We try to present articles that are important and high-level but not necessarily highly technical. Most technical specifications are needless and the points the reporter is trying to make can be expressed in plain English or with helpful metaphors. But there are exceptions. Some articles are so important and disturbing they need to be presented
Although Donald Trump himself was cleared of “collusion” with the Russians in interfering with the 2016 election, the Russians themselves were not cleared. The evidence showed that there was Russian interference in terms of fake websites, inflammatory memes and other internet advertising tricks of the trade. Experts disagree on how much actual influence this had
You’ve seen and heard endless reporting about the “inverted” yield curve and how it’s a top recession indicator. What exactly does that mean? The yield curve is just a matter of connecting the dots on a chart, which represents particular yields on bonds of particular maturities. For example, right now the 10-year Treasury note has
Cities, states and countries around the world are facing a common dilemma — too much debt and not enough growth. Entitlement spending and spending on favored unions for teachers and construction workers are growing faster than the rate of inflation, but tax collections from everyday workers cannot keep up. One of the reasons growth is
The leading Japanese stock index, the Nikkei 225, briefly hit a level of 40,000 at the end of 1989. Guess what? In 2019, the Nikkei 225 index is still at 21,085, a full 47% below the all-time high 30 years later. The Nikkei has bounced around a lot over the decades, but it has never
China has now adopted a new strategy in the ongoing trade war with the U.S. Their strategy is “Blame Trump!” China is taking the position that their requests are reasonable and that only Trump’s intransigence is holding up an agreement. Wall Street is cheering China because an end to the trade war will likely bring
Readers know about the recent action in gold prices. The dollar price of gold moved from $1,270 per ounce to $1,440 per ounce from late May to late June. That’s a 13.3% gain in one month, which annualizes to a 160% return. Of course, gold is likely to level off a bit until we get
The South China Sea is a crowded place. It is surrounded by six countries (China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei; Taiwan is on the periphery, leaving aside the issue of whether Taiwan is a “country”). All of these countries lay some claim to exclusive economic zones that overlap in complicated ways because of
Although this may come as a surprise to some Americans, especially those stuck in the gig economy who have not had wage increases in years, the U.S. just set a record for the longest U.S. economic expansion ever recorded. As described in this article, the expansion began in June 2009 and just celebrated its 10th anniversary.
The political and social situations in Venezuela are well-known. Venezuela is worse than a failed state. It is a humanitarian crisis of the utmost gravity. Its currency and economy have collapsed. Its role as a major oil exporter has been greatly diminished by economic sanctions. Venezuela’s illegitimate president, Nicolás Maduro, is holed up in the
