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The Russian central bank opened its first overseas office in Beijing on March 14, marking a step forward in forging a Beijing-Moscow alliance to bypass the US dollar in the global monetary system, and to phase-in a gold-backed standard of trade. According to the South China Morning Post the new office was part of agreements made between the two neighbours "to seek stronger economic ties" since the West brought in sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis and the oil-price slump hit the Russian economy. According to Dmitry Skobelkin, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia, the opening...

Advocates of abolishing the $1 Federal Reserve note are at it again, this time hoping that President Donald Trump and conservative Republicans will finally side with their three-pronged approach to revamping the nation’s currency system. Under S. 759, introduced March 29 by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., the government would end production of the $1 Federal Reserve note, revise the composition of the 5-cent coin, and suspend production of 1-cent coins. While the draft legislation calls for an end to paper dollar notes and the cent, it is silent on dollar coin production. Backers of the legislation...

The toxic dollar is bringing hell in a handbasket. Along with the student loan debt bubble and other major financial factors, the looming pensions crisis is bound to be the death of us all. Because it’s based on a future promise to pay, it has long been a benefit dangled to solve strikes and union disputes – because, in the end, it is just more debt, whether private or public. With tens of trillions in unfunded liabilities, the weight of an avalanche remains dangling over our heads. An aging population is cashing in on needed retirement benefits while the younger...

On November 3, the Egyptian Central Bank removed all exchange-rate restrictions and raised its benchmark rate by three percentage points. This was done to obtain that all-important $12-billion bailout loan the IMF had provisionally agreed to provide in August, though by November 3, the IMF’s executive committee still hadn’t ratified it. In the unofficial market, the pound had already collapsed against the dollar. With the peg gone, the official exchange rate instantly plunged from 9 pounds to the dollar to over 15 pounds to the dollar, and four days later it was at 18 pounds. On November 11, the IMF...

Gauging the value of the Turkish lira against the US dollar has required the power of divination so far this year. Anxiety is high as Turks wait to see whether the lira will tumble more and reach the once-unimaginable level of 4 lira per $1. snip- Now, 4 lira to a dollar is entirely possible and is seen as a harbinger of the big financial crisis to come. snip- The data indicates Turkey will be facing an inevitable financial collapse or at least a severe economic crisis this year. Such a crisis will worsen the security situation in Turkey, which...

Financial expert Lior Gantz says there is good news and bad news for the economy with the election of Donald Trump. Gantz explains, “If he changes the equation, it could cause a lot of inflation in the U.S. U.S. banks are so liquid and have so much excess cash because of TARP programs and QE programs that this could prompt them to start lending, and lend to the wrong people. It could prompt the government to start issuing increased food stamps, universal unemployment checks and all kinds of stuff that can create large inflation in the U.S. So, that is...

Vice President-elect Michael Pence is currently the most powerful single political influence on President-elect Trump. Among other things, he is in charge of the transition team. He will also be in charge, after the inauguration, with dealing with Congress. For leftists, hostile to gold, that is a problem. However, for those of us who believe that the only way to solve our long-term economic problems is by a return to honest money, it is a godsend. The editor of the New York Sun realized this quite a while ago. He wrote, back in July, about the wise choice of then-Governor...

In my forthcoming book The Road to Ruin: The Global Elites’ Secret Plan for the Next Financial Crisis, I make a very simple point: In 1998 we were hours away from collapse and did everything wrong following that. In 2008, we were hours away from collapse and did the same thing. Each crisis is bigger than the one before. The stock market today is not very far from where it was in November 2014. The stock market has had big ups and downs. There was a big crash in August 2015, followed by a big crash in January 2016. Followed...

The dollar’s upward march has sent the euro currency to its lowest level in 14 years, easing the financial pressure on traveling Americans but giving European exporters a boost. The euro, used by 19 countries, was down 0.1 percent at $1.0390 late-afternoon Tuesday, having earlier fallen to $1.0352, its lowest level since early 2003. Over recent days, the euro’s descent to the psychologically important level of one euro per dollar, has accelerated. A major factor has been the prospect of more interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve following a quarter-point increase in its benchmark rate last week. Higher...

