#financial crisis in india

[kamana-mishra]

Financial Crisis 2008: Causes, Cost and the After Effect

The gold prices are falling, and the markets are crashing! While the statement is absolutely unreal, just the thought of it would have been enough to give you a heart attack, wouldn’t it? We would prefer to be destroyed by the snap of Thanos than get stuck in such a situation, right?

Would you believe if someone were to say that a similar situation challenged some of the top global economies in 2008? Yes, we are talking about the financial crisis of 2008, an event which took the financial system of America and other major economies by storm, sparing none.

The recent economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, brought the topic back to discussions, with major economists and professionals comparing the current scene with the financial crisis 2008. Hence, navigating through the various reasons and aftermath effects triggered by the financial crisis becomes crucial and demanding.

The Start of the Grave Fall

Loans are a crucial part of any financial system. However, you need a specific credit rating to acquire them. As far as India is concerned, you need a CIBIL score of 700 or more to get your loan sanctioned without any hassle. Similarly, in the USA, you need a FICO rating of more than 640 to acquire a loan. So, what was the problem here?

The problem started with the action of subprime loans. The US banks came up with the idea of lending housing loans to those individuals whose ratings were below the benchmark rating of 640. However, to compensate for the risk taken, they charged a higher rate of interest. These loans were then bundled with good ones and were issued as mortgage-backed securities (MBS). To be precise, it’s like mixing good vegetables with rotten ones.

Rating agencies like MOODY’S rated them with a AAA, which ultimately made them an attractive investment for investors who assumed it to be free from the risk of default. Further, the housing sector was at its peak during early 2005, making investors move huge amounts of money into these derivatives. This included a large number of banks, private lending institutions and other worldwide financial institutions investing in them.

Hedge funds institutions, mutual fund companies and various other pension fund institutions also invested in these swaps. And the ownership of houses rose to more than 69%. However, no one could predict that great destruction was in process.

What was the cause of the 2008 financial crisis?

As banks could pass on the risk to the investors, they were happily sanctioning loans to people without proper documentation and adequate ratings. No one is worried about the consequences. While all seemed like rainbows and unicorns for a while, soon, reality demanded its way back.

The prices of the housing sector saw a fall at the beginning of 2005, and the banks witnessed a lot of their borrowers defaulting on their repayment.

Would you give poison to an already dying person? But what the banks did was something like that. Rather than coming up with some reliable solution, they decided to increase the interest rates further. They thought that they could offset the losses by charging higher rates on the ones that make regular payments or at least make a conscious effort to pay. The rates were increased from 2.25% to 5.25%. Burdened by massive interest rates, the defaults only increased.

While the banks promised safety and security with a higher return, their action did not project the same. And by the end of 2007, the American economy officially entered the recession.

The Domino Effect

The books of the banks showed huge lending and falling repayment. Following this, the banks witnessed a severe liquidity crunch, and a lot of them filed for bankruptcy. As the fear brewed up, the banks stopped lending to one another, thus affecting the interbank money market.

They all searched for funds outside, and the Northern Bank of London came to their rescue. But it did not last long as the bank was nationalized by the British government, chopping off the help offered.

This caused the collapse of some of the major financial institutions on Wall Street. The Swiss bank UBS was one of the first to declare bankruptcy and showed a loss of more than 3 billion dollars. The lack of liquidity and huge losses pushed Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the edge of the cliff. However, the government of America was swift and rescued them from the brink of death.

Following this, the Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, leaving the stock markets to fall drastically. For investors who believed that the US government would rescue them, it was nothing more than a false belief.

The crisis kick-started with investors selling their stakes in huge amounts. And by the end of 2008, the entire financial system of America was in utter chaos.

Cost of the 2008 Financial Crisis

The financial crisis of 2008, as expected, affected everything that was even remotely dependent upon the US economy. The financial crisis of 2008, caused the US economy roughly around $22.8 trillion. In other words, it was approximately $72000 per American citizen. It’s impacted the output of the country by $13 trillion. The country lost about $5 trillion in terms of GDP over the next few years.

About 20 million people were affected directly or indirectly by the crisis. British banks lost approximately £90 billion in just a single day. And the ill effects can be added to this list. Hence, the government was forced to interfere in the matter and to sort the situation out. Want to know how the American government reacted? Read further to find out.

The Troubled Asset Relief Program

The American treasury came forward to address the crisis. They did this by purchasing mortgage-backed security (MBS) from the companies, in a view to reduce their losses. Drafted by Henry Paulson and brought into effect by George W. Bush, the plan aimed to stabilize the money market and secondary market by injecting liquidity into the system.

The program spent more than $247 billion to stabilize the banking systems. They bought shares of JP Morgan, Citi Group, and Wells Fargo at an interest of 5%. Also, $79.2 billion was spent on bailing out the auto sector, whose stock went on a free fall, and $67.8 billion was spent on nationalizing the AIG sector.

The policy did a huge deal in reducing the burden that was placed on the economy. However critics still argue about its efficiency and claim that it failed to shed light upon the housing sector.

Continue reading…

[newspatron]

Unhappy Youth? 7 Ways to Improve Mental Health in India

What are your thoughts on mental health challenges faced by youth in India? Share your experiences and insights in the comments below!

