted the works of Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises in his program."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#The_Road_to_Serfdom

"Hayek was concerned about the general view in Britain's academia that fascism was a capitalist reaction to socialism and The Road to Serfdom arose from those concerns.[80] In the book, Hayek "[warns] of the danger of tyranny that inevitably results from government control of economic decision-making through central planning."[81] He further argues that the abandonment of individualism and classical liberalism inevitably leads to a loss of freedom, the creation of an oppressive society, the tyranny of a dictator, and the serfdom of the individual. He argued that fascism, Nazism, and state-socialism had common roots in central economic planning and empowering the state over the individual... The title was inspired by the French classical liberal thinker Alexis de Tocqueville

During the Nobel ceremony in December 1974, Hayek met the Russian dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn... Besides Thatcher, Hayek also had a significant influence on Enoch Powell, Keith Joseph, Nigel Lawson, Geoffrey Howe and John Biffen... Hayek gained some controversy in 1978 by praising Thatcher's anti-immigration policy proposal in an article which ignited numerous accusations of anti-Semitism and racism because of his reflections on the inability of assimilation of Eastern European Jews in the Vienna of his youth... n 1977, Hayek was critical of the Lib–Lab pact in which the British Liberal Party agreed to keep the British Labour government in office. Writing to The Times, Hayek said: "May one who has devoted a large part of his life to the study of the history and the principles of liberalism point out that a party that keeps a socialist government in power has lost all title to the name 'Liberal'... Hayek argued that a limited democracy might be better than other forms of limited government at protecting liberty, but that an unlimited democracy was worse... "

"President Reagan listed Hayek as among the two or three people who most influenced his philosophy... In 1980, Hayek was one of twelve Nobel laureates to meet with Pope John Paul II... Hayek was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 1984 Birthday Honours by Elizabeth II on the advice of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher... In 1991, President George H. W. Bush awarded Hayek the Presidential Medal of Freedom..."

"A- If the US toaster lasts more than four times as long as the Chinese one then you get the same value and you need less foreign workers."

Yes that's true for the consumer, but you might only need a quarter of the jobs as well, because toasters last 4 times as long.

Napolitano is mainly just the host of the show, he asks a few questions and his guests do all the talking.

Can I point out that the $40/$10 toasters aren't an actual thing. AC just conjured them out of thin air.

Why not do the comparison with something real....oh I know, talk about high tech space flights.

One company in the US, SpaceX, sent more craft into orbit in 2024 than the whole of China. SpaceX is so far ahead of the Chinese industry that its not funny. And with Starship they're about to move even further ahead.

Why? Because SpaceX is about innovation and experimentation. China is about taking western expertise and making cheap knock-offs. China can't compete in any realm that requires innovation and experimentation.

As per standard, China also plans to build their own reusable rocket, which was SpaceX's big breakthrough. They've even published drawings for what it'll look like. Its an exact copy of SpaceX's Falcon 9. And when will China first fly this 'new' rocket? 2034!! By then SpaceX will already be two generations further advanced.

China can copy and manufacture most western goods at a lower price . They do it by essentially using slave labour. But other aspirant countries like Vietnam India Nigeria can also do that. As they move into the global realm, the China manufacturing advantage dissipates. We can already see it happening.

And all that's before we even consider China's diabolical demographic problems with a declining population that is also rapidly aging

As always, this thread no longer has anything to do with the original topic, so I have a totally off-topic question:

Why are we paying outrageous sums of money to China to rent a couple of pandas for Adelaide Zoo?

Adelaide is on its second pair of Communist bears.

Thanks for the information on the Chinese rockets mhaze.

Posted by ttbn- Why are we paying outrageous sums of money to China to rent a couple of pandas for Adelaide Zoo?

A- Thanks for the information on the Pandas ttbn. Who is managing the Adelaide Zoo?- Chinese agents??

Good point on being off topic on the German national renewables and their inflationary effects.

Because of this climate crap, South Australia now has the dearest power in the world, and famous fruit juice manufacturer, Nippys, has had to reduce its output because of it. I couldn't get Nippys orange juice for two weeks.

Cost of power in Australian dollars;

South Australia $0.4554/Kwh
London $0.5212/Kwh 12% higher than South Australia. Fake News from the old bloke.

Good to see a bloke on aged welfare can afford one of the most expensive orange juices on the market, what's wrong with tap water, around 1500 times cheaper. All thanks to that generous 21% pension rise from dear Albo since Labor came to office.

Dunkelflautes came as a surprise in Europe even though mariners and millers must have experienced them for centuries.

The IPCC recommended a survey of the wind resources of the world to assess the prospects for large-scale wind power. Ignored, of course.

The wind drought problem makes the transition to renewables impossible.

Hmmm ttbn, I keep telling people that renewables does not mean new
energy every time the sun shines, but it means that you renew them
every 20 years.

https://www.canstarblue.com.au/electricity/electricity-costs-kwh/

State Distribution Network Average Electricity Usage Rate (per kWh)
NSW Ausgrid 33.3c/kWh
NSW Endeavour Energy 33.6c/kWh
NSW Essential Energy 36.5c/kWh
VIC AusNet Services 34.3c/kWh
VIC Citipower 25.0c/kWh
VIC Jemena 29.2c/kWh
VIC Powercor 29.8c/kWh
VIC United Energy 27.9/kWh
QLD Energex 32.1c/kWh
SA SA Power Networks 44.2c/kWh
ACT Evoenergy 28.6c/kWh
TAS TasNetworks 28.1c/kWh

http://www.canstarblue.com.au/electricity/cheapest-electricity-prices-sa/

Usage Rate (per kWh) 42.93¢/kWh

http://www.energy-review.co.uk/guides/cheapest-energy-suppliers-right-now/

Ofgem: Electricity Unit Rate: 24.86p/kWh (GBP 0.25 = AUD 0.49 https://themoneyconverter.com/GBP/AUD?)