France: Sarkozy: has been more successful with his Italian mistress than with reforming his country. Attempting to reform the retirement age has met much opposition, I hope he can actually commit to this reform.
Germany: Merkel: has maintained Germany as one of the strongest European economies through these hard times. But has an unrealistic political partner in the Liberal Party that thinks more thru ideology than realism.
UK: David Cameron: High hopes for the Conservative-Liberal alliance and it seems as if all is going smoothly...for now.
Italy: Berlusconi: if any one person could be blamed for Italy's fall from a prominent world member I would blame Berlusconi, which is more interested in his personal intrests than Italy.
Australia: Julia Gillard: rough start for Australia's first female leader. Lets see how she handles her unstable coalition.
Russia: Medvedev: really he is just a guy working under Putin, until Putin can be President again.
Turkey: Erdogan: has lead his party as the Islamic version of a Christian Democratic party of Europe. Turkeys stock is rising rapidly in world diplomacy, and he seems to be underminding the generals.
Saudi Arabia: Abdullah: a highly conservative country with much wealth based on oil. Slow reforms under his guidance.
South Korea: Lee: Has made some advances, but North Korea has been a major thorn to his administration.
India: Singh: did amazing things as finance minister that has brought on India's amazing growth, but has failed to deliver as prime minister, mostly because he requires communists to hold a government, and poor health.
Indonesia: Bambang: under his leadership Indonesia is becoming south east asias new Thailand....before Thailand's current issues of course.
Japan: Kan: governments in Japan are two cents a dozen ever since Koizumi left. Kan will likely last little and accomplish little.
China: Hu: The bad cop to Wen's good cop. Both men have seen China's huge rise. They must be doing something right. But there are always persistent questions of "how long can this type of growth last?"
Brazil: Lula: has done well to maintain his predecessors open market economic reforms that have lead to lasting growth. Has also done reforms to help ease the large income gap in Brazil, including incentives to get poor children into school. His saint like reign has been besmirked with corruption scandals tho.
Argentina: Christina Fernandez: Picked a fight against beef farmers which she lost misirably. The economy is going good tho under her rule. Strange relationship with the IMF, and debt.
Mexico: Calderon: intensified a drug war which seems to be going badly for Mexico.
Canada: Harper: Canada was largely untouched by the financial crisis, compared to other developed nations.
South Africa: Zuma: bad personal example with his many wives and unsafe sex, but had a good World Cup.
US: Obama: High expectations met realistic situations, leading to low poll ratings. Should have focused more on fixing his predecessors mess than passing his Health care bill.|||They would all have (dec.) following their names.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
American Revolution essay: what questions could they ask about it in my interview?
Oxford has asked me to write 2 essays, which Ive already written. one of them is about the American revolution. At the moment Im trying to prepare for the interview (I know they'll ask about the essays).
What questions could they ask about my essay?
(they could ask me things like 'what makes a good revolution' for example).
**************************************鈥?br>
The American Revolution which took place in the late 18th century was and is considered a very important occurrence which caused dramatic changes in both North America and Europe. The principles of the French revolution were derived from this happening, and the success of the American Revolution played a great role in the encouragement of the French to revolt.
So where did the Americans come from? What were the reasons of the American Revolution? What were its aims? And what made them succeed? How important was their success?
Great Britain was facing a major economic crisis in 1620 - 1635, causing a lot of unemployment. Furthermore, there were Political conflicts in general, and Religious conflicts between the supporters of the Anglican and Puritan churches.
The first Americans were the Anglicans and the Puritans who emigrated from Great Britain since the early 1600鈥檚, with the intention of beginning a better life in the new world. They began building colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America. This resulted in 13 different colonies being established, that were soon under the control of the British Empire.
The number if emigrants had increased rapidly in the East Coast - there were soon 2 million European Americans, and half a million slaves who were bought and brought from Africa.
Great Britain was in deep debt after its seven year war with France (1756-1763). Therefore, the British parliament, which tried its best not to overtax its locals, decided to tax its colonists across the sea. The British started taxing the colonists without giving them representation, which violated the Magna Carta which stated that there would be not taxation without representation in parliament.
The peoples of America we severely angered by the economic issues that they were facing as a result of Britain鈥檚 behavior. By 1775, the 13 English colonies had engaged the British Armies in several battles. The United States declared its independence in 4th of July 1776, and soon the Great Britain had recognized it as an independent state in the treaty of Paris in 1781, which ended the American Revolution.
There were several reasons why Great Britain did not want to continue fighting. The first thing would be the vast distance between England and the East Coast, which made it difficult for Britain to deliver enough supplies for its armies. Not to mention the fact that France sought revenge after it lost its colonies in America and in India after losing in its seven year war with Great Britain.
George Washington鈥檚 role in the American Revolution was one of the main reasons for their success. He was a mastermind general, a thinker, a spirit-lifter, and a leader.
The United States had soon become a major power, and helped the allies in Europe achieve victory in World War one. They also played a great role in defeating Nazi Germany in Normandy during 1944. Furthermore, they united the free countries, which supported Democracy, against the Socialist Republic during the Cold War. The United States today aims to fight terrorism worldwide.|||The big reason for the interview is to make sure you are the one who wrote the essays in question. It will be much the same as defending a post-graduate thesis. If you wrote the papers, you ought to have little trouble.|||dayumm!! thats big^^^??
What questions could they ask about my essay?
(they could ask me things like 'what makes a good revolution' for example).
**************************************鈥?br>
The American Revolution which took place in the late 18th century was and is considered a very important occurrence which caused dramatic changes in both North America and Europe. The principles of the French revolution were derived from this happening, and the success of the American Revolution played a great role in the encouragement of the French to revolt.
So where did the Americans come from? What were the reasons of the American Revolution? What were its aims? And what made them succeed? How important was their success?
Great Britain was facing a major economic crisis in 1620 - 1635, causing a lot of unemployment. Furthermore, there were Political conflicts in general, and Religious conflicts between the supporters of the Anglican and Puritan churches.
The first Americans were the Anglicans and the Puritans who emigrated from Great Britain since the early 1600鈥檚, with the intention of beginning a better life in the new world. They began building colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America. This resulted in 13 different colonies being established, that were soon under the control of the British Empire.
The number if emigrants had increased rapidly in the East Coast - there were soon 2 million European Americans, and half a million slaves who were bought and brought from Africa.
Great Britain was in deep debt after its seven year war with France (1756-1763). Therefore, the British parliament, which tried its best not to overtax its locals, decided to tax its colonists across the sea. The British started taxing the colonists without giving them representation, which violated the Magna Carta which stated that there would be not taxation without representation in parliament.
