Civil Unrest Fears Grow As Youth Unemployment Accelerates

 In nearly every country in the world, youth unemployment is much higher than general unemployment.

Unfortunately, the pandemic only exacerbated matters. During a crucial stretch of their early careers, young adults were locked out of entry-level jobs, destroying their ability to pick up work experience and potentially impacting their long-term earnings.

Now, nearly three years after COVID-19 first hit, young adults from some countries, like China, are struggling to find jobs. Using data from the OECD and the National Bureau of Statistics of China, Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao and Niccolo Conte chart out the youth unemployment rate for 37 countries.

Ranked: Countries With the Highest Youth Unemployment

At the top of the list, Spain has the highest youth unemployment in the OECD, with nearly one in three young adults unable to find a job.

ℹ️ Unemployed people are those who report that they are without work, are available for work, and have taken active steps to find work in the last four weeks. The youth unemployment rate is calculated as a percentage of the youth labor force.

A mismatch between educational qualifications and the labor market has been cited as a significant reason for Spain’s lack of employed adults between the ages of 15–24.

Meanwhile, the country’s reliance on temporary contracts and dependence on seasonal sectors—like tourism—to generate jobs are some of the many reasons for its persistently high reported unemployment across demographic groups.

Listed below is the youth unemployment rate for all the OECD countries, and China, as of the second quarter of 2023.

Rank	Country	Average Youth Unemployment Rate
1	🇪🇸 Spain	27.4%
2	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	27.1%
3	🇸🇪 Sweden	24.9%
4	🇬🇷 Greece	23.6%
5	🇨🇳 China	21.3%
6	🇮🇹 Italy	21.3%
7	🇨🇱 Chile	19.8%
8	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	19.6%
9	🇸🇰 Slovakia	18.8%
10	🇨🇴 Colombia	18.7%
11	🇵🇹 Portugal	17.2%
12	🇹🇷 Türkiye	17.0%
13	🇫🇷 France	16.9%
14	🇫🇮 Finland	15.8%
15	🇪🇪 Estonia	15.6%
16	🇧🇪 Belgium	13.9%
17	🇱🇹 Lithuania	13.8%
18	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	13.7%
19	🇭🇺 Hungary	13.3%
20	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	11.4%
21	🇱🇻 Latvia	11.0%
22	🇵🇱 Poland	10.3%
23	🇳🇴 Norway	10.2%
24	🇨🇦 Canada	10.2%
25	🇦🇹 Austria	9.6%
26	🇩🇰 Denmark	9.3%
27	🇳🇱 Netherlands	8.3%
28	🇺🇸 United States	8.0%
29	🇦🇺 Australia	7.8%
30	🇮🇪 Ireland	7.4%
31	🇮🇸 Iceland	7.3%
32	🇩🇪 Germany	6.1%
33	🇸🇮 Slovenia	5.6%
34	🇰🇷 Korea	5.4%
35	🇮🇱 Israel	5.3%
36	🇲🇽 Mexico	5.2%
37	🇯🇵 Japan	4.2%

Announced in June, China’s youth unemployment rate has climbed to 21.3%, a meteoric rise since May 2018, when it was below 10%. The Chinese economy is in the midst of a slowdown and its steadily climbing youth unemployment prompted the government to suspend age-specific unemployment data for the near future.

On the other side of the spectrum, in Japan, only 4.2% of young adults are without a job. A key reason for this is Japan’s shrinking and aging population that’s made for a tight labor market.

Youth Unemployment: Men vs Women

In most OECD countries, it’s common to see young men experiencing a higher unemployment rate compared to young women.

This contrasts with the trend across all age groups in the OECD, where the unemployment rate is 6.3% for women and 6% for men.

We visualize the countries in the dataset with the biggest gaps in youth unemployment below.

There is no singular reason that explains this common gap.

Across the OECD, more young women opt for tertiary education than young men, which may lead to better employment prospects. At the same time women are overrepresented in the health and social welfare sectors—both growing rapidly thanks to an aging population—that may make it easier for them to find jobs.