[uniqueeval]

The Hindu Morning Digest: August 30, 2024

People Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers and tanks during military disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at the India-China border in Ladakh. | Photo Credit: AFP India, China hold 31st border affairs meeting to resolve standoff at LAC India and China had a “frank, constructive and forward-looking exchange of views” on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to “narrow…

[newsvistaarblog]

अमेरिका ने श्रीलंका बंदरगाह पर अदानी टर्मिनल परियोजना के लिए $553 मिलियन की प्रतिबद्धता जताई

Written By Shafeek Ahmad, Published On 08-November-2023, 10:00 IST. यूएस इंटरनेशनल डेवलपमेंट फाइनेंस कॉरपोरेशन (DFC) ने श्रीलंका में कोलंबो बंदरगाह टर्मिनल परियोजना का समर्थन करने के लिए $553 मिलियन की महत्वपूर्ण वित्तीय प्रतिबद्धता की घोषणा की है। यह पहल विशेष रूप से उल्लेखनीय है क्योंकि यह बंदरगाह क्षेत्र में किसी भारतीय कंपनी, अदानी समूह की पहली भागीदारी का प्रतीक है। यह विकास एक महत्वपूर्ण…

[multithinker]

Ghana's Economic Challenges: Assessing Debt, Foreign Aid, Currency, and Inflation under President Akufo-Addo

Introduction Ghana, a nation celebrated for its rich cultural heritage and economic potential, has encountered a series of economic hurdles during President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s term in office. While his administration has seen notable achievements, including efforts to combat corruption and enhance infrastructure, concerns have arisen regarding Ghana’s economic performance. In this…

[alsoknownashp]

Global financial crisis and its impact on the Indian economy

The world's major economies are beginning to slow down, and in the past, similar levels of inflation and market stress have predicted a global recession. 

Hearing about decreased GDP, rising costs, and international upheaval can be frightful. While the situation has become urgent in several of the economies around the world, it is not as bad in India. 

High Real Growth, Far From Recession

According to the Indian Economic Survey 2022–23, India is expected to experience real growth of 6–6,8% in FY24 despite the uncertainty in western countries. Although this is less than FY23's (estimated at 7%) and FY22's (9.1%), the impact of the two shocks—the conflict in the Russian-Ukraine and inflation-control measures—should not be ignored. India will have one of the fastest-growing big economies in the world, even at 6%. 

More Dependence on Internal Consumption Rather than Exports

Since just 5% of India's GDP comes from exports to other countries, the effects of a slowdown in the economy of western nations are not as severe. Due to the diverse nature of its exports—both in terms of geography and the goods/services it offers—India's economy is further protected, making it less susceptible to concentrated economic shocks. 

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[probablyasocialecologist]

For the third year in a row, global hunger is stuck at catastrophically high levels. Progress on the global hunger crisis has stagnated following a sharp deterioration between 2019 and 2021. 733 million people continue to face hunger today. This is 36% higher than a decade ago. 2.33 billion people – nearly 30% of the world – continue to be moderately or severely food insecure. While about 2.8 billion – one third of people in the world – are unable to access a healthy nutritious diet. The world is far off track to achieve the zero hunger goal or any of the seven global nutrition targets by 2030 – without major changes to food systems. This is not a blip, and can no longer just be blamed on the pandemic. This is an ever-clearer signal that the global industrial food system is failing, and is disastrously vulnerable to increasing climate, hunger, conflict and financial shocks. We need a food system transformation to tackle the new normal of hunger. Climate change was the most prevalent driver of food insecurity and malnutrition in 2023. The major drivers of hunger – conflict, climate change and economic shocks – are occurring more often and at higher intensity, resulting in increasing numbers of hungry and food-insecure people. Already this year we’ve seen climate shocks devastate staple food production in Brazil, Mexico, China and India, with studies linking higher temperatures with increased food prices. Building climate resilient food systems is literally a matter of life and death — and must be an urgent priority globally. This means more diversified and localized production and food chains, instead of global industrial food chains.

24 July 2024

[metamatar]

india's hindutva middle class is having a meltdown because the new budget upped capital gains taxes and reduced income taxes. tbf they reduced corporate taxes as well so this isn't income redistribution or anything, but this is perceived as an attack by one of modi's strongest voter bases

The budget increased tax on long-term capital gains on all financial and non-financial assets to 12.5% from 10%. Assets held for over a year are considered long term.

Short-term capital gains will now be taxed at 20% instead of 15%.

The budget has also increased the securities transaction tax on derivatives trading.

This was widely expected, with the Economic Survey released a day earlier raising red flags about rising speculation and growing participation of retail investors in Indian equity markets.

[mariacallous]

Reflecting the instincts of a cold war veteran, Joe Biden’s strategy was familiar: contain the conflict. When the US president spoke in Warsaw in March 2022, a month after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he drew a red line at Vladimir Putin’s toes. “Don’t even think about moving on one single inch of Nato territory,” he warned.

The western allies would provide weapons and aid to Kyiv, impose sweeping economic and financial sanctions on Moscow and reduce the rouble to “rubble”, Biden vowed. Though not a Nato member, the US would help Ukraine win this symbolic battle for freedom and democracy. But it would not directly confront Russia unless Russia first attacked Nato.

Thirty months on, Biden’s containment strategy is failing miserably. Like an untreated cancer, Ukraine’s crisis metastasises uncontrollably. Far from being confined to the mud and ice of the Donbas, the war’s spreading, toxic fallout grows more globally destructive by the day. It contaminates and blights everything it touches. True, a “hot” war between Russia and Nato has been avoided so far. Yet Polish and Romanian territory has been affected by stray missiles and maritime attacks. The entire Black Sea region is embroiled, as is Belarus. Putin claims that the west is already waging war on Russia and threatens it with nuclear weapons. Propagandists vow to vaporise Poland.

The crisis has triggered US-Europe splits in Nato and within the EU. Rows flare over sending troops and long-range missiles to Ukraine, inviting Kyiv to join the alliance, and forging a separate European “defence identity”. France’s newly hawkish stance is cancelled out by German caution.

Neutral Sweden and Finland were panicked into joining Nato. The Baltic republics fear renewed Russian aggression. Hungary and Serbia appease the Kremlin. Italy wavers. No one feels safe.