The euro slid in Asia on Monday after exit polls showed Italian Prime Minster Matteo Renzi clearly losing a constitutional referendum that could end his career and destabilize the country's shaky banking system. The single currency dropped to $1.0577 in thin trade, after starting around $1.0645 earlier. The dollar was underpinned by expectations of a U.S. rate rise this month, and even held its ground on the safe-haven yen at 113.20. Dealers said Italian bonds were set to come under pressure as top-rated U.S. Treasuries and German bunds gained. Asian investors are often reluctant to trade on European developments, preferring...

(Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rally is likely to continue into the coming year on expectations that President-elect Donald Trump's proposed reflationary economic policies will force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more quickly, according to a Reuters poll. Most foreign exchange strategists also say risks to forecasts for the dollar to gain against every major currency are skewed to the upside. They see nearly one chance in three the euro will reach or fall below parity in the year ahead. "(The dollar) continues to reign supreme on the back of bets of improving growth and the inflation outlook...

Image from 11alive.com On November 21, 2016, in Atlanta, Georgia, an armed robber attempted to victimize a Dollar store. Attempted is the operative word. The suspect did not succeed. He was wounded twice for his efforts, then he was arrested. He is lucky to have survived. From 11alive.com: Atlanta Police say the man walked into the store around 9:55 p.m., pulled a gun and demanded the contents of the store’s cash register. As the robber was leaving the store with the cash register itself, an Atlanta Police spokesman said one of the store’s employees pulled a personal handgun and...

A 10-day losing streak for the euro against the U.S. dollar is rekindling an old debate: Will the single currency reach parity with the dollar? In the last two weeks, the euro has fallen 4% against the dollar, hitting $1.06, a level last seen 12 months ago.

The answer is no,” he said, when asked about his campaign trail promise by CBS interviewer Lesley Stahl. “I think I have to take by law one dollar so I’ll take one dollar a year.” He admitted that he didn’t even know what the salary was, but when he was told it was $400,000 salary he declined it. “I’m not taking it,” he said. He added that he would not be taking too many vacations either. “There’s so much work to be done and I want to get it done for the people,” he said. “I want to get it...

Canada’s dollar took a wild ride in overnight trading in the midst of Donald Trump‘s U.S. presidential victory, shedding nearly 1.3 cents before stemming some of its losses. The loonie tanked on global markets, falling as low as 73.89 cents US on Wednesday at around 12 a.m. ET, down 1.27 cents from its close Tuesday. It later regained some ground, trading at 74.38 cents US, not far off the levels it’s been at in the waning weeks of the U.S. presidential election campaign.

As the Federal Reserve's long-awaited December rate hike approaches, the parallels with a year ago are both striking and a bit worrying. The dollar is surging against other major currencies as the Fed gets set to tighten policy, even as other major central banks plan to keep their monetary spigots wide open for the foreseeable future. Similar circumstances triggered a bout of global financial market turmoil at the start of 2016... ...strong dollar is a negative for U.S. multinationals... ...good news is that Fed policymakers also are on guard against a repeat of the global financial market turmoil... ...IBD'S TAKE:...

They call him Dr. Doom and for good reason. Dr. Marc Faber, author, investment adviser, and publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report, usually emphasizes the risks in the financial system and never minces his words. However, his views are more nuanced than most people think, and his advice for investors is more pragmatic than idealistic. Epoch Times spoke to Faber about central bank manipulation of financial markets, the reasons for income inequality, and how to invest in this environment.

Negative interest rates are spreading like a virus. Central banks in the Eurozone, Switzerland, Sweden, and Japan all have below-zero policy rates. “NIRP,” as economists call a negative interest rate policy, is a desperation move—but the only move those central banks have. The Federal Reserve hasn’t followed—yet. When the next recession strikes, I believe Janet Yellen will choose to break the zero lower bound. The rationale was laid out in Jackson Hole. Look behind the headlines and you’ll see the Fed already preparing for NIRP. In theory, negative rates should encourage consumers and businesses to spend more freely and stimulate...

The American debt problem was almost entirely ignored at the Republican National Convention last week, and we can expect nothing more when the Democrats gather this week. Both parties support the entitlement spending system and the decrepit tax system that fails to support it. They compete on the fiscal side of politics with impossible promises to spend more and tax less. Imagine the U.S. Treasury as an airplane beginning to roll down the runway to take off. For a mile or so, the plane gains no altitude, then the wings start to generate lift. The wheels leave the ground and...