So who's gonna be the chosen one in the cast of characters running against the incumbent? If you lean toward the most money/best organized, your above theory melts.
romney/bachman ticket looses to the big O
So who's gonna be the chosen one in the cast of characters running against the incumbent? If you lean toward the most money/best organized, your above theory melts.
Phew. Glad we avoided a near-term disaster in favor of long term complete destruction. Thank GOD!“The fact that the Greek parliament has passed the government’s medium-term fiscal plan clearly reduces the chances of a near-term disaster,” said Ben May, economist at Capital Economics in London. “Greece should now receive its next bailout tranche in early July, covering its financing needs until at least mid August and averting an imminent default.”
In other words it's just a matter of time before the EU dissolves. No shit Sherlock.Still, bond investors see it as nearly inevitable that Greece, and maybe other debt-laden peripheral countries, will eventually detach from the euro-zone after a very high cost to Europe, he said.
Phew, again. Thank god the bankers don't have to take haircuts today. Thank god their status quo has been preserved for a few more precious months to squeeze what little blood is left in the turnip that is Greece. Thank god for the American slaves who are footing a big piece of this bill that will do nothing, but prolong Greece's misery.“Its not a question of if, but of when Greece will default,” Brady said. “At some point rather soon, there is going to be a move by European politicians and policy makers to save core Europe at the expensive of peripheral Europe. The cots of saving Greece and Portugal will be Pyrrhic in nature.”
In Athens,Greek lawmakers passed a package of additional austerity measures and asset sales in a bid to avert a potentially devastating default.
Wasn't Mubarak's son responsible for investing his own country to smithereens?
there will be no economic collapse; only a fluctuation of economic strength, that is, stronger economies will surface out of the weakened ones, some countries will have rough times, others better, some people within x or y country will loose and others will win... it comes and goes...
life goes on.
go smoke now
peace
Tell that to the Argentines of 2001, it sure felt like a collapse to them.
Yes. The FED has done the same to us. Create bubbles and blow them up. Let the banks make big bucks on the way up and let the proles realize the losses on the way down. They fucked everyone in Great Depression #1. This is round #2.
Our monetary system has been the shits for 100 years. This is just the last hoora. The dollar has just about lost all of it's value since the FED has taken over issuance of currency in 1913. When it reaches 0 or negative return in the next ~10 years the party will be over.
So we are all in agreement that the US is not a democracy.
It is a Constitutional Republic. Leaders elected by the people make laws within the bounds of our written constitution.
Democracy sucks balls yet it's all you'll hear in school and on the media. Democracy democracy democracy. Spread democracy blah blah blah. It's complete bs.
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding on whats for dinner." (not mine, I forget who to give credit to).
ok DB you are right we are ALL wrong
we live in a democracy and republic only means without a king...
dictionaries be damned!!!
DB has ruled the constitutional republic has been disbanded! we are a democracy!!!!
The International Futures Programme’s project on “Future Global Shocks” originated in 2009 with a series of consultations among partners focusing on follow-up work to the decade-long research into risk management.
The awareness of risk management in government and the private sector has risen dramatically in recent years. Large-scale disasters have been recognised as challenges to public policy, usually at the national or regional level. The concept of “global shocks” takes account of a different pattern of risk: cascading risks that become active threats as they spread across global systems, whether these arise in health, climate, social or financial systems. Little work has been done on risks present in large-scale system interdependencies and the propagation of risks across global systems. Among the more important findings of this work for public policy is recognition that surveillance has now emerged as a key component in risk
assessment and management. New knowledge management tools, modelling and data arrays provide unprecedented opportunities for anticipating some important global threats, and are increasingly sought by public policy managers worldwide. Secondly, there is a heightened role for security agencies in collaboration with regulatory agencies to use, adapt and implement risk-assessment tools in designing more resilient systems at the national and international
levels. This report contributes directly to highlighting these new trends.
This report on future global shocks begins the next phase of OEC D reviews of riskmanagement policies. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis global leaders are acutely aware that another systemic shock could severely challenge economic recovery, social
cohesion and even political stability. Visible indicators of vulnerability persist in the forms of economic imbalances, volatile commodity prices and currencies, colossal public debts and severe budget deficits. Quarterly indicators on economic recovery are closely scrutinised for signs of more chronic, structural weaknesses that place stress upon the social fabric, our final cushion of stability. Less visible than these metrics are the drivers of vulnerability that tightly weave interconnections between commercial supply chains, technological systems and investment vehicles underlying the global economy. Unanticipated events such as natural disasters, failures in key technical systems or malicious attacks could disrupt these complex systems and produce shocks that propagate around the world. There is a palpable sense of urgency to identify and assess risks arising from vulnerabilities in these crucial systems, and to develop policies that will bolster efforts for prevention, early warning and response to ensure sustained economic prosperity. This urgency explains the demand for OEC D to deliver strategic advice on preparing for and responding to potential global shocks mired in uncertainties. While the list of potential global risks is quite long, this report focuses on a pressing shortlist, i.e. the relatively few that begin suddenly and result in severe, wide-scale disruptions or impacts.
