organization:international monetary fund

Is Ukraine Drifting Toward Civil War And Great Power Confrontation ? - PaulCraigRoberts.org
▻http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/02/20/ukraine-drifting-toward-civil-war-great-power-confrontation

In an eight minute, 46 second speech at the National Press Club sponsored by the US-Ukraine Foundation, Chevron, and Ukraine-in-Washington Lobby Group, Nuland boasted that Washington has spent $5 billion to foment agitation to bring Ukraine into the EU . Once captured by the EU, Ukraine will be “helped” by the West acting through the IMF. Nuland, of course, presented the IMF as Ukraine’s rescuer, not as the iron hand of the West that will squeeze all life out of Ukraine’s struggling economy.

Nuland’s audience consisted of all the people who will be enriched by the looting and by connections to a Washington-appointed Ukrainian government. Just look at the large Chevron sign next to which Nuland speaks, and you will know what it is all about. ▻http://www.sott.net/article/273602-US-Assistant-Secretary-of-State-Victoria-Nuland-says-Washington-has-spe

En lisant la source

▻http://www.sott.net/article/273602-US-Assistant-Secretary-of-State-Victoria-Nuland-says-Washington-has-spe

ce n’est pas exactement dit comme ça non plus

US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, Nuland said: “Since the declaration of Ukrainian independence in 1991, the United States supported the Ukrainians in the development of democratic institutions and skills in promoting civil society and a good form of government - all that is necessary to achieve the objectives of Ukraine’s European. We have invested more than 5 billion dollars to help Ukraine to achieve these and other goals.” Nuland said the United States will continue to “promote Ukraine to the future it deserves.”

#ukraine

Jeff Bezos and the Imperial Paper — FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
▻http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/jeff-bezos-and-the-imperial-paper

If the United States derived its might primarily from its economic power, the Washington Post would enjoy the same degree of international influence as, say, the Xinhua newspaper of Beijing. The two countries have roughly comparable outputs, with China’s GDP being about 80 percent the size of the US economy when adjusted for purchasing power, according to the IMF.

But a large part of what makes the United States a unique superpower is its role as the world’s military hegemon, reflected in part by its roughly 1,000 overseas bases. (China has none.)
It is this added power emanating from the Pentagon that helps confer an outsize authority to the opinion pages of the capital’s major paper. The Post’s status as a weathervane for the political winds of official Washington makes its views—unlike those of any other paper serving a city of a mere 630,000—virtually required reading for much of the world.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos paid $250 million for the Washington Post—but Amazon is being paid more than twice that by the CIA.
Billionaire Internet mogul Jeff Bezos seemed to understand this when he made his first foray into the industry by acquiring the Post, the go-to newspaper for Beltway policymakers, and not, for example, the Los Angeles Times, which boasts greater daily circulation.

And therein lies one underacknowledged key to understanding the Washington Post editorial board’s foreign-policy stances: As beneficiaries of the prestige and reach that come with worldwide US dominance, board members would just as soon advocate for policies that run counter to US power as they would trade places with their counterparts at, say, the Denver Post.

(...)

The board’s unwavering allegiance to US leaders’ belligerent Middle East policies and the surveillance state’s unchecked power prompts it to deprecate the Post’s own investigative journalism and undermine its ethical standards. Bezos’ recent takeover as owner threatens to only solidify this trend.

Taxing the rich is good for the economy, IMF says - Business - CBC News
▻http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/taxing-the-rich-is-good-for-the-economy-imf-says-1.2552141

... because redistributing wealth through taxation has the positive impact of reducing inequality, the overall affect on the economy is to boost growth, the researchers conclude.

"We find that higher inequality seems to lower growth.

Le FMI appelé à s’attaquer à la montée des inégalités - Journal de l’île de la Réunion
▻http://www.clicanoo.re/407786-le-fmi-appele-a-s-attaquer-a-la-montee-des-inegalites.html

L’étude (...) ne reflète pas la position officielle du FM

BBC iPlayer - Free Thinking : Christine Lagarde

▻http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03t0d93/Free_Thinking_Christine_Lagarde

Christine Lagarde, the first female to head the International Monetary Fund, delivers this year’s Richard Dimbleby Lecture on TV. Anne McElvoy assesses her arguments with Ngaire Woods and Gillian Tett. Producer: Laura Thomas.

#fmi

Is Greece on the Rebound?
▻http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/23/is-greece-on-the-rebound

The IMF (...) repeatedly projected economic recoveries for 2011, 2012, and 2013 that did not materialize.

