Iraq is poised to flood the oil market by tripling its capacity to pump crude by 2020 and is collaborating with Iran on strategy in a move that will challenge Saudi Arabia's grip on the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. "We feel the world needs to be assured of fuel for economic growth," Hussain al-Shahristani, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy in Iraq told oil industry d...Read More
From Austerity to Abundance: Why I Am Running for California Treasurer … Governor Jerry Brown and his staff are exchanging high-fives over balancing California's budget, but the people on whose backs it was balanced are not rejoicing. The state's high-wire act has been called "the ultimate in austerity budgets." … There is another way to balance a state budget, one th...Read More
Bitcoin Foundation's Shrem Charged in Silk Road Drug Case … Two men tied to the illicit online market Silk Road, including Bitcoin Foundation Vice Chairman Charlie Shrem, were charged by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara today in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. The vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation was charged by federal prosecutors with conspiring to launder more than $1 m...Read More
Tony Blair says that religious extremism has become the biggest source of conflict around the world. Tony Blair has reignited debate about the west's response to terrorism with a call on governments to recognise that religious extremism has become the biggest source of conflict in the world. Extremist religion is at root of 21st-century wars, says Tony Blair … – UK GuardianDominant...Read More
Bitcoin Foundation's Shrem Charged in Silk Road Drug Case … Two men tied to the illicit online market Silk Road, including Bitcoin Foundation Vice Chairman Charlie Shrem, were charged by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara today in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. The vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation was charged by federal prosecutors with conspiring to launder more than $1 m...Read More
Tony Blair says that religious extremism has become the biggest source of conflict around the world. Tony Blair has reignited debate about the west's response to terrorism with a call on governments to recognise that religious extremism has become the biggest source of conflict in the world. Extremist religion is at root of 21st-century wars, says Tony Blair … – UK GuardianDominant...Read More
HSBC imposes restrictions on large cash withdrawals … Some HSBC customers have been prevented from withdrawing large amounts of cash because they could not provide evidence of why they wanted it, the BBC has learnt. Listeners have told Radio 4's Money Box they were stopped from withdrawing amounts ranging from £5,000 to £10,000. HSBC admitted it has not informed customers of...Read More
HSBC imposes restrictions on large cash withdrawals … Some HSBC customers have been prevented from withdrawing large amounts of cash because they could not provide evidence of why they wanted it, the BBC has learnt. Listeners have told Radio 4's Money Box they were stopped from withdrawing amounts ranging from £5,000 to £10,000. HSBC admitted it has not informed customers of...Read More
China loses its allure … Life is getting tougher for foreign companies. Those that want to stay will have to adjust … For the past three decades, multinationals have poured in. After the financial crisis, many companies looked to China for salvation. Now it looks as though the gold rush may be over. – EconomistDominant Social Theme: China is finished. Goodbye. Better look to the...Read More
Seven reasons why the Arab uprisings are eclipsing western values … This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall — an event that led Francis Fukuyama to predict the end of history and the beginning of universal western liberal values. It is three years since the Arab uprisings threatened to upend the Middle East and North Africa. Many at that time pre...Read More
China loses its allure … Life is getting tougher for foreign companies. Those that want to stay will have to adjust … For the past three decades, multinationals have poured in. After the financial crisis, many companies looked to China for salvation. Now it looks as though the gold rush may be over. – EconomistDominant Social Theme: China is finished. Goodbye. Better look to the...Read More
Seven reasons why the Arab uprisings are eclipsing western values … This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall — an event that led Francis Fukuyama to predict the end of history and the beginning of universal western liberal values. It is three years since the Arab uprisings threatened to upend the Middle East and North Africa. Many at that time pre...Read More
Crippled eurozone to face fresh debt crisis this year, warns ex-ECB strongman Axel Weber … Ex-Bundesbank head Alex Weber expects fresh market attacks on eurozone this year and economist Kenneth Rogoff says the euro was a "giant historic mistake." … A top panel of experts in Davos has poured cold water on claims that the European crisis is over, warning that the eurozone remai...Read More
Wall Street adviser: Actual unemployment is 37.2%, 'misery index' worst in 40 years … Don't believe the happy talk coming out of the White House, Federal Reserve and Treasury Department when it comes to the real unemployment rate and the true "Misery Index." – Washington ExaminerDominant Social Theme: There's nothing wrong with the US economy that the coming r...Read More
Crippled eurozone to face fresh debt crisis this year, warns ex-ECB strongman Axel Weber … Ex-Bundesbank head Alex Weber expects fresh market attacks on eurozone this year and economist Kenneth Rogoff says the euro was a "giant historic mistake." … A top panel of experts in Davos has poured cold water on claims that the European crisis is over, warning that the eurozone remai...Read More
Wall Street adviser: Actual unemployment is 37.2%, 'misery index' worst in 40 years … Don't believe the happy talk coming out of the White House, Federal Reserve and Treasury Department when it comes to the real unemployment rate and the true "Misery Index." – Washington ExaminerDominant Social Theme: There's nothing wrong with the US economy that the coming r...Read More
IMF Raises Global Outlook as Advanced Nations Accelerate … The International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for global growth this year as expansions in the U.S. and U.K. accelerate, and urged advanced economies to maintain monetary accommodation to strengthen the recovery. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: The IMF speaks and the world listens.Free-Market Analysis: When did IMF utte...Read More
All that glitters: Century-old gold benchmark faces overhaul … Gold-fixing refers to a ritual dating back to 1919 in which banks speak by phone from a couple of minutes to more than an hour about buying and selling gold. … Banks are considering an overhaul of London's century-old gold benchmark used by miners, jewellers and central banks to buy, sell and value the precious metal, a...Read More
IMF Raises Global Outlook as Advanced Nations Accelerate … The International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for global growth this year as expansions in the U.S. and U.K. accelerate, and urged advanced economies to maintain monetary accommodation to strengthen the recovery. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: The IMF speaks and the world listens.Free-Market Analysis: When did IMF utte...Read More
All that glitters: Century-old gold benchmark faces overhaul … Gold-fixing refers to a ritual dating back to 1919 in which banks speak by phone from a couple of minutes to more than an hour about buying and selling gold. … Banks are considering an overhaul of London's century-old gold benchmark used by miners, jewellers and central banks to buy, sell and value the precious metal, a...Read More