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Category: Economy

crypto
September 13, 2023
Economy
News
TECH

Crypto Regulation Emerges From G20.

Global leaders at the G20 summit, a collection of the 20 largest national economies in the world, are pushing for global cryptocurrency regulations that would give governments greater access to, as well as control over, cross-border transactions. The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) – first proposed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2022 – would grant greater power to state taxing authorities in order to reduce tax avoidance through the use of cryptocurrency.

The CARF would require an automatic and annual exchange of cryptocurrency transaction information between participating nations. President Joe Biden and other G20 leaders endorsed the intrusive CARF language; signing a statement saying: “We endorse the Financial Stability Board’s high-level recommendations for the regulation, supervision and oversight of crypto-assets activities and markets and of global stablecoin arrangements.”

Taking effect in 2027, the proposed regulatory framework would require crypto-exchanges to share an unprecedented level of information regarding transactions with governments around the world. That information would then be available to other participating governments, making the tracking of transactions and the identification of transactors much simpler for taxation purposes.

In response to the news that the G20 was advancing new regulations, the major non-stable coin cryptocurrencies opened with losses on Tuesday – including major players like Bitcoin and Ether. In Asian markets all of the top-10 non-stable coin cryptocurrencies also experienced loses. News that the bankrupt crypto-exchange FTX may receive court approval on September 13th to liquidate its remaining $3.4 billion in assets as added additional downward pressure on global cryptocurrency markets.

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Global leaders at the G20 summit, a collection of the 20 largest national economies in the world, are pushing for global cryptocurrency regulations that would give governments greater access to, as well as control over, cross-border transactions. The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) – first proposed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2022 – would grant greater power to state taxing authorities in order to reduce tax avoidance through the use of cryptocurrency. show more
paycheck
September 1, 2023
Jake Welch
Economy
News

Majority of Americans Living Paycheck-to-Paycheck.

Almost two-thirds of Americans – 61 percent – admit to living paycheck-to-paycheck, representing a two percent increase compared to 2023, according to a recent report conducted by the LendingClub, which surveyed 3,443 U.S. consumers.

Those earning less were predictably hit hardest by the rising costs, interest rates, and inflation over the past year. A staggering 78 percent of those earning less than $50,000 per year, as well as 65 percent of those earning between $50,000 and $100,000, admit to living paycheck-to-paycheck – both up in comparison to 2022.

A further 70 percent of Americans say they are “stressed” about their finances largely due to “inflation, rising interest rates, and a lack of savings” to fall back on. Only 45 percent of Americans were found to have emergency savings, with 26 percent of those admitting that they have less than $5,000 saved for emergencies.

“Consumers are undoubtedly continuing to feel the impact of inflation and rising interest rates,” argues Chris Fred, TD Bank’s head of credit cards and unsecured lending.

Americans are simultaneously experiencing an “all-time low” in housing affordability, with the average person having to meet monthly mortgage payments of over $2,600.

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Almost two-thirds of Americans – 61 percent – admit to living paycheck-to-paycheck, representing a two percent increase compared to 2023, according to a recent report conducted by the LendingClub, which surveyed 3,443 U.S. consumers. show more
bidenomics
September 1, 2023
Economy
News

Bidenomics: Unemployment Rises Again, Highest in 18 Months.

The U.S. economy added 187,000 jobs in August – in line with expectations – but America’s unemployment rate also increased sharply to 3.8 percent in numbers released Friday.

Health care, leisure and hospitality, social assistance, and construction grew, but transportation and warehousing declined. The recent labor market headwinds, such as the Hollywood actor and writers strikes that dropped workers from payrolls – and the July bankruptcy of trucking company Yellow – have partially contributed to the high unemployment rate. The unemployment has rate reached its highest level since early 2022.

Some experts believe that these current labor market conditions suggest a return to pre-pandemic conditions and could lead the Federal Reserve to pause hikes or even cut interest rates in the first half of next year. However, Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics, claims there is an upside risk to inflation, and that another increase in rates later this year cannot be ruled out.

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The U.S. economy added 187,000 jobs in August – in line with expectations – but America's unemployment rate also increased sharply to 3.8 percent in numbers released Friday. show more
BRICS
August 24, 2023
William Upton
Economy
News
World

BRICS Begins Major Expansion to Undermine U.S.

For the first time in nearly a decade, BRICS – the bloc of nations led by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – will expand, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) receiving formal invites, as well as Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Iran set to join in a year.

One of the top priorities of the BRICS nations has been to end the U.S. dollar’s global financial dominance. As the global reserve currency, the U.S. dollar is a key tool used by the United States government to maintain its global hegemonic status.

So far, the bloc has struggled to develop a dollar alternative – owing mostly to the fact that any other choice would need to be new given the state of their own national currencies. China purposely devalues its currency, while the Russian ruble is trading at just over 1 cent on the dollar, with the Indian rupee hardly much stronger. Brazil’s corrupt and dysfunctional economy makes the Brazilian real unattractive. Racial violence and the associated political and economic instability in South Africa makes the rand a non-starter.

