Worshipers of Death

Great piece in the WSJ by Alan Dershowitz.

Worshipers of Death

Nov 07 US Oil Import Data

The November data on US Oil Imports is out. Not much change from the October data that I posted on here.

The November Figures are: 

 

Source data can be found here. The only significant change was that Columbia has now broken into the top petroleum importers into the US.  

2008 Index Of Economic Freedom

The Heritage Foundation’s WW Index of Economic Freedom is out.

 

The Top 10 Most Free Economies Are:

1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore
3. Ireland
4. Australia
5. United States
6. New Zealand
7. Canada
8. Chile 
9. Switzerland
10. United Kingdom

More details here.

US Birth Rate At 45 Year High

Good news for my future social security check….

 

Japan and much of Western Europe will go through a major social security crisis before the US does. It will be interesting to see how they handle it. 

 

 

History Lessons On Recessions

If indeed the US is heading into a recession (which I doubt) it is important to look at past recessions and the effect they had on stocks. 

History Lessons On Recessions

(HT: Fundmastery Blog)

100% Chance of Alarm About Global Warming

Good article in the NY Times Science section about climate alarmism. No matter what your take is on global warming this is not good.

 

(HT: Carpe Diem) 

Latest From Venezuela

Latest news from Venezuela.

 

Hugo suffers another political defeat. Too bad for the hostages. Don’t miss the $800K political ‘contribution’ to Kirchner’s (the wife) campaign in Argentina.

Failure to free hostages a fresh defeat for Chavez 

 

 

Hugo’s socialist dream is not doing so well. 

Venezuelan inflation leads region 

 

And, oh yeah, lets change the currency so things look better than they are.

Venezuela cuts 3 zeroes off Bolivar 

 

Then, if you can’t get your money legally……

80 percent of cocaine in Spain comes from Venezuela

 

I have family in Venezuela. Many have left but a few remain hoping things will change. Unfortunately, I think it will get worse before things get any better.

 

 

 

 

WW Oil and Gas Reserves By Country

Another misconception I hear a lot relates to the worldwide reserves of oil and natural gas, particularly with respect to reserves by country. So, for reference here is the summary data. 

  

And here is the source. A couple of notes:

1. These are proven reserves, which are ‘estimated quantities that analysis of geologic and engineering data demonstrates with reasonable certainty are recoverable under existing economic and operating conditions‘. (emphasis mine). At the time of this report oil was approx $50-$60 per barrel.
2. This data includes oil sands, most notable for Canada and Venezuela. Without oil sands Canada drops to a similar position as Mexico.

This data was published at the EIA on Jan 9 2007. When the next update is available I will post that as well.

 

  

2007 Economic Summary

Good article at the Times with an economic summary of 2007.

That wasn’t such a bad year after all, so the statistics say

Patriots Go Undefeated

 
The New England Patriots completed the perfect season last night by beating the New York Giants. Full story here.

Being from Miami and growing up with the legend of the 1972 Dolphins and their perfect season, it is bittersweet for me to watch the Patriots do this. I still remember my senior year of high school, 1986, when the undefeated Chicago Bears came to play Miami and it was so great to watch the Bears get beat by the franchise with the only undefeated record in NFL history at that point. Miami had the chance, albeit remote, of doing the same this year but the Patriots soundly trounced them.

The Patriots aren’t done yet. If they don’t win the next 3 games and win the Superbowl it won’t be a truly perfect season. I and rooting for them all the way. I don’t think its very fair to compare this team to the 72 Dolphins but everyone is going to do it anyway. The game is so different now. Personally, I think it is much harder to go undefeated today than it was in 1972. The level of play and the competitiveness is much higher. But, as my Dad would probably say, I’m too young to remember the 72 Dolphins and can’t appreciate their accomplishment. Probably true. However, comparisons aside, it is always nice to watch people and teams excelling at their chosen craft playing at the top of their game. Hopefully, I will get to see the next 3 games from Hong Kong.  

Go Patriots!!