Big Picture View : Falling Political Support
Singapore flag price deflating ?
$2.60 at NTUC this year and I am convinced it was closer to 5 bucks last year.
It does not imply anything of course except perhaps that costs of production has come down or we are seeing an oversupply because we really do not need more than 1 flag per house each year. And I am not sure how we should legitimately dispose of the old ones without breaching the law.
But elsewhere around the world, governments are losing support.
Obama’s job approval was at 44% in May, according to Gallup but a WSJ poll in June showed it dropped to 41%. This is as another poll finds that only 7% of Americans have a lot of confidence in Congress, 30% have faith in the Supreme Court and 29% in the US President, a significant drop from 2012. http://www.gallup.com/poll/171992/americans-losing-confidence-branches-gov.aspx
Between Europe and Japan, political leaders are seeing erosions in their popularities. EU, as evidenced in their latest election results and an influx of anti-EU and Euro-skeptic parties into the EU parliament.
Japan’s Abe is still riding higher than any of his predecessors, yet his popularity has taken a dip from his post election highs. Across the straits in Korea, President Park Geun-hye has replaced nearly half of her cabinet after a massive decline in her approval ratings, as well.
As for good old Australia that Singaporean companies love and adore, just google “Abbott lies” and you will get 6 million sites, along with related suggestions for “Searches related to ABBOTT LIES abbott lies youtube abbott a promise for lies tony abbott lies more lies from tony abbott tony abbott lying tony abbott lies quote“
You see, Tony Abbott’s new Australian government is the first to experience a DRAMATIC slide in popularity, less than a year in office. http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2014/7/9/national-affairs/abbotts-unpopularity-matter-trust
No wonder China has banned all these websites and searches.
There is nothing to say for UK with their “cabinet of millionaires”, quite alienated from the populace. The “Pasty tax” and “Plebgate” scandals are good examples.
Elsewhere in developing economies, the 2nd most populated country in the world, India, welcomes a populist Prime Minister and Indonesia, the 4th largest population globally, has settled on a crowd favourite for a President last week.
We really cannot have unpopular leaders in good times, during this global economic turnaround we are living through right now. Wealth has never been so prevalent in a golden era of peace and prosperity.
Perhaps it is because wealth is a relative perception afterall and folks are more concerned with wealth comparisons than their personal wealth.
Thus it remains that policies will continue to be popularly driven, crowd pleasing and vote buying which leaves little room for monetary policies to be anything but accommodating to manoeuvre a perfect market outcome. https://tradehaven.net/market/engineering-a-perfect-market-at-a-price/
Oddly, if we measure the offshore popularity of global leaders, I am quite sure Australia and gang would rank high than ever, although offshore investor confidence do not translate to votes.
I suspect global leaders are not unaware that we could be headed for a rough patch ahead and that is why Merkel is considering breaking her promise to serve her full term and opt for early retirement while Obama probably cannot wait to vacate his presidential seat in 2016.
It is a vicious cycle we are in. That popular policies leads to bubbles and greater income inequality which can only be resolved with more popular policies and kicking the can down the road.
That is why, perhaps, I am grateful for the hard choices that Singapore is making right now in their economic restructuring efforts that will hopefully bear fruit when bad times do strike.
Until then, the best trade is the popular trade. Buy stocks and bonds when they buy and buy more after that. Affordable housing and employment need accommodating policies that are destined to make people rich until all the confidence runs out.
I thought so too … never bet against the central banks.
Except for ECB and RBA ?
One more:
PDAF row drags down PNoy ratings: Pulse
ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at 07/14/2014 10:02 AM | Updated as of 07/14/2014 5:01 PM
MANILA (UPDATE) – President Aquino’s approval ratings dropped significantly in the latest Pulse Asia survey amid controversy over the pork barrel scam involving Janet Lim Napoles and several senators.
Aquino’s performance rating fell 14 percentage points to 56 percent from March to June while his trust rating tumbled 16 points to 53 percent. Majority of Pinoys still approve of his performance, the survey showed.