The peoples of America we severely angered by the economic issues that they were facing as a result of Britain鈥檚 behavior. By 1775, the 13 English colonies had engaged the British Armies in several battles. The United States declared its independence in 4th of July 1776, and soon the Great Britain had recognized it as an independent state in the treaty of Paris in 1781, which ended the American Revolution.
There were several reasons why Great Britain did not want to continue fighting. The first thing would be the vast distance between England and the East Coast, which made it difficult for Britain to deliver enough supplies for its armies. Not to mention the fact that France sought revenge after it lost its colonies in America and in India after losing in its seven year war with Great Britain.
George Washington鈥檚 role in the American Revolution was one of the main reasons for their success. He was a mastermind general, a thinker, a spirit-lifter, and a leader.
The United States had soon become a major power, and helped the allies in Europe achieve victory in World War one. They also played a great role in defeating Nazi Germany in Normandy during 1944. Furthermore, they united the free countries, which supported Democracy, against the Socialist Republic during the Cold War. The United States today aims to fight terrorism worldwide.|||The big reason for the interview is to make sure you are the one who wrote the essays in question. It will be much the same as defending a post-graduate thesis. If you wrote the papers, you ought to have little trouble.|||dayumm!! thats big^^^??
Is this what's in store for America if we can't stop Obama's reckless policies on spending?
This is where we are headed if we don't stop Obama's reckless, naive policies.
It's hard to imagine electing someone who is LESS prepared to run the country. This man is a tragic comedy or errors
OR is this being done on purpose? What do you think?
excerpt...
"The time to pay the bill has come, the time of responsibility for all of us tackling this crisis must become the big opportunity to modernize our public life, even if we have to bleed," said financial daily Kerdos.
Prime Minister George Papandreou's government unveiled the plan to overhaul Greece's debt-ridden economy on Sunday after talks with officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union (EU).
It foresees a massive fiscal adjustment driven primarily by cuts in the country's bloated public sector, which makes up roughly a third of the workforce.
A public sector pay freeze was extended until 2014 and treasured holiday bonuses will be scrapped for many employees. Pensions will also be cut.
Center-right newspaper Eleftheros Typos said the government was telling Greeks that they must die in order to live, describing the economic medicine it was doling out as "more harmful than the disease."
Ta Nea, a centrist daily, said the way of life Greeks had become accustomed to had come to an end on Sunday, while center-left Eleftherotypia deemed the measures unfair because they would hit average wage earners and pensioners hardest.
Center-left Ethnos said the austerity would mean "asphyxiation" for the Greek people and a "violent modernization" for the economy, which according to new government projections will contract by 4.0 percent this year and 2.6 percent in 2011
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64鈥?/a>|||The Utopian dream of equality, in poverty, for everyone (except multi-millionaire elitist dems like Al Gore).|||I know if the GDP keeps growing like this, we may all have money again. Oh the nightmares!|||Obama is doing what OBAMA said is guaranteed to cause the same problem but there's an important difference.
The Greek government is recognizing its own spending is the problem; Obama has already claimed more-of-the-same is the solution.
Yep. OBAMA said the problem is too much spending and that to fix it we need to spend more.|||It's not just Obama.
The politicians of both parties have been looting the economy for decades, to benefit their cronies, their special interests and themselves.
Overspending has accomplished nothing but to make these cronies richer, at the taxpayers' expense while running up the deficit.
The tax revenues aren't adequate to keep the loot flowing to the cronies, so they have to borrow huge amounts.
Obama promised during his campaign to eliminate pork and earmarks, and has done nothing to stop this profligate waste of the wealth of America.
the situation in Greece is like a picnic in the park, compared with the spectacular collapse that we will see here in the USA when it finally hits the fan.
But the insane orgy of spending by Obama and Congress continues unabated.
It won't change until we finally run out of money, or until the voters/taxpayers finally wake up and quit electing and reelecting the same gangs of liars and thieves who are ruining our nation.|||Sure, but Obama's policies on spending aren't reckless; they're necessary. Obama inherited a country already on the fast track to bankruptcy. His first priority was to get our economy growing and Americans working again. After that is achieved, he can worry about spending again. Trying to cut government spending during the middle of a recession would exacerbate the recession since the government will need to eliminate or re-work many of its private contracts. Government spending can keep businesses operating until private streams of revenue are available again.|||What's Greece have to do with us? We are not part of any union of countries.
Grasping at straws are you?
How else will we give the economy a jump start?
Maybe just give all those who make less than $25k/yr a $5 raise? I'm all for that.
The EU is like the states, some produce more than others.
Didn't they realize this before it was formed?|||Just give him a chance !|||nope
It's hard to imagine electing someone who is LESS prepared to run the country. This man is a tragic comedy or errors
OR is this being done on purpose? What do you think?
excerpt...
"The time to pay the bill has come, the time of responsibility for all of us tackling this crisis must become the big opportunity to modernize our public life, even if we have to bleed," said financial daily Kerdos.
Prime Minister George Papandreou's government unveiled the plan to overhaul Greece's debt-ridden economy on Sunday after talks with officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union (EU).
It foresees a massive fiscal adjustment driven primarily by cuts in the country's bloated public sector, which makes up roughly a third of the workforce.
A public sector pay freeze was extended until 2014 and treasured holiday bonuses will be scrapped for many employees. Pensions will also be cut.
Center-right newspaper Eleftheros Typos said the government was telling Greeks that they must die in order to live, describing the economic medicine it was doling out as "more harmful than the disease."
Ta Nea, a centrist daily, said the way of life Greeks had become accustomed to had come to an end on Sunday, while center-left Eleftherotypia deemed the measures unfair because they would hit average wage earners and pensioners hardest.
Center-left Ethnos said the austerity would mean "asphyxiation" for the Greek people and a "violent modernization" for the economy, which according to new government projections will contract by 4.0 percent this year and 2.6 percent in 2011
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64鈥?/a>|||The Utopian dream of equality, in poverty, for everyone (except multi-millionaire elitist dems like Al Gore).|||I know if the GDP keeps growing like this, we may all have money again. Oh the nightmares!|||Obama is doing what OBAMA said is guaranteed to cause the same problem but there's an important difference.
The Greek government is recognizing its own spending is the problem; Obama has already claimed more-of-the-same is the solution.
Yep. OBAMA said the problem is too much spending and that to fix it we need to spend more.|||It's not just Obama.
The politicians of both parties have been looting the economy for decades, to benefit their cronies, their special interests and themselves.
Overspending has accomplished nothing but to make these cronies richer, at the taxpayers' expense while running up the deficit.
The tax revenues aren't adequate to keep the loot flowing to the cronies, so they have to borrow huge amounts.
