Free Republic

MOSCOW—Thousands of protesters rallied near the presidential residence in the capital of Armenia in the South Caucasu in the first shock wave of discontent over economic hardship sparked by recession in regional heavyweight Russia. Undeterred by police batons and water cannons used to disperse protests earlier in the day, when police detained more than 230 protesters, mostly young people waving Armenian flags marched toward the president’s residence in Yerevan on Tuesday evening before halting in front of rows of riot police clad in body armor and holding shields. Sanctions over Russia’s role in Ukraine, including restrictions renewed by the European...

ROME— Pope Francis in his much-awaited encyclical on the environment offered a broad and uncompromising indictment of the global market economy, accusing it of plundering the Earth at the expense of the poor and of future generations. In passionate language, the pontiff attributed global warming to human activity, blamed special interests for holding back policy responses and said the global North owes the South “an ecological debt.” The 183-page document, which Pope Francis addresses to “every person living on this planet,” includes pointed critiques of globalization and consumerism,... [snip] “Economic powers continue to justify the current global system where priority...

National vacancy rates in the first quarter 2015 were 7.1 percent for rental housing and 1.9 percent for homeowner housing, the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau announced today. The rental vacancy rate of 7.1 percent was 1.2 percentage points (+/-0.4) lower than the rate in the first quarter 2014 and 0.1 percentage point (+/-0.3)* higher than the rate last quarter. The homeowner vacancy rate of 1.9 percent was 0.1percentage point(+/-0.2)* lower than the rate in the first quarter 2014and approximately the same as the rate last quarter (+/-0.1)*. The homeownership rate of 63.7 percent was 1.1percentage points (+/-0.4) lower than...

Something is coming. I don’t know what. But we must be ready. Here’s the key question: Is America heading towards a terrible implosion or a great awakening? I feel a tremendous sense of urgency about this column. The United States is hurtling towards severe trouble, and the events of the past few months — and what may be coming over the next few months — grieves me a great deal. Something is coming. I don’t know what. But we all must be ready in every possible way. Consider where we are in the summer of 2015: •Violence is exploding in...

Last week was a hard one to fully process for adult-ADD-addled news junkie like me. A momentous and arguably uplifting event -- Pope Francis' encyclical on climate change, a powerful document that folks may still be talking about in the year 2525, if Man (and Woman) are still alive -- was drowned out, at least in this country, by by the sound of gunfire and the manifestation of raw hate that occurred in Charleston. (And who exactly was Rachel Dolezal again?) The tragedy of Charleston and its "Mother Bethel" church absolutely needs to stay on the front burner of the...

Like all the GOP presidential contenders, Scott Walker is being advised by economists and editorial writers to adopt a “cut the top rate first” tax policy. It would be a shame if he followed their advice, which would mean abandoning the approach that he has employed in Wisconsin to such political and economic success. Standard “supply side” tax policy argues that the inventions and advances of the economy’s most active participants drive most growth. Thus, tax policy’s priority should be to encourage more of that activity by lowering the marginal rate on those participants’ income. Since the most economically active...

A vacant steel factory in Newark is turning into the world's largest-producing vertical farm. After it begins running later this year, the farm's indoor system of modular, stacked trays will grow around 2 million pounds of baby greens annually. The $30 million building will be the headquarters of AeroFarms, a company that has been developing vertical farm tech for the last decade. But the company sees the project as just the beginning—and hopes to build 25 farms in the next five years. AeroFarms already has eight smaller farms and five in the pipeline. "This isn't about one farm, this is...

Juncker called the latest proposals from Greece a "good basis for progress", while EU Economic Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said he was "convinced" agreement will be reached. Spain's finance minister Luis de Guindos said a deal was not possible on Monday, however, meaning it may be the scheduled leaders summit on Thursday before any agreement is reached. Investors appeared willing to give the protagonists in the saga the benefit of the doubt. "The odds seem to shift in favor of a compromise," said Rainer Guntermann, rates strategist at Commerzbank. At mid-session in Europe, Germany's DAX .GDAXI and France's CAC 40 .FCHI...

Big apparel brands are grappling with shoppers who increasingly want deeply discounted clothes over classic logos and status. Gap is closing one-quarter of its stores and laying off hundreds of workers after disappointing sales. J. Crew just fired 10% of the workers at its corporate headquarters as sales and profits continue to plunge. The teen-apparel market is also struggling as a whole, with big-name players like Abercrombie & Fitch and Aeropostale closing stores. Sears, Macy's, and JCPenney have also shuttered hundreds of store locations in recent years. More than two dozen malls have shut down in the last four years...

