McDonald's Latest Sales Are Worse Than Expected … McDonald's MCD +0.6% worldwide sales fell a more than expected 1.7% in February, marking nine consecutive months of declines. This comes a week after new CEO Steve Easterbrook assumed the top job. Easterbrook, who has said he considers himself an 'internal activist,' is faced with reviving the lagging sales that cost previous...Read More

India is on course to complete a remarkable turnaround … India could achieve growth of up to 8pc a year for the next decade, amazing for an economy which already accounts for 3pc of global GDP. – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: India rising.Free-Market Analysis: China, Brazil and now India. Among the BRICs, only Russia and South Africa receive a measure of bad press. Russia a great...Read More

Jean-Claude Juncker calls for EU army … European commission president says this military development would persuade Russia the bloc is serious about defending its values – UK GuardianDominant Social Theme: War, the health of the state.Free-Market Analysis: The current Ukraine is the gift that keeps on giving from the standpoint of the expansion of state power.As Russia is considerably...Read More

Demand-led German recovery … An economic trend, like a battle plan, often doesn't survive the first engagement. Data from euro zone countries has generally surprised on the upside since the turn of the year with Germany leading the way. German growth was robust in Q4, with domestic demand to the fore. – ReutersDominant Social Theme: Europe and Germany may surprise us with a recover...Read More

Ferguson's Conspiracy Against Black Citizens … Despite the uncertainty surrounding the killing of Michael Brown, many black residents of Ferguson, Missouri, immediately thought that he was the victim of a wrongful death at the hands of police officer Darren Wilson, who shot him after a scuffle. [But] the Department of Justice concluded that there is no evidence to disprove Officer Wilson...Read More

Liquidity evaporates in China as 'fiscal cliff' nears … Unless China changes course, it is set to tighten fiscal policy by 5.5pc of GDP this year, five times Britain's austerity dose annually since the Lehman crisis … Nobody can fault China's leaders for lack of bravery. The Politburo has kept its nerve as the world's most giddy experiment in credit-driven growth fa...Read More

Australia, Where One Central Bank Won't Do … Does Australia need two central banks? The dilemma that faced Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens on Tuesday certainly begs the question: The argument for hiking rates was almost as compelling as the one for cutting them. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: The wisdom of central planners never ceases to amaze.Free-Market Analy...Read More

Giving the Fed a hard time might have a point … The transcripts of the highly significant 2009 meetings of the monetary-policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee are out today, after a five-year delay, and generating lots of headlines. These transcripts, and their release schedule, are as best I can tell unique in American government. They're also very valuable. The five-year delay is...Read More

Amid Media Blackout, Canada Lawsuit Challenges Banker Rule: Outcome could decide if Canadians have monetary sovereignty … A landmark Canadian federal appellate-court ruling could conceivably lead to the cancellation of Canada's debt-based money system, and its repercussions are expected to be felt by central banks around the world. According to American monetary-reform author and filmmak...Read More

Here's why Nasdaq 5000 should spook you … The market is scarier than it looks … On Monday, the Nasdaq Composite index hit 5000 for the first time since March 9, 2000 … Back in 2000, the technology-heavy Nasdaq hovered above 5000 for just two days. After that, it plunged 75%. – FortuneDominant Social Theme: The market is a rational beast.Free-Market Analysis: This is one...Read More

Vaccine Refusal Is Like Drunken Driving … Should you get your kids vaccinated against measles? Of course you should. You shouldn't do this, however, because it is risk-free. Drugs can have side effects, and although those documented for the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine are either minor or extremely rare, the risk of something bad happening isn't zero. And although the bel...Read More

WH Plans to Develop a "Country Within a Country" of 15 Million "New Americans" … The White House has plans to legalize 13 to 15 million illegal immigrants who will then establish a "country within a country." – Independent SentinelDominant Social Theme: All that stuff about merging countries is just conspiracy theory.Free-Market Analysis: This article in t...Read More

Hundreds of Farmers Block Roads in Protest of Monsanto's GMO Crops … Poland's largest farmer uprising … Poland's largest farmer uprising ever has occurred as convoys of tractors took to the roads recently in protest of GMO infiltration and land grabs by biotech and Big Ag corporations. More than 150 farmers blocked roadways and held numerous demonstrations in order to bring...Read More

Why the BBC doesn't deserve to have the licence fee increased … BBC executives may be relieved at the latest Parliamentary report on funding but the Corporation needs to put its house in order … There was doubtless a sense of relief in the executive suites on the upper floors of New Broadcasting House this week as BBC bosses digested the contents of the latest Parliamentary inquiry...Read More

Despite U.N. Treaties, War Against Drugs a Losing Battle … Less than eight per cent of drug users worldwide have access to a clean syringe program. As the call for the decriminalization of drugs steadily picks up steam worldwide, a new study by a British charity concludes there has been no significant reduction in the global use of illicit drugs since the creation of three key U.N. anti-drug...Read More

On Twitter recently, someone asked the question "Why do people doubt science?" Accompanying the tweet was a link to an article in National Geographic that implied people who are suspicious of vaccines, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), climate change, fluoridated water and various other phenomena are confused, adhere to conspiracy theories, are motivated by ideology or are misinform...Read More

China's Real Property Problem … As China slows down, leaders in Beijing are understandably turning to one of their favored growth stabilizers: housing. A record decline in new-home prices in January has, as my Bloomberg News colleagues reported this week, prompted Chinese officials to contemplate additional stimulus measures, including reducing the required down payments on second homes...Read More

Fed Gives Cover to Bumbling Congress … Consider the critique of the Fed by some members of Congress. As the New York Times described it, the three-hour hearing was "testy" as "Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee accused Janet L. Yellen, chairwoman of the Fed, of using her office to advance liberal policy goals." – BloombergDominant Social Theme: Do...Read More

Russia's Khodorkovsky: Putin is a 'naked king' facing economic ruin … Former Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky said on Thursday Vladimir Putin was a "naked king" presiding over an economy that will weaken further, eventually provoking a battle between rival clans in Moscow. – ReutersDominant Social Theme: Putin is finished and so is Russia.Free-Market Analysis:...Read More

Bitcoin revolution could be the next internet, says Bank of England … The Bank of England has unveiled analysis of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin that suggests electronic money could cause a tectonic shift in the payments industry. – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: Bitcoin could be the next national money.Free-Market Analysis: We don't see how central banks can issue bitcoin-styl...Read More