Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Nigerian Energy and the Commodities Markets

Nigerian Energy and the Commodities Markets 

     Nigeria, Togo, Benin, and Ghana all are having to defend their natural resources because the commodities markets are out of alignment and not enough money is being paid in exchange for energy or metals. Nigeria and Ghana have valuable energy reserves and Ghana additionally has metals. Togo and Benin are small countries in between them.
     Nigerian petroleum refineries are not operating at peak efficiency and the Nigerian Government is sometimes confronted by a hostile private sector. All four countries have ports on the Atlantic Ocean. West African countries have capital cities that are also ports and some have capital cities that are inland.
      Abuja is the capital of Nigeria and it is inland, Accra is the capital of Ghana and it is a port, Cotonou is the capital of Benin and it is a port, and Lome is the capital of Togo and it is a port. Nigeria has a GDP of $569b USD, Ghana has a GDP of $39b USD, Benin has a GDP of $10b USD, and Togo has a GDP of $5b USD.
     Nigeria has a population of 177m people, Ghana has a population of 27m people, Benin has a population of 11m people, and Togo has a population of 7m people.
     In terms of military personnel neither Benin nor Togo have armies larger than 10,000 soldiers. Ghana has an army of 16,000 soldiers and Nigeria has an army of 162,000 soldiers.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Venezuela Economics and the Referendum.

     Hugo Chavez has been succeeded by Nikolas Maduro. Hugo Chavez had a public mandate and an organic constituency. Nikolas Maduro worked for Hugo Chavez and then Hugo Chavez died suddenly in 2013. I view Maduro with suspicion and the people of Venezuela likely also view Maduro with suspicion. Either Maduro is culpable in the death of Hugo Chavez or he is not.  
     Economically since the death of Hugo Chavez there is less food and more foreign military personnel exporting petroleum when the commodities markets make selling energy unwise. Foreign military personnel in Venezuela exporting energy seem unmoved that there is little food in grocery stores. The foreign military personnel likely come from Spain, the Netherlands, and Russia.    
     England and France are north in the Caribbean Sea and east in French Guinea. Belize still lists the Queen of England as its Head of State but French Guinea does not report much trade data to the World Bank. England once exported dyes to Europe from the Yucatan Peninsula and France has a colonial history in Mexico. The United States fought the Spanish-American War after the explosion on the USS Maine while it was sitting in a Havana harbor.    
     Elections for the Venezuelan Parliament, the referendum, and audits of treasury money are symptoms of food shortages and energy being removed from South America en masse without adequate compensation. The International Monetary Fund lists energy prices on its website and petroleum and natural gas prices remain low.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam has a capital in north called Hanoi and then Ho Chi Minh City which is where the Mekong River meets the China Sea. Ho Chi Minh Trail travels between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Saigon and Ho Chi Minh City are interchangeable and it borders Cambodia. Hanoi borders Laos.

Vietnam
Laos
Cambodia
Thailand

And then the Thailand Military sheltered the Khmer Rouge.

Each of those countries has a military and a government and they run back and forth across the border from Laos into Vietnam and from Cambodia into Vietnam.


9,8. 2016. 

Hue City and Ho Chi Minh City.

There is some symmetry between Hue City and Ho Chi Minh City during the Tet Offensive.

Vietnamese soldiers stormed the American Embassy.
American soldiers stormed the Imperial Palace.

Saigon
Khesanh
Hue City

Saigon was the American Embassy, Hue City was the Imperial Palace, and Khesanh was a temporary field outpost built by American Marines so as to defend against invasions from the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Saigon and Hue City were ports; Khesanh was on the border with Laos.


9,8. 2016. 

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Ukraine.


Ukraine is south of Belarus and Russia and southeast of Poland. Ukraine is east of Slovakia and Hungary and northeast of Romania and Bulgaria. Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and Russia border the northern coast of the Black Sea. The Sea of Azov is north of the Black Sea and it meets the Gulf of Taganrog and the Don River.

The Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea are north of Murmansk and the Kola Peninsula. The Norwegian Sea is north of Finland and Norway while the Barents Sea is north of Russia. The White Sea is an inlet south of the Kola Peninsula. The North Cape is west of Murmansk and northeast of Oslo. The Baltic Sea meets the Gulf of Bothnia near Stockholm. Kaliningrad is south of the Baltic Sea and southwest of Saint Petersburg.