David Dodge, the Governor of the Bank of Canada (ie. Canada’s Alan Greenspan), yesterday made some very interesting statements on the effect current fiscal policy in the US and abroad will have on the worlds’ economy, including of course Canada, and what he feels needs to change in order for things to get back to a more reasonable situation.

The CBC has an overview here.

You can read Mr. Dodge’s speech here.

Some choice quotes:

… the management of large, global economic imbalances [has] become the subject of increasing concern among market participants and policy-makers around the world. I am referring, of course, to the persistent and growing current account deficit in the United States that is mirrored by large current account surpluses elsewhere, especially in Asia.

…. over the medium term, imbalances of this magnitude are not sustainable. At some point, they will have to be resolved. Why? For one thing, a country’s external indebtedness cannot keep growing indefinitely as a share of its GDP.

These imbalances will ultimately be resolved, either in an orderly, or in an abrupt, disorderly way.

… there are reasons to worry about imbalances in a global context. To begin with, market-based means of resolving international imbalances are somewhat less effective and potentially more disruptive. This is because there is less labour mobility across international borders, and so larger movements in relative wages and prices are needed in order for them to act as an equilibrating mechanism. Further, certain national and international policies, as well as interventions in the foreign exchange market [can you say China?], have been inhibiting the necessary relative wage and price movements. Indeed, some of these policies are making the situation worse. And so the concern is that the longer these imbalances remain unresolved, the greater the chances that the ultimate resolution will be disorderly. Equally troubling, there is a greater chance of protectionist measures that can seriously damage the global economy.

… all countries must pursue fiscal policies aimed at producing a sustainable public debt-to-GDP ratio. Where structural fiscal balance is absent, it should be achieved; where it is present, it should be maintained. There are some real problems on this front in the United States, in Europe, in Japan, and in some developing countries.

Read the rest, it’s not overly long, and worth the read.

The questions he raises are even more interesting given the ongoing post-Non turmoil in France and how that might affect it’s economic picture. Let’s hope for that “orderly adjustment”.

Like a little yappy dog that just won’t go away, Hugo Chavez is barking at George Bush and the United States and it’s no doubt a real annoyance for the US Administration.

Chavez has already become a thorn in Bushs’ side with his outspoken friendship of Fidel Castro, and his oil deals with China, but now Chavez is going a step further and trumpeting a new relationship with Iran to build Nuclear reactors. He said that Venezuela and Brazil were looking to partner as well in the effort, this was quickly denied by Brazil.

It’s probably nothing more than grandstanding by Chavez to make himself look more important in the Hemisphere. He knows that if the US supported opposition in his country attempted a coup, there would be a backlash against America from the rest of Latin America. And being one of the 5 largest sources of oil for the US means that he can say pretty much whatever he wants and America simply can’t throw up much of a protest.

Chavez is also threatening to refuse entry of US Officials into Venezuela if the US continues to ban entry of Venezuelas’ top Supreme Court Judge into the United States.

And finally, Iran annouced today that they have tested a solid-fuel missile that matches their current 2000km Shahab-3. Solid fuel technology is a key stepping stone towards producing multi-stage rockets and missiles that can then of course reach even farther. How long before Hugo declares his intention to buy one?

It’s like kids in a playground isn’t it?

What kind I say.. I’m just a sheep following the herd. I saw this really cool tip on creating “mini-tabs” with CSS on my buddies blog at DigitalMediaMinute and couldn’t help but apply it here!

I really hate how Wordpress (the software that makes this site possible) delivers everything via lists. Lists are so ugly. So this tip is perfect for turning those ugly lists into nice navigation bars!

My design skills are not exactly top notch, but I think having the Categories and Pages available across the top makes a lot more sense and is a lot easier to use than the endless lists down the sides of the page. You’ll also notice that there are less articles on the front page, and there is a search bar at the bottom so that you can search for anything in past articles that I’ve written.

So there you have it… Murkyview Style 2.0!

It’s been tested and works best in Firefox 1.x, Safari 1.x and 2.0, and Internet Explorer 6.

If you notice any problems with the site just let me know either through the comments or email.
Regular scheduled blogging will now resume!

Cheers.

Chris

Today, the French electorate voted in a Referendum on the EU Constitution. I’m not intimitely aware of the details of the constitution, but I am familiar the French mindset given that I’ve travelled there a number of times and my step-father is a self-proclaimed francophile.

The BBC’s article has some good information and links to the EU charter. They also have a “What Non means” article that’s worth reading.

From what I can tell this doesn’t spell the doom of the EU as such. I believe that the French understand that strong Europe that is unified monetarily and economically would be a benefit to them in the long term. However, they have made it clear that the constitution in its’ current form threatens their social network too greatly and must be recreated to address those concerns.

It is interesting that Germany ratified the treaty on Friday. Perhaps this is a function of the lagging German economy and the lingering effects of East and West Germanys’ rough ride to amalgamation.

Whatever happens todays vote is a milestone in the ongoing experiment that has been the EU. There will no doubt be more events to come. But first, we’ll see if Jaques Chiracs government survives this effective vote of non-confidence.

Wow.

I gotta say, even I thought that I was going a little over the top with my assertions that President George W. Bush and his cohorts should arrested and tried for their crimes.

But now I see that Amnesty Internationals annual report, and their Executive Director in the US, agrees with me (though on other grounds).

Statement Of Dr. William F. Schulz Executive Director, Amnesty International USA, May 25, 2005

The refusal of the US government to conduct a truly independent investigation into the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison and other detention centers is tantamount to a whitewash, if not a cover-up, of these disgraceful crimes. It is a failure of leadership to prosecute only enlisted soldiers and a few officers while protecting those who designed a deliberate government policy of torture and authorized interrogation techniques that constitute torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The government’s investigation must climb all the way to the top of the military and civilian chain of command.

If the US government continues to shirk its responsibility, Amnesty International calls on foreign governments to uphold their obligations under international law by investigating all senior US officials involved in the torture scandal. And if those investigations support prosecution, the governments should arrest any official who enters their territory and begin legal proceedings against them. The apparent high-level architects of torture should think twice before planning their next vacation to places like Acapulco or the French Riviera because they may find themselves under arrest as Augusto Pinochet famously did in London in 1998.

So who’s on the list?

• Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
• William Haynes, the Defense Department General Counsel
• Douglas Feith, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
• Major General Geoffrey Miller, Commander of the Joint Task Force Guantanamo
• George Tenet, former CIA Director
• Alberto Gonzales, US Attorney General
• Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, former Commander of US Forces in Iraq
• Captain Carolyn Wood

plus,

While this is by no means an exhaustive list of those who deserve investigation, we would be remiss if we ignored President George W. Bush’s role in the scandal. After all, his Administration has repeatedly justified its detention and interrogation policies as legitimate under the President’s powers as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. And President Bush signed a February 2002 memo stating that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to Taliban or al Qaeda detainees and that their humane treatment should be contingent on “military necessity.” This set the stage for the tragic abuses of detainees.

Without full and impartial investigations of all key players, the torture scandal will come to be as indelibly associated with the Bush Presidency as Teapot Dome is with Warren Harding’s or Watergate with Richard Nixon’s.

What’s more, it is the height of hypocrisy for the US government itself to use the very torture techniques that it routinely condemns in other countries.

He really says it all for me.

I have nothing more to add.

Now the question is… does anyone out there actually have the guts to arrest one of these men on their next trip abroad.

How about a Citizens Arrest?