This is where the addition of the Gulf States, Saudi Arabia and the UAE is critical for BRICS. The wealthy petro-states are viewed globally as economically and politically stable, attracting tens-of-billions of dollars in foreign investment annually. While the founding members of BRICS have thus far been unable to come up with a U.S. dollar alternative, its two newest potential members will at least increase their odds of success.

BRICS was founded during the 61st session of the U.N. general assembly in 2006 as a semi-formal international organization with the aim to act as a counter balance the U.S. dominated global economic order. Standing for “Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa”, BRICS has not undergone an expansion since 2010.

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For the first time in nearly a decade, BRICS – the bloc of nations led by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – will expand, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) receiving formal invites, as well as Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Iran set to join in a year. show more
christian charity
August 24, 2023
Jake Welch
Economy
News

Christian Charity ‘Debanked’ For Religious Views.

A Christian charity providing necessities to impoverished people has been ‘debanked‘ by the Bank of America due to its socially conservative views on same-sex relationships and abortion.

Indigenous Advance Ministries received a letter from the bank in April this year informing it of the impending closure of its account, just three months after it was opened. After the charity made repeated efforts to learn why the account would be closed, the bank sent another letter one month later informing the charity the decision was made due to its “risk profile no longer aligning with the bank’s risk tolerance,” despite the charity having $270,000 deposited in the account.

The bank further explained the decision pertained to the charity’s debt collection operations, yet could not highlight the part of its business policies that forbids offering an account for that reason.

The charity fears the account was closed “…because [the Bank of America] disagrees with our religious views,” with two board members adding: “Our mission and work, supporting Ugandan children and families through Indigenous Ugandan Ministries, has remained the same since we were founded and first opened our accounts with Bank of America.”

The group has launched legal proceedings against the bank, arguing that the arbitrary closure disrupted its business operations and received no explanation why the account was being closed.

The most infamous example of the increasingly common “debanking” trend remains that of Brexit leader Nigel Farage, who had his personal accounts closed due to his friendships with former President Donald Trump and Tennis star Novak Djokovic.

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A Christian charity providing necessities to impoverished people has been 'debanked' by the Bank of America due to its socially conservative views on same-sex relationships and abortion. show more
deficit
August 11, 2023
William Upton
Economy
News

Biden More Than Doubles U.S. Deficit in 2023… and the Fiscal Year Isn’t Over Yet!

The United States budget deficit has doubled under President Joe Biden; hitting $1.6 trillion in the first 10 months of the fiscal year. The continued deterioration of the fiscal state of the U.S. is another blow to Bidenomics, the set of economic agenda items that the Biden White House has pinned their re-election hopes on.

In a thread on X (formerly Twitter), economist EJ Antoni explained that the U.S. Treasury “…continues hemorrhaging cash as spending balloons, receipts fall; deficit and interest on the debt keep rising.” Antoni noted net interest payments on the U.S. debt exceeded spending on national defense, medicare, veterans benefits and services, and transportation. 

Even more concerning is that the Fiscal-Year-To-Date’s deficit is already $238 billion above the last Fiscal Year’s entire deficit. There are still two months remaining in the current Fiscal Year.

The negative news on the U.S. deficit only darkens the storm clouds over the U.S. economy. The July Consumer Price Index numbers signaled a re-acceleration in inflation – despite many in the mainstream media claiming that the inflation crisis was over. In response to the re-acceleration of inflation in July, Antoni stated:

The CPI has risen so much faster than wages under Biden that the average American worker effectively paid a $4.62 an hour inflation tax in July. And yet, many components of the CPI are understating the realities faced by Americans, including housing. The monthly payment on a median price home today is twice what it was in January 2021.

Last wee, Fitch Ratings downgraded U.S. government debt from AAA to AA+ and projected the American economy would enter into a recession in late 2023 or early 2024.

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The United States budget deficit has doubled under President Joe Biden; hitting $1.6 trillion in the first 10 months of the fiscal year. The continued deterioration of the fiscal state of the U.S. is another blow to Bidenomics, the set of economic agenda items that the Biden White House has pinned their re-election hopes on. show more
bidenomics
August 2, 2023
William Upton
Economy
News

‘Bidenomics’ Just Lost America its AAA Debt Rating in Historic Downgrade.

For the second time since 2011, a major U.S. credit rating agency has downgraded its credit rating for the U.S. government from AAA to AA+. In a press release Tuesday, Fitch Ratings stated:

The rating downgrade of the United States reflects the expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years, a high and growing general government debt burden, and the erosion of governance relative to ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ rated peers over the last two decades that has manifested in repeated debt limit standoffs and last-minute resolutions.

Fitch Ratings also cited the “…limited progress in tackling medium-term challenges related to rising social security and Medicare costs due to an aging population…” as a reason for the downgrade. Fitch said it expects “…the general government (GG) deficit to rise to 6.3% of GDP in 2023, from 3.7% in 2022, reflecting cyclically weaker federal revenues, new spending initiatives and a higher interest burden.”