The war is fuelling right-left political extremism as support surges for Putin’s paid-for populist apologists. In Moldova, last weekend’s EU membership referendum was grossly distorted by what its president, Maia Sandu, called a huge bribery operation by “criminal groups working together with foreign forces” – namely, Kremlin stooges.

Now Moscow is eyeing this weekend’s elections in Georgia where it covertly conspires to ensure pro-western parties lose. Such hybrid warfare – subversion, disinformation, influence operations, cyber-attacks, scams, online trolling – has mushroomed worldwide since 2022, as authoritarian regimes follow Russia’s lead.

Failure to contain the war is encouraging seismic geopolitical shifts, most notably the China-Russia “no-limits” partnership. China’s president, Xi Jinping, gets cheap oil; ostracised Putin gets sanctions-busting dual-use tech plus diplomatic backing. But it’s so much more than that. At last week’s Brics summit – hosted by Putin – Russia, China, India, Brazil and South Africa were joined by Iran, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela and, alarmingly, Nato member Turkey (among many others). Putin envisages a global anti-western alliance, Xi a post-American, China-led 21st-century new world order.

These are no idle dreams. For many second-tier countries, the west’s condemnation of Russian aggression in Ukraine and its refusal to condemn, and active facilitation of, Israeli aggression in Palestine represents an intolerable double standard. Some are switching sides.

What better illustrates the unbounded nature of this inexorably expanding conflict than the startling news that North Korea, in a breath-taking counterpoint to US and UK military intervention in the Korean war nearly 75 years ago, is deploying troops to the Ukraine theatre?

And how appalling that Donald Trump can cynically use Ukraine’s “forever war” to persuade US voters that Democrats like Kamala Harris cannot control a chaotic world, Nato is a con-trick run by freeloading Europeans and the UN is useless.

The war diverts attention from other grave conflicts, from Sudan to Myanmar. Attacks on Kyiv’s grain exports have caused food shortages and price spikes hurting poorer countries. It disrupts cooperative action on climate; indeed, it has greatly increased greenhouse gas emissions While Putin, indicted for war crimes, goes unpunished, respect for international law and the UN charter plummets. Impunity flourishes.

The war’s enormous economic costs are escalating. The World Bank estimates that the first two years caused $152bn (£117bn) of direct damage in Ukraine. The UN predicts $486bn is needed for recovery and reconstruction. Each day, the totals rise. Meanwhile, Russia constructs shadowy international networks – an officially approved black market – to circumvent sanctions and undermine dollar hegemony.

The cost in lives is heartbreaking. Conservative UN estimates suggest that about 10,000 civilians have been killed and twice that number injured. More than 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers may have died. Russian military casualties are an estimated 115,000 killed and 500,000 wounded. The cost to Russian society of intensifying authoritarianism, corruption and suppression of dissent and free media is immeasurable.

Ukraine has not lost the war, which is a remarkable feat in itself. But it is not winning, either. Western support is weakening, despite the rhetoric; Russian forces advance. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “victory plan” has few takers. Winter is coming.

How much of this could have been prevented? Some developments, such as the China-Russia axis and rising rightwing populism, were happening anyway. The war simply accelerated them. But a lot of the wider damage was avoidable, wholly or in part.

In Warsaw, Biden was candid, almost boastful: back in January 2022, US intelligence knew that the invasion was imminent. He said he had repeatedly warned Putin it would be a big mistake. Yet, given his passionate belief that Ukraine’s fight for democracy and freedom has vital universal significance, surely what Biden should have done is told Russia’s dictator bluntly: “Forget it. Don’t invade. Or else you will find yourself fighting a better-armed, more powerful Nato.”

It’s called deterrence. It’s what Nato is for. Containment was never enough. Putin might still not have listened. But coward that he is, he probably would have – and saved everyone a world of pain.

[aeolianblues]

My mum remembers Coca-Cola coming to the country for the first time.

The first time that bottled coke, in the sleek glass bottles with the elaborately painted logo, was sold out of crates and chillers by a vendor who would cycle from house to house, stacked crates in tow.

They'd seen them before, of course. Granddad was very well-travelled, his work took him across the country and occasionally overseas. It made him a knowledgeable, well-read and respected man. He'd been abroad: Malaysia, Germany, Indonesia, other places I wasn't told about. He'd seen Coca-Colas. He was an adventurer of sorts, which I suppose shouldn't seem too out of the ordinary for someone who had chosen a career of tinkering with chemicals professionally. Wherever he travelled, mum recounted, he'd bring back a little souvenir. Music from abroad, posters, books, branded sweets that weren't sold in protectionist India.

It wasn't an unreasonable decision. After 200 years of being leached dry and Indian industry being virtually nonexistent, it wasn't hard to see why post-colonial India had closed off its domestic industries to outsiders. The government took control of most local trade and incentivised the Indian economy to grow without competition from wealthier players (at that point, there were companies that were wealthier than the entire nation of India).

This did however mean that no international products were sold in India. Imports were limited to the most basic parts and things that could not be procured locally, often raw materials. Coca-Cola was limited to glimpses in foreign films, and of course, to those who travelled. (Nothing was banned, of course. It was about the economy, not access to international goods.)

This changed in 1991. Finance Minister Manmohan Singh's decision to deliberately devalue the rupee, open up the tightly-controlled Indian market for trade and usher in the age of globalisation introduced the world to India again, this time in its local paan shop (or cornershop, aware of the fact that like 3 people that follow me at best will know what that means). Mum remembers buying Coca Cola for the first time, in rupees, locally in 1991 as a girl. It sounds like a very small and trivial thing, but it was part of a decision that changed the Indian economy's fortunes forever.

