Russia - "Experts estimate that some 400,000 to 500,000 citizens could apply for bankruptcy,".  So Putin is like Great Britain in the Suez Crisis, his economy is falling and when more sanctions hit he will have to make a choice. Plus new travel bans and his financial empire (purchased by Russian Taxpayers) exposed. The Oil prices is falling and set to remain low. His population is falling and people leaving Russian for their Human Rights. The cost of running a foreign war will hit the Soviet budget.  Russia like Britain is no longer an Empire, get over it Mr. Putin. Russia has previously allowed companies to declare themselves bankrupt but not individuals.

Russian banks encouraged people to take out loans and mortgages during the boom years of high oil prices and many are now struggling to make the repayments, particularly those who took out loans denominated in foreign currency before the ruble plummeted last year on the back of low oil prices and Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis. Some experts have questioned how many will actually be able to do so, due to the relatively high cost of the procedure. Banks, however, fear that a large number of lenders will use the law to avoid paying back loans, with the number of delayed payments already soaring over the past year. "I receive many such letters [on the issue] and behind each is a personal tragedy," said the deputy president of Russia's central bank, Vasily Pozdyshev. "Experts estimate that some 400,000 to 500,000 citizens could apply for bankruptcy," Mr Pozdyshev said. "The law is entering force at an inconvenient moment," wrote Vedomosti business daily. "Debts on consumer loans today total six trillion rubles, while mortgage debts total three trillion rubles."  "Formally, just under 600,000 Russians fall under the terms of the law."

Investors are on track to pull $541bn (£357bn) out of emerging markets this year, as fears that China is headed for a ‘hard landing’ have prompted the greatest flight for safety since 1988.  The Institute of International Finance (IIF) said that the net outflows would most likely continue next year, as the prospect of US interest rate rises threatens to dampen the emerging market outlook further.  Charles Collyns, managing director and chief economist at the IIF, said that “emerging markets have seen sharp losses in recent months”. The IIF’s forecasts came as economists warned that emerging markets could face a brutal slowdown over the next 12 months.  The carnage in investments marks a huge reversal from 2014, when investors poured a net $32bn into emerging markets. ... I was recently in Malaysia for three months. An interesting juxtaposition of wealth and the poor, with many visible high-end luxury cars on the roads alongside homeless 75 yo Chinese-Malay rickshaw pedallers who sleep in their chariots at night. Ferraris, Aston Martins, Porsches, Lambos, Benzes, Range Rovers, Hummers, Rollers, Bentley Continental GTs, BMW Zs... these fancy motors with their inflated price tags due to 130% import duties can be seen cruising past the $1 won ton soup stalls. Meanwhile China-based developers plan to turn Malacca into a bigger shipping port than nearby mighty Singapore. Saw a computer shop at an IT mall in Penang advertising for a part timer. Wage offered: 6RM/hour. $1.40. Walmart ain't so mean after all...But when China sneezes, emerging markets are gonna catch a nasty flu.

A kickstarter campaign to launch a computer costing just USD9 is another important milestone on the road to hyper-connectivity, creating risks and opportunities for insurers.   The C.H.I.P. is a tiny computer equipped with a 1 GHz ARM processor, 512 MB of DDR3 RAM, 4 GB of storage, and Bluetooth connectivity, all in a package smaller than a box of cigarettes. It runs on a Debian Linux operating system, is designed to work with most monitors and keyboards, and comes pre-loaded with a number of apps and a web browser.   The device is entering a market that already includes the Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone Black and Arduino, small computers which are increasingly being used by hobbyists and businesses to connect sensors, switches and relays across what is becoming known as the Internet of Everything. What is remarkable about the C.H.I.P., however, is its price point, roughly a quarter of its competitors, marking a major step in the mass production of these tools.  That has investors scrambling to jump on the bandwagon, with nearly 18,000 people contributing over USD 900,000 within just a few days of the launch of the initial kickstarter campaign, which had a target of just USD 50,000.   Regardless of the projects success, it also has enormous implications for the insurance industry. The dwindling cost of connectivity is likely to accelerate the rate at which new devices connect to the internet. This hyper-connectivity will generate enormous volumes of data, which will allow businesses and insurers to generate far more granular insights into their business requirements and the risks that they face.   At the same time, a rapid increase in the number of devices connected to the internet will create new vectors for cyber-attack, generating significant volumes of highly sensitive data while also potentially creating new hazards as hackers will be able to directly interact with a range of new devices, from fridges to shipping manifests and safety sensors. As a recent report by the ESADE Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics and Zurich Insurance Group illustrates, the global governance framework in place to manage these risks is woefully inadequate, so businesses will need to develop their own robust risk management frameworks to build resilience against attacks. Another benefit of this cheap technology is that it makes internet access more affordable for people on a low income. The C.H.I.P., for example, is being offered in a USD 35 mobile handset.  This kind of connectivity is a vital tool for delivering financial services and the protection of micro-insurance to a greater number people on low incomes around the world.

