Economy

Russia & China: “€˜No to sanctions rhetoric, regime change in other countries”
Moscow and Beijing have rejected the imposition of sanctions as political tools and condemned attempts at "encouraging and financing"€ regime changes in other countries in a joint statement released during President Putin'€™s official visit to China. [...]
Save
EU, US reaffirm ‘energy independence’ gameplan
US and EU diplomats have said they will help Ukraine cut back on Russian gas, and also promised to help diversify the Russian-dominated European energy market, a difficult long term task for energy-dependent EU countries. US Secretary of State John Kerry, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and other energy advisers met in Brussels on Wednesday for an energy summit. [...]
Save
Economy – U.S. Is No. 1, China Is So Yesterday
The World Bank recently said the end of U.S. economic hegemony was coming before 2015 arrives. But we've heard this story before. Don't believe the hype about China. Last time I looked (yesterday), the U.S. economy in 2013 was three times larger than the Chinese (in real 2005 dollars, according to the magnificent historical data set of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Servi [...]
Save
France refuses to block Mistral warship deal with Russia
The French government has said that it will go ahead with 1.2 billion euro ($1.6 billion) contract to supply Russia with two Mistral helicopter carriers because cancelling the deal would harm Paris more than Moscow. In the wake of the crisis in Ukraine, the United States had been pressing France as well as Britain and Germany to take a tougher line against Russia and cancel the Mistral contract. [...]
Save
Coups, False Flags, Covert Wars, Color Revolutions: Ukraine and America’s Neocolonial Adventure
"All that glitters is not gold; all that shivers is not gold" Mythology has it that Midas, the king of Phrygia, was able to turn everything he touched into gold -- "the Midas Touch".  According to Aristotle, the legendary figure died of starvation as a result of his greed to transmute everything from its natural substance to gold. [...]
Save
Here Is Why You’re Not Making It In America: Your Sunday Morning Conversation
Is the United States a strong nation? There's a notion that it is, of course -- based mainly on the disruptive philosophical underpinnings upon which this country was established. But these are all really the fumes of nostalgia. What else is there? W... [...]
Save
EU companies warn policymakers against Russian sanctions
Some of Europe'€™s biggest companies like UK'€™s BP and Germany's BASF have told their governments economic sanctions against Russia would hurt them badly. The warning comes as Russia, the US, Ukraine and the EU are discussing the crisis in Geneva Thursday. [...]
Save
World Bank estimate of 1 bln people in poverty 30% “€˜too low”
The current international poverty line of $1.25 per day used by the World Bank is "too low"€ and "€œartificial,"€ say researchers from Bristol University, adding that the total number of poor people worldwide would increase by 30 percent in future. The World Bank’s “estimates are flawed” as the organization hasn’t used “different poverty measures” [...]
Save
Message from the President of Russia to the leaders of several European countries
Vladimir Putin addressed a letter to the leaders of several European countries, to which Russian natural gas is supplied via Ukraine's territory. Ukraine’s economy in the past several months has been plummeting. Its industrial and construction sectors have also been declining sharply. Its budget deficit is mounting. [...]
Save
Upside down: America’€™s war on globalization?
Who would have thought a unitary superpower on Earth would accelerate a return to regionalism in place of globalization? For all those who deem ‘Financial Innovation’ to be an oxymoron, that brilliant invention the credit card springs to mind. [...]
Save
Homeless man shot to death by police after being caught illegally camping
The Albuquerque Police Department in the state of New Mexico is coming under fire following the release of video footage taken from the helmet-mounted camera of an officer who shot and killed a man earlier this month for camping. James Boyd, a 38-year-old homeless man thought to be schizophrenic, was shot by the Albuquerque PD on Sunday, March 16 after he became engaged in an hours-long standoff w [...]
Save
Troika “€˜governor”€™ of European “€˜colonies”€™: Lawmakers fed up with debt crisis tactics
€‹European lawmakers are calling into question the ability of the Troika to effectively deal with the crisis, and many are attacking its methods. An investigation report due in April will look at the handling of the Greek sovereign debt debacle. [...]
Save
Ukrainian Spiral Video
Since the EU and the US recognize the current government in Kiev, should they not pay for Ukraine's economic woes? What will a sanctions war accomplish? And is Crimea still a red line for the West? CrossTalking with Sir Michael Arthur, Nebojsa Malic and Jacques Cheminade. [...]
Save
EU stagnation: Why Soros says the Euro threatens the Union
Philosopher, plutocrat, poseur or perfectionist investor, George Soros has a remarkable pedigree for prophecy. His latest assessment? The euro may kill the EU itself. Thanks to his investment acumen, George Soros is doubtless the richest philosopher in history, a position which has allowed him to bankroll all manner of activities from sponsoring Xerox machines in the Soviet bloc during the cold wa [...]
Save
Economic War with Russia: A High Price for German Business
The EU has imposed new sanctions to prevent Vladimir Putin from further escalating the crisis in Ukraine. Berlin has played a leading role in the punitive actions, despite protests from the German business community. There's no turning back for Merkel. [...]
Save
Panama’€™s 1st solar power plant begins operating
Panama's government has put into operation the country's first solar plant at a cost of approximately $10 million, authorities said. The 2.4 MW plant, inaugurated Thursday by President Ricardo Martinelli at the Sarigua National Park in central Panama, was built with the support of the Italian government and Rome-based Enel Green Power... [...]
Save
UK: Local government cuts hitting poorest areas hardest, figures show
Cuts average 25.3% in 10 most deprived areas of England, and 2.54% in 10 least deprived areas. The most deprived communities in the country are bearing the brunt of government cuts while more affluent areas are escaping relatively unscathed, according to an analysis of official figures. [...]
Save
Bill Moyers: Trans-Pacific trade pact is death for democracy
While most of us are in the dark about the contents of TPP, which Obama aims to seal by year end, corporate lobbyists are in the know about what it contains. Obama and the rest of the neoliberal (“free-trade”) Democrats are dying to implement it, and the Republican servants of the same fine CEOs are not far behind. [...]
Save
€‹FED up? Hundred years of manipulating the US dollar
Monday 23 December marks the 100th Anniversary of the creation of the Federal Reserve System - the Central Bank of the United States of America. The mainstream media are keeping remarkably quiet about this key milestone. [...]
Save
Russia follows the yellow brick road, increases gold reserves
Russia continues its gold buying spree, adding 0.3 tonnes to its 996.4 tonne stockpile, marking a nine month increase, according to the IMF’s June statistics report. [...]
Save
Germany to repatriate gold from US, France
Germany's Bundesbank plans to store half the national gold reserves in its own vaults by 2020. It will mean the return of 700 tons of the precious metal from the US and France [...]
Save
“China plan to quit dollar infuriates US”
An analyst says China plan to quit the dollar draws anger from Washington. Finian Cunningham made the remark in a Sunday column for Press TV amid escalation of tensions between US and China over Beijing's enforcement of an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). [...]
Save