First Native American tribe to start growing and manufacturing medical marijuana on their tribal land … The Pinoleville Pomo Nation is the first Native American tribe to announce that they will start growing and manufacturing medical marijuana on their tribal land. The tribe signed a deal to develop an indoor grow facility in Northern California. "We anticipate construction to begin in...Read More

'Timidity' is responsible for eurozone stagnation, says Mark Carney … An unfinished euro area explains why the currency bloc has performed so poorly since the financial crisis, Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, says. "Timidity" on the part of policymakers has cost the eurozone in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of Eng...Read More

Have we reached 'peak food'? Shortages loom as global production rates slow … Staples such as wheat, chicken and rice are slowing in growth – with dire consequences. The world has entered an era of "peak food" production with an array of staples from corn and rice to wheat and chicken slowing in growth – with potentially disastrous consequences for feeding the p...Read More

Wow, That Was a Horrible Decade … President Barack Obama began his 2015 State of the Union address last week with these words: "We are fifteen years into this new century. Fifteen years that dawned with terror touching our shores; that unfolded with a new generation fighting two long and costly wars; that saw a vicious recession spread across our nation and the world. It has been, and s...Read More

CNN: Schubert: The coming food disaster … One would expect that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has the best interests of the public in mind, but its recent decisions have cast serious doubt upon this assumption. One in particular could have a dramatic impact on the safety of the U.S. food supply … A product can be labeled GM-free but still contain high levels of herbicide. Th...Read More

Why we need a North American Passport … The future success of North America depends partly on how the U.S., Canada and Mexico work together … The future of the United States lies in North America. This is not a geographic truism, but a strategic imperative. Generations of Americans, distracted by far-flung crises, have long taken our own region for granted. This must change if the 21st...Read More

Legal marijuana is the fastest-growing industry in the United States and if the trend toward legalization spreads to all 50 states, marijuana could become larger than the organic food industry, according to a new report obtained by The Huffington Post. Researchers from The ArcView Group, a cannabis industry investment and research firm based in Oakland, California, found that the U.S. market for l...Read More

Central Bank trickery without real reform … 'There needs to be a certain credibility," said Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, as he launched outright eurozone quantitative easing on Thursday. "Today, we're showing that such credibility is deserved. When used by an economist, "credibility" is a very important word. But I'm afraid I take...Read More

India world's second most trusted nation, says survey … Moving up the ranks, India has emerged as the second most trusted country in the world in terms of faith reposed on its institutions even as globally trust levels have fallen, says a survey. As the world's rich and powerful gather in the Swiss resort of Davos, a study by public relations firm Edelman has found that general level...Read More

European economic storm is casting dark clouds over Davos … Slow growth and low inflation seem to have become the established condition, at least for advanced Western economies … This year's World Economic Forum is witness to a kind of capitulation, or sense of resignation. – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: Times are tough, even for top servants of the system.Free-Market A...Read More

The winter brings the heat in Ukraine … The fighting in Ukraine has returned to an intensity not seen since last summer, and the government claims Russian weapons are once again streaming across the border to support the rebels. So it is a curious moment for the European Union's top foreign policy official to bring up the prospect of normalizing relations with Russian President Vladimir...Read More

Fed Officials Reassess U.S. Outlook Amid Global Weakness … Federal Reserve officials are starting to reassess their outlook for the economy as global weakness and disappointing data on American consumer spending test their resolve to raise interest rates this year. San Francisco Fed President John Williams last week said he will trim his U.S. estimate because of slower growth abroad. Atlanta...Read More

Is marijuana really as dangerous as heroin and LSD? Finally, a welcome legal review … A federal judge has done what Congress and the Obama administration have failed to do — open a discussion on whether marijuana should continue to be listed as a Schedule 1 drug, a classification that is supposed to be used only for the most dangerous, addictive drugs, such as heroin and LSD. It should...Read More

Central bank prophet fears QE warfare pushing world financial system out of control … Former BIS chief economist warns that QE in Europe is doomed to failure and may draw the region into deeper difficulties … The warnings come just as the European Central Bank prepares a blitz of bond purchases at a crucial meeting on Thursday. – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: Let's roll...Read More

The Fix is In: Why Gold Price Manipulation is Now a Global Effort … A lot of people think about gold as a percentage of total reserves. So countries have reserves. What percentage of your reserves consist of gold? For example, a lot of people are surprised to learn that the United States has 70 percent of its reserves in gold. China has about 1 percent of its reserves in gold. So people look...Read More

Middle class decline looms over final years of Obama presidency … Barack Obama enters the final two years of his presidency with a blemish on his legacy that looks impossible to erase: the decline of the middle class he has promised to rescue. – ReutersDominant Social Theme: Barack must try harder.Free-Market Analysis: The West's economic system, we know now, regularly strips peopl...Read More

With the world growing increasingly warmer, experts have estimated that we are actually due to gain a great deal of farmland, even if the crop yield that that land could see may actually decrease. However, finding this land so that it can quickly be put to use remains a challenge. Now, two new global maps may provide some help in the search for fresh farmland. – Nature World NewsDominant Soc...Read More

European Economy … No More Excuses for Draghi … For months, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has hinted that he's ready to announce a full-blown program of quantitative easing. [Now] the EU Court of Justice's advocate general cleared away a possible legal obstacle. With prices in the euro area now falling, any further delay would be inexcusable. The euro zone has go...Read More

Big business will undoubtedly be the subject of much soul-searching at Davos 2015 … Loss of public trust in established forms of business has got a great deal worse since the onset of the financial crisis. Is there a solution? – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: Take care of the customer to regain trust in business.Free-Market Analysis: This article features a mainstream newspaper rep...Read More

World deflationary forces have swept away Switzerland's defences … A month ago the Swiss authorities were still claiming that their currency floor was crucial to prevent a deflation trap. They were right … The Swiss National Bank has lost control. It is the latest in a list of venerable central banks to be overwhelmed by deflationary forces and global economic disorder. – UK...Read More