From a country that had maybe two weeks' worth of forex reserves in tow, India evolved to become one of the fastest-growing GDPs in the world. It was once again Dr. Manmohan Singh's policies, this time as Prime Minister in 2008, that meant India escaped the worst of the global financial crisis. The economy didn't crash, didn't go into recession, fewer jobs were lost, and largely, India emerged unscathed compared to larger economies out west.

But I think about some of these little things, and how he changed the country forever, as the nation observes his passing today.

[fatehbaz]

Sheetal Chhabria sets her finger on the core of a shared problem that her book Making the Modern Slum: The Power of Capital in Colonial Bombay, Yahia Shawkat’s Egypt’s Housing Crisis: Shaping the Urban Space and my own Possessing the City: Property and Politics in Delhi 1911-1947 are outlining. The settings and periods are diverse and the particular histories diverge. But, in each of our work, we point to both the commodification of shelter and the paradoxical histories of efforts to oppose or mitigate that commodification. The Housing Question – how to provide decent and dignified shelter to every human – seems to be hummed to a drearily repetitive tune (with a few varying notes) in the Global South. Indeed, many of the same problems are reproduced in the Global North as well.

The stubbornness with which mass housing initiatives are reinserted into commodity circuits is a key lesson in all three works. This despite a related phenomenon that Chhabria points to the sheer variety of ways in which housing has been used by the state to ‘manage populations’. Chhabria and Shawkat both refer, for instance, to moments in which housing has been utilized as a tool to ensure the immobilization of working populations. Much like in a prison, to use housing as a way to prevent or restrict the mobility of working people.

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Part of the reason for this is that Chhabria’s work on Bombay culminates at a point of unique labor mobility: the migration away from the city of much of Bombay’s mill labor force in the wake of the late nineteenth century plague epidemic. [...] But it was also a project of housing in which luring workers back to the city and holding them there was an essential component. The Bombay Improvement Trust (BIT), whose trajectory from inception to failure Chhabria meticulously chronicles, bears the marks of exactly such an origin point. The BIT was in the final reckoning a mix of welfarism, state-subsidy for financial speculation, attempts to signal a more sanitary city and immobilising labour. [...] However, this limited decommodification of shelter was a mere sub-theme among the other agenda of the BIT.

Crucially, Chhabria points out, Indian elites and the colonial state joined in their appreciation of the opportunities for profit-making and governing on the cheap, while solving labor supply problems through the BIT’s housing initiatives.

In Shawkat’s Egypt too, both in the late nineteenth century and in the present, the ‘izba recurs as a form of housing designed to immobilize labor – converting peasants more fully into workers. [...]

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The slum must also [...] be an active source of a reserve army of labor. [...] Here the establishment of a Delhi Improvement Trust (in 1937, nearly 40 years after the BIT) was initiated by a piece of bad press. [...] The DIT’s major success was in [...] (something that Chhabria points out happened in Bombay too) participating in a round of speculative development in the Delhi countryside. [...] These and myriad other pathways have tended to return housing – even housing built at subsidized rates for the city’s working poor – to circuits of accumulation and profit.

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Shawkat [...] is clear-sighted about the terminal point – decommodified housing. Any intermediate position, he argues, would prove unstable and return housing to the circuits of capital circulation. [...] As I have been pointing out, each of our three works provides templates by which waves of partial decommodification are clawed back into circuits of profit and loss.

How, then, could a more permanent extrication of shelter from commodification be achieved? The unsuccessful efforts to decommodify housing in colonial Delhi illustrate some potential pitfalls. [...] The weakness of struggles to decommodify housing in Delhi meant that even housing for Partition refugees would become the launchpad for what is today India’s largest private real estate firm -- Delhi Land and Finance. [...]

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The Housing Question, cannot be separated from the much broader question of power. Mobilizations from below which are committed to a vision of broad human emancipation are the only viable way forward. Neither a brilliant urban plan nor the temporarily persuaded ear of a state official can achieve the decommodification of shelter that Shawkat calls for. [...] Stubbornly enough, [...] at the heart of it tends to lie a nexus between industrialists, richer traders, real estate speculators, and the state. Yes, temporary relief might be won [...]. But, as the history of the return of housing to circuits of commodity demonstrates, [...] the battle to provide shelter as a right is first about building [...] [movements] that can fight and win a broad decommodification of everyday life.

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Text by: Anish Vanaik. “Shelter as Capital: Housing and Commodification: Lessons from the Global South.” Borderlines [open-access site mentored by editors of Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East]. Published online: 18 February 2021. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

[maaarine]

Bibliography: articles posted on this blog in 2024

Posted in January

Men Just Don’t Trust Women – And It’s A Huge Problem (Damon Young, Huffington Post, Mar 16 2015)

Amsterdam sex workers protest against plan to move red light district (The Guardian, Oct 19 2023)

They were Israel’s ‘eyes on the border’ - but their Hamas warnings went unheard (Alice Cuddy, BBC News, Jan 15 2024)

The Heteronormativity Theory of Low Sexual Desire in Women Partnered with Men (Sari M. van Anders, Debby Herbenick, Lori A. Brotto, Emily A. Harris, and Sara B. Chadwick, Aug 23 2021)

A new global gender divide is emerging (John Burn-Murdoch, Financial Times, Jan 26 2024)

The secret of OnlyFans: It’s much more than porn (Marta Biino and Madeline Berg, Business Insider, Jan 18 2024)

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Posted in February

Half of Spanish men feel discriminated against amid feminism backlash (James Badcock, The Telegraph, Jan 16 2024)

Parisians vote in favour of tripling parking costs for SUVs (Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, Feb 04 2024)

