Rich In Oil, Venezuela Is Now Poor In Most Everything Else

Simon Nobile, 72, runs the Capri pasta factory in the capital Caracas, which was founded by his Italian-born father in 1940. Capri’s two plants crank out 11 million pounds of pasta per month. They could produce nearly twice that much. However, Nobile says a government policy designed to help the poor forces him to sell […]

The Death Of The Petrodollar Was Finally Noticed

 Three months ago, we wrote “How The Petrodollar Quietly Died, And Nobody Noticed“, in which we explained in painful detail why far from the simple macroeconomic dogma which immediately prompted the macro tourists to scream that “oil prices dropping are good for US consumers“, the collapse in the price of crude is not only a […]

After Saudi Arabia Crushes The US Shale Industry, This Is Who It Will Go After Next

Whether it is to cripple the will of Putin and end his support of the Syria regime (thus handing the much desired gas-pipeline traversing territory over to Qatari and/or Saudi interests), a hypothesis first presented here in September and subsequently validated by the NYT, or much more simply, just to destroy any and all marginal […]

At $200 Trillion The World’s Debt Cup Overfloweth

The world economy is still built on debt. That’s the warning today from McKinsey & Co.’s research division which estimates that since 2007, the IOUs of governments, companies, households and financial firms in 47 countries has grown by $57 trillion to $199 trillion, a rise equivalent to 17 percentage points of gross domestic product. While not as […]

Greece Exposes The Global Economy’s Achilles Heel

The new Greek political party, known as Syriza, the Coalition of the Radical Left, has done the unthinkable: they’ve dared to speak the truth. In this case, the truth is perfectly captured by the blunt assessment by the new Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, who recently declared “I’m the finance minister of a bankrupt country.” Such honest assessments […]

The Lesson Of Greece: Only Collapse Makes Real Change Possible

  When the illusion that the Status Quo can fulfill all its promises to everybody dies, the Status Quo starts the terminal slide to effective collapse. Of the many lessons we can learn from Greece’s difficult path to rejection of debt-serfdom, the most important is perhaps the most obvious: no real change is possible until the […]

Iraq financial crisis prompts emergency action

Iraq is pursuing a series of emergency measures to finance its 2015 budget, following years of poor governance and unchecked spending that led to a financial crisis now made worse by low oil prices and high military spending demands.The government is planning to indirectly borrow from the country’s foreign currency reserves, in a plan described […]

Central Banks Fear Deflation, But You Should Not

The European Central Bank (ECB) is planning to pump 1.1 trillion euros into the banking system to fend off price deflation and revive economic activity. The ECB president and his executive board are planning to spend 60 billion euros per month from March 2015 to September 2016. Most experts hold that the ECB must start […]

The Entire Oil Collapse Is All About Crushing Russian Control Over Syria

While the markets are still debating whether the price of oil is more impacted by the excess pumping of crude here, or the lack of demand there, or if it is all just a mechanical squeeze by momentum-chasing HFT algos who also know to buy in the milliseconds before 2:30pm, we bring readers’ attention back […]

New fighting for Libyan oil ports as UN tries to revive talks

New clashes erupted on Tuesday between rival factions fighting for control of Libya’s biggest oil ports Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, killing at least 10 people, the two sides said. The fighting came a day after the United Nations said it was seeking a ceasefire to pave the way for a new round of peace […]

The Sanctions of Mass Destruction

Under the late King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia played a role most treacherous in world affairs: its oil fueled U.S. militarism and its money funded Islamic extremists. Saudi Arabia is perhaps the greatest inherent contradiction of U.S. foreign policy. Prior to the 20th century, the value of money was tied to gold. When banks lent money […]

New King Orders $29 Billion ‘Handouts’, Tells Saudi People: “You Deserve More”

Because nothing says “we really do fear social unrest… and please stick with the new king” like Saudi Arabia spewing a massive $29.3 billion spending program that include lavish payments of two months bonus salary to all Saudi state employees and a series of subsidies. As al-Arabiya reports, King Salman bin Abdulaziz has issued a […]

Oil: A Geopolitical Conundrum

Summary Through geopolitical meddling, market competition and a host of other reasons, the oil price has been plummeting as of late and is likely to continue falling. Large oil producers who base their country’s economy on oil, such as Russia and Venezuela, are facing dire economic outlooks. The drop in prices are a boon to […]

Delusional America

Robert Parry is one of my favorite columnists. He is truthful, has a sense of justice, and delivers a firm punch. He used to be a “mainstream journalist,” like me, but we were too truthful for them. They kicked us out. I can’t say Parry has always been one of my favorite journalists. During the […]

The new Saudi king Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud

What would happen when Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah died has been discussed for a number of years. Now, a week after his burial we can state that it is still calm in the nation and that the handover of power to Abdullah’s successor has not had a noticeable effect on the oil price. The founder […]

Kirkuk: A new Isis attack is the latest challenge for the long-troubled oil-rich city in Iraq