Now the IMF is projecting economic growth for 2014. But this time they are probably, finally, going to be right. It is vitally important that we understand why.

Last month the Greek parliament approved a stimulus program involving highway construction that is quite large. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport, and Networks, total spending on this project will be 7.5 billion euros over the next year and a half. This amounts to about 2.7 percent of GDP during this period. For comparison, the U.S. federal stimulus that helped us out of our 2008-09 Great Recession (after subtracting the state governments’ budget tightening) was less than 1 percent of GDP.

This stimulus will likely make the difference between growth and another year of recession. Most of the financing comes from European Union grants, so it does not add to Greece’s debt.

In other words, the Greek economy is going to grow next year because of a significant policy reversal. The austerity, or fiscal tightening, is basically coming to an end.

Why is this so important? Because the people who designed or supported the policy of the last four years will, when the Greek economy begins to recover, claim that the “austerity worked.” But even the IMF’s own analysis of the Greek economy refutes this claim. The austerity can only “work” (if one accepts the obscenely high human cost of it) if the massive unemployment drives down wages enough so that the economy becomes more competitive and can export its way out of the recession. The IMF projects a 20 percent decline in wages and salaries for 2010-2014; but this has not been enough to make Greek exports significantly more competitive, according to the Fund’s latest [PDF] (July) review. Exports have remained weak and haven’t come close to compensating for the fiscal tightening and reduced domestic private spending. The strategy of “internal devaluation” has not yet worked for Greece, nor – according to the IMF’s data and analysis – for the eurozone as whole.

Of course, (...) it will take years for unemployment to reach humane levels.

That is why it is so important to understand the causes of Greece’s return to growth, if it happens (it could still be derailed by adverse shocks). The human tragedy of the past five years in Europe, as well as the repeated financial crises and damage to the world economy caused by bad policy there could have been avoided – as many economists have argued. But looking forward, the eurozone is still stuck near record levels of unemployment (12.1 percent), and how soon it returns to normal will depend on how quickly the European authorities are willing to reverse their policies for the region.

birds | Flickr : partage de photos !
▻http://www.flickr.com/photos/vruba/11864756534

comment transformer un #film en une #photo, via la ligne de commande et -evaluate-sequence Min qui (si j’ai bien compris) prend le point le plus sombre de la séquence d’images

autre exemple :

http://www.climagic.org/images/combined-every7th-frame.png

via @climagic
cc : @elsa

Press Release : Statement by the EC, ECB, and IMF on the Tenth Review Mission to Portugal

▻http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2013/pr13512.htm

Le Portugal aussi, très obéissant, et tout et tout.

Le 16 décembre 2013, la troïka (Commission-BCE-FMI) représentant les créanciers du Portugal a estimé que le programme de redressement financier du pays restait « sur la bonne voie ». Selon les experts, l’économie présente des signaux de reprise. Les perspectives de croissance sont en ligne avec les prévisions, et le chômage a baissé de manière plus importante que prévue. Néanmoins, ils demandent au gouvernement portugais de poursuivre ses efforts. Le 20 décembre, le Parlement portugais a approuvé une réforme de l’impôt sur les sociétés visant à ramener son taux de 25 à 23% l’an prochain. Le 19 décembre, la Cour constitutionnelle a censuré une mesure du budget 2014. Elle estime que le projet prévoyant des coupes de près de 10% dans les pensions des fonctionnaires supérieures à 600 € par mois était contraire à la Constitution, violant « le principe de la confiance ». En invalidant cette mesure de rigueur, la Cour prive le gouvernement d’économies évaluées à 388 millions €. Le gouvernement portugais s’engage à trouver « aussi vite que possible » une alternative...

Statement by the EC, ECB, and IMF on the Tenth Review Mission to Portugal
Press Release No. 13/512
December 16, 2013

Staff teams from the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB), and International Monetary Fund (IMF) visited Lisbon during December 4-16 for the tenth quarterly review of Portugal’s economic adjustment program.

Further signs of recovery have emerged since the last review. Growth is broadly in line with projections, while unemployment has fallen by more than expected. External rebalancing has continued, although imports have picked up, reflecting stronger-than-expected domestic demand.

