Free Republic

Removing Russian banks from SWIFT but leaving the energy intact so Europe has power, was so brilliant they obviously never played chess. Putin just put Biden’s king in check by ordering Europe to pay for gas now in Rubles. That will provide support for the Ruble, and undermine Europe and its Euro as well as the dollar in the long run.

China warned on Thursday that a “forced decoupling” of its economy with India, following a Himalayan border clash last month that killed 20 Indian soldiers, would hurt both countries. The statement came after New Delhi’s recent moves to ban or sideline Chinese business interests in one of the world’s biggest markets, even as the border remains tense with many more troops on the ground than usual. “China advocates win-win cooperation and opposes a zero-sum game,” Ambassador Sun Weidong wrote on Twitter. “Our economies are highly complementary, interwoven and interdependent. Forced decoupling is against the trend and will only lead to...

The U.S. economy grew even faster during the second quarter than what was initially reported. New numbers reveal a larger bump in corporate spending. The Trump/GOP tax cuts helped jumpstart the economy from April to June this year as investment and growth are accelerating 19 months into President Trump’s first term in office. Gross Domestic Product increased at an annual rate of 4.2 percent in the second quarter, revised up from 4.1 percent. This is the fastest growth in almost four years and was almost twice as much as the first quarter’s growth. We will see if this spike in...

Politicians everywhere promised too much to naive, uninformed electorates and ultimately committed everyone to debtor's prison There is an almost unanimous consensus among economists worldwide that the most worrisome disease infecting somewhat less than healthy and truly sick economies on almost all continents is low, non, or negative growth. How to correct that situation frustrates and consumes the thinking of political leaders and central bankers everywhere, regardless of which economic school provided the latters’ indoctrination. Pushing on strings has failed. Nothing seems to work. Securities markets are described as boring and directionless. It is like being in jail. You may...

Admitting resentment for foreigners getting jobs first gets you government-branded as an unemployed breadwinner bigot. Barreling their way way without their even knowing about it is the term ‘breadwinner bigot’ big government will soon brand all those who resent that some 25.5 million foreign-born people have jobs, while some 94 million and still counting Americans do not. “Since Obama took office the working-age, foreign born population has increased by 5.79 million and the working-age, native-born population has increased by more than 12.41 million. In that same period of time foreign-born people gained 4.08 million jobs while native-born people gained 6.55...

ASSOCIATE EDITOR’S NOTE: I recently participated in an interesting interview with The Daily Bell, and though most of my readers are probably already familiar with my positions on these questions I thought it might be a good idea to drive certain points home. Please be sure to check out The Daily Bell’s website and the great content they have there, as well as Anthony Wile’s afterthoughts on this very interview. This article was originally published at The Daily Bell Introduction: Brandon Smith is founder of the Alternative Market Project (www.alt-market.com) as well as the head writer and co-founder of Neithercorp...

A newly released map from the Tax Foundation shows the relative value of $100 varies, depending on the state in which you’re looking to spend money

Envy, I’ve often thought, is the very worst human emotion. The epic Biblical narrative of Cain’s slaying of Abel reminds us that people have been jealous of others’ successes and well-being from time immemorial. When mixed, however, with the near-obsession with inequality that dominates much public discourse these days, there’s a serious risk that envy — and desires to appease it — can start driving public policy in ways that aren’t economically wise or politically healthy. Remarks like “you didn’t build that” or François Hollande’s notorious 2012 “I don’t like the rich” statement don’t of course come out of a...

THE new Congress that starts work this week is the latest reminder of America’s stark political divisions: The parties in Washington are more polarized than they have been in decades, the partisanship gap between rural Republicans and urban Democrats has grown, and the battle for suburban voters keeps intensifying. Much less is said, however, about the equally significant economic division between conservative “red states” and liberal “blue states.” Blue states, like California, New York and Illinois, whose economies turn on finance, trade and knowledge, are generally richer than red states. But red states, like Texas, Georgia and Utah, have done...

I recently read the new biography of Trotsky by Oxford don Robert Service, published in 2009 by Pan Books. It is well-written and surprisingly interesting. The book does a great public service in describing the life of the actual Trotsky, whose previous “biographies” were little more than hagiographies written by his toady worshippers (people like Isaac Deutscher). The last time that I had taken any interest in Trotsky was when I was a teenager and had fleeting delusions of believing in “socialism.” Reading the new book as an adult and as an economist, I found it a useful opportunity to...

