This Wreckage

Diving into the Wreckage: Energy Crisis

Sep 30, 2026
Sean KB and Varn explore the Persian Gulf energy crisis, bond-market turmoil, and the slow decline of Western economies. They examine Germany’s industrial troubles, Britain’s stagnation, tariffs, AI’s speculative promises and energy demands, and the political rise of the AfD and other right-wing movements. The discussion also revisits Gaza protests, Corbynism, Rosa Luxemburg, and capitalism’s external limits.
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INSIGHT

Bond Markets Now Trump Central Banks

  • Bond markets increasingly constrain governments more powerfully than central-bank rate decisions.
  • Japan’s Treasury sales reflect monetary desperation, not necessarily a deliberate plan for de-dollarization.
INSIGHT

Five Percent Treasury Yields Signal A Doom Loop

  • A Treasury yield above five percent can trigger a confidence spiral, raising government financing costs and discouraging further bond purchases.
  • The ten-year yield reportedly reached 5.23 percent after rising roughly 33 basis points.
INSIGHT

Tariffs Cannot Recreate Lost Industrial Capacity

  • Tariffs cannot easily recreate industrial capacity inside an integrated supply chain and instead compound costs at every production stage.
  • The United States produces steel but increasingly through efficient, low-employment mini-mills.
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