#portugal #crise_bancaire #crise_financière

Afro-Rebel (or why I am not an afropolitan)
▻http://thediasporadiva.tumblr.com/post/55036008288/afro-rebel-or-why-i-am-not-an-afropolitan

The rapacious consumerism of the African elites claimed to make up the ranks of the Afropolitans is well documented. Fanons prophetic words once again resonate. In the 2004 foreword of the Wretched of the Earth, Bhaba asks “what might be saved from Fanons ethics and politics of decolonization to help us reflect on contemporary manifestations of globalization” (2004: xi) He reminds us that the economic landscape engineered by the IMF and WB continues to support the compartmentalized societies identified by Fanon. No matter how much wealth exists in pockets, “a dual economy is not a developed economy” (2004: xii). It is largely in the pockets of the mobile Afropolitan class that much of the wealth is held. What I want to ask is in what way does Afropolitanism go about challenging the enduring problematics of duality and compartmentalised society, identified by Fanon as one of the major stumbling blocks to African post-colonial independence?

To be honest, when I look at the launch of OK Magazine Nigeria (although I don’t know that Afropolitans would claim OK magazine, I’m not sure its chic enough), or hear about palm wine mojito’s and fashion shows, at the Afropolitan V&A event it leaves me feeling somewhat depressed.

Our value is not determined by our ability to produce African flavoured versions of Western convention and form. Such an approach will surely only ever leave us playing catch-up in a game whose rules we did not write. That whole lifestyle of Sex and the City feminism, cocktails, designer clothes, handbags and shoes is not particularly liberating in an Anglo-American context, so I see no reason why we should transfer such models to Africa and declare it progress. I’m not saying there’s no place for such activities in the African context but it represents less of a departure from the behaviour of post-colonial elites than a repetition of same as it ever was.

Comment les sociétés de conseil manipulent la gestion des pays européens en crise

EUobserver.com / Economic Affairs / Troika consultancies : A multi-million euro business beyond scrutiny
▻http://euobserver.com/economic/122415

Alvarez and Marsal, BlackRock, Oliver Wyman, Pimco: The names mean nothing to the average European.

But the financial consultancies have played a central role in all the eurozone bailouts and have so far invoiced taxpayers in Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain over €80 million.

Their “independent” expertise is used by the “troika” of international lenders - the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - to decide how much countries or banks need to prevent a default.

They are often hired without a public tender, posing questions on transparency and accountability.

...

Why do they do it?

The question arises as to why these firms keep on being hired and what motivates them to seek troika-related work.

Neither BlackRock, Oliver Wyman, Pimco or any of the other consultancies and audit firms were available for comment.

But Constantin Gurdgiev, a finance lecturer at Trinity College Dublin, says lack of expertise in central banks is one reason.

He told EUobserver that “during the pre-crisis boom in credit creation, national central banks of countries with rapid credit expansion lost core personnel competencies and skills to staff migration to the private financial services providers.”

He added that the remaining staff “often performed mechanical tasks of collating and repackaging” data submitted by banks, but “lost the key skills to actively investigate banks’ balance sheets or draw up business performance models.”

The troika’s demand for data and for management of crisis reforms were more than central banks could supply.

Hiring big names in the consultancy business also lent governments in bailed-out countries more credibility, especially in financial markets.

The “external validation” of the US firms gave the banking loss estimates a “perceived objectivity” which markets could live with, Gurdgiev said.

Richard Boyd Barrett, a left-wing Irish MP who tabled several parliamentary questions on BlackRock Solutions, is more cynical.

He told this website the major consultancies and auditors are “part of the same golden circle of bankers and government officials that caused the financial crisis in the first place.”

Another source said the consultancies’ main motive is not multi-million euro fees, but “contact” with government people.

Taxing Wealth: IMF Suggests Real Estate | Al Akhbar English
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/taxing-wealth-imf-suggests-real-estate

It is now relevant to open a serious debate on local tax reforms. Taxes on the highest income bracket in Lebanon are some of the lowest globally and the same goes for taxes on corporations and profits. However, treasury bills, profits on the stock market, and real estate speculation are not taxes, for example.

At the same time, 80 percent of tax revenue in Lebanon comes from indirect taxes, whose actual burden falls on medium- and limited-income brackets. Around one-third of treasury expenses are used for debt servicing. This means that a very narrow segment of treasury bill-holders make tremendous gains from rent and are tax-exempt.

Does the recommendation by IMF experts to impose taxes on wealth and profits from real estate make them into organs for “socialist propaganda,” like some Lebanese pundits are saying?