Ireland kickstarts vote on constitution’s wording about women and family (Rory Carroll, The Guardian, Jan 25 2024)

Divorce rates plummet to lowest level in 50 years ‘due to cost-of-living crisis’ (Kieran Kelly, LBC, Feb 22 2024)

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Posted in March

‘There are some really extreme views’: young people face onslaught of misogyny online (Clea Skopeliti, The Guardian, March 01 2024)

Johnson: Why men interrupt (The Economist, Jul 10 2014)

France makes abortion a constitutional right in historic Versailles vote (Kim Willsher, The Guardian, March 04 2024)

‘My self-worth plummeted every month’: the hidden disorder that can ruin women’s lives (Chloe Aslett, The Guardian, Oct 16 2023)

The tyranny of the algorithm: why every coffee shop looks the same (Kyle Chayka, The Guardian, Jan 16 2024)

DNA Tests Are Uncovering the True Prevalence of Incest (Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, March 18 2024)

Finland is world’s happiest country for 7th year while US drops out of top 20 (France 24, March 20 2024)

Swedish pharmacy bans sale of anti-ageing skincare to children (Miranda Bryant, The Guardian, March 20 2024)

Women are being diagnosed with ADHD at unprecedented rates. Here’s why. (Kaelyn Lynch, National Geographic, Jan 16 2024)

5 Takeaways From an Investigation Into Hysterectomies in India’s Sugar Industry (Megha Rajagopalan, The New York Times, March 24 2024)

English Just ‘Badly Pronounced French’, Paris Academic Says (Tom Barfield, Barron’s, March 09 2024)

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Posted in April

Why are women more prone to long Covid? (David Cox, The Guardian, June 13 2021)

French Revolution: Cyclists Now Outnumber Motorists In Paris (Carlton Reid, Forbes, April 06 2024)

Long Covid may be the body trying to fight off other viruses (Sarah Knapton, The Telegraph, April 08 2024)

The Troubling Trend in Teenage Sex (Peggy Orenstein, The New York Times, April 12 2024)

Sydney knifeman who targeted women ‘was desperate for a girlfriend’ (Andrea Hamblin, The Telegraph, April 15 2024)

Revealed: Israel has sped up settlement-building in East Jerusalem since Gaza war began (Jason Burke, The Guardian, April 17 2024)

‘I was only a child’: Greenlandic women tell of trauma of forced contraception (Miranda Bryant, The Guardian, March 29 2024)

Hormones and their Interaction with the Pain Experience (Katy Vincent and Irene Tracey, 2008)

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Posted in May

Study suggests injury risk varies in menstrual cycle (Katie Gornall, BBC News, May 01 2024)

‘Urination equality’: Amsterdam women win fight for more public toilets (Ashifa Kassam, The Guardian, April 29 2024)

You can want things you don’t like and like things you don’t want (Shayla Love, Psyche, May 07 2024)

‘A new abyss’: Gaza and the hundred years’ war on Palestine (Rashid Khalidi, The Guardian, April 11 2024)

The important link between eating disorders and past trauma (Giulia Suro, Psyche, May 14 2024)

Hostile Intelligence: Reflections from a Visit to the West Bank (David Graeber, 2015)

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Posted in June

AfD: How Germany’s far right won over young voters (Hans Pfeifer, Deutsche Welle, June 10 2024)

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Posted in July

Coloniser le sud du Liban ? Un fantasme d'Israéliens messianiques à prendre au sérieux (Ha'Aretz via Courrier International, 3 juillet 2024)

Tampons found to contain concerning levels of arsenic and lead in world first study (Vishwam Sankaran, The Independent, July 10 2024)

South Korea politician blames women for rising male suicides (Jean Mackenzie, BBC, July 9 2024)

“Violence against women a ‘national emergency’ in England and Wales, police say (Vikram Dodd, The Guardian, July 23 2024)

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Posted in August

Menopause was a French invention at a time of revolution (Alison M Downham Moore, Psyche, July 30 2024)

Misogyny to be treated as extremism by UK government (Helen Catt and Charlotte Rose, BBC, Aug 18 2024)

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Posted in September

What Is Synaptic Pruning? (Jacquelyn Cafasso, Healthline, Sep 18 2018)

‘Frightening’ Taliban law bans women from speaking in public (Annie Kelly and Zahra Joya, The Guardian, Aug 26 2024)

Elon Musk suggests support for replacing democracy with government of ‘high-status males’ (Ariana Baio, The Independent, Sep 03 2024)

‘Not our tradition’: calls in Sweden to ban fathers walking brides down the aisle (Miranda Bryant, The Guardian, Aug 31 2024)

Olympic runner Cheptegei defied her violent ex. She lost her life anyway (Ammu Kannampilly, Reuters, Sep 14 2024)

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Posted in October

The outside world knows Wim Hof as the eccentric Iceman. His family suffered domestic violence (Anneke Stoffelen and Robert van de Griend, De Volkskrant, Sep 28 2024)

The mothers who regret having kids: ‘I wished I were holding a cat and not a baby’ (Adrienne Matei, The Guardian, Sep 26 2024)

At a Loss for Words: How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers (Emily Hanford, Amp Reports, Aug 22 2019)

Vu d’Allemagne. Le procès Pelicot, une honte pour tous les hommes (Leo Klimm, Der Spiegel via Courrier International, Oct 10 2024)

These Two Rape Cases Are a Lot Closer to Home Than We Like to Admit (Elizabeth Spiers, The New York Times, Sep 22 2024)

How The Netherlands Built a Biking Utopia (Michael Thomas, Distilled, March 09 2023)

It’s not just Trump v Harris: America’s men and women are also locked in battle now (Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian, Sep 27 2024)