This is from a recent GE investor presentation. In some ways we're struck by how similar now is compared to 1990. China has obviously had an amazing two decades, and Russia and India are new entrants. But the old guard is kind of hanging on. GE

THE END OF GROWTH Adapting to Our New Economic Reality (August 2011) Economists insist that recovery is at hand. Yet, unemployment remains high, real estate values continue to sink, and governments stagger under record deficits. The End of Growth proposes a startling diagnosis: humanity has reached a fundamental turning point in our economic history. The expansionary trajectory of industrial civilization is colliding with non-negotiable natural limits. Richard Heinberg’s latest landmark work goes to the heart of the ongoing financial crisis, explaining how and why it occurred, and what we must do to avert the worst potential outcomes. Written in...

Germany—buoyed by its cadre of family-owned niche companies—appears to be weathering the global slowdown, countering fears that Europe's economic powerhouse faces a sharp downturn that could deepen the region's debt crisis. A pair of bullish reports, on German employment and manufacturing, were reassuring on Wednesday: Unemployment remained at its lowest level in nearly two decades last month, while July machine orders jumped 9% from a year earlier. The latest data suggest that Europe's largest economy, which is expected to grow 3% this year, remains resilient, even as evidence mounts that the U.S. and much of the rest of the world...

"Perhaps because those of us who DO just DO and those who can’t teach as they say. But I find there is an academic prejudice if not a snobbish attitude that seems to prevent the advancement of knowledge in Economics. In every other science, you OBSERVE and strive to establish what are the LAWS by which nature works. In Economics, there is no science. This is all about control, oppression, and manipulation. The primary question: HOW CAN WE FORCE THE ECONOMY TO DO WHAT WE WANT! To win the Noble Prize, you have to come up with a wonderful theory....

Almost all societies in the world have gone beyond the stage where they expect stability and linear progressions of the past to long endure. Some societies — almost en bloc — anticipate the end of their security; others anticipate the end of their suffering. Few expect insulation from change. That change, however, need not be entirely inscrutable if we look at global patterns and at historical human behaviour. Economic Patterns: What we now call “economics” determines power and conflict patterns because wealth, or the deprivation of it, determines survival, and, for those who survive, “economics” determines the relative control they...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States said Wednesday it would call on the Group of 20 nations to support their economies throughout the global economic crisis and endorse an IMF proposal to measure their efforts. Ahead of a G20 finance chiefs meeting in Britain this weekend, Washington laid out its approach to countering the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and making sure such a crisis does not happen again. President Barack Obama called for a two-pronged G20 effort to fix the global economy, using stimulus and regulatory reforms. "We've got two goals in the G20," Obama said at...

BANGKOK, Thailand - A slowdown in the U.S. economy will likely drag on global growth next year, economists predict, but Asia and Europe are expected to remain fairly resilient amid signs of healthy consumer demand. Even as a cooling U.S. housing market weakens Americans' appetites for foreign-made electronics, clothing and other exports, the swelling ranks of middle-class consumers in China, India and the rest of emerging Asia are seen picking up the slack, experts say. Europe's growth may also slow some, but the outlook there is also relatively positive due to renewed consumption and falling unemployment. "While the world's other...

SYDNEY, Australia - Hotter temperatures and higher sea levels could devastate Asian economies, displace millions of people and put millions more at risk from infectious disease, according to a climate change report released Monday. Global temperatures will rise by up to 4 degrees by 2030, particularly in the arid regions of northern Pakistan, India and China, predicted the report, conducted by Australia's main research agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. It said there is "little room for optimism" about the effects of climate change in the Asia-Pacific region unless governments take immediate action to curb carbon dioxide emissions....

Latin America: You'd think Mexico's election was lost by a leftist instead of won by a free marketer. But Felipe Calderon's victory reflects growing confidence in free trade in overlooked flyover states. Not that the media have noticed. Virtually all of them covered the election from Mexico City expecting a leftist victory, so it's little surprise that they ignore the winner and focus now on soap opera and sour grapes rallies led by Calderon's opponent, Mexico City-based Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. During the campaign, U.S. media gushed over Lopez Obrador as the "Mestizo Bill Clinton." Now he's preparing to become...

USA Citizens Day - July 1st Immigration Control Rally Nationwide Rally on Saturday, July 1st, at noon, at your City HallMay 1st - Million of Illegal Aliens Marched in our StreetsTwelve million illegal aliens demonstrated their political power, and declared May 1st to be A Day Without Undocumented Workers ( illegal aliens ). They boycotted the USA, all US businesses and institutions. Millions of them marched in our streets, carried Mexican flags, shouted "Si se puede!", and demanded new laws from our Congress. July 1st - U.S. Citizens Nationwide Rally for Immigration ControlRally to stop our continuous invasion by...