Topic: 60 Cycles

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde appeared on 60 Minutes to discuss the ongoing global economic crisis as a continuum of the 2008 collapse. She warned of stalled growth, high unemployment, and potential social unrest. Analysis suggests that restrictive new laws are being passed in anticipation of a complete financial meltdown and subsequent civil instability.

A year-long experiment by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will allow more frequency variation in the U.S. electric grid, potentially causing clocks to run fast. Officials claim maintaining the standard 60-cycle frequency is expensive and "needless effort," especially as renewable energy sources like solar and wind cause momentary fluctuations. Critics suggest this could be a mechanism to gouge customers or affect public behavior through frequency manipulation.

The conversation explores the historical 250-year cycle of empires, referencing historian Arnold Toynbee. The hosts suggest the United States is nearing the end of its natural cycle, exacerbated by foreign wars. General Stanley McChrystal's leadership in Afghanistan is criticized, specifically his intense personal habits profiled on 60 Minutes.