Violences routières : « Plus on adhère aux stéréotypes masculins, plus on est enclin à prendre des risques sur la route » (Olivier Razemon, Le Monde, Oct 25 2024)

You Might Not Recover from Burnout. Ever. (Devon Price, Oct 25 2024)

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Posted in November

Why are British teenage girls so unhappy? Here’s the answer (Caitlin Moran, The Times, Sep 13 2024)

Russia bans ‘child-free propaganda’ to try to boost birth rate (Reuters, Nov 12 2024)

My PMDD hell: why I went abroad to have my ovaries removed (Sarah Gillespie, The Times, Nov 27 2024)

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Posted in December

Feeling nothing can be as devastating as feeling too much (Christopher J Hopwood, Psyche, Dec 12 2024)

Al helps scholars read scroll buried when Vesuvius erupted in AD79 (Ian Sample, The Guardian, Feb 5 2024)

‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine (Megan Twohey and Mike McIntire and Julie Tate, The New York Times, Dec 21 2024)

Telegram ‘rape chat groups’ with up to 70,000 members uncovered (Jörg Luyken, The Telegraph, Dec 19 2024)

Dreams of jewellery, phones and makeup: how young Iraqi girls are lured into marriage (Zainab al-Mashat and Maria Talal and Hala Abdullah, The Guardian, Nov 22 2024)

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil’s Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty

On November 18, 2024, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva delivered a speech at the Summit of the Heads of State, urging leaders from 40 nations to support the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty. Under Lula’s leadership, Brazil joined forces with 82 other countries to establish the alliance, commonly called the G20.

The term “G20” stands for “Group of 20,” which consists of 20 of the world’s biggest economies gathering to help rebuild the world in times of crisis. The G20 was formed in 1999 to discuss policy matters and provide aid to countries in a financial crisis. The member countries of the G20 include the following: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Türkiye, the U.K. and the U.S. Initially, there were only 19 countries that were considered “member countries.” However, Spain has been and is currently included in the group as a permanent guest.

The G20 comprises 31 nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs), philanthropic organizations and 24 international organizations, nine of which are financial institutions. The group’s purpose or ultimate goal, is to “accelerate global efforts to eradicate hunger and poverty” through its initiative to reach 500 million people with cash-transfer programs in low and middle-income countries by 2030.

Brazil has already implemented public policies, such as the Food Acquisition Program and the School Meals Program, which the Alliance plans to use as a “benchmark for combating hunger.” The principles of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty inspired these initiatives. A High-Level Champion Council will supervise the Alliance to oversee the work that it’s doing. Additionally, it will hold regular Summits Against Hunger and Poverty.

Continue reading.

[low-salad]

NewBirth - The Story of Satiea

The year is 2069, the location is Satiea (previously Singapore).

With the Chinese economy having collapsed the City State has fallen to rule by the formidable Anglo-Russian Alliance (ARA) which maintains control of most financial centres located East of the United American Colonies (UAC), a rival force in politics, warfare and cultural aspirations.

Ribena Bay Sands During the late 2020s, the remaining population of Planet Earth discovered a revelation that explains how it's nature is derived from the Complex Computer System (CCS), an elaborate simulation that determines our very existence and everything that happens within it.

The CCS has not only written the history of our planet but that of every living thing within it.

Over the ages, the Complex Computer System has been delivered through "re-layering" the human experience. It is thought that throughout the ages the CCS has undergone Five Major Upgrades (MUs). v1. Genesis v2. Early Age v3. Industrial Revolution v4. Internet Age v5. Interplanetary Relations

It is now widely believed that the MUs are delivered through Viral and Antiviral methods into the human form.

It's also understood that consequences such as War, Famine, Drought and Natural Disasters are necessary consequences of such occurrences as defined by God.

United Overseas Wankers The Mainstream Banking system has been taken over by a band of Interplanetary Hackers named "XYLOPUMP" who aim to redistribute wealth more evenly amongst the remaining population of Planet Earth which is comprised of three major species - Humans, Aliens and Bots.

Each species may look the same (at least today) but they carry different personality different characteristics. The ratios of such populations differ starkly across nations.

Satiea is one of the few locations on Planet Earth where Interplanetary Harmony (IH) is maintained at a relatively stable level; but when hostilities do break out they are fierce.

IH levels are reported on a daily basis and act as a barometer of the current state of civil and cultural affairs in society.

Blockchain technology has been key to rebuilding the financial system with the old 'Banking System' having completely collapsed due to technical debt, overregulation and inherent greed.

Rexulti for Two Throughout the transition to the New World (Planet Earth v5), the Human Race suffered considerable damage to their Mental Health due to the societal changes caused by the programming associated with the v5 upgrades.

The population was reliant on 'Big Pharma' remedies but these became expensive and carried unusual side effects such as mysterious gambling addictions, amnesia and high rates of suicide.

This was until more Advanced forms of pharmaceutical solutions emerged from the fields and factories of The Golden Triangle, India and Thailand.

Two such remedies that emerged from The Underworld were ISO-Ketamine and Penis Envy mushrooms which act as a portal between interplanetary dimensions.

With the nation of Satiea historically operating a strict 'Anti Narcotics' policy, the Prime Minister - Kevin Kwang Yousef (KKY) - enacted a historical policy change.

The PM decreed that on designated Public Holidays (4 times per year), these experimental substances would be made available to general public for personal consumption, with distribution taking place under strict guidelines.

Maid's Day Off With the population of Planet Earth in freefall due to the Cost of Living Crisis. Planet Earth's two ruling factions, the Anglo Russian Alliance (ARA) and the United American Colonies (UAC) agree to an Breeding Policy which aims to harness the characteristics of The World's 25 Most Beautiful Countries as defined by various Online Blogs and Articles.