Why Does Tracking Youth Unemployment Matter?

Aside from being an indicator of general opportunities within a country, youth unemployment is a key metric to track, because it can be a bellwether for future economic prospects.

High rates of youth unemployment also correlate to brain drain within a country, as young adults move elsewhere to find better jobs.

Finally, large increases in unemployed youth have historically led to the potential of civil unrest, which makes it a politically-charged metric to identify and monitor for governments.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/civil-unrest-fears-grow-youth-unemployment-accelerates

RFK Jr.: Warfare Machine That Is Bankrupting This Country

 

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sat down with CNBC's Brian Sullivan for a wide-ranging interview on his anti-war foreign policy, his economic plans for the country, and how to revitalize the middle class. In the first segment he discusses foreign policy.

"Number one, we have to unravel the warfare business, the warfare machine, that is bankrupting our country. Paul Kennedy, a Yale historian, has done this extraordinary history on the decline of empires. And every empire in the last 500 years, its death knell was overextending its military abroad. We've spent $8 trillion on war in the last 20 years, since 2002, that has gotten us nothing. It has made us less safe. The Chinese spent $8 trillion during that same period building ports, bridges, roads, schools, universities, and hospitals. And they're now the principal creditor for almost every nation in Latin America and Africa."

"Our wars have bankrupted the middle class in this country," he said. "We were told in 1992 that we were going to cut [defense spending] from $662 billion [per year], we were going to get a peace dividend... We were going to cut it to $200 billion, which would be enough money to arm ourselves to the teeth at home so we would be too expensive to ever invade, and reinvest that intellectual capital and currency capital into building an industrial base in this country and it never happened. Instead of going to $200 billion, we went to $1.3 trillion."


"We spend more on our military than the next ten nations combined, and it is not making our country richer, it is making us poorer," Kennedy said. "We can lower our deficits, we can bring a lot of that money home."

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2023/09/01/robert_f_kennedy_jr_we_must_unravel_the_warfare_machine_that_is_bankrupting_this_country.html

Fauci defends masking as COVID cases rise

 Former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci on Saturday defended masking amid a rise in COVID cases across the country, saying he hopes people would listen to advice from health officials.

In an interview on CNN, Fauci said he is worried Americans won’t listen to recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — even if masking becomes necessary again.

“I am concerned that people will not abide by recommendations,” he said. “I would hope that if we get to the point that the volume of cases is such and organizations like the CDC recommends — CDC does not mandate anything — recommends that people wear masks, I would hope that people abide by that recommendation and take into account the risks to themselves and their families.”

Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, testifies during the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing to examine stopping the spread of monkeypox, focusing on the Federal response, in Washington, Sept. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

A small number of companies have already started asking employees to wear masks again, raising concerns that national recommendations may be needed again soon.

Fauci, who served as the face of the COVID response in the U.S. under the Trump and Biden administrations, said a study from earlier this year which claims masking is ineffective was actually misleading.

“When you’re talking about the effect on the pandemic as a whole, the data is less strong,” Fauci, who retired from his senior health post last year, said. “But when you talk about an individual basis of someone protecting themselves… There’s no doubt that there’s many studies that show that there is an advantage [to masks].”

The study, from respected British database Cochrane, claims that masking “probably makes little or no difference.” It went viral in anti-mask and COVID-skeptic communities this spring, but has been called out as misleading by fact checkers.

Cochrane also put out a statement saying the piece was “widely misinterpreted” in March.

COVID cases are on the rise again nationwide after a late summer surge hit cities like Houston especially hard. There was about a 19 percent increase in COVID hospitalizations and 18 percent increase in deaths in the last week, according to CDC data.

