Free Republic

Turkey has formally requested to join the BRICS group of emerging economies, Bloomberg cited informed sources as saying on Monday. Ankara "seeks to bolster its global influence and forge new ties beyond its traditional Western allies," the sources said. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes “that the geopolitical center of gravity is shifting away from developed economies" and that the push to join BRICS "reflects its aspirations to cultivate ties with all sides in a multipolar world, while still fulfilling its obligations as a key member of NATO."Image source: XTurkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in early June that BRICS serves...

In the July 18 edition of Gold Newsletter, editor and publisher Brien Lundin wrote about the failure of silver prices to keep up with gold prices. "I'm not the kind of conspiracy buff that many of my friends in the industry are," Lundin wrote, "but it's hard to look at silver and not see some hidden hands at work (especially considering who holds so much of the metal in both physical and paper forms while acting as custodian for the biggest silver exchange-traded fund)." Of course, Lundin meant investment bank JPMorgan Chase and silver ETF SLV. Why anyone would invest...

@disclosetv JUST IN - Trump, if President, pledges to form a Bitcoin Reserve, using 210,000 Bitcoin seized by the Department of Justice, as the core of a new “Strategic National Bitcoin Stockpile.”

Target will no longer be accepting personal checks as a form of payment at its stores beginning later this month, the company confirmed.The Minnesota-based big-box retail chain will stop taking checks this month due to “extremely low volumes,” of such payments, a spokesperson told NBC Chicago.The company has taken “several measures” to notify customers in advance, the spokesperson added.The change will go into effect on July 15 following the end of Target’s popular Circle Week sales event.While personal checks will no longer be accepted, the store will still take cash, credit and debit cards, Target Circle Cards, digital wallets, SNAP/EBT...

Financial markets generally show no clear direction these days. Accordingly, relatively small movements cause market noise. A few examples happened in the currency market where non-U.S. dollar exchange rates depreciated. While Euro depreciation had its back story of extreme right-wing parties rising in election polls, Japanese Yen depreciation had its story of the central bank (Bank of Japan) not managing market expectations well, Chinese Yuan depreciation had its story of bad outlook, the ultimate result was a strong U.S. dollar, against all.Many views have listed so many reasons that the U.S. dollar should decline, if not collapse. However, the “cruel”...

This month, rumors about the petrodollar have spread like wildfire all over the Internet. Some of what is being said is true, and some of what is being said is false. When other sources were reporting on “the death of the petrodollar”, I was asked why I was not writing about it. Well, the truth is that I was not writing about it because the petrodollar is not dead. It is certainly in trouble, but it is not dead. Today, most oil continues to be sold in U.S. dollars, and most global trade continues to be conducted in U.S. dollars....

I would like to move some Bitcoin to cold storage, but the thought of doing it wrong and losing it forever scares the Obama out of me. If you have done it, how did you do it, how do you store the wallet, and what is the possibility of messing it up and losing it forever?

So apparently the US Supreme Court has just given 40 US states the green light to begin issuing their own gold and silver-backed currencies. Quote from the SC decision: “The United States maintains a dual system of banking, made up of parallel federal and state banking systems. That dual system allows privately owned banks to choose whether to obtain a charter from the Federal Government or from a state government.” www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-529_1b7d.pdf

The House of Representatives on Thursday voted along bipartisan lines to advance legislation blocking the Federal Reserve from creating its own central bank digital currency (CBDC). Three Democrats joined all Republicans in voting for the bill — moderate Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine., Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash. The CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act was led by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and backed by Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee. If passed in both chambers of Congress, the bill would be a significant step toward curbing the federal government's ability to regulate cryptocurrency, but it's...

