Lyndon LaRouche

Jan. 25 (EIRNS)--Many sources pointed to the financial mudslide continuing and worsening today; none as poignant as the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, whose January survey of industrial conditions in Texas and Louisiana found everything collapsing. VCalling the situation "an oil and gas depression," the Fed bank found 21% of all companies had laid off workers and closed facilities, and that every aspect of its survey and forecast were back to their 2009 levels, or worse. {Financial Times} on Jan. 24 headlined "U.S. Junk-Rated Debt Hits Two-Decade Low." The $1 trillion of high-yield debt which is "energy debt" is now worth 56 cents/dollar on average, {FT} says, citing Moody's. Of the production and exploration companies, 11% of their debt was in default in December alone. "Investors are bracing for another spike in bankruptcies," says {FT}. One of the biggest bankruptcies so far appears on for this week; Sandridge Resources, which has a debt of $4 billion.

Oilprice.com industry news website, in an article entitled, "Oil Crash Only the Tip of the Iceberg," says the 11% estimate is too low (it covered only December), and the actual amount of defaulting energy debt is $180 billion, 18% of the energy high-yield sector -- this according to Standard & Poor's. S&P also says 50% of all this debt will go down without a quick and large rise in oil prices.

Oilprice adds that a collapse of oil price and debt signaled the 1987 stock market/real estate collapse; signaled the 2008 crash; and oil price and debt is now a larger bubble, with a larger drop in value already, than either of those other periods.

Xi Visit the Best Hope for the Mideast, Zepp-LaRouche Tells Sputnik Radio

Jan. 22, 2016 (EIRNS)-Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the President of the Schiller Institute, was interviewed today on Sputnik Radio regarding the emergence of Iran from its pariah status. First she was asked by the moderator, Andrew Korybko, what she saw resulting from this emergence of Iran on the world situation.

"If Europe and the U.S. would get rid of the casino economy and cooperate with China and the other nations on the New Silk Road, it would be of great benefit,"

she said. Zepp-LaRouche noted that all the P5+1 countries were now sending delegations to Tehran to sign deals, but that they would only succeed if they got rid of the casino economy.

The commentator agreed fully with her on that point, and went on to ask her about the effect Iranian production would have on the oil prices. Zepp-LaRouche said that some commentators were predicting that oil would go down to $10 a barrel, but that this would be a new version of the sub-mortgage crisis, since all the investment in shale oil would now be worthless.

"The Fed has told the banks that they should keep the old price on the books. And this represents a tremendous cover-up by the banking firms of the real situation,"

she said. She noted that Venezuela had already called for an OPEC summit because of the seriousness of the crisis. Everybody is pumping oil in spite of the glut, she said.

"Iran is coming back into the market at a critical moment, but they're preparing for alternative production and moving quickly to nuclear energy and to fusion energy."

Korybko then asked her view of the Xi visit to the Middle East and his proposal for expanding the Silk Road Belt to these countries.

"The Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road are presently the only constructive model of cooperation in the world," she said.

"Look at the successful visit of President Xi to the Middle East. The Belt and Road are the only chance to overcome the Sunni-Shia divide. President Xi made the point in his beautiful comments on Iran and its connection to the ancient Silk Road. You have to extend the New Silk Road to Southeast Asia and to Africa. We can then create new sources of water through nuclear desalination and building infrastructure. It is the only hope for the people living there to have a future. And the visit therefore offers the greatest [potential] for the region."

Korybko was very pleased with Helga's comments and reiterated several times how honored he


Xi Jinping Offers 'Win-Win' Collaboration to Arab League Through the One Belt-One Road Policy



Jan. 21, 2016 (EIRNS)-Speaking to the Arab League today in Cairo following his historic visits to Tehran, Riyadh, and Cairo, Chinese President Xi Jinping presented an offer of peace and development, accompanied with specific aid, investments, loans, and joint projects that total more than $55 billion to the region, including the Palestinians. CCTV broadcast the speech live with simultaneous English translation, and other Chinese TV stations broadcast in Arabic.

Xi opened by saying that the Chinese "believe in hope and encourage it by peace," and framed the speech entirely in the "One Belt-One Road" policy. "The key to overcoming difficulties is to accelerate development, Xi said.

"Turmoil in the Middle East stems from the lack of development, and the ultimate solution will depend on development, which bears on everyones well-being and dignity. It is a race against time and a struggle between hope and disillusion. Only when young people are able to live a fulfilled life with dignity through development can hope prevail in their heart. Only then will they voluntarily reject violence, extremist ideologies and terrorism." "Outside nations cannot impose solutions, and China will not look for a "proxy,"
he said. Instead, China is offering a "win-win" strategy for all the countries of the region based on mutual interests, Xi said. He also referred to the injustice toward the Palestinian people, reiterating China's support for a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, and announced 50 million yuan ($7.6 million) for the Palestinians.

He described four areas of closer Chinese-Arab relations:

First, on terrorism and extremism, he said the cause can't be linked to a single country or a single religion. "We should treat the symptom, but also the cause." Therefore, China created a research institute on Chinese-Arab reform in China, to which 100 "famous people" from Middle East religious institutions will be invited. China will also provide US$300 million in law enforcement to help the Arab countries fight terrorism.

Second, work on structural reform, innovation, and a push for "oil-plus" trade relations. China would like to see agreements for the long-term purchase of oil and a long-term energy strategy cooperation that involves innovation. He told them, "China's investment is entering the fast lane," and the emphasis will be on manufacturing exports and transportation.

Third was "energy capacity cooperation," and using Chinese progress in developing efficient industries such as auto production, that can create jobs in the Arab world. He referenced the $15 billion in investments just signed in Egypt, along with: US$10 billion in loans to Arab countries for manufacturing capacity, and US$20 billion for UAE and Qatar for high-end industries. Another US$10 billion is going for other projects. China and the Arab States have also set up a training center for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and clean energy.

The fourth area is "civilizational exchanges" based on joint respect for cultures. Cooperation in this area will result in discovering "more areas for win-win cooperation through the One Belt-One Road." China is inviting 100 scholars and experts and will provide 1,000 positions for Arab youth leaders to visit China. They will also invite parties to decide on 10,000 scholarships and 10,000 positions for trainees in China.Under another project, China and the Arab States will launch a "Silk Road Book Translation" program for the translation of 100 Chinese and Arab classics into each other's language. "The Chinese and Arab civilizations each have their own systems and distinctive features," Xi said,

"yet they both embody the common ideals and aspirations of mankind for development and progress, and they both champion such values as moderation, peace, forgiveness, tolerance and self-restraint."

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Lyndon LaRouche