#Liban
#FMI
#fiscalité
#immobilier

Taxing Wealth: #IMF Suggests Real Estate
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/taxing-wealth-imf-suggests-real-estate

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/_ARW8627.jpg

A serious study of the report will indicate, without a doubt, that it recommended to "increase property taxes, especially recurrent charges on residential properties. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah) A serious study of the report will indicate, without a doubt, that it recommended to "increase property taxes, especially recurrent charges on residential properties. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah)

Even the #International_Monetary_Fund is beginning (...)

#Economy #Articles #Capitalism #Lebanon

la Libye est en train de disparaître en tant qu’exportateur important de pétrole...

Libya’s economy to shrink by 5.1% in 2013, says IMF -
▻http://english.alarabiya.net/en/business/economy/2013/11/13/Libya-s-economy-to-shrink-by-5-1-in-2013-says-IMF.html

Reuters

Libya’s economy is expected to shrink by 5.1 percent in 2013 due to a wave of strikes blocking oil exports, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday.
Protests from militias, tribes and civil servants at oil ports and fields has reduced Libya’s oil output to a fraction of its capacity of 1.25 million barrels a day.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said the government might struggle from next month to cover budget expenditures due to the strikes. Oil is the main source for the budget.
The IMF expects Libya’s GDP to shrink by 5.1 percent this year, it said in its latest regional outlook. It said oil production would gradually pick up but “pre-civil war output levels may not be reached for many years.”
Libya used to pump 1.4 million bpd until summer and 1.6 million bpd before Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011.

Le FMI étudie avec l’Egypte les critères d’application d’une nouvelle TVA. - Ahram Online

▻http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/85174.aspx

In its first visit to Egypt since 30 June uprising, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation met with Finance Minister Ahmed Galal Wednesday evening, Al-Ahram’s Arabic website reported.
Galal was keen to continue discussions with the global lender over providing Egypt with the technical support to introduce the new Value-Added Tax (VAT), steering clear of ongoing negotiations over the IMF’s $4.8 billion loan.

#economie #FMI #IMF

L’Egypte « n’a plus besoin d’un prêt du FMI », dit le ministre des finances égyptien - Middle east monitor

▻http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/7838-egypt-says-qwe-do-not-need-imf-loanq

Egypt’s interim Finance Minister Ahmed Jalal said on Wednesday that his country does not need an IMF loan because the reasons for it are no longer present mainly the need for the fund and the investment community confidence by signing an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

#eco #economy #FMI #IMF #Egypte #prêt

The Effects of The Economic Sanctions Against Iran
▻http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/13200/the-effects-of-the-economic-sanctions-against-iran

A thirty-one year-old male who works as a salesman at a bookstore in Tehran describes the current conditions (to which the economic sanctions have contributed) as follows:

_The conditions of these days for me are as follows: medicines are rare, food costs an arm and a leg, unemployment is widespread, the cutting of the subsidies will continue till doomsday, smugglers are sheltered, mediators and dealers are getting fatter and fatter, boss-men and chief-executives are busy with looting, and profiteers from the sanctions are getting richer and richer every day while the rest of us suffer _

The US-European sanctions against Iran have assisted the Iranian state in positing itself as an anti-imperialist entity, resisting the unjust global relations, while simultaneously being part of the same global relations in regulating anti-working class economic policies, receiving praises from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, and deepening class divisions in Iran.

The notion of foreign intervention, i.e. the economic sanctions and the threats of war against Iran, has assisted the government to articulate a discourse of national reconciliation without enacting any meaningful recognition of alternative political voices and demands.

The threats of war and deteriorating living conditions, due to economic sanctions, have marginalized the voices that demand structural econo-political changes and reform of laws. It is impossible to lead a good life under the economic sanctions, hence the state does not need to negotiate with political dissidents or recognize their citizen rights and a political space for political dissidence. Rather, it needs only to refer to the imposed economic sanctions and threats of war to solidify its discourse of national reconciliation and the necessity for the political activists to postpone their criticism of domestic affairs.

#Iran #sanctions

Bill Gates, Big Pharma, Bogus Philanthropy | NEWS JUNKIE POST
▻http://newsjunkiepost.com/2013/06/07/bill-gates-big-pharma-bogus-philanthropy

there has been a systematic historical tendency to use the less developed continents (especially Africa) for non-consensual research to pioneer money-making techniques disguised as development, and that Bill Gates could be a part of this. After all, Big Pharma is one of the most profitable industries on the planet, and it strongly relies on the enforcement of patent extensions and intellectual rights for which Bill Gates is notorious from his work in Microsoft. Africa has been the place most severely affected by the strict patent rights enforced by transnational corporations with support from the International Monetary Fund – World Bank – World Trade Organization (IMF-WB-WTO) cartel.