Iraqi onlookers stand next to a burnt car following a motorcycle bombing attack which killed at least eight people on September 19, 2014 in the northern city of Kirkuk.(Getty) For Kirkuk, its oil-rich surroundings have been more a curse than a blessing. The northern Iraqi city struck black gold in 1927, while still under the […]

EU Extends Sanctions Against Russian Officials

EU foreign ministers have decided to extend targeted sanctions against Russian officials and the militias in eastern Ukraine until September, according to Federica Mogherini, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs. The first batch of sanctions, which was adopted last year and targeted specific individuals accused of fostering conflict in eastern Ukraine, was set […]

US Senate approves Iran sanctions bill

The US Senate Banking Committee has approved a controversial bill that would trigger additional sanctions against Iran if the ongoing nuclear negotiations between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group of countries collapse. On Thursday, lawmakers in the Senate panel voted 18 to 4 to advance the bipartisan legislation sponsored by hawkish Senators Robert Menendez […]

ISIS launches attack on oil-rich northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk

ISIS militants have attacked Kirkuk in northern Iraq, an effort that might be an earnest attempt to capture the key oil-rich city or perhaps to divert Kurdish troops fighting to capture the Islamist extremist group’s stronghold of Mosul. For months, ISIS has been facing off with the Peshmerga — armed fighters who protect Iraqi Kurdistan […]

Oil’s Next Casualty: Government Budgets

The 56 percent drop in oil prices in the last six months is fueling more than just jet engines and road trips. It’s also burning through the cushy budget surpluses enjoyed by some of the world’s biggest oil-producing nations. Saudi Arabia, the world’s top producer of crude, will see the budget surplus it has enjoyed in […]

2015: the Year A Lot of Chickens Come Home To Roost?

Assassinations, Hostage-Taking, Geopolitical Violence, Economic Crises, Financial Meltdowns are all part and parcel of ancient legacies that now have become everyday realities, world-wide. Welcome To The Future! As ancient tribalism, modern terrorism and the New World Order way of life become forever wed, through one calamitous-violent ritual after another, the whole world continues to be […]

Keystone passes in US Senate, faces Obama veto

Republicans in the U.S. Senate made good on a pledge to pass the long-pending Keystone XL oil pipeline on Thursday, a measure the White House said President Barack Obama would veto. Senators voted 62-36 on the bill to bypass the Obama administration’s review of Keystone, five short of the number needed to overturn a potential […]

Fanatics, Charlatans, and Economists

Throughout the world, it seems, crisis is gripping national politics. In election after election, voter turnout has hit historic lows. Politicians are universally reviled. Mainstream parties, desperate to remain relevant, are caught in a vice, forced to choose between pandering to extremism and the risk of being overwhelmed by populist, anti-establishment movements. Meanwhile, not since […]

Crazy Clerics Who Rule the Worlds Oil

Yes, Saudi Arabia has banned snowmen and lashes women, but it also has a lot of internal debate. Despite the passing of King Abdullah, Saudia Arabia’s new King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud claims it’ll be business as usual in the controversial desert kingdom where a recent spate of public floggings and beheadings overshadowed the […]

Who are Saudi Arabia’s new crown princes?

The new king of Saudi Arabia moved quickly to announce his new crown princes, elevating Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz al-Saud to first in line and naming the country’s minister of interior to the deputy position. King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud appeared in a televised speech, before the late King Abdullah’s funeral proceedings took place on […]

Should the euro zone really fear deflation?

* Euro zone inflation negative in Dec for first time in 5 years * Debt deflation, raised real interest rates key concerns * “Good” and “bad” deflationary periods * QE’s impact on euro leads to higher import prices   If the multi-billion dollar consumer electronics industry can function fine with constantly falling prices, why is […]

The real story behind Saudi Arabia’s oil games

The near $50 drop in oil prices since June has led to rampant speculation about Saudi Arabia’s master plan. As the world’s biggest producer of crude oil, Saudi Arabia has a lot of influence on prices. One theory is that the Saudis are intentionally crashing oil markets to undermine Iran. The implication is clear: Saudi […]

To Change Everything: An Anarchist Appeal

A video collaboration with CrimethInc. To Change Everything: An Anarchist Appeal If you could change anything, what would you change? Would you go on vacation for the rest of your life? Make fossil fuels stop causing climate change? Ask for ethical banks and politicians? Surely nothing could be more unrealistic than to keep everything the […]

Yemen risks disintegration as south rejects Shi’ite group’s takeover

No sooner had Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi announced his resignation than his country’s tenuous political fabric began to disintegrate. Provinces across a nation barely held together by a complex web of tribal and religious alliances said they would no longer take military commands from Sanaa after the Iranian-allied Shi’ite Houthi group besieged Hadi’s home […]

SOU Reboot

“I want Americans to win the race for the kinds of discoveries that unleash new jobs – converting sunlight into liquid fuel; building the next generation of sailing ships; creating revolutionary prosthetics, so that a veteran who gave his arms for his country can play catch with his kid; and undertaking the vital work of […]

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