Worldwide Economic Protests and Riots

Update Dec. 14, 2010: Students in London stage violent protests against the fee hikes that will triple tuition fees. The scene has been described as anarchy: http://hubpages.com/hub/UK-Student-Riots-and-Protests

Update March 26, 2011: Peaceful protests in London over pending budget cuts (involving some 300,000+ people) turned violent. The economic and political fallout from the financial crisis continues. See video at bottom.

Update Oct 2, 2011: 30,000 protest austerity measures in Manchester, England. See article from RT.com below.

Economic related protests and riots are occuring around the world from Iceland to China. The mainstream media in the U.S. gives relatively little or no coverage to these events. On January 23, 2009, the Prime Minister of Iceland, Geir Haarde resigned from office following several months of protests over the banking collapse and credit squeeze. The resignation of the Minister of Business Affairs followed two days later. Economic conditions in Iceland and other parts of the world continue to deteriorate as the effects of the credit crisis affect the general economy. The world economy appears to be sliding deeper into recession and possibly something worse. Read more on the economic downturn here. Protests in Iceland are happening on a near daily basis and are becoming edgier as tensions mount amidst the declining economy. You can see more about Iceland's economic fallout and protests at the excellent blog (written and updated frequently by a native Icelander) here http://iceland-dori.blogspot.com/

Economic related rioting is also increasing in Eastern Europe. In particular, Latvia has seen some extremely violent rioting. Rioting has also been seen in Greece, France, Ireland, Bulgaria and Lithuania. See videos and article links below.

There were also major protests in the U.S. on Wall St. back in 2008, click here to see the very "colorful and spirited" protests that the U.S. media barely covered (strong language advisory): http://hubpages.com/hub/Protests-on-Wall-Street---what-the-news-media-isnt-showing-you

Likewise, there were major protests in London in 2008 that received modest coverage in Europe, but essentially nil coverage here in the U.S. See what you missed here (strong language advisory): http://hubpages.com/hub/Protests-in-London-Against-the-Financial-Bailout-Plan-for-Banks

There is a great deal of unrest in China, as the recession in the United States and Europe is drastically reducing demand for factory produced goods made there. In particular, the city of Guangdong, has seen large scale rioting by recently unemployed factory workers who were left desparate and destitute after factory closures. Most economists agree that China requires a minimum of 8% economic growth just to provide enough jobs to keep pace with the huge numbers of new people entering the workforce due to population growth. Recently, the growth rate dipped to 6.8% and projections indicate that it may decline to 5% which indicates severe economic problems and increased social upheaval. A recent article indicates that some 20 million Chinese have lost their jobs. See article below.

Below is a collection of videos and links regarding economic related riots around the world. This list will surely grow in 2009 as the effects of the banking collapse, credit crunch and ensuing recession (or economic depression) propagate throughout communities in the world.

Update Feb 21, 2009: Huge protest in Ireland erupts over the eonomic crisis. Middle class protesters are rallying against a levy on their retirement, which they say benefits the rich. See video below.

Also, protests in Greenwich, CT at bank CEOs luxury homes. Busloads of protesters descended upon the estates of bank CEOs and demanded justice. See video below.

Update April 13, 2009: Violent protests and riots are taking place in Thailand.

Update Nov. 20, 2009: UCLA students vehemently protest 32% tuition fee increase! Near riots!

Update May 1, 2010: Thousands of Greeks march in the streets in response to new austerity measures proposed by the government brought about by the debt crisis. A whopping $20 Billion Euros is proposed to be cut over the next 2 years, the impact of which will be severe. See video below and CNBC article below (located below the video section).

Update August 12, 2010: Huge crowd gathers in Atlanta for Section 8 housing voucher applications. The government expected 10,000 people to show up to get an application for Section 8 housing assistance.....30,000 showed up resulting in a somewhat chaotic scene in which police had to distribute the applications. Adverse economic conditions have caused a huge increase in the demand for public assistance. With the hot weather and tempers flaring, this scene could have turned into a riot. See news video below.

Update Oct. 15, 2010: Protesters ( 2 million+ by some estimates) have virtually shut down France. Refineries are shut down due to striking workers. Dock workers and oil terminal workers have left ships stranded. Unions are protesting Sarkozy's new pension reforms which would raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. University students have also joined in the protests. What you'll notice (especially in the raw video clip) is that the protesters are comprised of a wide swath of French society, young and old from all walks of life. It seems like these protests have serious momentum and are resulting in a virtual shutdown of the country! See video below.

Update Dec. 9, 2010: Students in UK stage violent protest over the tripling of tuition fees (from the equivalent of about $5,000 to about $14,000). These were some of the largest and most violent protests in over a decade. Even Prince Charles and the Duchess were caught in the fray with some damage to the royal vehicle. See video below.