There is also a huge body of documented evidence that the pharmaceutical industry has, for a long time and repeatedly, used vulnerable populations in the developed and developing world as guinea pigs to study disease and test new drugs (e.g. the Tuskegee Experiment, among many others). This is not limited to Big Pharma but applies to nearly every sector of the industrial capitalist economy which, by definition, is based on the exploitation of an underclass.

Having established these premises (I invite you to challenge them), let us analyze the facts:

#paludisme #polio #santé #bill_gates #GSK #pharma

À mes questions : y a-t-il des gens qui relient l’abdication de l’émir du Qatar à la répression de l’armée libanaise contre les salafistes d’Assir, et au renversement des Frères en Égypte : Scarlett Haddad et sa désormais fameuse unique « source sécuritaire » (qu’on devrait appeler « Monsieur X ») : Entre le Qatar, l’Égypte, la Turquie... et cheikh Assir
▻http://www.lorientlejour.com/article/822346/-entre-le-qatar-legypte-la-turquie-et-cheikh-assir.html

Une source sécuritaire libanaise fait en tout cas le lien entre le coup de force de l’armée contre cheikh Ahmad el-Assir et l’évolution de la situation régionale. Selon cette source, il y a eu trop de changements presque simultanés au cours de la dernière période dans plusieurs pays de la région pour que l’on puisse croire à de simples coïncidences.

24/7 Wall St. » Blog Archive Countries Spending the Most on the Military «
▻http://247wallst.com/2013/06/27/countries-spending-the-most-on-the-military/print

For the first time since 1998, global military spending is down. This coincides with a major decline in U.S. spending, which fell by more than $40 billion between 2011 and 2012. Even with this decline, however, the United States still had a military budget four times larger than China, the next biggest spender.

...

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 countries that spend the most on their military in 2012, based on SIPRI’s measure of military spending in more than 130 nations. We also reviewed SIPRI data on military exports and imports, as well as military expenditure as a percentage of GDP. From Globalfirepower.com, we reviewed statistics on military size and strength, based on the most recent available data. We also considered GDP and GDP growth figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

10. Brazil
> Military expenditure: $36.8 billion
> Expenditure as pct. of GDP: 1.5%
> One-year spending change: -0.5%
> Total exports: $14.1 million (24th highest)
> Total imports: $212 million (24th highest)

Brazil spent roughly $36.8 billion on its military in 2012, higher than all but nine other countries. Military spending has fallen in Brazil since 2010, when the government spent $38.1 billion. Despite being among the top 10 in military spending, the country is barely among the top half in terms of the spending as a percentage of GDP, which was just 1.5% in 2012. In addition to the more than 371,000 people in Brazil who were actively serving in 2011, there were more than 1.3 million Brazilians serving in the active reserves, more than all but five other countries.

9. India
> Military expenditure: $48.3 billion
> Expenditure as pct. of GDP: 2.5%
> One-year spending change: -2.8%
> Total exports: $1.8 million (32nd highest)
> Total imports: $2.0 billion (the highest)

Military spending in India comprised 2.5% of the country’s GDP in 2012, higher than most other countries. However, this has declined every year since 2009, when India spent 2.9% of its GDP on military affairs. Between 2011 and 2012, India’s military budget declined by 3%. As of 2011, India had more than 1.3 million active military members, more than any other country except for China and the United States. In addition, India had 1.7 million active reserve members, more than any country except for North Korea and South Korea. India has been the biggest arms importer worldwide in recent years, as it has been upgrading its largely Soviet-era weapons.

8. Germany
> Military expenditure: $48.6 billion
> Expenditure as pct. of GDP: 1.4%
> One-year spending change: 0.9%
> Total exports: $486 million (6th highest)
>Total imports: $126 million (33rd highest)

Germany spent more than $48.6 billion on its military in 2012, or 1.4% of the country’s GDP. This was in line with the 1.3% of GDP it spent back in 2011 but still lower than the majority of countries measured. Germany exported $486 million worth of arms in 2012, higher than all but five other countries. In 2012, Germany announced the largest cuts to its military since the end of World War II. The government intends to scale back or close 100 of its 400 bases and cut the number of soldiers by 15,000 to 185,000. Germany expects to implement the cuts through 2017 at the latest.