Obama promised during his campaign to eliminate pork and earmarks, and has done nothing to stop this profligate waste of the wealth of America.
the situation in Greece is like a picnic in the park, compared with the spectacular collapse that we will see here in the USA when it finally hits the fan.
But the insane orgy of spending by Obama and Congress continues unabated.
It won't change until we finally run out of money, or until the voters/taxpayers finally wake up and quit electing and reelecting the same gangs of liars and thieves who are ruining our nation.|||Sure, but Obama's policies on spending aren't reckless; they're necessary. Obama inherited a country already on the fast track to bankruptcy. His first priority was to get our economy growing and Americans working again. After that is achieved, he can worry about spending again. Trying to cut government spending during the middle of a recession would exacerbate the recession since the government will need to eliminate or re-work many of its private contracts. Government spending can keep businesses operating until private streams of revenue are available again.|||What's Greece have to do with us? We are not part of any union of countries.
Grasping at straws are you?
How else will we give the economy a jump start?
Maybe just give all those who make less than $25k/yr a $5 raise? I'm all for that.
The EU is like the states, some produce more than others.
Didn't they realize this before it was formed?|||Just give him a chance !|||nope
Can anyone see a parallel path with Argentina the USA is taking?
Careful now, this is going to require some time and thinking to answer. Every item listed here is a historical fact. So you can't say we have not been warned.
Don't Cry for Me Argentina (Soon to be America)
This is a history lesson. It happened in Argentina, it could happen in the U.S.
In the early 20th century, Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world. While Great Britain’s maritime power and its far-flung empire had propelled it to a dominant position among the world’s industrialized nations, only the United States challenged Argentina for the position of the world’s second-most powerful economy.
Like the United States, Argentina was blessed with abundant agriculture, vast swaths of rich farmland laced with navigable rivers, and an accessible port system. Its level of industrialization was higher than many European countries; railroads, automobiles, and telephones were commonplace.
In 1916, Argentina elected a new president. Hipólito Irigoyen had formed a party called The Radicals under the banner of “fundamental change” with an appeal to the middle class.
Among Irigoyen’s changes: mandatory pension insurance, mandatory health insurance, and support for low-income housing construction to stimulate the economy. Put simply, the state assumed economic control of a vast swath of the country’s operations and began assessing new payroll taxes to fund its efforts.
With an increasing flow of funds into these entitlement programs, the government’s payouts soon became overly generous. Before long its outlays surpassed the value of the taxpayers’ contributions. Put simply, it quickly became under-funded, much like the United States’ Social Security and Medicare programs.
The death knell for the Argentine economy, however, came with the election of Juan Perón. Perón had a fascist and corporatist upbringing; he and his charismatic wife, Eva, aimed their populist rhetoric at the nation’s rich.
This targeted group “swiftly expanded to cover most of the propertied middle classes, who became an enemy to be defeated and humiliated.”
Under Perón, the size of government bureaucracies exploded through massive programs of social spending and by encouraging the growth of labor unions.
High taxes and economic mismanagement took their inevitable toll even after Perón had been driven from office. However, his populist rhetoric and “contempt for economic realities” lived on. Argentina’s federal government continued to spend far beyond its means.
Hyperinflation exploded in 1989, the final stage of a process characterized by “industrial protectionism, redistribution of income based on increased wages, and growing state intervention in the economy…”
The Argentinian government’s practice of printing money to pay off its public debts had crushed the economy. Inflation hit 3000%, reminiscent of the Weimar Republic. Food riots were rampant; stores were looted; the country descended into chaos.
By 1994, Argentina’s public pensions — the equivalent of Social Security — had imploded. The payroll tax had increased from 5% to 26%, but it was not enough. In addition, Argentina had implemented a value-added tax (VAT), new income taxes, a personal tax on wealth, and additional revenues based upon the sale of public enterprises. These crushed the private sector, further damaging the economy.
A government-controlled “privatization” effort to rescue seniors’ pensions was attempted. However, by 2001, those funds had also been raided by the government, the monies replaced by Argentina’s defaulted government bonds.
By 2002, “…government fiscal irresponsibility… induced a national economic crisis as severe as America’s Great Depression.”
In 1902, Argentina was one of the world’s richest countries. Little more than a hundred years later, it is poverty-stricken, struggling to meet its debt obligations amidst a drought.
The Democrat Party’s populist plans for the U.S. cannot possibly work, because government bankrupts everything it touches. History teaches us that ObamaCare and unfunded entitlement programs will be utter, complete disasters.
The Democrat Party leaders of today are guilty of more than stupidity; they are enslaving future generations to poverty and misery. And they will be long gone when it all implodes. They will be as cold and dead as Juan Perón when the piper must ultimately be paid.
Do you see the parallel path?|||Do I see the parallel path? Yes, and not just with the USA. Change the names and a few details and that story has been told over and over again in many different countries. The best you can do is protect yourself; an ordinary citizen cannot save an entire country.
Here is where we are at in the USA:
The current administration has already added about 1.5 trillion in new money into circulation. This is roughly equal to 170% of the previous total amount of money in circulation (http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/ser… History tells us that new money added to circulation takes about 2 years to work its way into the system and manifest its inflationary effects (the banks are still sitting on piles of the bailout money), so we have some time. Be aware, a TRILLION is a lot of money. %26amp; there is no way that the Fed will be able to back this $ out of the economy in time without raising rates to 45% tomorrow. How can we not have hyperinflation?
Once high rates of inflation are apparent, foreign governments will see the value of their US bonds falling and will probably begin dumping their holdings of dollars, thus accelerating hyperinflation. Once the cost of everything is skyrocketing, the government will not be able to collect taxes fast enough, and it will have to resort to printing even more money (as happened in Germany about 100 years ago when 99% of their government spending was with printed money and only 1% from tax receipts) further speeding up the hyperinflationary death spiral.
What seems to matter as far as initiating hyperinflation appears to be when government deficit spending via printing money increases to about 1/3rd of revenue. When a country crosses this line, hyperinflation starts sometime in the future, but nobody really knows how long in the future. The USA just crossed this line for the 1st time.
Inflation, or in a severe case, hyperinflation, is a local event; it does not affect currencies in foreign countries, and may even help their stock markets via shifting purchasing power to unaffected countries. It will be very bad for anyone who is not prepared.
http://swisssolution.webs.com/
If you have access to your foreign money in a foreign country, you are safe from hyperinflation, as well as bank failures that may result. In today's world, Swiss banks can issue debit or credit cards that are good just about everywhere, so you can still spend as you need to. The money you spend via debit or credit card would not be converted into the depreciating currency until the instant that the sale takes place.|||It's well known that the primary responsibility lies with the free market fundamentalism they attempted. THAT was the death knell.
