To Save the Rich, China Ruins Hong Kong … When they meet on Sunday, legislators from China's rubber-stamp National People's Congress are expected to disregard even the most moderate proposals to open up Hong Kong's political system. In all likelihood the decision will provoke street protests, drive moderates into the more radical pro-democracy camp and call into question the form...Read More
Why we're so blase about global warming … If you don't regard global warming as a serious problem, your company is growing. According to the survey jockeys at Pew Research Center, the percentage of Americans who think global warming is "very serious" or "somewhat serious" has declined since 2006 (from 79 percent to 65 percent). While a firm majority still consider...Read More
Live at Cartucci's Grapevine in August 2014. Scott Gibson on guitar and harmonica. Entire set consisting of his own songs and his own vibes. All Rights Reserved by Scott Gibson. Stay tuned for the SCUBAR Music Video release of 'Busted.'Read More
Germany to Europe: Help Isn't on the Way … German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has bad news for anyone hoping the European Central Bank will ride to the rescue of the ailing euro region: Monetary policy has come to the end of its instruments. I don't think ECB monetary policy has the instruments to fight deflation, to be quite frank. What we urgently need is investments, regai...Read More
Several Swiss banks pull out of US tax programme … At least 10 Swiss banks have withdrawn from a U.S. programme aimed at settling a tax dispute between them and the United States, Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag said on Sunday, quoting unnamed sources. Around 100 Swiss banks came forward at the end of last year to work with U.S. authorities in a programme brokered by the Swiss government to h...Read More
Germany to Europe: Help Isn't on the Way … German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has bad news for anyone hoping the European Central Bank will ride to the rescue of the ailing euro region: Monetary policy has come to the end of its instruments. I don't think ECB monetary policy has the instruments to fight deflation, to be quite frank. What we urgently need is investments, regai...Read More
Several Swiss banks pull out of US tax programme … At least 10 Swiss banks have withdrawn from a U.S. programme aimed at settling a tax dispute between them and the United States, Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag said on Sunday, quoting unnamed sources. Around 100 Swiss banks came forward at the end of last year to work with U.S. authorities in a programme brokered by the Swiss government to h...Read More
The criminalisation of American business … Corporate settlements in the United States The criminalisation of American business Companies must be punished when they do wrong, but the legal system has become an extortion racket … Who runs the world's most lucrative shakedown operation? The Sicilian mafia? The People's Liberation Army in China? The kleptocracy in the Kremlin? If y...Read More
EU to ban high-energy hair dryers, smartphones and kettles … European Union to ban dozens of high-wattage household electrical appliances in follow-up to controversial ban on powerful vacuum cleaners. A European Commission study, that is still being completed, has identified up to 30 electrical appliances to be covered by the EU's Ecodesign directive outlawing high-wattage devices includ...Read More
The criminalisation of American business … Corporate settlements in the United States The criminalisation of American business Companies must be punished when they do wrong, but the legal system has become an extortion racket … Who runs the world's most lucrative shakedown operation? The Sicilian mafia? The People's Liberation Army in China? The kleptocracy in the Kremlin? If y...Read More
EU to ban high-energy hair dryers, smartphones and kettles … European Union to ban dozens of high-wattage household electrical appliances in follow-up to controversial ban on powerful vacuum cleaners. A European Commission study, that is still being completed, has identified up to 30 electrical appliances to be covered by the EU's Ecodesign directive outlawing high-wattage devices includ...Read More
Economics Isn't Science or Literature … Economists use many of the same tools as scientists and engineers — matrix algebra, multiple regression, control theory. But they don't use them in the same way. In economics — especially macroeconomics — the goal is often to persuade other people of your point of view. As Federal Reserve economist Kartik Athreya writes in his...Read More
Prescription Painkiller Deaths Fall Almost 25% in Medical Marijuana States … A study that recently appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows a significant decrease in opiate overdoses in states that have adopted and implemented medical marijuana laws compared to states that have not. The authors showed that although opiate overdoses rose in states without medical mari...Read More
Economics Isn't Science or Literature … Economists use many of the same tools as scientists and engineers — matrix algebra, multiple regression, control theory. But they don't use them in the same way. In economics — especially macroeconomics — the goal is often to persuade other people of your point of view. As Federal Reserve economist Kartik Athreya writes in his...Read More
Prescription Painkiller Deaths Fall Almost 25% in Medical Marijuana States … A study that recently appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows a significant decrease in opiate overdoses in states that have adopted and implemented medical marijuana laws compared to states that have not. The authors showed that although opiate overdoses rose in states without medical mari...Read More
Colonization by Bankruptcy: The High-stakes Chess Match for Argentina … Argentina is playing hardball with the vulture funds, which have been trying to force it into an involuntary bankruptcy. The vultures are demanding what amounts to a 600% return on bonds bought for pennies on the dollar, defeating a 2005 settlement in which 92% of creditors agreed to accept a 70% haircut on their bonds....Read More
It Begins: Council On Foreign Relations Proposes That "Central Banks Should Hand Consumers Cash Directly" … A year ago, when it became abundantly clear that all of the Fed's attempts to boost the economy have failed, leading instead to a record divergence between the "1%" who were benefiting from the Fed's artificial inflation of financial assets … and every...Read More
Colonization by Bankruptcy: The High-stakes Chess Match for Argentina … Argentina is playing hardball with the vulture funds, which have been trying to force it into an involuntary bankruptcy. The vultures are demanding what amounts to a 600% return on bonds bought for pennies on the dollar, defeating a 2005 settlement in which 92% of creditors agreed to accept a 70% haircut on their bonds....Read More
It Begins: Council On Foreign Relations Proposes That "Central Banks Should Hand Consumers Cash Directly" … A year ago, when it became abundantly clear that all of the Fed's attempts to boost the economy have failed, leading instead to a record divergence between the "1%" who were benefiting from the Fed's artificial inflation of financial assets … and every...Read More
Mining stocks have received a lot of attention over recent years, as more and more investors have been turning to this sector in search of attractive returns. But as witnessed last year, mining companies in particular can quickly make a turn for the worse, with rising operational costs and falling commodity prices making big impacts on bottom line returns [for more commodity news and analysis sub...Read More