Elon Musk trying to buy Twitter (edit: deal has been finalized)

[mplsdunk]

Our culture is not his costume. That’s OUR flag

 

[htg designs]

Poster thinks the new president did this is a couple months?....

 

[gry60]

Poster thinks the new president did this is a couple months?....

The poverty rate was at 40% when he took over.

Argentina’s Milei starts shock therapy by devaluing peso by 50 percent

New president Milei warns of painful measures as currency value slashed, subsidies cut, public works tenders cancelled.

www.aljazeera.com

The devaluation would drop the peso’s value from 400 to the dollar to more than 800 to the dollar, a blow to tens of millions of Argentinians already struggling to make ends meet.

Economy Minister Luis Caputo announced a raft of other austerity measures, including sweeping subsidy cuts, the cancellation of tenders for public works projects, and plans to axe nine government ministries.

However, the government plans to double social spending for the poorest to help them absorb the economic shock.

This is what devaluations do in practice. The price of everything doubles overnight, especially if the trade of raw materials and essential goods or services is tied to a foreign currency. I've lived through a couple of them before I moved to the US, and if it weren't for the government imposing price controls on foodstuff, people would be in the streets rioting because they can't afford to live (exactly what we're seeing in Argentina at the moment).

The thing about subsidizing the cost of essential goods while waiting for austerity measures to do their thing (create surplus) is that money has to be borrowed from international financial organizations (IMF/WB) or richer countries.

IMF unlocks $4.7bn for Argentina amid economic crisis, Milei austerity cuts

Inflation has crossed 160 percent in Latin America’s third-biggest economy, 40 percent of population living in poverty.

www.aljazeera.com

The problem with generating revenues that way is that these loans come with clauses that prioritize the reimbursement of the debt at the expense of investing in the borrowing government's society. That kind of financial arrangement has historically resulted in increased poverty, lower confidence in the political system (which can lead to riots/uprisings/coups/civil wars), lower economic opportunity (plenty of college graduates hawking second-hand goods trashed by Western countries instead of generating income and taxes in their field of study), and finally economic migration of younger generations.

That's the feedback loop many African countries got stuck in starting in the 1980s, and the increasingly intrusive demands from the IMF and western lenders (from privatization of most social sectors - education, transit, healthcare - to attempts to reshape the political process) eventually led many of them to turn to China/Russia/India for loans.

In December, the government said it would slash the value of its currency, the peso, by more than 50 percent against the US dollar and announced a raft of other austerity measures, including sweeping subsidy cuts, cancellation of tenders for public works projects, and plans to axe nine government ministries.

Libertarian Milei has taken several steps to cut public spending and overhaul the economy. He recently presented a legislative package to Congress, seeking to privatise more than 40 public companies and impose restrictions on the right to assembly and demonstration.

Thousands protest as hunger grows amid Argentine austerity

Thousands protested across Argentina on Friday to demand food aid for the poor as soaring inflation and President Javier Milei's harsh austerity measures take their toll.

www.france24.com

However, annual inflation has still risen to 254 percent, the price of bus tickets has more than tripled, and the government has frozen crucial aid to soup kitchens that have ever more mouths to feed.

"In a little more than two months, this government has generated a very critical situation of poverty," Alejandro Gramajo of the UTEP union told AFP.

"No to the increase in transport costs," protesters chanted, along with cries of "Hunger doesn't wait" and "Pots are empty, pockets are too."

Argentina's 38,000 meal centers, which provide a hot plate of food to those in need, received their last batch of government-provided supplies in November before Milei -- a libertarian and self-described "anarcho-capitalist" -- was inaugurated.

Milei's government says it plans to audit the needs of each individual soup kitchen and put in place a system of direct aid, aiming to exclude intermediaries such as social movements he describes as "poverty managers."

 

[TSCQ]

 

[TSCQ]

 

[executive76]

 

[Mark Antony]

Grey area being "but I'm white".

 

[TSCQ]

Elon Musk sues OpenAI and Sam Altman for putting profits over humanity

Elon Musk says Sam Altman has breached an agreement by putting profits over humanity.

www.marketwatch.com

 

[jape]

 

[oh you mad]

 

[RustyShackleford]

Elijah Musk is crazy

 

[Public Enemy]

Whoever just scarred me for life, I hope you stub your toe

 

[biggie62]

Thought this was Paul Pierce at first glance

 

[WASHED KING]

Thought this was Paul Pierce at first glance

It's not???

 

[Public Enemy]

 

[Frankie Blue]

 

[IATT]

 

[DCAllAfrican]

 

[RustyShackleford]

I watched the interview, and it is embarrassing for Elon.

Lemon was polite and but didn't kiss his ***, and Elon couldn't handle it. Pathetic

 

[Mark Antony]

Just that little clip and i'm uninterested. These old cronies think they can talk to certain folks a certain way.

 

[1995]

What ever happened to that nut with the Green Lantern picture who would flip out about progressives all the time?

He loved the Musk Man

 

[moonman818]

Listening to a few clips of this interview, it's unreal how not smart this guy actually is

Dude is a snowflake and misinformed.

 

[jape]

i don't know why i didn't expect him to be so fragile
makes sense

 

[elpablo21]

 

[mplsdunk]

He was stuttering and **** he was so mad.