Argentina agreed to the IMF, World Bank, and WTO conditions in the 90s.
"A government-controlled “privatization” effort to rescue seniors’ pensions was attempted. However, by 2001, those funds had also been raided by the government, the monies replaced by Argentina’s defaulted government bonds. "
Wow. Where should I start? Blaming government for privatization? As opposed to socialization?
Here's what it comes down to: You are taking cherry-picking to the extreme. South Korea's state owned enterprises accounted for twice as much output as Argentina's. But you aren't talking about South Korea...
Also, some of the world's best known companies have been or are owned by governments. For instance, VW's largest shareholder is one of the German states. Singapore Airlines(one of the world's most popular) is owned by the Singapore government.|||woah yes thats very similiar, scary to say the least.|||All the countries in Latin America have had slow economic growth and ended up much poorer than the US. All the countries in Western Europe have had growth rates similar to the US and have incomes and GDP per capita similar to that in the US. Since the countries in Western Europe have extensive social warfare programs and those in Latin America for the most part do not, Your explanation for why Argentina fail to grow is far from convincing. The most common explanation is that the extreme concentration of wealth in Latin American countries gave the wealthy power over the government creating policies that protected their privilege by stifling competition.
Don't Cry for Me Argentina (Soon to be America)
This is a history lesson. It happened in Argentina, it could happen in the U.S.
In the early 20th century, Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world. While Great Britain’s maritime power and its far-flung empire had propelled it to a dominant position among the world’s industrialized nations, only the United States challenged Argentina for the position of the world’s second-most powerful economy.
Like the United States, Argentina was blessed with abundant agriculture, vast swaths of rich farmland laced with navigable rivers, and an accessible port system. Its level of industrialization was higher than many European countries; railroads, automobiles, and telephones were commonplace.
In 1916, Argentina elected a new president. Hipólito Irigoyen had formed a party called The Radicals under the banner of “fundamental change” with an appeal to the middle class.
Among Irigoyen’s changes: mandatory pension insurance, mandatory health insurance, and support for low-income housing construction to stimulate the economy. Put simply, the state assumed economic control of a vast swath of the country’s operations and began assessing new payroll taxes to fund its efforts.
With an increasing flow of funds into these entitlement programs, the government’s payouts soon became overly generous. Before long its outlays surpassed the value of the taxpayers’ contributions. Put simply, it quickly became under-funded, much like the United States’ Social Security and Medicare programs.
The death knell for the Argentine economy, however, came with the election of Juan Perón. Perón had a fascist and corporatist upbringing; he and his charismatic wife, Eva, aimed their populist rhetoric at the nation’s rich.
This targeted group “swiftly expanded to cover most of the propertied middle classes, who became an enemy to be defeated and humiliated.”
Under Perón, the size of government bureaucracies exploded through massive programs of social spending and by encouraging the growth of labor unions.
High taxes and economic mismanagement took their inevitable toll even after Perón had been driven from office. However, his populist rhetoric and “contempt for economic realities” lived on. Argentina’s federal government continued to spend far beyond its means.
Hyperinflation exploded in 1989, the final stage of a process characterized by “industrial protectionism, redistribution of income based on increased wages, and growing state intervention in the economy…”
The Argentinian government’s practice of printing money to pay off its public debts had crushed the economy. Inflation hit 3000%, reminiscent of the Weimar Republic. Food riots were rampant; stores were looted; the country descended into chaos.
By 1994, Argentina’s public pensions — the equivalent of Social Security — had imploded. The payroll tax had increased from 5% to 26%, but it was not enough. In addition, Argentina had implemented a value-added tax (VAT), new income taxes, a personal tax on wealth, and additional revenues based upon the sale of public enterprises. These crushed the private sector, further damaging the economy.
A government-controlled “privatization” effort to rescue seniors’ pensions was attempted. However, by 2001, those funds had also been raided by the government, the monies replaced by Argentina’s defaulted government bonds.
By 2002, “…government fiscal irresponsibility… induced a national economic crisis as severe as America’s Great Depression.”
In 1902, Argentina was one of the world’s richest countries. Little more than a hundred years later, it is poverty-stricken, struggling to meet its debt obligations amidst a drought.
The Democrat Party’s populist plans for the U.S. cannot possibly work, because government bankrupts everything it touches. History teaches us that ObamaCare and unfunded entitlement programs will be utter, complete disasters.
The Democrat Party leaders of today are guilty of more than stupidity; they are enslaving future generations to poverty and misery. And they will be long gone when it all implodes. They will be as cold and dead as Juan Perón when the piper must ultimately be paid.
Do you see the parallel path?|||Do I see the parallel path? Yes, and not just with the USA. Change the names and a few details and that story has been told over and over again in many different countries. The best you can do is protect yourself; an ordinary citizen cannot save an entire country.
Here is where we are at in the USA:
The current administration has already added about 1.5 trillion in new money into circulation. This is roughly equal to 170% of the previous total amount of money in circulation (http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/ser… History tells us that new money added to circulation takes about 2 years to work its way into the system and manifest its inflationary effects (the banks are still sitting on piles of the bailout money), so we have some time. Be aware, a TRILLION is a lot of money. %26amp; there is no way that the Fed will be able to back this $ out of the economy in time without raising rates to 45% tomorrow. How can we not have hyperinflation?
Once high rates of inflation are apparent, foreign governments will see the value of their US bonds falling and will probably begin dumping their holdings of dollars, thus accelerating hyperinflation. Once the cost of everything is skyrocketing, the government will not be able to collect taxes fast enough, and it will have to resort to printing even more money (as happened in Germany about 100 years ago when 99% of their government spending was with printed money and only 1% from tax receipts) further speeding up the hyperinflationary death spiral.
What seems to matter as far as initiating hyperinflation appears to be when government deficit spending via printing money increases to about 1/3rd of revenue. When a country crosses this line, hyperinflation starts sometime in the future, but nobody really knows how long in the future. The USA just crossed this line for the 1st time.
Inflation, or in a severe case, hyperinflation, is a local event; it does not affect currencies in foreign countries, and may even help their stock markets via shifting purchasing power to unaffected countries. It will be very bad for anyone who is not prepared.
http://swisssolution.webs.com/
If you have access to your foreign money in a foreign country, you are safe from hyperinflation, as well as bank failures that may result. In today's world, Swiss banks can issue debit or credit cards that are good just about everywhere, so you can still spend as you need to. The money you spend via debit or credit card would not be converted into the depreciating currency until the instant that the sale takes place.|||It's well known that the primary responsibility lies with the free market fundamentalism they attempted. THAT was the death knell.
Argentina agreed to the IMF, World Bank, and WTO conditions in the 90s.
