West’s neoliberal ‘age of abundance’ is over, as war and sanctions boomerang home

Aug 27, 2022 — France’s President Emmanuel Macron, a former banker, warned “we are living the end of what could have seemed an era of abundance.” Western wars and sanctions are boomeranging back at home. The neoliberal phase of capitalism is collapsing.

Neoliberalism has lost the key pillars it was built on: cheap energy and raw materials from Russia, cheap labor and consumer goods from China, an unsustainable bubble of household debt, low to zero interest rates, and Washington’s ability to organize regime-change operations in any country where a government tried a socialistic or state-led economic model.

West’s neoliberal ‘age of abundance’ is over, as war and sanctions boomerang home via Multipolarista

U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Falls To 35-Year Low as American crude heads overseas at a record pace

U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Falls To 35-Year Low

According to the Institute of Energy Research, the SPR is expected to shrink to a 40-year low by the end of October, with inventories then at 358 million barrels, compared to 621 million barrels a year ago.

Related:

US oil exports to China and India jump as American crude heads overseas at a record pace

The only thing that climbed as high as gas prices earlier this year was the disapproval of US President Joe Biden 😂

Biden was wrongly blamed for rising gas prices. But he doesn’t deserve much credit for the drop

Media Darling Volodymyr Zelensky Kidnaps Student Dissidents, Bans Opposition Parties, Shuts Down Independent Media, Commits Egregious War Crimes and Imposes Regressive Labor Laws

More Ukrainian Soldiers Continue to Defect as Eastern Ukrainians See Better Future with Russian Federation

Media Darling Volodymyr Zelensky Kidnaps Student Dissidents, Bans Opposition Parties, Shuts Down Independent Media, Commits Egregious War Crimes and Imposes Regressive Labor Laws

Calling a recession and blaming it on interest rates

The latest US GDP figures for second quarter of 2022 renewed the debate about whether the US economy was in a recession or not. Real GDP contracted in the second quarter of this year by a 0.9% annualised rate (or by 0.2% quarter over quarter). That meant the US economy had contracted for two successive quarters, and so ‘technically’ (by that definition) was in a recession. Real GDP is now up only 1.6% from Q2 2021. And business investment is slowing, up only 3.5% from this time last year, the slowest rate since the end of the COVID slump in 2020.

Calling a recession and blaming it on interest rates

‘EU may cut financial aid to Ukraine’

The funds promised to Ukraine by the EU have been delayed due to concerns over the bloc’s own economic troubles and infighting in Brussels, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the discussions.

‘EU may cut financial aid to Ukraine’

H/T: THE NEW DARK AGE

Related:

EU Stalls on Ukraine Aid as Fears Spike of Gas Crisis at Home

The European Commission also committed in May to finance the bulk of the reconstruction of the country, which could amount to $750 billion, according to Ukrainian government estimates. That could prove an even thornier debate for the EU as there’s no agreement over how to raise the funds. The commission’s offer scared some member states, wary of the massive effort required to rebuild the country and potential corruption issues, people familiar with the discussion said.

EU economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni told ministers during the closed-door meeting that national governments need to ensure that the economic response to the war’s fallout is strong enough to avoid the risk of fatigue among Europeans, an EU official said. Gentiloni told reporters on Thursday that governments have a “duty” to mitigate the impact of higher prices, in particular of the energy bills, on the poor.

Trying to ward off any more protests, huh?! 🤷🏼‍♀️

Spanish lawmaker: NATO subordinates Europe to US, pushes war on China, enriches weapons companies

Spain’s leftist member of parliament Gerardo Pisarello said the NATO summit was organized to “enrichen the weapons trade” and “reinforce the geostrategic priorities of the United States … above all to weaken China.” He condemned US “vassalage,” calling for a new “autonomous” European security model based on respect for the Global South.

Spanish lawmaker: NATO subordinates Europe to US, pushes war on China, enriches weapons companies