We politicize pretty much every issue these days, so it’s no surprise to see a proposed new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks pro basketball team similarly framed. One of the rallying cries of opponents is that Gov. Scott Walker and his Republican majority allies in the state Legislature have misplaced priorities. That is, they should find ways to put more public money into public schools and the UW System rather than commit tax dollars for a new playpen for the Bucks and their wealthy players and owners. The sentiment is understandable, but the issues are separate. The Bucks arena funding...

Over the past few weeks, the BBC has been reporting on the trends in US manufacturing - the challenges of the digital age, running factories in the city and why young start-up entrepreneurs are attracted to the industry. But what's it like to actually work in manufacturing, making the goods we use on a daily basis? And how has it changed - from Henry Ford's assembly lines to today's cutting edge factory floor? As of May 2015, there were over 12.3 million people - nearly 9% of the total US workforce - engaged in manufacturing everything from Ford Mustangs to...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., won 25.3 percent of the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference straw poll, which was emailed to those who attended this year's conference in Philadelphia. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie came in second place with 11.6 percent of the vote, followed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 11 percent. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush tied at 9.6 percent. These results show a strong preference for regional candidates as well as governors, and differ greatly from the latest RealClearPolitics totals. Candidates Walker, Christie and former New York Gov. George Pataki were all...

Are you proud that this is what the Philippines looks like to the rest of the World? If you are one of those Filipinos who thinks that the “Filipino First Policy” of actively discouraging Foreign Direct Investors and multinational companies from coming into the Philippines by requiring them to partner with local Filipino investors who will own at least 60% of the company set up in the Philippines is a step in the right direction, think again. Local Filipino investors are not numerous enough to create as many businesses that would create the huge number of jobs necessary to absorb...

President Obama's weekly remarks Hi, everybody. As President, I spend most of my time focused on what we can do to grow the economy and grow new pathways of opportunity for Americans like you to get ahead. And we’ve made progress. More than 12 million new private sector jobs in the past five years. More than 16 million Americans who’ve gained health insurance. More jobs creating more clean energy. More kids graduating from high school and college than ever before.

Hillary Clinton’s run for the presidency is driven by a lust for power, a sense of entitlement, and enough conceit to fancy herself the best one for the job. But none of these insures her success. To drive Hillary’s engine of ambition back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will require both high maintenance and high-octane fuel.To date, the Clinton campaign has been sputtering, even as her handlers insist it’s right on track....Clinton showed up on Roosevelt Island, in the middle of New York City’s East River, wearing a signature blue pantsuit. She clapped, waved, grinned, and pointed in supposed recognition to...

We are not allowed, needless to say, to disclose our top secret list ranking the GOP presidential candidates from top to bottom. ItÂ’s kept in encrypted form on a password-protected, self-destructing hard drive in a safe room at The Weekly Standard, accessible only to a trusted few who are cleared to know all the machinations we are planning to engage in to secure a 2016 Republican nominee to our liking. But we can reveal this: Donald Trump competes for last place on our list with Rand Paul. We donÂ’t think either man should be the next president of the United...

Economically speaking, all 237 GOP presidential candidates are selling the same Magic Beans. Everybody knows the script. Tax cuts for wealthy “job creators” bring widespread prosperity. Top off Scrooge McDuck’s bullion pool, and the benefits flow outward to everybody else. The economy surges, budget deficits melt away, and the song of the turtledove will be heard in the land. Almost needless to say, these “supply side” miracles have never actually happened in the visible world. State budget debacles in Kansas and Louisiana only signify the latest failures of right-wing dogma. Hardly anybody peddling Magic Beans actually believes in them anymore....

Scott Walker continues to lead the field of Republican presidential candidates in Iowa, according to a poll of likely Republican Iowa caucus participants released on Thursday. The poll, commissioned by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, also found a 5-point drop in support for Sen. Rand Paul compared to a similar survey by the Des Moines Register late last month. Walker received 19 percent in the poll, followed by Ben Carson at 13 percent and Jeb Bush at 11 percent. Marco Rubio received 9 percent, followed by Rick Perry at 7 percent, Ted Cruz at 6 percent and Rand Paul at...

U.S. flags fly over the New York Stock Exchange early Tuesday morning Jan. 22, 2008. Seven years after the financial crisis (and six years after Warren Buffett declared it to be over), Americans are still leery of getting back into stocks. That's the upshot of a poll recently released by Gallup, which confirmed that while no longer quite as negative on stocks as they were a couple of years ago, American investors still haven't returned to the levels of stock ownership seen before the crisis -- or even in its immediate aftermath. Once Burned, Still Shy In the run-up...

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is the clear favorite of conservative voters as he readies an expected bid for the Republican Party's presidential nomination in 2016, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Walker has gained little traction among the moderate voters who account for the majority of the party, the poll shows. But his strength on the right gives him a good base of support, analysts said. "It's never bad to be the most conservative guy in a Republican primary fight - he could win the nomination that way. The question is can he do so in a way that does not...