Supported by a Population Injection from Aliens and Bots, the policy was able to help successful maintain and grow the population of Planet Earth despite the diminished breeding levels from the Human Race.

The Blessed Maria The City State of Satiea not only led a financial revolution but also a Cultural one. It was a form of New Renaissance where the bulk of society moved from task-based and managerial-based roles into art-based activities for their primary source of income.

New art forms were discovered including a new music genre called 'KatongStep', a form of electronic music which has it's beat, rhythm and melodies intrinsically linked to the universe's astrological cycle.

When one dances the KatongStep, it's said that they are digitally cleansing their soul.

NewBirth was born on 12th January 2025. His preferred genre is Drum and Bass.

Welcome to the Fifth Wave of Punk

[365sylviaplath]

In Memoriam: Pluto in Capricorn

Y'all Mind if I Go Listicle on This One

setting the scene- pluto first entered capricorn on january 25th, 2008. retrograde sent it back to sagittarius for a few months over the summer (6/14/08 - 11/25/08) and 11/26/08 and beyond, it's been pluto in capricorn. pluto is currently in its final degree of capricorn. we had brief previews of pluto in aquarius (3/23/23 - 6/11/23 and 1/20/24 - 9/1/24), and from the afternoon of 11/19/24 forward, we will be in pluto in aquarius until 2043.

a sampler of news headlines from january/early february 2008:

"Stock markets around the world plunge amid growing fears of a U.S. recession, fueled by the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis."

"U.S. President George W. Bush says Israel must return to its pre-1967 borders to enable the establishment of a Palestinian state."

"Israel blocks fuel to the Gaza City power plant, causing a citywide blackout."

"George W. Bush delivers his final State of the Union Address as President of the United States"

"President Vladimir Putin says Russia would target its missiles at Ukraine if it threatened Russia's national security."

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture stands down two employees as part of its investigation of the biggest meat recall in United States history."

"WHO declares global tobacco control efforts and an approach to avoid tens of millions of premature deaths by the middle of this century."

"Bird flu cases in poultry spread in India, as the H5N1 virus infects seven districts in the state of West Bengal."

"Writers Guild of America strike (2007–present): Hollywood writers reach tentative agreement with the major movie studios."

in summary- end of Bush presidency, 2008 election, bird flu, attempts at nicotine control, war against Palestinians, imminent economic collapse, Russia/Ukraine, hollywood on strike, recalled meat, also several countries trying to get YouTube outlawed. imagine!

Wow crazy! What's Pluto's deal?

what does it mean for pluto to be in capricorn? pluto is the planet of transformation, destruction, rebirth, hidden truths, generational/societal shifts, and it's currently in capricorn, the sign of practicality, hard work/professional ambition, and leadership. capricorn, the zodiac's father figure. the merger of the two means slow-moving and long-lasting change in life/career path, family/societal structures (i.e patriarchy), financial systems, so on. pretty telling that we started this transit with a global financial crisis and now we're......here! posts circulate periodically about empires lasting ~250 years, which is about as long as it takes for a pluto return. if we're taking the US to have been "born" on 7/4/1776, the US' natal pluto placement is capricorn! never in the history of the US has pluto been back into its birth sign of capricorn until 2008. this placement means the US's foundation is one of these qualities listed above- built on patriarchy, conservatism, so on. this pluto return was technically in 2022 (around 27 degrees capricorn) and the effects could be felt +/- a few years on each side, since pluto moves so slowly. i think most would say the US (as we've known it) has been forced to confront the ugly sides of its foundations since 2020!

anyway, on with the pop culture highlight reel for pluto in capricorn. remembering the themes i described above (conservative/family values, patriarchy, financial systems, etc), let us look back.....

Pluto in Capricorn - Pop Culture Notables

(a non-exhaustive list, prioritizing my Most Memorable. Forgetting stuff is inevitable but this is a hell of a list)

- a moodboard for visual accompaniment - please support me getting into Pinterest

MOVIES:

Avatar, the Twilight series, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Moonlight, Inception, Get Out, La La Land, Zero Dark Thirty, The Social Network, The Blind Side, Ex Machina, The Wolf of Wall Street, the Fifty Shades series, Black Swan, all of the Jennifer Lawrence x Bradley Cooper movies, The Help, High School Musical 3, the Minions franchise, John Krasinski war hero arc, Interstellar, every single Marvel movie (minus the first 3 Spiderman movies, those were pluto in Sag), Frozen, The Dark Knight, Zootopia, the last 3 Harry Potter movies, Hunger Games series, Lady Bird, Call Me By Your Name, Parasite, Hereditary, the Hangover movies, 21 Jump Street series, Step Brothers, Project X, Bridesmaids, A Star is Born, Crazy Rich Asians, the Magic Mike series, Hidden Figures, the To All The Boys movies, Easy A, the Kick-Ass series (important to the Aaron Taylor Johnson fans)

TV:

indulge me as i go in depth on this....