US House passes bill to ban the Federal Reserve from creating a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/1793702722480550398

By the early 400s, the Roman Empire was coming apart at the seams and in desperate need of strong, competent leadership. In theory, Honorius should have been the right man for the job.Born into the royal household in Constantinople, Honorius had been groomed to rule, practically since birth, by the finest experts in the realm. So even as a young man, Honorius had already accumulated decades of experience.Yet Rome’s foreign adversaries rightfully believed Honorius to be weak, out of touch, divisive, and completely inept.He had entered into bonehead peace treaties that strengthened Rome’s enemies. He paid vast sums of money...

Bit of an older video which I'm going to use as a lead-in to a video from a woman shopping in China (6-month old video). In her video (which follows) she must have a phone app tied to a Chinese bank account and MUST have FACIAL RECOGNITION to authorize the spending from that account. Rich or Poor Free or Bond (slave, essentially) Great or Small (Famous or not famous) THIS is how various governments around the world will control their citizens. You don't have to believe it; but you can watch it continue to unfold.

Jared Bernstein is perhaps the most influential "economist" in the United States. I put economist in quotes, despite his being an academic who has taught the subject and has advised Congress and the highest elected officials in America. I do so because he is a moron. He is such a moron that Paul Krugman himself admires him for his economic insights. He is that bad. ... This is absolutely priceless. And probably the most frightening clip you'll ever watch on the people in charge of the US economy. Jared Bernstein is literally the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers,...

In the time (dis)honored tradition of Haruhiko Kuroda, the former governor of the Bank of Japan, Japan likely conducted its second currency intervention this week, current account figures from the central bank suggest, in another sign of the government’s intensified battle to prop up the yen. Tokyo’s latest entry into the market was likely around ¥3.5 trillion ($22.5 billion), based on a comparison of Bank of Japan accounts and money broker forecasts. The BOJ reported Thursday that its current account will probably fall ¥4.36 trillion due to fiscal factors on the next business day of Tuesday. That compares with the...

KEY TAKEAWAYS The European Commission wants to hand Ukraine $300 billion seized from Russia. Doing so likely would sound the death knell for the dollar and eventually the euro. The message from the EU and the Biden administration is crystal clear: Western financial markets are now a dangerous place to park your money. The talk of seizing foreigners’ assets is exposing these dollar-denominated loans as less than safe. Indeed, they’re more of a liability. Confidence in Western financial markets has already been shaken enough by the 20% devaluation of the dollar over the last few years. But now the European...

In the midst of all its other woes, the Islamic Republic of Iran has just suffered the worst economic collapse of its existence: the Iranian rial has lost 30% of its value overnight.

Zimbabwe has introduced a new currency, the ZiG, as announced by the new Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor, John Mushayavanhu, in his long-awaited 2024 Monetary Policy Statement. The introduction of the ZiG, which stands for “Zimbabwe Gold,” marks a significant shift in the nation’s financial landscape.

If you plan to deposit $10,000 or more into your checking account, there are a few things you should consider first. By law, banks have to report deposits that exceed a certain amount. Not only that, but many bank accounts come with maximum deposit restrictions. You may also be subject to certain fees when making such a large deposit. If you frequently make large deposits, you should also watch out for any potential scams or fraudulent activity. But even if this is a one-time thing, it’s still important to know about these factors and how they might affect you. Banks...

~snip~ As part of a longstanding campaign to stop printing and even recall existing $100 bills, the New Republic wrote, “Benjamins are the favorite currency of criminals and almost no one else.” Rich tax evaders, corrupt foreign officials, money launderers, counterfeiters and other bad actors hoard them, but the law-abiding masses rarely use them except for overseas travel or special occasions. As far back as 1976, an economist named James Henry called for an end to the $100 bill in an article in The Washington Monthly because — even nearly a half-century ago — it was the preferred currency of...

Global bank messaging network SWIFT is planning a new platform in the next one to two years to connect the wave of central bank digital currencies now in development to the existing finance system.. The move, which would be one of the most significant yet for the nascent CBDC ecosystem given SWIFT's key role in global banking, is likely to be fine-tuned to when the first major ones are launched. 90% of the world's central banks are now exploring digital versions of their currencies. Most don't want to be left behind by bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but are grappling with...