"A government-controlled “privatization” effort to rescue seniors’ pensions was attempted. However, by 2001, those funds had also been raided by the government, the monies replaced by Argentina’s defaulted government bonds. "
Wow. Where should I start? Blaming government for privatization? As opposed to socialization?
Here's what it comes down to: You are taking cherry-picking to the extreme. South Korea's state owned enterprises accounted for twice as much output as Argentina's. But you aren't talking about South Korea...
Also, some of the world's best known companies have been or are owned by governments. For instance, VW's largest shareholder is one of the German states. Singapore Airlines(one of the world's most popular) is owned by the Singapore government.|||woah yes thats very similiar, scary to say the least.|||All the countries in Latin America have had slow economic growth and ended up much poorer than the US. All the countries in Western Europe have had growth rates similar to the US and have incomes and GDP per capita similar to that in the US. Since the countries in Western Europe have extensive social warfare programs and those in Latin America for the most part do not, Your explanation for why Argentina fail to grow is far from convincing. The most common explanation is that the extreme concentration of wealth in Latin American countries gave the wealthy power over the government creating policies that protected their privilege by stifling competition.
What is the cause of the world wide economic recession?
Do we really think that housing prices in the United States can lead to an economic recession throughout the entire world? That seems too far fetched to possibly believe. How can one nation's derivative crisis affect all nations unless those nations are already together in the problem. Isn't this all just media hype? And why would they want us to think the economy is in a recession? Perhaps to distract us from the failed wars in the Middle East or the falling dollar crisis. Why would the entire world be in an economic recession and hype it up? Maybe to bring in a new world order? I know you don't have much say in politics, let alone world politics, but they wouldn't be spending billions of dollars on media propaganda if they didn't need public support. And although the majority of the public is in the dark about the real issues, and the elite use this ignorance to their advantage, you as an individual can at least educate yourself on the real causes of the economic recession, namely the fiat currency that is controlled by the central banks of all countries. The major currencies, such as the dollar, yen, franc, pound, and euro, are controlled by elite powers and even the stock market is regulated by hidden hands of the government. While capitalism in theory may not last forever, it is still the basis of how the world economy operates, and now is a crucial time to be educating yourself on what true capitalism is, instead of blaming capitalism for a problem that was caused by socialist engineering and jumping on the socialist boat with all the other countries in the world. Pretty soon, America is no longer going to be the hegemony in the world, because socialism does not allow that. America will be no greater than the other European countries. So for the sake of yourself and your children, educate yourself on what is really happening in the world by looking towards alternative media, alternative religions aside from the three main religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, learn to be a productive and wealthy member of society by not burying yourself in debt and playing along with societies notion of what is official and what is authorized. And take pride in your virtuous characteristics, your ability to discriminate, and take pride in your race, no matter what it is. Remember that depression is a psychological disease and can not be cured by drugs.|||I think you are correct, the new world order is coming.
The only think we can do is not feed the beast. Question everything and live your life for yourself , not for other's ideas of what is the common good.|||Greed and corruption.|||Obama, the nut-case!|||Greed, greed, greed.|||Lawlessness of Company Executives.|||Well said Julian! As Rahm Emanuel said, "Never let a good crisis go to waste". They certainly are making good use of this one to promote socialism. Of course it never does work, does it. It will result in shared misery and they will look for someone to blame. As Margaret Thatcher once said, "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money".|||Let me state a few things.
1. Almost all new growth in the US economy was linked to real estate from 2002-2006. How did this happen? Hmm... The Fed lowered the interest rate to 1%. Ridiculous and they've done it again recently, and this time even closer to near zero. I can see another bubble coming up in a few years. To any idiot who yells greed, go get a life: that's how the market works and if you really think oil companies are gouging you, a roof exists - when you can't afford gas, you and others don't buy and they lower the price.
2. Now with the real estate crashing, there's no growth and the economy is shrinking.
3. The USA has the biggest trade deficit on the planet: it imports 5X what it exports. And guess what? All the exporting nations are getting hit and it becomes global.|||That is a easy question to answer its called: G.W Bush
The only think we can do is not feed the beast. Question everything and live your life for yourself , not for other's ideas of what is the common good.|||Greed and corruption.|||Obama, the nut-case!|||Greed, greed, greed.|||Lawlessness of Company Executives.|||Well said Julian! As Rahm Emanuel said, "Never let a good crisis go to waste". They certainly are making good use of this one to promote socialism. Of course it never does work, does it. It will result in shared misery and they will look for someone to blame. As Margaret Thatcher once said, "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money".|||Let me state a few things.
1. Almost all new growth in the US economy was linked to real estate from 2002-2006. How did this happen? Hmm... The Fed lowered the interest rate to 1%. Ridiculous and they've done it again recently, and this time even closer to near zero. I can see another bubble coming up in a few years. To any idiot who yells greed, go get a life: that's how the market works and if you really think oil companies are gouging you, a roof exists - when you can't afford gas, you and others don't buy and they lower the price.
2. Now with the real estate crashing, there's no growth and the economy is shrinking.
3. The USA has the biggest trade deficit on the planet: it imports 5X what it exports. And guess what? All the exporting nations are getting hit and it becomes global.|||That is a easy question to answer its called: G.W Bush
What do you think NEW BUCHANAN BOOK DECLARES 'END OF AMERICA'?
Please this takes a minute to read. If reading for more than a minute is a hardship please skip this question.
