Agora Financial’s Rude Awakening

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Ouzilly, France

• Presidential wannabes and the great farce of their election campaigns,
• The concerted political effort to force the invisible hand,
• Off to a green city in the desert and plenty more…

On the move again, Joel Bowman reports from the Arabian desert…

We’re on a road trip to Abu Dhabi this morning, in search of a patch of green
in the sandy desert. The capital city that produces 95% of the United Arab
Emirates’ oil may seem like a strange place to launch a project dedicated to
the research of crude’s competitors, but we like strange…and we like road
trips…so there you go.

The little green patch, the desert oasis, is called the Masdar Initiative. We
first brought it to your attention a couple of months ago in a column titled
“Ugly Betty of Arabia.”

“The Masdar Initiative (Masdar meaning “the source” in Arabic) is a
government-sponsored project that aims to provide a global cooperative
platform for the research and development of sustainable energy technologies.

“Set up in May of last year, the pioneering project has modeled itself
roughly on California’s Silicon Valley as a venue where competing renewable
energy companies can exchange ideas and further the advancement of their
cutting edge technologies.”

This week, Abu Dhabi will hold the World Future Energy Forum 2008 with Masdar
as its centerpiece. We look forward to bringing you the skinny on a few of
the hot topics from the summit.

While we traverse the desert, Bill Bonner will be taking you through the
comparatively hostile environment of American politics. Enjoy…

—- Special Alternative Energy Investment Report —-

A California Energy Site So Secret, You Can’t Even See it Without a Top-Level U.S. Navy Clearance…

But a former Navy ‘insider’ is now ready to disclose the names of five
’secret’ energy companies that could make you $372,340…

The Navy has already collected $194 million from this discovery.

And CNNMoney.com reports that ‘Investments in [this 'secret' energy sector]
jumped nearly four-fold over the last two years, to about $100 million last
year… Because it’s [still] so small, there’s large growth potential
here…’ Read on Here.

——————————————————–

Clowning Achievements
By Bill Bonner

Every bit of America’s presidential campaign is a lie, even the
punctuation…

One nice thing about writing about America’s presidential race is that the
writer runs no risk of libeling the candidates; he can say that Mrs. Clinton
is a scalawag or that Mr. Giuliani is a scoundrel. No jury in the world –
given a fair hearing of the evidence – would ever find him guilty. No
National Secrets Act prevents him from revealing that Mr. Huckabee is a
moron. Nor will he be brought up on libel charges when he says that Mr.
Obama’s entire campaign premise is nothing but a bold-faced fib.

On the Democratic side, Madame Clinton, like Kristina Kirschner in Argentina,
and Evita Peron before her, aims to replace her husband as head of state –
after giving the nation eight years to recover. She is probably the least
amusing of all the candidates, in that she has been in a mote in the public
eye for so long we assume we are stuck with her forever.

Her main opponent, Barack Obama, is a fresh face. So far, his clowning
achievement is that he has managed to make himself the campaign’s greatest
mountebank. This month’s issue of The New Statesman has a photo of the man in
his office. On the wall behind him are photos of the men who “inspired him” –
Martin Luther King, John Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi. More
honest would be a photo of Tony Rezko, one of his key Chicago supporters, who
is now awaiting trial for extortion, money laundering and fraud. But honesty
is not a part of this election; the voters won’t stand for it.

It is all a “fairy tale,” said Bill Clinton. Of course it’s a fairy tale. The
whole campaign is a fairy tale – lies told by delusional
desperadoes…earnestly reported by hacks…and taken up by a public eager
for make-believe.

American politics, like the empire itself, suffers from some wasting disease.
But even from its hospital bed, it still puts on a good show. The whole
baroque fandango is one part Dada theatre, one part religious revival…and
one part low-budget circus. Nothing that is said is reliable; most is absurd
or incomprehensible…and there are clowns everywhere. The important thing
from the spectator’s point of view is to suspend disbelief…and enjoy it.

Lining up for an election in the United States is like lining up at a
security point before getting on an airplane. The old lady in front of you
knows perfectly well she is not going to hijack the plane. The fellow giving
her the once-over knows it too. So does everyone waiting in line. Still, the
woman gets such a thorough pat-down that she doesn’t know whether to lodge a
complaint or get back in line. And the Republic is spared!

“Change” is the word that appears most often in the candidates’ guff. Google
“presidential candidates” and “change” and you get 4,560,000 examples. Barack
Obama promises “change you can believe in.” The democrats suggest that you
can “vote for change” by choosing one of them. John Edwards website says, “if
you’re ready to change our country, please join us.”

Change is the only thing that all of the candidates agree on – they’re all
opposed to it; each one pledges to do his level best to stop it. If there is
going to be any change at all, it is going to be over their dead bodies.
Which would probably be the best way. Voltaire once remarked that the best
form of government was democracy, “with an occasional assassination.” But it
would be a waste of time. For not only are the candidates are opposed to
change; it’s the last thing voters want, too.

Mr. Market has begun a worldwide credit crunch; shares and houses are headed
down. America’s money is losing its value; its stock is in decline. If Mr.
Market has his way, a recession will follow. The only disagreement between
the major candidates is how to stop him. One promises tax hikes – on the
rich, of course. Another promises tax rebates. Still another calls for tax
credits to help one group of voters or another. Each and every candidate puts
his hand over his heart and pledges to do all he can to keep the boom alive.

Mitt Romney, appearing in Michigan – one of the slumpiest states in the union
– says the recession could be “diverted,” whatever that means. Mike Huckabee,
too, pledges to set things right in Michigan. The former Arkansas governor
has an understanding of economics at least as good as a smart German
shepherd. “Michigan is in trouble,” he said. “We owe it to Michigan to help
it, just like we had to do for the people of the Gulf Coast” after Hurricane
Katrina.

The whole art of politics is coming up with the right lie at the right
moment. We don’t know what went through the candidate’s mind at that moment.
But we can imagine what went through the voters’ minds – images of bloated
bodies floating through the streets of New Orleans; desperate, frightened
refugees huddled in the convention center; and acres of boarded up, washed
out shacks still vacant two years after the storm. Mr. Huckabee is known to
have a sense of humor; perhaps he was joking. Or worse, perhaps he was not.

[Joel's Note: What better time to grab a copy of Bill’s newest book than
while the presidential wannabes are strutting their stuff in front of the
world’s media? Enjoy the circus with Bill’s “Mobs, Messiahs and Markets:
Surviving the Public Spectacle in Finance and Politics” and have a laugh
along the way. Order your copy here.

———————————-

[Rude Endnote: While your junior editor has been gallivanting around the
desert countryside, our colleagues over at the 5-Minute Forecast have been
putting in the hard yards.

Addison Wiggin’s documentary, aptly titled “I.O.U.S.A.,” previewed at
Sundance Film Festival over the weekend.

“Over the past year,” writes Addison, “we’ve been writing and producing an
important documentary film that examines America’s rapidly growing national
debt.

“The film is inspired by the work we’ve poured into The Daily Reckoning and
our books Empire of Debt, Financial Reckoning Day and The Demise of the
Dollar.”

If you were interested in any of Addison’s work in the above titles, be sure
to check out a preview of I.O.U.S.A. at this link:
http://www.agorafinancial.com/iousa.html

Cheers,

Joel Bowman
Rude Awakening