7. Saudi Arabia
> Military expenditure: $54.2 billion
> Expenditure as pct. of GDP: 8.9%
> One-year spending change: 11.7%
> Total exports: n/a
> Total imports: $261 million (16th highest)

Saudi Arabia’s military budget comprised 8.9% of the country’s GDP in 2012, higher than any other country. However, this was down from 11% of GDP in 2009 and 10% of GDP in 2010. Military spending in 2012 has increased by nearly $10 billion since 2008, reaching more than $54.2 billion last year. Between 2011 and 2012 alone, military spending increased by 12%, higher than most other countries in the world. Solmirano pointed out that oil revenue in Saudi Arabia has allowed the country to spend heavily on the military in recent years. As of 2012, Saudi Arabia produced more than 11.1 million barrels of oil a day, more than any other country.

6. Japan
> Military expenditure: $59.2 billion
> Expenditure as pct. of GDP: 1.0%
> One-year spending change: -0.6%
> Total exports: n/a
> Total imports: $6 million (78th highest)

Although just five nations spent more on their military in 2012 in absolute terms, in relative terms — as a percentage of GDP — more than 100 nations spent more than Japan. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe began pushing for a stronger military after winning the office at the end of 2012. Abe’s plans to boost military spending may be limited by the country’s massive debt concerns. The IMF estimates Japan’s gross debt at nearly 238% of GDP in 2012, proportionally more than any other country. Despite these concerns, Japan recently increased military spending for the first time in 11 years. Although Japan’s constitution prohibits initiating military action, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently has argued that the country should be permitted to join U.N.-sanctioned military actions.

5. United Kingdom
> Military expenditure: $59.8 billion
> Expenditure as % of GDP: 2.5%
> One-year spending change: -0.8%
> Total exports: $351 million (10th highest)
> Total imports: $254 million (17th highest)

Military spending in the United Kingdom fell for the second straight year in 2012. This was likely due, in part, to a slow GDP growth of less than 1% for the second straight year and a decline in government spending as a percentage of GDP for the third straight year. Early this year, the United Kingdom cut 5,000 troops from its armed forces as part of the nation’s broad austerity measures. The U.K. spent just 2.5% of GDP on the military in 2012 and exported just over $350 million in weapons. By contrast, 25 years earlier, the nation spent 4.0% of its annual GDP on its military and exported $2.5 billion worth of arms.

Also Read: The Most Dangerous Cities in America

4. France
> Military expenditure: $62.6 billion
> Expenditure as pct. of GDP: 2.3%
> One-year spending change: -0.3%
> Total exports: $272 million (11th highest)
> Total imports: $87 million (38th highest)

France’s military budget of $62.6 billion in 2012 was higher than any other country in the European Union. However, this has declined every year since 2009, when military spending reached more than $69.4 billion. The military cuts are not over. In April, France announced it would freeze military spending, with an expected budget of roughly $235 billion for the next six years. By 2019, France is expected to reduce its armed forces headcount by 34,000, or nearly 10% of its current force. As of 2011, France had more active military members than all other countries in the EU at 362,485.

3. Russia
> Military expenditure: $90.6 billion
> Expenditure as pct. of GDP: 4.4%
> One-year spending change: 15.7%
> Total exports: $3.8 billion (2nd highest)
> Total imports: $8.2 million (74th highest)

Russia’s military budget has grown significantly in the past several years. In 2008, Russia spent just under $68 billion, or 3.7% of GDP. By 2012, the military budget had grown to more than $90.6 billion, or 4.4% of GDP. The largest increase in spending came between 2011 and 2012, when the budget was increased by 16%. Russia has been in the process of upgrading its weapons over the past several years, working to replace aging submarines, assault ships and ballistic missiles. Russia was the second-largest exporter of weapons in 2012, shipping out more than $3.8 billion in arms. Russia has more self-propelled guns and Corvette missiles than any other country.

2. China
> Military expenditure: $157.6 billion
> Expenditure as pct. of GDP: 2.0%
> One-year spending change: 7.8%
> Total exports: $443 million (8th highest)
> Total imports: $872 million (4th highest)

China increased its annual military expenditure from $107 billion in 2008 to more than $157 billion in 2012. Despite this spending increase, military expenditure as a percentage of GDP has remained relatively stable at around 2%. China has had one of the world’s fastest growing economies in recent years, even with GDP growth slowing to 7.8% in 2012. Currently, China is embroiled in a tense dispute with Japan over the resource-rich Diaoyu islands (called the Senkaku islands in Japan). China also historically has had tense relations with Taiwan, which it still considers to be a breakaway province.