"America is in an existential crisis from which the nation may not survive." The U.S. Army is breaking and is too small to meet America’s global commitments. The dollar has sunk to historic lows and is being abandoned by foreign governments. U.S. manufacturing is being hollowed out. The greatest invasion in history, from the Third World, is swamping the ethno-cultural core of the country, leading to Balkanization and the loss of the Southwest to Mexico.The culture is collapsing and the nation is being deconstructed along the lines of race and class. A fiscal crisis looms as the unfunded mandates of Social Security and Medicare remain unaddressed. All these crises are hitting America at once -- a perfect storm of crises. Specifically, Buchanan contends:• Pax Americana, the era of U.S. global dominance, is over. A struggle for global hegemony has begun among the United States, China, a resurgent Russia and radical Islam.• Bush’s invasion of Iraq was a product of hubris and of ideology, a secular religion of “democratism,” to which Bush was converted in the days following 9/11.• Torn asunder by a culture war, America has now begun to break down along class, ethnic and racial lines. • The greatest threat to U.S. sovereignty and independence is the scheme of a global elite to erase America’s borders and merge the USA, Mexico and Canada into a North American Union.• Free trade is shipping jobs, factories and technology to China and plunging America into permanent dependency and unpayable debt. One of every six U.S. manufacturing jobs vanished under Bush.• “Sovereign Wealth Funds,” controlled by foreign regimes and stuffed with trillions of dollars from U.S. trade deficits, are buying up strategic corporate assets vital to America’s security.• As U.S. wages are stagnant, corporate CEOs are raking in rising pay and benefits 400 to 500 times that of their workers.• The Third World invasion through Mexico is a graver threat to our survival as one nation than anything happening in Afghanistan or Iraq.* European-Americans, 89% of the nation when JFK took the oath, are now 66% and sinking. Before 2050, America is a Third World nation.• By 2060, America will add 167 million people and 105 million immigrants will be here, triple the 37 million today. • Hispanics will be over 100 million in 2050 and concentrated in a Southwest most Mexicans believe belongs to them.Buchanan’s Recommendations:• A new foreign-defense policy that closes most of the 1000 bases overseas, reviews all alliances, and brings home U.S. troops.• A purge of neoconservative ideology and the “Cakewalk” crowd” from national power.• To avert a second Cold War, the United States should “get out of Russia’s space and get out of Russia’s face,” and shut down all U.S. bases on the soil of the former Soviet Union.• To reach a cold peace in the culture war, Buchanan urges a return to federalism and the overthrow of our judicial dictatorship by Congressionally mandated restrictions on the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court..• To end the trade deficits and save the dollar, Buchanan urges a Hamiltonian solution: a 20% Border Equity Tax on imports, with the $500 billion raised to be used to end taxation on American producers.• To prevent America becoming “a tangle of squabbling nationalities” Buchanan urges: No amnesty for the 12-20 million illegal aliens; a border fence from San Diego to Brownsville; Congressional declarations that children born to illegal aliens are not citizens and English is the language of the United States; and a “timeout” on all immigration.
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash9pb.htm|||He's totally right !!!
But Americans are a sleep at the switch .
There none so blind as those that will not see .|||I can't stand the man, but I have never heard better sense from anyone else regarding the looming fate of this country.
|||We Canadians don't want to join the US, as we would lose all of our natural resources.
|||sounds like you found a good, weak enemy to rally around. the poor indiginous mexican. good going. it's smart to make a scapegoat out of the weak and powerless. that way they can't fight back.|||Buchanan is taking your money and laughing all the way to the bank.
Every four years he rolls up the sleves of his brown shirt and writes a book blaming everyone who even has a decent tan for the coming destruction of Freedom, Religion, God, Motherhood, Apple Pie, Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Sometimes he even "runs for President" so he can get Federal Matching Funds for his book tour. Guess he skipped that step this year. Pity, it was fun to watch gullible right wingers send him donations to promote his book tour (oh excuse me, campaign) as his sister played "Press Secretary" and "Campaign Manager".
Then he says lots of stupid things so as to get lots of air time to further promote his book. Then he drops out of the race without getting a single vote, and his sister winds up as a talking head on CNN... saying stupid things while taking huge checks from the same "biased liberal media" she trashed out during the book tour/campaign.
Lots of stupid right wingers run out and buy his book. They push it on their friends thinking they are being "brave" and "patriotic" and "saving the nation" and "waking up the country" when all they are doing is flacking for a book that had no original ideas or work in it... a regurgitation of prior work that is logic free, and something Pat only wrote because he wants a second house in Vail.
Dude, you are being taken. He really only cares about the money. That's it... he's in it for the money.
And you are spending your free time creating free on line ads for him.|||If you know what you're reading, there is nothing to back this information except OPINIONS. That's all it is. If he wants to state his predictions intelligently, he'd say how he came to those conclusions.
BTW - There is nothing wrong with this country being mixed in race and ethnicity. I've learned and grown so much from my ethnic friends... (being military, I've had this opportunity and I'm grateful for it!)
And another HUGE clue to this guy being waaaaaaaaay off base...
There are NO U.S. Bases on the soil of the former Soviet Union. I know this because our military GOES there on a regular basis and has to land in THEIR airports EVERY Time.
I hope you're not a supporter of this article...
And the way the guy jumps around from point to point is another clue he doesn't have a stable argument about any of it... People like him irritate the **** out of me - and I'm a NICE person!!|||I assume you know that Buchanan and Ron Paul have a lot in common.
They are both right.|||Some people are so oblivious to what is happening around them it is STAGGERING(look at the clueless answerers above me). This is happening folks, whether you like it or not, and it looks like we are at the climax in our history. Buchanan is not a lunatic, not a partisan, not a racist, he is a person with COMMON SENSE and frankly is a GENIUS. NAFTA, globalization, illegal immigration, declining white population, and everything else. This is so true.
Again, it is scary not only how this book is revealing what is happening and will happen, but that a decent minority of people have NO CLUE as to what is happening, and they call him a lunatic. OPEN YOUR eyes you idiots(people who don't believe/understand him).
Buchanan is right. Google NAFTA. Google lllegal immigation. Google everything he talks about. Research it a little.You may be in for a suprise.|||Some people can’t get their head out of the sand no matter what. Jobs are disappearing, wages are shrinking, hope for a better life for the poor is vastly dimished with millions upon millions of illegal invaders flooding the country. Good bye, middle class. Hello, third world nation!|||Buchanan is a full blown racist.
