The year-on-year surge in US sovereign debt has totaled $1.37 trillion, the latest data released by the US Treasury Department shows. The national debt reportedly rose to $21,863,635,176,724.12 as of December 20 of the current year compared to $20,492,874,492,282.58 on December 25, 2017. [...]

A $2.4 million daydreaming study and a very scientific examination of the sex habits of coked-up quails topped Senator Rand Paul’s annual list of maddening government waste, which this year clocked in at $114 million. [...]

It is obscene that governments are failing to make changes needed to avoid another global financial crash despite many economists warning that one is coming, writes Ken Livingstone. [...]

The US dollar makes up two-thirds of international debt and a similar share of global reserve holdings. RT's Keiser Report examines mainstream media reports asking whether it's time to shake up the basket of currencies. [...]

The European Commission has presented a set of measures to boost the euro as a global reserve currency to challenge the dollar in international transactions, including those in the energy sector. A number of states have taken the course of de-dollarisation in a bid to decrease dependence on the greenback and its clout on the energy sector, mainly in transactions with sanctions-stricken Iran. [...]

The Federal Reserve’s first ever “stability report” warned of a number of dangers to the entire US financial system that could exacerbate problems if the system as a whole sustains significant stress. The report, released Wednesday, illustrates a slew of vulnerabilities in the US financial system, including excessive asset valuations, historically high borrowing levels by US corporations and [...]

The continued fall of FAANG stocks – Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google – on Monday left the blue-chip basket of equities down almost $730 billion after a six-week sustained decline, stoking investor fears of the US technology sector entering a bear market. [...]

In September, China’s share of US Treasuries holdings had the highest decline since January as ongoing trade tensions with Washington forced the world’s biggest economy to take measures to stabilize its national currency. Still the biggest foreign holder of the US foreign debt, China slashed it’s share by nearly $14 billion, with the country's holdings falling to $1.15 trillion from nearly $ [...]

By not showing up, the US president - and thereby the nation he represents - loses ‘face’ in Asia, according to reports. US President Donald Trump skipped two major summits in Asia: the East Asian Summit hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Singapore, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Papua New Guinea, leaving US Vice President Mike Pence and [...]

Is the return to a gold standard inevitable? Grant Williams, Senior Advisor at Vulpes Investment Mgmt, breaks down the history of the gold standard and the impact it will have on the future of world currency. This is a must-watch if you are reviewing your current investment portfolio. The Fall Of The US Dollar: Is The Return To A Gold Standard Inevitable? The Trump Deception: Plann [...]

Much has been made of the possible geopolitical motivations behind the decision to price the $5 billion Russian-Indian S-400 deal in roubles, and Moscow and Beijing are eyeing another rouble/yuan-based trade compact. However, Sputnik has discovered that there's also a purely economic reason for the three countries to move away from the dollar. [...]

The blacklisting of Iran from international financial messaging system SWIFT serves as a warning to Washington’s enemies, but will hasten the demise of the dollar, stockbroker-turned broadcaster Max Keiser told RT. SWIFT, a system that facilitates cross-border payments between 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries worldwide cut several Iranian banks, including the country’s [...]

In pushing the SWIFT financial messaging system to exclude Iran, the US has “gone rogue,” economist Steve Keen told RT. SWIFT cut a raft of Iranian banks - including the country’s central bank - off from its system on Monday, having come under pressure from the US to do so. [...]

The list of the countries currently taking active steps towards eliminating their economic reliance on the US dollar is growing. Russia has joined a league of nations is making a lot of headway with the task, the WSJ reports. [...]

The Iranian Central Bank has been cut off the SWIFT financial messaging system, the US Treasury Department has said. Disconnection makes it more difficult for the Islamic Republic to settle import and export bills. [...]

A new study by top economists and experts found that tax avoidance and evasion translate into hundreds of billions of dollars in unpaid taxes every year, with the money ending up in the pockets of the world’s wealthiest people. [...]

As the United States continues to slap Iran with sanctions, Washington allowed several countries, including South Korea, to purchase certain limited amount of Iranian oil without fear of reprisal. The governments of Iran and South Korea have agreed to forgo the use of US dollar in bilateral trade and instead switch to their respective national currencies in such transactions as Washington moves to [...]

Chip-enabled credit cards, introduced to consumers in the US in 2015, were intended as added security against fraud, but have failed to live up to the promise, according to a new study. Rampant credit card fraud in the US prompted a rollout of chip-enabled credit cards in 2015, intended to stop, or at least limit the widespread hijacking of America's plastic money. [...]

German conservative Friedrich Merz said Thursday that Brexit would have a major impact on continental Europe's economy. He added that Brexit was the biggest threat the EU could be facing at the moment but didn't hope to see another referendum in the UK. [...]

Russia’s money transfer system, developed as an alternative to SWIFT is now more popular than the global network, said Anatoly Aksakov, head of the Russian parliamentary committee on financial markets. [...]

US threatens to smack SWIFT if it allows transactions in violation of Iran sanctions. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has warned global financial messaging service SWIFT on Friday that it could be penalized if it doesn’t cut off financial services to entities and individuals doing business with Iran. [...]

The latest data from the World Gold Council (WGC) shows that central banks in Eastern Europe and Asia significantly boosted their gold holdings. The regulators purchased 148 metric tons of gold in the third quarter of 2018. [...]