1. United States
> Military expenditure: $668.8 billion
> Expenditure as pct. of GDP: 4.4%
> One-year spending change: -6.0%
> Total exports: $6.2 billion (the highest)
> Total imports: $670 million (6th highest)

The United States spends more on the military than any other country by a wide margin. The country’s military budget accounts for roughly 40% of all military spending in the world, according to SIPRI. However, military spending has declined since 2010, when it hit more than $720 billion. Much of the drop has been due to reduced presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. The United States is by far the largest arms exporter in the world — in 2012 the United States exported more than $6.2 billion worth of arms, more than $2.4 billion more than the second-largest exporter, Russia. Earlier in June, the White House announced it was arming Syrian opposition against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Quand les pays du Golfe, lire Bahreïn, sortent de la logique de l’économie de rente. Déficit et endettement ne sont pas loin

Bahrain parliament approves 11 pct rise in 2013 budget spending | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/25/bahrain-budget-idUSL5N0F02MJ20130625

Bahrain’s 2014 spending plan was raised by 164.5 million dinars from last November’s initial finance ministry proposal, to 3.71 billion dinars.

Parliament approved the 2013-2014 budget plan on Monday. Demands within parliament for extra spending, especially to raise public sector salaries by 15 percent, a measure opposed by the cabinet, had delayed approval for several months.

In the end, parliament passed the plan without the public sector pay hike, but it added rises in pension payments for both public and private sector retirees, and higher subsidies for food and other items, to the plan, Almahmood said.

The plan was supported by 23 deputies, while seven rejected it and 10 were absent, he said. Finance ministry officials were not available to comment.

[...]
Bahrain expanded its original 2012 expenditure plan by nearly 19 percent in September 2011 after protesters, inspired by revolts elsewhere in the Arab world, took to the streets of Manama demanding political reforms.

The International Monetary Fund warned in May that the island needed to reform its public finances in the medium term to avoid its debt burden becoming unsustainable.

[...]
The actual deficit in 2012 widened sevenfold to 227 million dinars, though it was still smaller than the government’s original projection.

The oil price which the country needs to balance its budget reached a critical level of $115 per barrel in 2012, making Bahrain vulnerable to any sustained decline in oil prices, the IMF said.

The country relies on output from the Abu Safa oilfield shared with Saudi Arabia - which supports Bahrain’s Sunni rulers politically - for some 70 percent of its budget revenue. Analysts believe Manama’s share of the oil could be raised if its budget runs into trouble.

The IMF expects Bahrain’s fiscal deficit to widen to as much as 8.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2018 from 4.2 percent forecast for this year.

European debt and the banking cartel | visualizing.org
▻http://visualizing.org/visualizations/european-debt-and-banking-cartel

How are governments issuing debt? By asking a group of primary dealers for money. These dealers always have enough, because they can ask the Federal Reserve System for money. This private institution creates it from nothing.
But nevertheless, governments have to pay interest, which can become too high if the primary dealers are setting it too high. Then those governments have to “calm down the markets” and ask the International Monetary Fund for money. This institution lends it, but only when the government is cutting social welfare and is selling its resources to investors.
And there you have the european debt crisis. It equals colonialism. But in a more subtle way.

http://visualizing.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/embedded_vis_medium/images/130604_banking_cartel_thumb_0.png

Jordanie
La Jordanie en proie avec les conséquences de la guerre en Syrie au Nord et les violences tribales au Sud, notamment dans la ville de Maan.

More Problems Than Ever
By: Tamer al-Samadi Translated from Al-Hayat (Pan Arab)

▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2013/06/jordan-government-problems-ensour-syria.html

“To avoid the collapse of the economy, Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour is likely to take harsh decisions in the coming period, starting by raising electricity prices, which would surely go beyond the gradual cancelation of subsidies on bread and other commodities. This is seen as an attempt to obtain a financial loan worth $2 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, these decisions that have yet to be announced reflect the deep trouble Ensour is likely to face in the coming period. Ensour has an economic mindset. He was educated in the United States and France and his reputation has yet to be tarnished with accusations of corruption.

The biggest challenge facing the government — mired in economic and political complexities — is the bloody violence that has been gripping the city of Maan in southern Jordan for four days”.

(…) Official circles revealed to Al-Hayat that the Syrian file’s successive developments “urged powerful leading figures within the state to demand the current government’s dismissal and the declaration of the war cabinet as soon as possible in order to counter the repercussions of the Syrian disaster, [as] anticipated by the Hashemite Kingdom.”

