By Brandon Smith If an economic system collapses in the woods and no one is paying attention, are there any consequences outside the woods? Well, yes, of course. As with most situations financial and global, however, consequences are not usually taken very seriously until they have spawned a vast bog of sewage we all have to then … Continue reading
By Jeffrey P. Snider, Alhambra Investment Partners When commenting on any weakness in the US economy, it has become common even shorthand for any outlet or author to affix the conventional explanation. Suspiciously low growth rates and far too many outright contractions, especially in manufacturing and industry, are blamed on overseas weakness and the dollar as … Continue reading
By David Haggith, The Great Recession Blog The question begs for conspiracy theories to satisfy it, but one might more aptly say that central banks beg for conspiracy theories to explain them, since they operate in the shadows while being given charge of all the financial systems of all the worldâs greatest economies. Central bankers have the unchaperoned power … Continue reading
By Jason Simpkins Six of the world’s central banks (Europe, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, and Hungary) representing 29 countries have taken interest rates negative. They range from -0.05% in Hungary to -1.25% basis points in Sweden. As a result, other countries, plagued by the same low commodities prices and a soft global economy, are now … Continue reading
Members of the Saudi royal family appear to be preparing to go into exile as they are selling as much oil as possible in order to move their petrodollars out of the country. The declining oil price doesnât matter. Clear signals are coming from the U.S. that the days of the incumbent clans are numbered. In … Continue reading
By Egon Von Greyerz, GoldSwitzerland Investors around the world are blissfully ignorant of what will hit them in coming months and years. Virtually no one understands the risks in the world and less than ½% of investors have protected themselves against the destruction of their financial assets. It is of course wonderful to live in Shangri-La … Continue reading
By Pepe Escobar Major turbulence seems to be the name of the game in 2016. Yet the current turbulence may be interpreted as the calm before the next, devastating geopolitical/financial storm. Letâs review the current state of play via the dilemmas afflicting the House of Saud, the EU and BRICS members Russia, Brazil and China. … Continue reading
By Brandon Smith Itâs been about 15 years now since passenger airliners struck the World Trade Center towers on 9/11, and we are still suffering the consequences of that day, though perhaps not in the ways many Americans might believe. The 9/11 attacks were billed by the Bush Administration as a âwake-up callâ for the U.S., … Continue reading
By Pepe Escobar Soon after the impeachment motion against President Dilma Rousseff was approved in the Brazilian Congress by what I chose to call Hybrid War hyenas, President-in-Waiting Michel “Brutus” Temer, one of the coupâs articulators, dispatched a senator to Washington as special paperboy to deliver the news on the coup in progress. The senator in question … Continue reading
By Jeffrey P. Snider, Alhambra Investment Partners With the housing recovery, it is perhaps because it has been much more visible and earnest that the disparity is more easily appreciated and understood. Prices have surged in some places as much as the housing mania portion of the great bubble of the 2000âs, yet that has taken … Continue reading