The report draws primarily from analysis contained in five case studies on different types of events that could lead to global shocks, and a background paper that provides an overview of concepts, ideas, and examples of extreme events. All six background papers Future global shocks – © OEC D 2011
4 – Foreword are available separately on the OEC D website:
www.oecd.org/futures.
The report’s contents are also based on input derived from consultations with the project’s Steering Group and the results of independent research conducted by the OEC D Secretariat. The Steering Group selected the case studies’ topics on financial crises, pandemics and cyber risks for their potential to impact global systems and relevance in connection with recent events. The case studies on social unrest and geomagnetic storms were also commissioned to ensure that the report’s conclusions were applicable to a broader range of events that might produce global shocks.
This report is part of the pioneering work of the International Futures Programme on risk. The OEC D first began to analyse the policy implications of emerging and systemic risks in 1999 as part of its mission to build-up the organisation’s foresight capacity. Since
then, OEC D countries have suffered major international terrorist attacks in 2001, 2003 and 2005, unprecedented destruction during hurricane Katrina in 2005, the worldwide financial meltdown in 2008 that reshaped and expanded the number of key constituents of global economic governance, the first declared pandemic in over 40 years in 2009, and most recently the Tohuku earthquakes, tsunami and ensuing nuclear reactor accidents at the Fukushima power plant. Never before have global risks seemed so complex, the
stakes so high, and the need for international co-operation to deal with them so apparent. Throughout, the International Futures Programme has carried the torch in analysis of global risks along with its committed network of partners from government, industry,
academia and civil society. In addition to its seminal report, “Emerging Risks in the 21st century: An Agenda for Action”, and “Large-scale Disasters: Lessons Learned”, it has published thematic reports and country case studies on the underlying economic, technological, environmental and social trends driving the emergence of global risks. The analysis and main conclusions from these publications hold true today, which underlines the need
for policy makers to pay added attention to risks that are ever more present and ominous.
The Project team was composed of Michael Oborne, Barrie Stevens, Pierre Alain
Schieb, David Sawaya and Jack Radisch, who was the principal author of the report. Pierre Alain Schieb, and Daniel Hoffman, then chief economist of Zurich Financial Services, developed some key concepts for the project; these were then discussed within the
International Futures Programme and with other OEC D partners with a view to launching a new project. The original Steering Group for the project included public and private sector participants as well as research professionals. Matthew Conroy developed the interesting “Tool Kit” for the project. Tom Van Nuffelen, Nadège Braure and Alexandra Hallas-Button provided valuable research assistance. Jennifer Stein and Gill Omeara performed much appreciated copyediting and publication support, Peter Vogelpoel created the layout, and Anita Gibson and Rossella Iannizzotto provided logistics support. The Steering Group of the project met under my chairmanship over the 18-month period of the project.
Paris, June 2011
Nope. Your definition fits your parameters.
You conveniently miss the point that lawmakers are freely elected by majorities. Not to mention that laws constitute the majority of lawmakers' votes.
What qualifies as democracy in your eyes, every voter determining the outcome of every law? There would be no need for representatives and the idea of efficient representation flies out the window.
If you weren't pursuing such disparate political ideals, you'd see how the majority (democratic) process works.
What do you want, a king?
You conveniently miss the point that lawmakers are freely elected by majorities. Not to mention that laws constitute the majority of lawmakers' votes.
?
What does a king have to do with this?
Your argument doesn't make the case we're not a democratic republic. Some of you guys actually think that democratic government means democrat government for chist sakes, lol.No, its not by my parameters. It just is. Don't you think the Pledge of Allegiance would of said "... and to the democracy for which it stands, ..." if we were a democracy?!
There's something about elective representation you don't get. Or your representatives aren't representing your interests. Maybe it's a bit of both.Democracy is the rule of the people. We the people do not rule! We just don't, plain and simple.
You've got an argument that the uneducated voter drags us from expansion to destruction, rinse/repeat. Some folks don't pay attention to history and repeat it every other vote. Somehow the other team will work towards similar goals, better than the other side did... lol. We've got a pig being dragged between goalposts and nobody scores. But the uneducated voter guarantees stalemate will never cease, while a vocal minority refuses to grasp that tax cuts isn't economic strategy.And thank god we don't! The way public opinion is so easily swayed is outright terrifying, and to think of empowering that body? Gives me nightmares, I'll gladly keep Obama Ooo that sent shivers up my spine lol..
yawnWe may have democratic elections (where it applies, e.g. governors. Not the president.) but our form of government just isn't a democracy.
Democracy is not mentioned anywhere in the Declaration of Independence or the US Constitution.
You might have a point threat PA is unconstitutional. Next time a cowboy runs 'round and tells everybody to be afraid, be afraid of the cowboy.The republic is here to affirm and protect our inalienable rights while a democracy fold under pressure.
The sad thing is, our republic is failing considering the PATRIOT ACT and other fraudulent legislation.