Despite the recent rise, the numbers are in line with rates of hospitalization seen this past February, which fell after a spike in the winter.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4184424-fauci-defends-masking-as-covid-cases-rise/

Idalia Aftermath: Saltwater Exposure Causes 'Thermal Runaway' In Flooded EVs

 Electric vehicles flooded by a storm surge produced by Hurricane Idalia have spontaneously ignited in the Big Bend area. This underscores a lesser-known safety concern for the thousands of Americans who recently purchased EVs and reside in coastal regions vulnerable to flooding. 

In the aftermath of the storm, fire officials in Pinellas County, west of Tampa, reported at least two incidents of EVs combusting after lithium-ion batteries were exposed to the saltwater. 

"If you own a hybrid or electric vehicle that has come into contact with saltwater due to recent flooding within the last 24 hours, it is crucial to relocate the vehicle from your garage without delay," a Facebook post by Palm Harbor Fire Rescue reads. 

"Saltwater exposure can trigger combustion in lithium-ion batteries. If possible, transfer your vehicle to higher ground," the post continued. 

It also said, "This includes golf carts and electric scooters. Don't drive these through water. PHFR crews have seen numerous residents out in golf carts and children on scooters riding through water." 

Fire officials posted multiple images of a Tesla fire in Dunedin. 

Video taken by James McLynas shows another burnt-out Tesla in Pinellas Park. 

"Hurricane flooded Tesla Bursts into flames while being towed to the storage lot. Driver picked up the flood damaged Tesla from a storm damaged home and was towing it back when it burst into flames. Driver stopped on a street and quickly off loaded the burning car to save his truck. (that's why there are burnt tow dollies under it). When the fire department arrived, they put it out, but it kept reigniting. After several attempts to put it out, they just let it burn out. This was all that was left," McLynas wrote in his post on YouTube.

The issue with EV battery packs is that saltwater corrodes wiring and battery components, often leading to shorts or exposed wiring. And then thermal runaway ignites the battery -- very few fire departments nationwide are trained in lithium fires. 

This problem isn't limited to Tesla EVs. Last year, Hurricane Ian struck Southwest Florida, causing inland flooding that led to dozens of EV fires (read: here & here). 

What's ironic is that government and climate doomsayers say decarbonizing the transportation sector with EVs will save the planet from imminent destruction (remember Greta said the world would end in 2023), but these unproven vehicles are only sparking more headaches.

As for imminent climate doom, well, more than a thousand scientists just signed a declaration dismissing the existence of a climate crisis, read: Over 1,600 Scientists Sign 'No Climate Emergency' Declaration.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/hurricane-idalia-aftermath-saltwater-exposure-causes-thermal-runway-flooded-electric

Marijuana users have higher levels of heavy metals in blood: study

 Marijuana users have elevated levels of cadmium and lead in their blood and urine compared to those who abstain, a troubling new study found.  

Analyzing data from a group of more than 7,200 adults, researchers from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found that the 358 people who reported using marijuana within the past 30 days had 27% higher blood lead levels, compared to those who said they refrained from both marijuana and tobacco. 

The authors found marijuana users also had 21% high urine lead levels, in addition to 22% higher blood cadmium levels and 18% higher urine cadmium levels, compared to those who didn’t use either marijuana or tobacco. 

The researchers studied data from blood and urine samples collected between 2008 and 2015 as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics

They separated 7,254 participants into five categories: non-marijuana/non-tobacco use, exclusive marijuana use, exclusive tobacco use, and dual marijuana and tobacco use. They then measured five different metals in the individuals’ blood and 16 in their urine.

“Because the cannabis plant is a known scavenger of metals, we had hypothesized that individuals who use marijuana will have higher metal biomarker levels compared to those who do not use,” said Katlyn McGraw, a study author and a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University.

“Our results therefore indicate marijuana is a source of cadmium and lead exposure,” she added.

There is no safe amount of lead exposure, according to the World Health Organization. Even low levels of exposure can affect children’s brain development, resulting in behavioral and learning problems. In adults, lead exposure can lead to elevated risks of high blood pressure, heart problems and kidney damage.

Even low levels of exposure to cadmium or lead can lead to serious health issues.