China is the world's largest creditor. Beijing's massive money reserves (it is still the largest holder foreign holder of US government debt) currently stand at a healthy $3.6 trillion.  For more than two decades, the world's second largest economy has built up a war chest of foreign currency assets to act as a buffer against global headwinds. But the decision on August 11, to tweak its exchange rate regime and engineer the largest single devaluation of the renminbi in 21 years, has thrust the question of reserve depletion into sharp relief. What most People don't realize is, it's a Game that cost lives who ain't playing it, all the Banks, including the Central Banks in existent, bar 3 Countries to date, that aren't under the control of the Rothschild, Rockefeller Bankers, the main players, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, so it's an illusion that any Country act's independently regarding anything to do with Fiat Money, the Dollar of make believe with Interest, that wasn't tied to Oil for nothing, cause when you control the Money Supply over the last 3 Centuries , you can scam your way into Wealth , control all the major Industries on the Planet, including all those that have a habit of blowing Folks up in the name of Democracy, who just happened to fund Hitler and all his ideals.

The Dollar's worthless, they want to move away from it, they start taking another Currency for the Oil etc, like Saddam, or  Gaddafi going Gold with the rest of Africa, which was to commence in 2011, then we get fed lies via the Media that they control, the Politician's and these People end up Dead, Countries destroyed , but these Rothschild Bankers don't hang around long before they've got a Central Bank up and running, that's the reality, but China's been buying and mining Gold for over 15 years, waiting for the day for it to all explode, Gold is going to be their Savior, unlike USA who've only got others and Brown, well he sold most of Britain's, pocket change to China, they ain't daft, it's only matter of time before China is declared the Winner...With US$, GBP, Euro and Yen increase of money supply (M1) and near negative money velocity (M3); any creditor including China would be bonkers to hold on to US$ denominated assets. The Chinese devaluations of the RMB to US$ have in effect increased their profits measured in RMB. Smart moves.  Why should China care about US$ denominated assets created by a debtor, especially since the US and European economies are in implosion mode, except for a loss of market which is substitutable with the likes of Russia, India or Africa?  However, think ahead and after the implosion of the US economy, the Chinese will mop up all those good value insolvent companies and other hard assets worldwide with the new global substitute for the US$- Brilliant and playing the game like a true capitalist. 'Trust the free market', said the Chicago School of economics, Reagan, Clinton, Bush(s), Blair and Brown.

What is sad is that the IMF has lent more money to a bankrupt country i.e. Greece when it knows that it cannot be repaid in this or the next lifetime..And just to make sure it cannot the EU has forced Greece to adopt a corporate tax rate of 29% when its neighbours have a corporate tax rate of 10 to 15%...Just to make sure that no company opens up IN Greece or employs anyone to pay taxes.. So Greece is been forced to go belly up in 2 to 3 years time when it will more rather than less ...It is an absolute joke..Big changes are required to the IMF. Its executives past and present should come under criminal investigation. The IMF should be banned form dealing with the EU. The EU is a multi nation organisation well able to fund its own bail out programs. The Managing Director of the EU needs to be replaced. In addition all IMF financing decisions should be laid before the IMF's Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) to received their stamp of approval before loans to debtor nations are given out.  It is ridiculous that the IEO is making comment now. Their early involved would have saved Greece from disaster...Lagarde is a puppet for France. No EU citizen should ever be the Managing Director of the IMF. Self interest was obviously the plan to put Lagarde in the role. The EU is a shady organisation with manipulative intent. The EU politics continue to smell as the VW scandal demonstrates. The IMF has lost all credibility as the IEO confirms. The rest of us new it years ago as the Greece debacle continued and eventually confirmed the inept handling of the Greek situation by the IMF and the EU.  The IMF should never have had anything to do with EU member nations. ( Would the IMF ever bail out California. Of course not as it comes under the responsibility of the government of the USA). Corruption! Corruption! It is everywhere. The IMF and the EU stink of it.

 

 

The German government was the first European executive to issue a public statement regarding the Catalan elections. Berlin underscored the same message expressed by Chancellor Angela Merkel at a meeting with Rajoy earlier this month, when she talked about the importance of respecting European legislation.  “We are convinced that it is important, despite everything that is happening at the moment, to maintain the rule of law with regard to the European Union treaties and to national legislation, that is to say, the Spanish Constitution,” said the German government spokesman, Steffen Seibert, at a press conference.  Seibert nevertheless stressed that Germany considers the Catalan elections a domestic Spanish issue...The governments can claim all they like that the EU Countries and the US economies are booming; This is b*llsh*t!  Golden handshakes, handcuffs and parachutes for the few must be paid by the masses. And so must their tax cuts and other tax avoiding schemes. Who's supposed to pay for the third Heathrow runway so that WH Smith can have more shops in which it will pocket the VAT? The already taxed-to-death so called middle-class of course!
Now go see these "Moanaco" non-doms see if they're interested in buying the massive amount of gadgets our economy can no longer manage to sell!...