Reality TV continues to expand after the early 2000s boom (a direct product of the writers strike)- Jersey Shore, RuPaul's Drag Race, every Real Housewives city after the original (Orange County), Are You The One, Love Island, Love is Blind/dating shows on streaming services, the rise of Nick Lachey -hosted competition/reality shows, the Love & Hip Hop franchise, Vanderpump Rules, Shark Tank, Basketball Wives, MasterChef, grandfathering in Keeping up with the Kardashians (first aired months before pluto into cap), Below Deck, Dance Moms, Impractical Jokers, Chopped MTV - Teen Wolf, Awkward, Girl Code/Guy Code, 16 and Pregnant, Teen Mom, Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, Silent Library, Skins, Ridiculousness, Catfish Huge Cartoon Network moment- Adventure Time, Regular Show, The Amazing World of Gumball, Chowder, Steven Universe, the Total Drama series (grandfathered in from pluto in sag) Disney & Nickelodeon - Shake It Up, Sonny with a Chance, Phineas and Ferb, Wizards of Waverly Place, Good Luck Charlie, The Suite Life on Deck, Victorious, Big Time Rush, True Jackson VP, iCarly (grandfathered in from pluto in sag) Revivals - Cribs, Punk'd, Fear Factor, Twin Peaks, The X-Files, Fuller House, Rush Hour tv series, Girl Meets World, iCarly, Queer Eye, Sex and the City: And Just Like That, That 90's Show, Arrested Development, Fraiser, Futurama, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, Rugrats More shows I want to mention but didn't want to categorize- Modern Family, Parenthood, The Vampire Diaries, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Community, Game of Thrones, American Ninja Warrior, Cake Boss, Lena Dunham's GIRLS, Broad City, The Walking Dead, Downton Abbey, Pretty Little Liars, The Great British Bake Off, Storage Wars, Glee, Sherlock, Tosh.0, South Park, Supernatural (grandfathered in from pluto in sag)

MUSIC:

i have spoken for so long about television that i will just direct the audience to this Spotify playlist of vetted pluto in capricorn hits (thank you to this playlist creator) - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5XALIurWS8TuF6kk8bj438?si=4cd575cfa9564201

MISC/EVENTS:

the transition from myspace to facebook, majorrrrr social media takeover- instagram, tiktok, twitter, tumblr, vine, snapchat, yikyak, reddit, BeReal, skype/oovoo, so on - all either founded or gained traction, social media becomes a career, Amazon buys Whole Foods, Occupy Wall Street, gay marriage legalized, the entire Obama presidency, rise of Donald Trump's political career and presidency, #MeToo movement, "incels", formation of BLM, Colin Kaepernick takes a knee during NFL national anthem and causes nationwide outrage, Nationwide 2020 BLM protests and marches, increased visibility on police brutality (w/ the rise of social media, body cam requirements, etc), more anti-racist organizations and coalitions created across racial groups following the creation of BLM and 2020 racial unrest, strengthening of the alt-right pipeline and supporting right-wing sycophants/"influencers", Joe Rogan podcast, Pokemon GO to the polls, both Prince William and Prince Harry's royal weddings, Tiger Woods cheating scandal, rise of bizarre celebrity sexting scandals (notably: many celebs with capricorn placements), Jonas Brothers purity rings, Gisele Bündchen & Tom Brady's first baby (NOTE: PLUTO IS CHANGING SIGNS AND GISELE IS CURRENTLY PREGNANT AGAIN W/ HER NEW MAN'S BABY), formation of Odd Future, Lady Gaga's meat dress, Beyoncé's children, Kim Kardashian's 72-day marriage, Bieber Fever, Bangerz era Miley Cyrus, Summer 2016, Hot Girl Summer, One Direction/boyband takeover, Charlie Sheen's hashtag winning moment, Caitlyn Jenner tell-all, Bobby Shmurda’s arrest, Free Britney, Ben Affleck x JLo notably first happened right before pluto in cap and they got back together right at the tail end of pluto in cap, the infamous white and gold or blue and black dress, the term Girlboss, the Ice Bucket Challenge, Hamilton, the rise of fanfiction, the rise of Buzzfeed and listicle journalism, Fyre Festival scam, Fenty Beauty launched, growing concerns about the electric grid, the rise of streaming services, the iPhone absolutely dominates the cell phone market and we all have supercomputers on us 24/7, e-cigs and vapes more commercially available in response to anti-cigarette campaigns, the iPad, Angry Birds/Candy Crush and the affiliates, COVID, rise of remote work, "Adele Dazeem", David Cook winning American Idol over David Archuleta (see: title photo for this post), self driving cars, new wave of the opioid overdose epidemic, AI takeover

See also: Fall Out Boy's version of Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire - has a handful of pre-pluto in cap events but close enough

NOTABLE CELEBRITY DEATHS:

Michael Jackson, Brittany Murphy, Heath Ledger, Prince, Christina Grimmie, Cameron Boyce, Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, Steve Jobs, George Michael, Whitney Houston, Chadwick Boseman, David Bowie, Toni Morrison, Carrie Fisher, Donna Summer, Nelson Mandela, Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera, Robin Williams, bell hooks, Anthony Bourdain, Pop Smoke, Mac Miller, Nipsey Hussle, James Gandolfini, Paul Walker, Alexander McQueen, Chester Bennington, Virgil Abloh, Lil Peep, Avicii, Joan Rivers, XXXTentacion, George HW and Barbara Bush, John McCain, Nancy Reagan, Hugh Hefner, Dick Clark, Margaret Thatcher, Queen Elizabeth II, Henry Kissinger

we exit this crazy transit having had:

a deep exploration of werewolf/vampire stories (often, allegories for capitalism)

the rise of reality tv through unfair conditions for tv workers

more copaganda in direct response to increased organizing around police brutality

a film industry dominated by military-funded superhero movies

popularization of Girlbossing alongside the destruction of labor rights

the rise of social media and its monetization

cigarettes reinventing themselves and then the OGs making a comeback

a considerable embrace of ""traditional"" values

a slow decay of the concept of celebrity

numerous financial crises and major changes to the workforce

everyone now has to have a smartphone and thus, the ability to work 24/7 from anywhere

the highest measured period of unemployment in several decades (spring 2020)

a very bootstrappy approach to global pandemic response

AI becoming increasingly popular- especially since the first dip of pluto into aquarius

and now, a fresh resurgence of 2024 Cougar movies (The Idea of You, A Family Affair, Lonely Planet and very soon, Babygirl).

What a ride. Onto the next era….