Economy

“Future Economic Historians” Will Probably Call the Period That Began In 2007 “the L-O-N-G-E-S-T DEPRESSION”
Sure, last year was the first pre-election year stock market loss since the Great Depression. And admittedly, last week was the worst opening week of any year … EVER. But that’s not the big news. The bigger news is that the Baltic Dry Index has crashed. [...]
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Crude Crashes On Biggest 2-Week Gasoline Inventory Build On Record | Zero Hedge
Confirming API data overnight, DOE reports that while total inventories of crude rose less than expected (+234k vs +2.1mm exp.) Gasoline and Distillates saw a massive build once again. Gasoline inventories rose 8.44mm barrels (following last week's 10.6mm record build) is the biggest 2-week inventory build in history. Crude has crashed back from overnight "China is buying oil" demand hopes. [...]
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De-Dollarization: Russia’s Oil Benchmark Futures to Be Priced in Rubles
Step-by-step Russia, China and other emerging economies are taking measures to reduce their dependence on the US dollar, F. William Engdahl notes, referring to Russia's crude oil benchmark initiative; the move could deal a dramatic blow to the "petrodollar's" dominance. [...]
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How Debt Conquered America | Consortiumnews
America presents itself to the world as “the land of the free” but – for the vast majority – it is a place of enslaving indebtedness, a reality for much of “the 99%” that has deep historical roots hidden or “lost” from our history, as Jada Thacker explains. Since its center-stage debut during the Occupy Wall Street movement, “the 99%” – a term emblematic of extreme economi [...]
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Reality Peeks Through in Ukraine | Consortiumnews
With corruption rampant and living standards falling, Ukraine may become the next failed state that “benefited” from a neoconservative-driven “regime change,” though the blame will always be placed elsewhere – in this case, on the demonized Russian President Putin, writes Robert Parry. Nearly two years since U.S. officials helped foment a coup in Ukraine – partly justified by corrup [...]
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Stuck in Corruption: Kiev Government ‘Unlikely to Survive This Year’
A lot of Ukrainian citizens understand that the worst for their country is yet to come. The current government which is on the brink of collapse will not be able to reform the country's "rotten system", Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote. It is unlikely that Ukraine will be able to come out from the current crisis. The government is stuck in internal squabbles, while the country is being run [...]
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US Stocks Suffer Biggest Slump in 119 Years
US stocks tumbled after China's stock market crashed seven percent overnight on Thursday and crude fell to the lowest level in more than 12 years. In the recent four days, the Dow Jones index has plummeted 911 points, or more than five percent so far in 2016, making it the worst four-day percentage loss to start a year on record since 1897. [...]
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Is a $15 an Hour Minimum Wage Adequate?
Social movements calling for raising the minimum wage to $15/ hour with yearly adjustments for increases in the cost of living deserve support. However, earning $15/ hour will not guarantee a decent standard of living. An individual working forty hours a week at $15/ hour for an entire year earns $31,200, an income that is more than two and a half times the 2014 official poverty threshold of $1 [...]
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Ecological Meltdown And Nuclear Conflict: The Relevance Of Gandhi In The Modern World
A few months ago, entrepreneur Charles Devenish contacted me to tell me about his plans to develop various mining enterprises across India. He spoke about the massive amounts of untapped mineral resources lying beneath India that is just lying there and has been for a long time. [...]
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German Media Predicts ‘Unexpected Maneuver’ of Russia’s Currency in 2016
In an interview with newspaper Die Welt, a German economist argues that the ruble has the potential to become a currency of global significance and strengthen by about 20% by the end of 2016. Experts making forecasts for 2016 should take into account such currencies as the Russian ruble because the currency markets may soon face surprising developments, the newspaper wrote. [...]
