Joel Skousen’s World Affairs Brief News Headlines

The World Affairs Brief is a weekly news analysis service dedicated to providing an understanding of the hidden agendas behind the actions of world leaders and other powerful individuals who influence government from behind the scenes. Although the World Affairs Brief is provided to subscribers only, you can read samples of Mr. Skousen’s unique analysis in the archives section. The following daily news items are provided as a sampling of the crucial issues that Mr. Skousen may analyze in this week’s briefing.

In the aftermath of this historic U.S. fiscal shift, which arrived despite the $2.5 trillion deficit reduction plan passed last week, the congressional blame game is an inevitable outcome, and Sunday shaped the springboard for Congress to indulge the media in partisan pandering. …More

In London, groups of young people rampaged for a third straight night, setting buildings, vehicles and garbage dumps alight, looting stores and pelting police officers with bottles and fireworks into early Tuesday. The spreading disorder was an unwelcome warning of the possibility of violence during London’s 2012 Summer Olympics, less than a year away. …More

None of this should surprise those conversant with Austrian economics. The “fundamentals” of the economy have been and remain awful because the government and Federal Reserve are consistently doing the wrong things. The apparent recovery, fueled by Bernanke’s sheer money creation, has been bogus all along. …More

Early this year, Cornell University in the US did a study which was designed to see if Americans equate the money they receive from the US government with government programs. They asked a large number of ordinary Americans if they had ever used a government program. The findings – as reported by the New York Times in February this year – were astonishing. Forty-three percent of Medicare recipients said NO. Forty-four percent of those on Social Security said NO. Forty-three percent of people on unemployment benefits said NO. And to crown the whole study – FIFTY-THREE percent of those getting student loans – likely including Cornell students – said NO… …More

The Consumer Metrics Institute’s Daily Growth Index set its historic low around Memorial Day. The index appears to be rebounding at an amazing pace and turned positive on August 3rd. …More

The eyes of the nation are on Wisconsin again as voters head to the polls to decide the fate of eight state Senators – six Republicans and two Democrats – in a series of historic recall elections. And the stakes are enormous. Analysts are touting the looming showdown as everything from a referendum on the policies of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to an indicator of President Obama’s chances of victory in 2012. Control of the Senate could go to Democrats if they manage to unseat three or more of the Republican Senators being targeted. …More

Apparently, liberals are unable to recognize traditional conservative Republican positions for less government, lower taxes, a balanced budget, and adherence to the principles of the Constitution of the United States. They have become “terrorists.” …More

For SnP, the downgrade was rational: sooner or later, American taxpayers will rebel against austerity cuts to pay for the crisis …More

It isn’t yet clear what the impact of the SnP downgrade of the US to AA will have. There are good reasons to believe, despite the media hyperventilating, that it won’t add up to much, and may perversely hit wobbly stock markets more than Treasury yields. …More

Americans who question the validity of the downgrading of United States debt by rating agency Standard and Poor’s, or China, which has called on America to rein in its ballooning budget deficit, are almost entirely wrong with their assumptions of how this particular fork in the global financial crisis road needs to be navigated. New rules apply in the markets now. …More