First he used to pick on Blacks, now he found an easier target in poor Mexicans since he's too scared of Blacks.|||right....all the US's problems stem from pedro the gardner and lupe the maid.....nothing to do with overspending and not savings my middle-class americans'''or gas addicted SUV driving upper class...or meth addicted America that had surged crime......its alot easier to point the finger
"America is in an existential crisis from which the nation may not survive." The U.S. Army is breaking and is too small to meet America’s global commitments. The dollar has sunk to historic lows and is being abandoned by foreign governments. U.S. manufacturing is being hollowed out. The greatest invasion in history, from the Third World, is swamping the ethno-cultural core of the country, leading to Balkanization and the loss of the Southwest to Mexico.The culture is collapsing and the nation is being deconstructed along the lines of race and class. A fiscal crisis looms as the unfunded mandates of Social Security and Medicare remain unaddressed. All these crises are hitting America at once -- a perfect storm of crises. Specifically, Buchanan contends:• Pax Americana, the era of U.S. global dominance, is over. A struggle for global hegemony has begun among the United States, China, a resurgent Russia and radical Islam.• Bush’s invasion of Iraq was a product of hubris and of ideology, a secular religion of “democratism,” to which Bush was converted in the days following 9/11.• Torn asunder by a culture war, America has now begun to break down along class, ethnic and racial lines. • The greatest threat to U.S. sovereignty and independence is the scheme of a global elite to erase America’s borders and merge the USA, Mexico and Canada into a North American Union.• Free trade is shipping jobs, factories and technology to China and plunging America into permanent dependency and unpayable debt. One of every six U.S. manufacturing jobs vanished under Bush.• “Sovereign Wealth Funds,” controlled by foreign regimes and stuffed with trillions of dollars from U.S. trade deficits, are buying up strategic corporate assets vital to America’s security.• As U.S. wages are stagnant, corporate CEOs are raking in rising pay and benefits 400 to 500 times that of their workers.• The Third World invasion through Mexico is a graver threat to our survival as one nation than anything happening in Afghanistan or Iraq.* European-Americans, 89% of the nation when JFK took the oath, are now 66% and sinking. Before 2050, America is a Third World nation.• By 2060, America will add 167 million people and 105 million immigrants will be here, triple the 37 million today. • Hispanics will be over 100 million in 2050 and concentrated in a Southwest most Mexicans believe belongs to them.Buchanan’s Recommendations:• A new foreign-defense policy that closes most of the 1000 bases overseas, reviews all alliances, and brings home U.S. troops.• A purge of neoconservative ideology and the “Cakewalk” crowd” from national power.• To avert a second Cold War, the United States should “get out of Russia’s space and get out of Russia’s face,” and shut down all U.S. bases on the soil of the former Soviet Union.• To reach a cold peace in the culture war, Buchanan urges a return to federalism and the overthrow of our judicial dictatorship by Congressionally mandated restrictions on the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court..• To end the trade deficits and save the dollar, Buchanan urges a Hamiltonian solution: a 20% Border Equity Tax on imports, with the $500 billion raised to be used to end taxation on American producers.• To prevent America becoming “a tangle of squabbling nationalities” Buchanan urges: No amnesty for the 12-20 million illegal aliens; a border fence from San Diego to Brownsville; Congressional declarations that children born to illegal aliens are not citizens and English is the language of the United States; and a “timeout” on all immigration.
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash9pb.htm|||He's totally right !!!
But Americans are a sleep at the switch .
There none so blind as those that will not see .|||I can't stand the man, but I have never heard better sense from anyone else regarding the looming fate of this country.
Report Abuse
|||We Canadians don't want to join the US, as we would lose all of our natural resources.
Report Abuse
|||sounds like you found a good, weak enemy to rally around. the poor indiginous mexican. good going. it's smart to make a scapegoat out of the weak and powerless. that way they can't fight back.|||Buchanan is taking your money and laughing all the way to the bank.
Every four years he rolls up the sleves of his brown shirt and writes a book blaming everyone who even has a decent tan for the coming destruction of Freedom, Religion, God, Motherhood, Apple Pie, Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Sometimes he even "runs for President" so he can get Federal Matching Funds for his book tour. Guess he skipped that step this year. Pity, it was fun to watch gullible right wingers send him donations to promote his book tour (oh excuse me, campaign) as his sister played "Press Secretary" and "Campaign Manager".
Then he says lots of stupid things so as to get lots of air time to further promote his book. Then he drops out of the race without getting a single vote, and his sister winds up as a talking head on CNN... saying stupid things while taking huge checks from the same "biased liberal media" she trashed out during the book tour/campaign.
Lots of stupid right wingers run out and buy his book. They push it on their friends thinking they are being "brave" and "patriotic" and "saving the nation" and "waking up the country" when all they are doing is flacking for a book that had no original ideas or work in it... a regurgitation of prior work that is logic free, and something Pat only wrote because he wants a second house in Vail.
Dude, you are being taken. He really only cares about the money. That's it... he's in it for the money.
And you are spending your free time creating free on line ads for him.|||If you know what you're reading, there is nothing to back this information except OPINIONS. That's all it is. If he wants to state his predictions intelligently, he'd say how he came to those conclusions.
BTW - There is nothing wrong with this country being mixed in race and ethnicity. I've learned and grown so much from my ethnic friends... (being military, I've had this opportunity and I'm grateful for it!)
And another HUGE clue to this guy being waaaaaaaaay off base...
There are NO U.S. Bases on the soil of the former Soviet Union. I know this because our military GOES there on a regular basis and has to land in THEIR airports EVERY Time.
I hope you're not a supporter of this article...
And the way the guy jumps around from point to point is another clue he doesn't have a stable argument about any of it... People like him irritate the **** out of me - and I'm a NICE person!!|||I assume you know that Buchanan and Ron Paul have a lot in common.
They are both right.|||Some people are so oblivious to what is happening around them it is STAGGERING(look at the clueless answerers above me). This is happening folks, whether you like it or not, and it looks like we are at the climax in our history. Buchanan is not a lunatic, not a partisan, not a racist, he is a person with COMMON SENSE and frankly is a GENIUS. NAFTA, globalization, illegal immigration, declining white population, and everything else. This is so true.
Again, it is scary not only how this book is revealing what is happening and will happen, but that a decent minority of people have NO CLUE as to what is happening, and they call him a lunatic. OPEN YOUR eyes you idiots(people who don't believe/understand him).
Buchanan is right. Google NAFTA. Google lllegal immigation. Google everything he talks about. Research it a little.You may be in for a suprise.|||Some people can’t get their head out of the sand no matter what. Jobs are disappearing, wages are shrinking, hope for a better life for the poor is vastly dimished with millions upon millions of illegal invaders flooding the country. Good bye, middle class. Hello, third world nation!|||Buchanan is a full blown racist.
First he used to pick on Blacks, now he found an easier target in poor Mexicans since he's too scared of Blacks.|||right....all the US's problems stem from pedro the gardner and lupe the maid.....nothing to do with overspending and not savings my middle-class americans'''or gas addicted SUV driving upper class...or meth addicted America that had surged crime......its alot easier to point the finger
Africa After 1945 HELPP?
19. Why did the U.S. support the tyrannical reign of Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire?
A. The U.S. did not support Mobutu Sese Seko. B. The U.S. was afraid of sanctions being imposed on them by Zaire
C. He was an ally in the Cold War and also provided the U.S. with easy, unregulated access to his country's mineral exports. D. No answer is correct.
20. Why did many of the new African leaders support the Communist doctrine of the Soviets?
A. The Soviet Union provided many of the African leaders with money and military support. B. Communist doctrine was appealing to them after suffering years of exploitation and inequality at the hands of European capitalists. C. The Soviet Union criticized the brutality and imperialism of the colonialists. D. All of the answers are correct.
21. Which African country's government sponsors death squads known as the the Janjawid, who kill and terrorie farmers in Darfur?