Shutterstock

Cadmium is classified as a carcinogen by the WHO and exposure, even at low levels, over time through air and water or tobacco smoke can cause kidney disease and fragile bones.

“For both cadmium and lead, these metals are likely to stay in the body for years, long after exposure ends,” Tiffany Sanchez, an author of the study and an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University, told NBC News. 

The study’s findings were published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

https://nypost.com/2023/09/02/marijuana-users-have-higher-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-blood/

Hoax-Funding LinkedIn Founder Intro'd Epstein To Trump's Inner Circle To Meet 'Top Russian Diplomat'

 Was Jeffrey Epstein involved in a plot to tie the 2016 Trump campaign to Russia?

A disturbing new report in the Wall Street Journal reveals that LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman introduced Trump's inner circle to Jeffrey Epstein, who then introduced them to a 'top Russian diplomat.'

As a reminder, Hoffman;

• Bankrolled an online disinformation hoax against Roy Moore, conducted by a former Obama administration official - who also created the "Hamilton 68" propaganda website purporting to track Russian bots. Hoffman later apologized when caught.
• Bankrolled Trump rape accuser E. Jean Carroll.
• Gave $600,000 to a legal defense fund for Fusion GPS - the opposition research firm which prepared documents for the infamous 'Trump Tower' setup meeting with Don. Jr. and facilitated the Hillary Clinton-funded Steele Dossier.
• Was a major Hillary Clinton supporter during the 2016 US election.

According to the Journal, Hoffman emailed people in Trump's orbit to introduce them to Epstein, who then invited one of them - Peter Thiel - to meet with Russia's ambassador to the UN!

In March 2014, fellow billionaire and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, a major donor to Democrats, emailed Thiel to introduce Epstein and arrange a meeting at Thiel’s San Francisco home. 

“Meet one of the guys who invented derivatives, Jeffrey Epstein?” Hoffman wrote, echoing an inaccurate claim Epstein sometimes made. Hoffman wrote that Epstein was “mostly fun, very interesting guy, you may find him perverse, but very smart on biology, computation, macro econ.” 

Hoffman said he regrets all his interactions with Epstein and that he made the introduction to help fundraise for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

...

Epstein scheduled lunches with venture capitalist Peter Thiel and real-estate investor Thomas Barrack in 2016, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. At the time, both were high-profile financial backers of Trump’s campaign. 

Epstein invited Thiel and Barrack to separate meetings with Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations. Churkin, who died of an apparent heart attack in early 2017, had at least eight meetings scheduled with Epstein between 2015 and Churkin’s death, the documents show. -WSJ

So, Epstein - pal to the Democrats and a prolific pedophile, had extensive dealings with a Russian diplomat that he tried to connect with Trump's inner circle?

The report also notes that "The documents, which include thousands of pages of emails and schedules from 2013 to 2017, don’t make reference to any meetings or conversations between Trump and Epstein," and "don’t specify Epstein’s purpose in scheduling meetings with Trump’s associates or the Russian ambassador."

Notably, these Epstein-Russia meetings happened when the Russiagate hoax was in full swing with the FBI's involvement.

Yet, according to Thiel, the October 2016 meeting with Epstein and Churkin featured "nothing memorable."

PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel speaking at the Republican National Convention in July 2016. Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

"I was rather naive," Thiel told the outlet, "and I didn’t think enough about what Epstein’s agenda might have been."

Meanwhile, a Trump campaign spokesman said: "None of these people were Trump campaign officials, and in fact President Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago."

As the Journal further notes:

Epstein met with and donated to Democrats more often than Republicans, according to the documents and campaign donation records. The Journal has reported that his schedules included meeting several people who had served in the Clinton and Obama administrations. In his townhouse, Epstein hung a painting that depicted Bill Clinton wearing a blue dress and red heels. 

In 2019, a spokesman for Bill Clinton said the former president had cut off ties more than a decade before and didn’t know about Epstein’s alleged crimes. The spokesman said then that Bill Clinton took four flights on Epstein’s plane and once visited the townhouse, each time with his Secret Service team and for reasons related to the Clinton Foundation’s work. The spokesman declined to comment for this article.