Jordan energy crisis bites with soaring costs | The Jordan Times
▻http://jordantimes.com/jordan-energy-crisis-bites-with-soaring-costs

Dependent now on costly diesel and fuel oil, Jordan is considering wider electricity rationing and is preparing a hike in electricity prices in June, a politically fraught move in a country which saw street protests last year over fuel subsidy cuts imposed as a condition for a $2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“Energy is the Achilles heel of the Jordanian economy, it’s a huge vulnerability for Jordan...the biggest drain on the economy,” Nemat Shafik, deputy head of the IMF, said during a visit to Jordan last month.

Intéressante synthèse sur la crise énergétique jordanienne, avec passage en revue des solutions pour accroitre la production (solaire, schistes bitumineux, nucléaire, nouvelles centrales au gaz naturel) grâce essentiellement )à des investisseurs étrangers ; hausse des prix de l’électricité (pour compenser la hausse du pétrole et du gaz qui sont les principaux combustibles actuellement) et plans de rationnement pour cet été...
#énergie
#Jordanie
#nucléaire
#solaire
#schistes_bitumineux
#électricité

Report: Former Egyptian President Mubarak says too early to judge Morsi - Middle East - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/report-former-egyptian-president-mubarak-says-too-early-to-judge-morsi-1.52

Former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak said it was too early to judge President Mohammed Morsi, saying the Islamist politician faced a difficult job, in comments billed as his first interview since his removal from power in 2011.

El-Watan newspaper said its journalist broke through security lines to speak to Mubarak on Saturday before his retrial on charges of complicity in the death of protesters killed in the popular uprising that swept him from office.

“He is a new president who is carrying out weighty missions for the first time, and we shouldn’t judge him now,” Mubarak said in the remarks published on Sunday.

El-Watan, which is fiercely critical of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, said its journalist spoke to Mubarak, 85, just before he entered the court.

Mubarak, who was president for almost 30 years, said he was saddened by what he described as the difficult conditions facing the poor and the Egyptian economy, which has been hammered by political instability that has frightened off tourists and investors.

“This is the secret of my sadness: to see the poor in this condition,” said Mubarak, who was toppled by an uprising fuelled by economic hardship.

He said he was worried by the prospect of Egypt concluding an agreement with the International Monetary Fund on a $4.8 billion loan seen as vital to supporting the economy. The loan would bring austerity measures likely to curb subsidy spending.

Economists fault the Mubarak-era subsidy regime for failing to target state support at the most needy. The Morsi administration says it wants to better direct the subsidies.

Mubarak said the poor were at the heart of his decision-making, especially when it came to subsidy spending on staples.

“I fear for the country because of the IMF loan,” he said. “Its terms are very difficult, and represent a great danger to the Egyptian economy later on. This will then hit the poor citizen, and the low-income bracket,” he said.

With parliamentary elections approaching later this year, the Morsi administration has yet to conclude an IMF deal.

Mubarak also said he was concerned about lax security, apparently referring to increased crime, and a rise in Islamist militancy in the Sinai Peninsula.

He added, “History will judge and I am still certain that the coming generations will view me fairly.”

IMF demands further austerity in Greece - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/05/10/gree-m10.html

Dans la série le FMI n’apprend rien

IMF demands further austerity in Greece
By Robert Stevens
10 May 2013

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a “Concluding Statement” May 3 demanding there be no relaxation of the austerity programme it has imposed on an already severely impoverished Greek population.

The statement follows the IMF’s recent inspection mission to Greece, alongside the European Union (EU) and European Central Bank (ECB).

The reaction of the bourgeois media in Greece and internationally to the report was to stress its call for the coalition government to do more to prevent tax evasion. Typical was the BBC’s headline, “IMF hails economic ‘progress’ but warns on tax evasion.”

#grèce #crise #fmi #austérité

The failure of capitalism - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/05/03/pers-m03.html

Le titre...

The failure of capitalism 3 May 2013

Figures on the state of the European economy published over the past week are not only the expression of a deepening economic and social crisis. They have a profound historical meaning, pointing to the bankruptcy of the capitalist economic order.

In its latest economic forecast, the International Monetary Fund has predicted that the euro zone area as a whole will contract by 0.3 percent this year, with France joining Italy and Spain as the three major economies in recession. The contraction itself is significant, but the fact that it takes place some five years after the onset of the financial crisis points to the underlying processes that produced it. The European economy is caught in a deepening downward spiral.

#capitalisme #europe #crise