Most troubling, the ratings firm projected the U.S. economy would slip into a recession in fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, citing a slowing consumption, lagging GDP growth, and a sluggish labor participation rate.

The Fitch downgrade alongside its warning of economic recession is a blow to President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign which has recently rolled out a new messaging campaign touting the success of “Bidenomics.” A recession hitting the U.S. economy in 2024 could tilt the electoral map in favor of Republicans who hold a narrow majority in the House of Representatives and are seeking to regain control of the Senate and White House.

The U.S. government’s debt rating was downgraded from AAA to AA+ by the credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s in 2011.

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For the second time since 2011, a major U.S. credit rating agency has downgraded its credit rating for the U.S. government from AAA to AA+. In a press release Tuesday, Fitch Ratings stated: show more
foreign
July 27, 2023
Jack Montgomery
Economy
News

Biden Law Hands Billions to Foreign Firms Building Bases Abroad, & Murdoch’s Papers Approve.

Foreign corporations will wring massive profits from U.S. taxpayers under Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and Rupert Murdoch mouthpieces are apparently delighted about it.

In an article with the BuzzFeed-style headline ‘Foreigners Will Benefit From U.S. Climate Subsidies, and That Is Good News‘, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) argues overseas firms like Panasonic gathering in up to $2 billion a year in climate tax credits to build American battery plants is a feature of the IRA, rather than a bug.

The WSJ favorably compares the situation to that in Communist China, where the regime “require[s] local production” to access its market – but admits this approach has also left the Chinese struggling with excessive waste and a mountain of debt.

“China’s local government debt burden has exploded over the past decade, in no small part due to an arms race among city governments to support local industrial policy champions in areas like solar, robotics, electric vehicles and microchips,” the WSJ concedes.

Aping the Chinese could therefore prove costly for American taxpayers, given the national debt is already running well over $32,65o,000,000,000 – roughly $100,000 per person.

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Foreign corporations will wring massive profits from U.S. taxpayers under Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and Rupert Murdoch mouthpieces are apparently delighted about it. show more
sam bankman-fried
July 27, 2023
Jake Welch
Economy
News
Politics

Charges DROPPED Against Dem Megadonor Sam Bankman-Fried.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has dropped campaign finance charges against alleged ‘crypto scammer’ Sam Bankman-Fried, who was accused of misusing customer deposits and who made $90 million in campaign contributions to around 300 predominantly left-wing political candidates or action committees (PACs).

Prosecutors argued the United States “mishandled” the process of extraditing Bankman-Fried from the Bahamas, writing a letter stating, “In keeping with its treaty obligations to the Bahamas, the government does not intend to proceed to trial on the campaign contributions count.”

Bankman-Fried, who had a net worth of around $26.5 billion at his peak, ranked behind only George Soros in donations to the Democrats last year. He also donated to some Republicans through what he described as ‘dark’ channels. He said in an interview:

“Reporters freak the f*** out if you donate to a Republican, because they’re all super liberal. And I didn’t want to have that fight, so I just made all the Republican [donations] ones dark.”

Bankman-Fried was the founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX but resigned last November after the company’s collapse, costing customers and lenders billions of dollars. He was subsequently arrested and released after paying a $250 million bond: the largest in American history.

He is due to face seven charges in October this year, including accusations that he defrauded customers and lenders to FTX.

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The Department of Justice (DOJ) has dropped campaign finance charges against alleged 'crypto scammer' Sam Bankman-Fried, who was accused of misusing customer deposits and who made $90 million in campaign contributions to around 300 predominantly left-wing political candidates or action committees (PACs). show more
shutdown
July 26, 2023
Jake Welch
Economy
News
Politics

A U.S. Government Shutdown Looms.

Members of both political parties anticipate a federal government shutdown as early as September over the U.S. government’s budget for 2024. The GOP is proposing a number of new bills that would slash the federal budget by up to $115 billion, returning government spending to its 2022 levels. Democrats, however, are already making it clear that they would reject any attempts to cut government spending.

Negotiators from both parties are increasingly incapable of finding a consensus over the Appropriations bill, which is responsible for funding the Education Department, the Labor Department, the Department of Health, and more. Republicans are also pushing to cut funding to other agencies, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Leading Democrats are explicit in their willingness to shut the government down in response to Republican spending plans. Democratic Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and Senator from Montana, Jon Tester, recently stated: “If you want to shut down, we will shut down. If they want to get the bills done, we’ll get the bills done.”

A government shutdown could disrupt the working schedules of up to 800,000 federal workers and potentially have wider ramifications for the U.S. economy, interfering with important federal services, such as food safety inspections and the Internal Revenue Service.

Notably, a survey from Rasmussen Reports found the majority of Americans would prefer a government shutdown to cut federal spending than avoiding a government shutdown to authorize higher federal expenditure.

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Members of both political parties anticipate a federal government shutdown as early as September over the U.S. government's budget for 2024. The GOP is proposing a number of new bills that would slash the federal budget by up to $115 billion, returning government spending to its 2022 levels. Democrats, however, are already making it clear that they would reject any attempts to cut government spending. show more