“Yes, this is the largest decline in both approval and trust. It is also his lowest performance and trust rating thus far,” Pulse Asia research director Ana Tabunda said in an ANC interview.
She added that the issue of the pork barrel scam might have affected Aquino’s ratings during the survey period than the issue of the disbursement acceleration program (DAP).
PULSE ASIA SURVEY
(June 24-July 2, 2014)
PERFORMANCE RATING
June 2014: 56%
Mar 2014: 70%
TRUST RATING
June 2014: 53%
Mar 2014: 69%
The survey interviewed 1,200 respondents and was conducted from June 24 to July 2 this year.
The SC ruling on the DAP was issued on July 1, during the survey period.
Other headlines during that period were the filing of the plunder and graft charges against three senators and alleged pork scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles, their eventual arrest and the Ombudsman’s petition to create two special courts to try the cases.
Tabunda said the survey captured people’s sentiments about the SC ruling on the DAP but only at the latter part of the survey period. The SC ruling on the DAP came out on July 1.
On the other hand, she said the issue on the priority development assistance funds (PDAF) “might have a heavier weight than the DAP.”
“The people respond differently. There will be those that are sympathetic to the three. We have other findings indicating that. But there are also those who think – why only these three? There are other names,” she said.
The Pulse Asia director said the survey results could show a more widespread disillusionment about government officials as a result of the pork barrel scam.
“There will be those who might be quite disillusioned by the widespread (corruption) because there are a number of names. Even though these might be just charges and not necessarily any evidence yet regarding the cases, there might be disenchantment,” she said.
“Some were not that averse to the PDAF because of its intentions of having development projects for the people. Some of them are not necessarily against PDAF but it’s a different thing if you’re caught not using it for the development projects,” she added.
You could guess after they took out the Time Square ad to thank the world for donations after Typhoon Haiyan last year.
In total contrast to other world leaders!!!
Vladimir Putin’s approval rating in Russia jumps to 6-year high
July 18, 2014, 11:29 AM ET
More than 80% of Russians believe President Vladimir Putin is leading the country in the right direction, according to a Gallup poll Friday.
At 83%, Putin’s approval rating remains the highest since 2008, right before he stepped down as president after two consecutive terms. He is now serving a six-year term as president after winning the election in 2012.
The poll was conducted in late April through early June, likely driven by feelings of patriotism and triumphalism tied to Russia hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and its takeover of Crimea, according to Gallup.
On Wednesday, the U.S. unveiled a round of tougher sanctions against Russia for its intervention and support of a violent separatist group in Ukraine. Many of the sanctions close off U.S. capital markets to oil companies such as Rosneft and big banks like Gazprombank OAO.
Some analysts worry Russia could strike back against U.S. financial and energy firms with sanctions of its own. Putin told reporters at a summit in Brazil that sanctions “usually have a boomerang effect” and that the latest round “will force U.S.-Russian relations into a corner.”
The next day, a Malaysian commercial airliner was struck by a missile in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard and sending shockwaves across the world. U.S. agencies believe that pro-Russia separatists may have been responsible for shooting the plane down. The U.S. cautions that the investigation remains ongoing.
Another poll conducted by Gallup in July shows that a majority of Russians are content with how they’re free to live their lives, but Americans are actually less satisfied with their freedom, with the percentage of unsatisfied Americans more than doubling from 2006 to 2013.
And Putin enjoys far more support among Russians than President Barack Obama does among Americans.
Here’s the latest Gallup poll showing Obama’s approval rating: 52% of Americans disapprove.
You know what is the best part ?
Gallup cannot be lying ?
OECD Fears Middle Class Civil Unrest Is Coming
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-18/oecd-fears-middle-class-civil-unrest-coming
The OECD is now warning like Picketty that a growing gap between rich and poor will erupt into revolution – not that government is taxing too much. According to the words of the OECD Secretary General Jose Angel Gurria, the problem since the global financial and economic crisis has exacerbated massive. “In the first three years of crisis, inequality increased more than in the twelve years before, “he told the Business Week”.