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Ukraine in Default Over Failure to Pay Off $3Bln Debt to Russia
Russian Finance Ministry said that Ukraine has missed the December 31 deadline to pay off its $3 billion debt to Russia and is currently in default. Ukraine has missed the December 31 deadline to pay off its $3 billion debt to Russia and is currently in default, Russian Finance Ministry said on Thursday. [...]
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Pig’s funeral: Coffin brought to Ukraine parliament as hundreds protest new budget (VIDEO)
Activists who think that Ukraine’s 2016 budget screams death to the agricultural sector have brought a dead pig in a coffin to the Verkhovna Rada building in Kiev and held a mock funeral ceremony. The angry protesting farmers and their supporters demand to keep a simplified tax system and special VAT rules for the agricultural sector in 2016, something the announced budget lacks as Ukraine ha [...]
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US economic bubble could soon burst – Trump
Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump predicts tough times ahead for the US economy. If something bad were to happen, better it happen during the Obama administration, than the next one, according to Trump. "Remember the word bubble? You heard it here first," Trump told a 1,200 crowd in Iowa on Saturday. [...]
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Unemployed man ‘living the dream’ in converted school bus (PHOTOS)
Patrick Schmidt was unemployed and living in California when he bought an old school bus for $4,500 in March. He drove it to Vegas where he and his father renovated it into a home on wheels. They spent $9,000 to turn the bus into a house, before Patrick took it for a spin all the way to Florida, traveling through 30 states. [...]
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Ukraine’s economy hits rock bottom
The Ukrainian economy is set to contract 12 percent this year, while inflation is forecast to reach 50.8 percent, according to the World Bank. The main reasons for the slowing economy and rising inflation are the military conflict in Eastern Ukraine and a fall in trade with Russia. [...]
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Deepening Inequality Driving US Middle Class into Oblivion
The American middle class is shrinking. For the first time in more than four decades, middle-income households have lost their majority status in the U.S., according to new findings, and are now outnumbered by their counterparts on opposite ends of the income spectrum. [...]
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To Lift Quality of Life and Economy, Finland Champions Universal Basic Income
As a way to improve living standards and boosts its economy, the nation of Finland is moving closer towards offering all of its adult citizens a basic permanent income of approximately 800 euros per month. The monthly allotment would replace other existing social benefits, but is an idea long advocated for by progressive-minded social scientists and economists as a solution—counter-intuitive [...]
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US won’t guarantee Ukraine’s debt, Russia to sue if Kiev doesn’t pay up by late December
Russia is determined to file a lawsuit against Ukraine if Kiev does not repay its state debt to Moscow by December 20, the Russian Ministry of Finance has said, adding that the US has officially refused to give financial guarantees for Ukraine’s debt. “This week, we have received an official rejection from the US government to provide guarantees for Ukraine’s obligations. [...]
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Hang Onto Your Wallets: Negative Interest, the War on Cash, and the $10 Trillion Bail-in
Remember those old ads showing a senior couple lounging on a warm beach, captioned “Let your money work for you”? Or the scene in Mary Poppins where young Michael is being advised to put his tuppence in the bank, so that it can compound into “all manner of private enterprise,” including “bonds, chattels, dividends, shares, shipyards, amalgamations . . . .”? [...]
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500k+ homeless in US, numbers rise in New York, other big cities
About 565,000 people were homeless in the United States, according to a one-night federal survey. While this is a two percent drop from 2014, major cities like New York, Seattle and Los Angeles continue to battle rising homelessness. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development's 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress found that of the 565,000 homeless counted during a point [...]
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Goldman Sachs advises to buy Russian ruble in 2016
The US investment bank predicts the ruble will be on the list of good performing currencies next year along with the US dollar and the Mexican peso, Bloomberg reports. Goldman Sachs recommends buying Russian and Mexican currencies over South Africa’s rand and Chile’s peso. [...]
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Russian economy stable, attracting investors – Medvedev
The Russian economy and the financial sector are quite stable despite falling oil prices, a weaker ruble and sanction’s pressure, said Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit on Wednesday.   [...]
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