Free Republic

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil and gold fell more than two percent and copper dropped nearly nine percent on Monday as investors feared a rally that has taken many commodities to or near record highs may slow economic growth.

For years uncounted, the United States has engaged in the noble practice of exporting American-style freedom. We first cleaned up our own back yard by ending slavery. We were successful in World Wars I and II. We could only reach a tie in the Korean War however, and we failed in Viet Nam. Now we are trying to export our brand of freedom to a Middle East that still exists in the Seventh Century and we continue, to a lesser degree, to export our best product to Communist China. More and more, we see anti-American demonstrations in the European nations...

The failure of various forms of statism in the Third World, the bankruptcy of communism in the former Soviet bloc and China, and the high long-term unemployment and relative stagnation in Western European countries with overregulated economies has forced a revision of the development paradigm in favor of the market and private property -- in short, a more limited state. But the battle over ideas and policies is far from over. As a matter of fact, it will never end, as the forces of statism regroup rather than capitulate. This is why it is so important to analyze which policies...

Future Fighter Aircraft Requirements in Emerging Economies Date Published: 29 Mar 2005 By Marko Lukovic In the next ten years there will be a continued growth in purchases of new fighter aircraft. Outside North America and Western Europe (Eurofighter and/or JSF buyers), this will especially be the case in Asia where up to US$ 7 billion may be spent on new fighter programs. In Eastern Europe and Latin America several countries will be making important strategic decisions about the future of their air defence capability in the near future and this could lead to contracts potentially worth hundreds of millions...

EUROPE’S biggest economies are braced for a wave of industrial action by public sector workers in the new year that threatens to bring havoc to essential services. Unions in Germany, France and Italy are expected to vote in favour of strikes as they step up their campaigns for higher pay and greater public sector investment. Portugal and Spain have been blighted by industrial action already and even in Ireland, where strikes have been rare since the mid-1980s, talks on a new national pay deal have collapsed. Employers fear that this renewed militancy, which is likely to cost hundreds of millions...