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

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

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

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

Obamacare At 'Significant' Risk of 'Death Spiral,' Economist Warns … Economist John Goodman, who warned last October that Obamacare could plunge into a "death spiral" if not enough young, healthy people signed up for coverage, says that danger is now "significant" following news that the Obama administration failed to hit its young adult enrollment target....Read More

Ex-DEA agent jumps jobs to join marijuana investment firm … In a decade with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Patrick Moen rose to supervise a team of agents busting methamphetamine and heroin rings in Oregon – before giving it all up to join the nascent legal marijuana industry in nearby Washington state. In November, the former federal drug agent quit his post to work for a marij...Read More

The rise of the climate change denier: New figures find 23% of Americans do not believe global warming is happening Research found 63 percent do believe in climate change 53 percent are 'somewhat' or 'very' worried about the consequences Change believed to be in response to coverage of IPCC talks – Daily Mail OnlineDominant Social Theme: Climate change is real. The majority b...Read More

Hedge Funds Raise Gold Wagers as Goldman Sees Drop: … Hedge funds raised bullish gold wagers to the highest in eight weeks as signs of stronger Chinese demand drove prices to the longest rally since August. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says the gains will be short-lived. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: Gold … fuggetaboutit!Free-Market Analysis: In the other article in this issue we...Read More

Madoff/subprime – spot the difference … Bernard Madoff still has some magic. The public finds anything connected to the fraudster's case fascinating, from a prison interview to JPMorgan's agreement last week to pay $2.3 billion for Madoff-related sins. And why not? Madoff was a grandmaster of the confidence trick. But there is more to it than that. His way of doing business was...Read More

David Cameron says British Press plays 'vital' role in democracy… Media are "rowdy and tenacious", says Prime Minister, but the country is "fortunate" to have reporters who stand up to politicians. The British Press is the "linchpin of democracy", Prime Minister David Cameron has said. British newspapers are "rowdy and tenacious" and often make...Read More

Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) … WikiLeaks released the secret draft text for the entire TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) Environment Chapter and the corresponding Chairs' Report. The TPP transnational legal regime would cover 12 countries initially and encompass 40 per cent of global GDP and one-third of world trade. The Environment Chapter has long been sought by journ...Read More

Democrats Plan to Pressure TV Networks Into Covering Climate Change … Senate Democrats pledging to get more aggressive on climate change will soon pressure the major TV networks to give the topic far greater attention on the Sunday talking-head shows … Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, are gathering colleagues' signatures on a letter to the networks asserting...Read More

U.K. inflation unexpectedly slowed in December, cooling to the Bank of England's 2 percent target for the first time in more than four years. Consumer-price growth eased from 2.1 percent in November, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median of 32 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for it to remain unchanged. Downward pressure from food prices including fruit an...Read More

Gold to tank in 2014: Goldman Sachs … Bad news for "gold-bugs"—bullion's current beginning-of-the-year rally will not only lose steam, but prices could drop sharply by the end of 2014, according to Goldman Sachs' Jeffrey Currie. Currie, Goldman's head of commodities research, told CNBC on Monday he had an end-of-year price target of $1,050 per ounce for gold, a 16...Read More

Swiss inch towards renminbi hub … News that Switzerland's central bank recently opened talks with its Chinese counterpart to swap currencies has raised Swiss hopes of attaining a renminbi hub status. But Switzerland is playing catch-up with rivals that share the same ambition. – SwissInfoDominant Social Theme: The Swiss really need the validation of the renminbi …Free-Market...Read More