Archive - Sep 2015 - Story

The hypocrisy is self-evident. That the U.S. has covertly supported the overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria is an open secret. That there are no American boots on the ground (at least officially) does not absolve the U.S. of partial responsibility for the refugee catastrophe unleashed by the Syrian war. Empire comes with responsibilities, and it should come with conscience. The U.S. is not a passive observer in Syria. Those of us outside the Deep State have no idea what's been done or supplied or promised in the name of the American people. Shall we accept 5% responsibility for events in Syria? That equates to 5% of 4 million refugees or 200,000 refugees. Of the estimated 4 million Syrian refugees, the U.S. has accepted a mere 1,500.

Monetary history, staggering mountains of debt, demographic problems, metrics relevant to the gold market, central bank debauchery and currency debasement in all their terrible glory, and even the beer price of gold – the latest Incrementum "In Gold We Trust"chartbook has it all...

Despite the liberal media spinning Hillary's non-apology as bringing her closer to the American public, it appears her presidential campaign took another shot to the chest this weekend. Not only does Bernie Sanders keep rising in the polls, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton head-to-head, garnering 45% support versus 40% of his Democratic rival, according to a new national poll.

In the early days of central banking, one primary objective of the new system was to take ownership of the public's gold, so that in a crisis the public would be unable to withdraw it. Gold was to be replaced by fiat cash which could be issued by the central bank at will. This removed from the public the power to bring a bank down by withdrawing their property. A primary, if unspoken, objective of modern central banking is to do the same with fiat cash itself.

Until now the two men who have supposedly discovered the final resting place of the Nazi "Gold Train" had kept their identity secret, fuelling suspicion that their claims were a hoax. This week, they finally revealed themselves to the Polish media. “We have clear evidence of the train,” said Mr Koper from reading a short prepared statement, adding they had found it by using “our own resources, eyewitness testimony and our own equipment and skills.” As proof of their discovery, the men released an image taken with ground penetrating radar purportedly showing an armoured train.

Why are the global elite buying extremely remote compounds that come with their own private airstrips in the middle of nowhere on the other side of the planet?  And why did they start dumping stocks like crazy earlier this year?  Do they know something that the rest of us don’t?

"We’re exhausted by your antics and empty promises. If we so much as sniff continued nuclear development, we are going to covertly and overtly stop you, even if that means military action and pre-emptive strikes on your nuclear facilities."

Today the US made a dramatic diplomatic escalation ahead of what is now assured to be the second major showdown between the US and Russia in Syria, over a Qatari gas pipeline no less, when according to Reuters, it asked Greece to deny Russia the use of its airspace for supply flights to Syria, a Greek official said on Monday, after Washington told Moscow it was deeply concerned by reports of a Russian military build up in Syria.

Five years of austerity, higher taxes, deep cuts in public spending, record suicide rates, and homelessness beyond anyone's worst forecasts... is it any wonder that, as Gallup reports, a majority of adults in the country - 55% - said in a poll that they think converting from the Greek drachma to the euro in 2001 has harmed Greece.

The fallout from the demise of the petrodollar is becoming impossible to sweep under the rug even as Gulf states are keen to downplay the severity of the budget crunch. For the Saudis, who need crude at $100 to plug a budget deficit that’s projected at a whopping 20% of GDP, the situation is becoming particularly acute. For Qatar, the situation isn't quite as dire but that doesn't mean the country's officials aren't acutely aware that the world is now scrutinizing the budgets of petrostates in the wake of collapsing crude and indeed on Monday, Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sherif al-Emadi was at pains to reassure the market.

While the media focuses on the human tragedy of so many people uprooted and traveling in dangerous circumstances, there is very little attention given to the events that led them to leave their countries. Certainly we all feel for the displaced people, especially the children, but let’s not forget that this is a man-made crisis and it is a government-made crisis.

On one hand, every economist, virtual portfolio manager, Yahoo Finance Twitter expert, and TV talking head is certain that a September rate hike is inevitable. On the other hand, the bank that runs the NY Fed (and whose chief economist Jan Hatzius has dinner with NY Fed head Bill Dudley at the Pound and Pence every other month), Goldman Sachs is re-doubling down on its call that the Fed will not hike in September. Here are Goldman's seven reasons why not.

The violence in two of the world's conflict hot spots escalated materially over the weekend after a Houthi rocket attack in Marib killed 45 UAE soldiers, prompting the delpoyment of an additional 1,000 Qatari troops and triggering stepped up Saudi airstrikes. Meanwhile, in Turkey, roadside bombings blamed on the PKK mean Ankara will look to plunge the country deeper into civil war ahead of elections in November. 

There is strong evidence that economies perform better with a tight labor market and, as the International Monetary Fund has shown, lower inequality (and the former typically leads to the latter). Of course, the financiers and corporate executives who pay $1,000 to attend the Jackson Hole meeting see things differently: Low wages mean high profits, and low interest rates mean high stock prices. Statements from Fed officials that the economy has virtually returned to normal are met with derision. Perhaps that is true in the neighborhoods where the officials live. But, with the bulk of the increase in incomes since the US “recovery” began going to the top 1% of earners, it is not true for most communities. Simply put, in the US, workers are being asked to sacrifice their livelihoods and wellbeing to protect well-heeled financiers from the consequences of their own recklessness.

Filed under 'what the f##k?', French President Francois Hollande is preparing for air strikes in Syria in a somewhat mind-numbing approach to to stem a flood of refugees from the Middle East into Europe. Using the always-ready excuse of "grappling with the threat of terrorism," Bloomberg reports Hollande's response to Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II by increasing the bombing of the very place from which the refugees are fleeing...