A. Nigeria B. Sudan
C. Rwanda C. The Democratic Republic of Congo
22. Nelson Mandela was an active member of which group that fought to get rid of apartheid in South Africa?
A. The Black Panthers B. The African National Congress
C. The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) D. The South African Liberation Movement
23. Which of the following actions did the U.S. and UN undertake to halt the killings in Rwanda?
A. They imposed stringent economic and political sanctions on Rwanda. B. They conducted air raids, bombing several Hutu villages.
C. As soon as the crisis started, they sent in large numbers of peacekeeping troops. D. No answer is correct.
24. During the time Nelson Mandela was president of South Africa, he worked tirelessly to _____.
A. end racial and ethnic conflicts B. encourage wealthy, professional whites to stay in South Africa
C. build a stronger and wealthier nation D. All of the answers are correct.
25. How does South Africa differ from Nigeria, the Congo, and most other African countries since independence?
A. It has never experienced a coup d鈥櫭﹖at. B. It has a flourishing economy that attracts workers from all over Africa. C. It has a diversified economy and a well-developed tourist industry. D. All of the answers are correct.
26. All of the following are challenges faced by Africa today EXCEPT _____.
A. a stagnant economy due to political unrest and inadequate financial resources B. corrupt government officials stealing state funds for themselves
C. demand for the continent's exports exceeds supply D. it is home to the largest population of AIDS sufferers
27. Which of the following statements about AIDS in Africa is true?
A. As of 2006, less than 1 million people have died of AIDS in Africa. B. Africa's elderly are the most susceptible to the virus that causes AIDS.
C. Only children die of AIDS in Africa. D. Africa houses over 60% of the world's AIDS population.
28. Which of the following factors has NOT contributed to the spread of AIDS in Africa?
A. Lack of education B. Poverty
C. Overindulgence in rich food D. A large population of migrant, male workers
29. Which of the following is NOT an effect of corruption in Africa?
A. Skilled and educated people spend time engaging in corruption rather than productive labor. B. The corrupt minor elite are able to maintain a tight hold on power and wealth.
C. Other countries are willing to increase aid because the public funds have been diverted. D. Money intended for public use and national development end up in private pockets.
30. Which of the following is NOT a reason that African countries cannot repay their debts?
A. Lower prices are being paid for African exports, so African countries are poorer. B. The lenders have lowered interest rates and forgiven parts of Africa's debt. C. Oil prices have increased, so Africans have to use more of their money for oil imports and have less money for paying off the debt. D. They are locked in a vicious cycle where they need to borrow more money in order to make payments on existing debts.
31. One good argument against forgiving Africa's debt would be because _____.
A. there is no guarantee that the African states will use the money saved to help their poor and develop their economies B. Africa has the money to repay her debt, but chooses not to do so
C. forgiving the debt hurts the poorest Africans the most D. the World Bank and the IMF are almost bankrupt and they need the money
32. All of the following are challeges for Africa, EXCEPT _____.
A. lack of natural resources B. an enormous debt burden
C.the AIDS epidemic D.corrupt governments|||One or two of these, I might have answered; but ALL of them? Please, do your own homework.
A. The U.S. did not support Mobutu Sese Seko. B. The U.S. was afraid of sanctions being imposed on them by Zaire
C. He was an ally in the Cold War and also provided the U.S. with easy, unregulated access to his country's mineral exports. D. No answer is correct.
20. Why did many of the new African leaders support the Communist doctrine of the Soviets?
A. The Soviet Union provided many of the African leaders with money and military support. B. Communist doctrine was appealing to them after suffering years of exploitation and inequality at the hands of European capitalists. C. The Soviet Union criticized the brutality and imperialism of the colonialists. D. All of the answers are correct.
21. Which African country's government sponsors death squads known as the the Janjawid, who kill and terrorie farmers in Darfur?
A. Nigeria B. Sudan
C. Rwanda C. The Democratic Republic of Congo
22. Nelson Mandela was an active member of which group that fought to get rid of apartheid in South Africa?
A. The Black Panthers B. The African National Congress
C. The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) D. The South African Liberation Movement
23. Which of the following actions did the U.S. and UN undertake to halt the killings in Rwanda?
A. They imposed stringent economic and political sanctions on Rwanda. B. They conducted air raids, bombing several Hutu villages.
C. As soon as the crisis started, they sent in large numbers of peacekeeping troops. D. No answer is correct.
24. During the time Nelson Mandela was president of South Africa, he worked tirelessly to _____.
A. end racial and ethnic conflicts B. encourage wealthy, professional whites to stay in South Africa
C. build a stronger and wealthier nation D. All of the answers are correct.
25. How does South Africa differ from Nigeria, the Congo, and most other African countries since independence?
A. It has never experienced a coup d鈥櫭﹖at. B. It has a flourishing economy that attracts workers from all over Africa. C. It has a diversified economy and a well-developed tourist industry. D. All of the answers are correct.
26. All of the following are challenges faced by Africa today EXCEPT _____.
A. a stagnant economy due to political unrest and inadequate financial resources B. corrupt government officials stealing state funds for themselves
C. demand for the continent's exports exceeds supply D. it is home to the largest population of AIDS sufferers
27. Which of the following statements about AIDS in Africa is true?
A. As of 2006, less than 1 million people have died of AIDS in Africa. B. Africa's elderly are the most susceptible to the virus that causes AIDS.
C. Only children die of AIDS in Africa. D. Africa houses over 60% of the world's AIDS population.
28. Which of the following factors has NOT contributed to the spread of AIDS in Africa?
A. Lack of education B. Poverty
C. Overindulgence in rich food D. A large population of migrant, male workers
29. Which of the following is NOT an effect of corruption in Africa?
A. Skilled and educated people spend time engaging in corruption rather than productive labor. B. The corrupt minor elite are able to maintain a tight hold on power and wealth.
C. Other countries are willing to increase aid because the public funds have been diverted. D. Money intended for public use and national development end up in private pockets.
30. Which of the following is NOT a reason that African countries cannot repay their debts?
A. Lower prices are being paid for African exports, so African countries are poorer. B. The lenders have lowered interest rates and forgiven parts of Africa's debt. C. Oil prices have increased, so Africans have to use more of their money for oil imports and have less money for paying off the debt. D. They are locked in a vicious cycle where they need to borrow more money in order to make payments on existing debts.
31. One good argument against forgiving Africa's debt would be because _____.
A. there is no guarantee that the African states will use the money saved to help their poor and develop their economies B. Africa has the money to repay her debt, but chooses not to do so
C. forgiving the debt hurts the poorest Africans the most D. the World Bank and the IMF are almost bankrupt and they need the money
32. All of the following are challeges for Africa, EXCEPT _____.
A. lack of natural resources B. an enormous debt burden
C.the AIDS epidemic D.corrupt governments|||One or two of these, I might have answered; but ALL of them? Please, do your own homework.
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