Why this story is such a big deal is beyond me. It's not really that XL and there's already a Keystone pipeline in operation. I'm not saying I support it, but this issue is such a lightning rod for the Right and the Left thinks it's like opening drilling in Yellowstone.
Apparently, TransCanada wants to wait until a new administration comes to power that may be amenable to the project. And energy prices may be off the floor then and drillers would actually be drilling, so there would be a need for yet another pipeline.to bring Canadian energy - and some US shale oil - to the US market.
I want to share a story I heard a few years back, when this deal looked like it was going to pass quickly. A colleague of mine who used to run a major environmental activist group and was then doing deep research on specific issues for clients told me that the Clintons both had significant interests in the Keystone XL project. By that I mean they made a lot of money from the folks who wanted this deal to go through. And my friend is meticulous about his research and well connected, so this wasn't just insider gossip.
I have been watching it ever since then to see where Hillary comes down on it and whether any oppo research crops up pointing fingers at the Clintons.
None yet. But consider this: I we assume Hillary is elected (it could be a Republican, but then the pipeline is a done deal anyway), then holding off may be very wise. She could come in, say she is giving the win to the GOP as a peace offering and get paid.
She's a private citizen now, so it's hardly a big deal at this point. But these are the kind of behind the scenes deals that run politics at the national level. Let's see what happens.
An Interesting Ad
I saw this ad on Quartz today. It's basically making my point on the transition the global economy is making since the financial implosion in 2008. Ironically, it's selling itself as a company to help big companies game the system better. Jesus.
It says that QE is no longer working and earnings per share are declining for most big businesses, so they're turning to M&As. This is stated very matter of factly. And its ironic because this kind of gaming the economy by using share buybacks and massive M&A activity is only to obfuscate the fact that we're still not really generating any real growth - anywhere.
It states that companies were artificially growing with QE and when that stopped working, they started M&As to keep their stock prices up.
So, we're almost a decade down the road from the financial crisis and we have more wealth inequality than we did during the age of the robber barons a century ago; the US economy is at 1.5% GDP (which sadly makes the rest of developed nations jealous); and while everyone else is still easing, we're about to raise rates.
Again, this is the Conversion Economy in action. I'm not bullish on where this is going to end but I'm sure what remains of the middle class will get screwed the longest and hardest (and not in a good way). And the latest economic reports bear this out.
Personally, I think we should have let them all fail. It would have catastrophic, yes. But it would have cleansed the system of the people at the top who are making money by gaming the system instead of building an economy. And the same people who would have gotten screwed then, will be the same ones that get screwed when it all comes down now. Except now, it falls in pieces instead of as a whole. It's like a slow-motion car crash. We've extended the pain without relieving anyone of the suffering.
No comments:
Post a Comment