The Audacity of Optimism. In the year or more that I have written this column, I have often emphasized the way in which things may be going at least a bit right. That contrasts with the frequently repeated mantra that we are going dangerously off the rails. Of course, like anyone, I may be right or wrong or somewhere in between. What's been perplexing about responses to this column, however, i...Read More

U.S. jobless claims fall, holiday retail sales rise. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in nearly a month, a hopeful sign for the labor market, while holiday retail sales rose in November and December. While the holiday season has made recent claims data so volatile it has been difficult to interpret, Thursday's report showed...Read More

Local courts reviving "debtors' prison" for overdue fines, fees … As if out of a Charles Dickens novel, people struggling to pay overdue fines and fees associated with court costs for even the simplest traffic infractions are being thrown in jail across the United States. Critics are calling the practice the new "debtors' prison" – referring to the jails tha...Read More

China move calms credit concerns … Chinese authorities have been trying to curb excessive lending … China's central bank has pumped $5bn (£3.1bn) into the banking system to ease concerns over a credit squeeze that has caused rising interest rates. The People's Bank of China did not explain its actions, but over the last few days there has been growing concern over the ava...Read More

U.S. Postal Service Wins 6 Percent Increase to Cover Loss … The U.S. Postal Service's regulator has approved price increases amounting to 6 percent on most mail, a step the service's board called a "last resort" forced by Congress's failure to pass cost-cutting legislation. A first-class stamp will cost 49 cents, up from 46 cents, starting Jan. 26. Similar changes will...Read More

Swiss Banks Employ Army of Advisers for U.S. Amnesty Plan … Switzerland's 300 banks have enlisted an army of auditors, lawyers and in-house workers as they race to meet a Dec. 31 deadline on whether to seek U.S. amnesty for helping American clients evade taxes. Banks in Switzerland, the largest cross-border financial center with $2.2 trillion of assets, are closely examining accounts bef...Read More

Solid Concepts' Printed Metal Gun on Sale … In just short of two months 3D printing firm Solid Concepts has introduced, and will now sell a 3D printed metal gun. While the model M1911 semi-automatic pistol is made from stainless steel and Inconel 625 it's going to cost you a bit more than your standard issue US Army pistol. – Engineering.comDominant Social Theme: Libertarian ti...Read More

Age shall not weary her… America's central bank has become ever more powerful over the past century … As the holiday season of 1913 drew near … Congress was still fighting over a bill to create the Federal Reserve, and Wilson had threatened to keep it in session over Christmas until the bill was ready for his signature. A century later, the Fed is still overshadowing the fest...Read More

NSA revelations: Fallout can serve our nation … The fallout from the Edward Snowden revelations continues to snowball. With each disclosure, allies, businesses and influential authors call for reform. There is ever growing pressure on the Obama administration to respond and quell these concerns before permanent damage is done … President Barack Obama's meeting with technology leade...Read More

Votorantim SA, one of Brazil's biggest diversified industrial groups, on Friday reported net income of 150 million reais ($42 million) in the first quarter, compared with a loss of 546 million reais a year ago, due in part to higher metal prices.In a statement, Votorantim said profit was also boosted by sales growth in its aluminum and cement businesses, as well as higher net income from wood pulp...Read More

Fed Finds Elixir for Tapering QE as Markets Embrace Rate Outlook … For six months, the Federal Reserve has struggled to engineer a pullback of its bond-buying program without unhinging financial markets. Yesterday, the Fed did it. After the Fed and Chairman Ben S. Bernanke expressed enough confidence in the jobs outlook to taper the pace of asset buying and extended the timeline for zero int...Read More

Merkel Speech: Chancellor Urges Reforms to Preserve Euro … In the first parliamentary speech of her third term, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that Europe needs to take more action to make its single currency crisis-proof and urged states to undertake binding economic reforms. – Der SpiegelDominant Social Theme: This terrible economic crisis provides us with an opportunity to d...Read More

Farewell QE, you have been a magnificent success … As the US Federal Reserve starts to drain dollar liquidity from the global system at long last, let us celebrate success. Quantitative easing has worked marvellously well. Monetary policy has been vindicated. – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: Hurray for central banking. It works!Free-Market Analysis: The promotional propaganda is we...Read More

The first world war… Look back with angst … Thanks to its military, economic and soft power, America is still indispensable, particularly in dealing with threats like climate change and terror, which cross borders. But unless America behaves as a leader and the guarantor of the world order, it will be inviting regional powers to test their strength by bullying neighbouring countries. T...Read More

Should the U.S. force citizens to save? Americans aren't saving enough to retire. This gap poses a problem for everyone, not just people who will face near-poverty when they can't work anymore. Does that merit forcing people to save more? Retirement in America is supposed to be financed by three sources: Social Security, employer pensions, and additional saving … Another, potentially...Read More

What's wrong with Science. And Nature. And Cell. A Nobel prize-winner attacks elite journals … BLUNT criticism is an essential part of science, for it is how bad ideas are winnowed from good ones. So when Randy Schekman, one of the 2013 crop of Nobel prize-winners (for physiology or medicine, in his case), decided to criticise the way scientific journals are run, he did not hold back. Dr...Read More

US Federal Reserve: The Bernanke years … It was a drizzly day in Washington when Ben Bernanke went to his confirmation hearing in November 2005, but all seemed bright for the US economy. Growth was on track to hit 3 per cent. House prices had another five months left to rise. The assembled senators felt indulgent towards the modest academic – variously described by the media as bearded...Read More

Is NATO's Trojan Horse Riding Toward the 'Ukraine Spring'? … Ukrainian citizens have rallied in the bitter cold at Independence Square in Kiev to demand a better economic future and to protest President Viktor Yanukovych's failure to sign an economic agreement with the EU. But while the draft of the EU "Association Agreement" is being sold as an economic boon for Uk...Read More

The budget deal and Washington's new politics of compromise … The muted market reaction to this week's budget deal in Washington may initially seem like a disappointment. After all, uncertainty over government spending, debt and taxes has consistently emerged in business sentiment surveys as the biggest single factor holding back corporate investment and damaging financial confidence...Read More

Release the Senate Torture Report … A dozen years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the American public still doesn't know the full extent of the laws that were broken and the human rights abuses that were committed. Moving forward as a country demands taking responsibility for past actions and providing redress to victims. And that process can only take place after a full public acco...Read More