Geo-Politics: Is Mexico Melting?, The Economy–Wealth Destroyed, Jobs Out, Cheap In

Geo-Politics: “Mexico: A Collapse Update from Jeff Vail” by Jeff Vail, The Oil Drum as a post at Energy Bulletin (energybulletin.net) today, 3/13/09.

Mr. Vail notes, “…with violence flaring, the potential for collapse in Mexico is once again in the headlines. Oil production is down, violence is up, and the government is preparing for a showdown with the drug cartels.”

Mr. Vail’s concerns are echoed by the U.S. Military’s Joint Forces Command in their Joint Operating Environment 2008 report which listed Mexico as one of the two (with Pakistan) states most likely to collapse in the immediate future.

Joining Mexico’s falling oil production and even more rapidly declining oil exports are her flagging tourist revenues, reduced remittances from her workers abroad, and finally , the low price of oil itself.  Is Mexico in a financial and governmental death spiral?

The Economy–Wealth Destroyed: “45 percent of world’s wealth destroyed: Blackstone CEO” by Megan Davies and Walden Siew in a piece posted today by Reuter’s (reuters.com).

“Private equity company Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) CEO Stephen Schwarzman said on Tuesday that up to 45 percent of the world’s wealth has been destroyed by the global credit crisis.” All of this has taken place “… in as little as a year and a half. This is unprecedented in our lifetime.”

Jobs Out: “Record number of Americans on unemployment”is the title of the CNNMoney article by Julianne Pepitone on 3/12/09 (cnn.money.com).

“The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment insurance rose last week, with the number of people collecting benefits overall rising to a record 5.3 million, according to a government report released Thursday.”

Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist with High Frequency Economics, was quoted in the article as saying that “…claims are nowhere near their peak, which could be close to a million.”

The article also noted that “…more jobless Americans are having trouble finding work, 5,317,000 continued filing for unemployment insurance in the week ended February 28. That’s an increase of 193,000 from the revised number from the previous week. It was the highest level since record keeping began in 1967.”

Cheap In: “Extreme cheapskates: Tightwads revel in frugality” says the Breitbart headline at breitbart.com, on 3/11/09.

‘The recession is making tightwads … cut back even more. They’re going way beyond sharpening their coupon scissors, replacing already cheap store-brand fabric softener with vinegar and even making their own detergent.”

“Frugal people are now looking at more ways not to spend money.”

“I am questioning every single purchase…”

Even though many of the ’fearlessly frugal” haven’t as yet lost their jobs, they’re still cutting corners, saving more and sleeping the sleep of the economically prudent realizing that saving money can be the equivalent if earning it.

Until next week then, keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.