Public records show Epstein donated to Hillary Clinton’s 2000 campaign for the Senate, and tax records indicate he donated $25,000 in 2006 to what is now the Clinton family’s global philanthropic foundation. A spokeswoman for Hillary Clinton declined to comment.

After his conviction, Epstein maintained connections with some former members of Bill Clinton’s cabinet, including Lawrence Summers, who served as Treasury secretary, and Bill Richardson, who served as energy secretary. He also met with Clinton alumni leaving the Obama administration, including Ruemmler and the current head of the Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns.

Which begs the question, was Epstein just another prong in the Democrats' attempts to tie Trump to Russia in 2016?

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/hoax-funding-linkedin-founder-introduced-jeffrey-epstein-trumps-inner-circle-meet-top

Biden admin's overtime rule would hurt small businesses, trade groups warn

 The Biden administration's proposed rule to increase overtime for millions of workers could negatively affect small businesses already struggling with inflationary pressures, according to several trade groups.

The U.S. Department of Labor's proposed rule "Restoring and Extending Overtime Protections" would require employers to pay overtime to certain workers making less than about $55,000 per year — a dramatic increase from the $36,000 current threshold. 

Timed for Labor Day, the Biden administration's proposal, announced Wednesday, was quickly met with criticism from retail and hospitality trade groups. 

In a statement, the National Retail Federation noted that the Labor Department's "proposed threshold is well above the rate of inflation," and added that the administration may not have the authority to "tie the hands of future administrations through automatic increases."

The Biden administration's proposed overtime rule would be disruptive to small businesses, trade groups warn (Getty Images | Getty Images / Fox News)

The last time the threshold increased was in 2020, when workers making less than $35,568 annually were required to receive time-and-a-half overtime pay. Before that, the threshold for overtime was set at $23,660 in 2004. 

Several trade groups contested that the Biden administration's latest proposal was too rapid an increase in such a short period of time.

"The Labor Department’s proposal to implement yet another overtime salary threshold increase is a massively disruptive change that would create negative economic impacts for both hotel workers and employers," said American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) president and CEO Chip Rogers.

"Small business owners continue to grapple with the rising costs of conducting business and inflationary pressures. If implemented, DOL’s proposal would result not only in crushing increases in labor costs for employers, but also significant tax hikes and administrative costs as well," Rogers said.

Blasting the "one-size-fits-all" approach, the AHLA contended that the rule ignores the "flexible work arrangements" that are common in the industry, and would reduce opportunities for growth, lead to reduced hours for workers and consolidate jobs. The AHLA also said the rule's automatic increase in overtime thresholds every three years would put severe burdens on small businesses.

Other critics of the proposal predicted the rule would make it harder for entry-level workers to find jobs in some industries.

Biden's nominee for Secretary of Labor, Julie Su, announced the overtime rule just ahead of Labor Day (The White House YouTube)

"Massive increases in labor costs like this simply cannot be absorbed by businesses," said the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity in a statement. "It will reduce opportunities, especially for recent graduates and younger professionals hoping to begin their careers."

The Biden administration touted the proposed rule as a victory for workers. 

"For over 80 years, a cornerstone of workers’ rights in this country is the right to a 40-hour workweek, the promise that you get to go home after 40 hours or you get higher pay for each extra hour that you spend laboring away from your loved ones," said acting Labor Secretary Julie Su this week. "Workers deserve to continue to share in the economic prosperity of Bidenomics."

The proposed rule could run into a difficult legal precedent set after the Obama administration's attempt to increase the overtime threshold. 

A federal court in Texas blocked Obama's attempt to raise the salary threshold under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to $47,476, finding that the overtime standard was so high that it made the overtime exemption for managers irrelevant. 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/biden-admins-overtime-rule-hurt-small-businesses-trade-groups-warn