Category Archive: 5) Global Macro

In April 1994, South Africa held its first democratic elections and all races went to the polls to bury apartheid for good. But hopes of a new dawn have been tarnished by fraud and corruption at the highest levels. Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: http://econ.trib.al/rWl91R7 23 years ago this week, after …

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Our State-Corporate Plantation Economy

2017-04-26

2017-04-26

I have often discussed the manner in which the U.S. economy is a Plantation Economy, meaning it has a built-in financial hierarchy with corporations at the top dominating a vast populace of debt-serfs/ wage slaves with little functional freedom to escape the system's neofeudal bonds.

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Bi-Weekly Economic Review

2017-04-25

by Joseph Y. Calhoun

2017-04-25

It wasn’t a very good two weeks for economic data with the majority of reports disappointing. Most notable I think is that the so called “soft data” is starting to reflect reality rather than some fantasy land where President Trump enacts his entire agenda in the first 100 days of being in office. Politics is about the art of the possible and that is proving a short list for now.

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Deep-sea mining could transform the globe

2017-04-25

Gold alone found on the sea floor is estimated to be worth $150 trn. But the cost to the planet of extracting it could be severe. Check out Economist Films: http://films.economist.com/ Check out The Economist’s full video catalogue: http://econ.st/20IehQk Like The Economist on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheEconomist/ Follow The Economist on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theeconomist Follow us on Instagram: …

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Money In America

2017-04-24

2017-04-24

Economic Baselines in the Eurodollar Era, January 1993 - 2016

In 1830, France was once more swept up in revolution, only this time at the end of it was installed one king to replace another. Louis-Phillipe became, in fact, France’s last king as a result of that July Revolution. The country was trying to make sense of its imperial past with the growing democratic sentiments of the 19th century.

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The changing space race | The Economist

2017-04-24

The space race has changed since the Soviet Union sent Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite, into space in 1957. The fight for domination is now between private companies rather than governments. Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: http://econ.trib.al/rWl91R7 The first man-made satellite Sputnik 1 was sent into space in 1957 by …

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Marx, Orwell and State-Cartel Socialism

2017-04-23

2017-04-23

When "socialist" states have to impose finance-capital extremes that even exceed the financialization of nominally capitalist economies, it gives the lie to their claims of "socialism." OK, so our collective eyes start glazing over when we see Marx and Orwell in the subject line, but refill your beverage and stay with me on this.

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Our Intellectual Bankruptcy: The “Religion” of Economics, UBI and Medicare For All

2017-04-23

2017-04-23

Growth of Physicians and Administrators, 1970 - 2009

1. Mainstream neo-classical/ Keynesian economics. As economist Manfred Max-Neef notes in this interview, neo-classical/ Keynesian economics is no longer a discipline or a science--it is a religion. It demands a peculiar faith in nonsense: for example, the environment--Nature-- is merely a subset of the economy.

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RMR: Exclusive Interview with Charles Hugh Smith (04/18/2017)

2017-04-22

“V” and CJ are joined by Charles H Smith to discuss the power and future of bitcoin. Charles also shares his thoughts on the current economic outlook and effective ways to prepare for various economic hardships. Link to Charles’s work at “Of Two Minds” http://www.oftwominds.com/ We are political scientists, editorial engineers, and radio show developers …

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New Patterns of Disturbance

2017-04-22

2017-04-22

Having finally established that the economy of the “rising dollar” was appreciably worse than first estimated, we can turn our attention back toward figuring out what that means for the near future and beyond. According to the latest estimates for Industrial Production, growth has returned but in the same weird asymmetric sort of way that is actually common for the past decade. Year-over-year IP expanded by 1.5% in March 2017, the highest growth...

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Global Asset Allocation Update

2017-04-21

by Joseph Y. Calhoun

2017-04-21

There is no change to the risk budget this month. For the moderate risk investor, the allocation between risk assets and bonds is unchanged at 50/50. The performance of markets in the first quarter of the year was a bit schizophrenic. Stocks performed well which one might interpret as a reflection of improving economic growth prospects. Certainly President Trump and his proxies were quick to take credit but unfortunately for the new...

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France’s presidential election: A populist front

2017-04-21

French voters go to the polls on Sunday for the first round of the country’s presidential election. We go to Marine Le Pen’s heartlands to examine why this far-right, anti-immigrant and Eurosceptic candidate has gained such favour Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: http://econ.trib.al/rWl91R7 France is about to elect a new president …

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Now You Tell Us

2017-04-20

2017-04-20

US Industrial Production, Jan 2006 - 2017

As we move further into 2017, economic statistics will be subject to their annual benchmark revisions. High frequency data such as any accounts published on or about a single month is estimated using incomplete data. It’s just the nature of the process. Over time, more comprehensive survey results as well as upgrades to statistical processes make it necessary for these kinds of revisions.

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The Left’s Descent to Fascism

2017-04-19

2017-04-19

The Left is morally and fiscally bankrupt, devoid of coherent solutions, and corrupted by its embrace of the Corporatocracy. History often surprises us with unexpected ironies. For the past century, the slide to fascism could be found on the Right (conservative, populist, nationalist political parties).

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Central Banks Have Manipulated The Markets Which Will Ultimately Crash: Charles Hugh Smith

2017-04-19

Today’s Guest: Charles Hugh Smith Websites: Of Two Minds http://www.oftwominds.com Books: Get a Job, Build a Real Career… Why Things Are Falling Apart and What We Can Do About It Most of artwork that are included with these videos have been created by X22 Report and they are used as a representation of the subject …

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The Expanded Retail Sales Gap

2017-04-18

2017-04-18

Retail sales growth in February 2017 was going to be low by virtue of its comparison to February 2016 and the extra day in that month. The Census Bureau’s autoregressive models are supposed to normalize just these kinds of calendar irregularities so that we can make something close to apples to apples comparisons. The seasonally-adjusted estimate for February, however, was calculated to be less than the one for January 2017, therefore suggesting...

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Assessing China’s Economic Risks

2017-04-18

2017-04-18

First quarter GDP in China rose 6.9%, better than expected and above the government’s target (6.5%) for 2017. It stands to reason, however, that if Communist officials thought they could get 6.9% to last for the whole year they would have made it their target, especially since 6.5% would be less than the GDP growth rate for 2016 (6.7%). In only that one way is China’s GDP statistic meaningful.

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Why many World Heritage sites are at risk | The Economist

2017-04-18

UNESCO’s World Heritage site designation aims to protect the world’s most valuable natural and cultural treasures. But often, that designation is not enough. Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: http://econ.trib.al/rWl91R7 In 2016, the archaeological site of Philippi in Greece was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It was one of …

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The Palestinian Museum with no exhibits

2017-04-17