(01.02.2024)
Washington imposed sanctions on Iraqi Al-Huda Bank this week, under claims of laundering money for Iran. Several other banks have been hit with similar sanctions over the past year.
The statement came the same day a senior US Treasury official said Washington expects Baghdad to help identify and disrupt the funds of Iran-backed resistance factions in Iraq.
Beyond material progress and architectural marvels that rival ancient wonders, a truly progressive state is marked by its commitment to accountability and justice – a domain where some established democracies have faltered.
After enduring a harrowing 85 days of bombardment resulting in nearly 22,000 killed, including more than 8,000 children and 6,000 women, 1.9 million displaced and the collapse of the health infrastructure, South Africa, a signatory of the Genocide Convention has finally called upon the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to examine the crisis.
This long-awaited step reflects a crucial recognition of the international community‘s role in conflict resolution and human rights protection.
(22.11.2023)
Argentina‘s stock market reacted with optimism Tuesday to the resounding election win by libertarian Javier Milei, despite the country being gripped by uncertainty over what changes the self-described ‚anarcho-capitalist‘ will bring.
(November 21, 2023)
Argentina‘s president-elect used to carry a chainsaw as a symbol of his planned cuts but has shelved it in recent weeks to help boost his moderate image.
(August 25, 2023)
Powell, in a speech at an economic summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, said policymakers would „proceed carefully as we decide whether to tighten further,“ but also made clear that the central bank has not yet concluded that its benchmark interest rate is high enough to be sure that inflation returns to the 2% target.
Dethrone the dollar, the symbol of Western hegemony. As ambitious as it is complex, this objective will be one of those addressed at the summit of BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) from Tuesday, August 22 to Thursday, August 24 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The heads of state in attendance (South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, his Chinese and Brazilian counterparts Xi Jinping and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov) will also be discussing the expansion of their bloc to include other countries, particularly African ones.
(August 18, 2023)
“We are not going to default on either the IMF nor sovereign debt,” Milei told the IMF officials, according to a message posted on social media by Darío Epstein, one of the candidate’s key economic advisers.
Milei also laid out his Liberty Advances party platform for Argentina’s economy to IMF officials, including “a significant fiscal adjustment, more significant than the one demanded by the IMF,” according to a statement issued by the candidate’s campaign.
(May 31, 2016)
The basic framework was strikingly simple. The U.S. would buy oil from Saudi Arabia and provide the kingdom military aid and equipment. In return, the Saudis would plow billions of their petrodollar revenue back into Treasuries and finance America’s spending.
It took several discreet follow-up meetings to iron out all the details, Parsky said. But at the end of months of negotiations, there remained one small, yet crucial, catch: King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud demanded the country’s Treasury purchases stay “strictly secret,” according to a diplomatic cable obtained by Bloomberg from the National Archives database.
(17 August 2023)
Saudi Arabia’s holdings of US Treasuries were distributed among long-term bonds worth $99.83 billion, representing 92.3% of the total, and short-term bonds worth $8.29 billion, accounting for 7.7%.
(August 16, 2023)
The Gulf country in June sold more than $3 billion in US government debt, offloading the securities for a third consecutive month to bring its holdings to $108.1 billion, according to Treasury Department data. The neighboring United Arab Emirates sold nearly $4 billion.
The Arab Gulf region’s petrostates are seeking out new avenues for investing to get higher returns in a world where a backlash is building against the hegemony of the US dollar.
(26.07.2023)
The quarter percentage-point hike, a unanimous decision, boosted the target range for the Fed’s benchmark federal funds rate to 5.25% to 5.5%, the highest level in 22 years.
(09.04.2023)
But perhaps most notable was his suggestion that Europe needs to reduce its dependence on the „extraterritoriality of the U.S. dollar,“ a line which both Moscow and Beijing have been emphasizing.
„If the tensions between the two superpowers heat up … we won’t have the time nor the resources to finance our strategic autonomy and we will become vassals,“ he said.
(Nov. 9, 1978)
While the dollar was falling and rising, the Europeans were negotiating a new form of monetary union: the creation of a kind of deutschemark zone in Western Europe. This was no coincidence.
Just as the sovereignty of the nationstate is personified by the ability to create money, so the form and status of international money is an expression of changing power relationships. The events of the last few weeks merely confirm America‘s decline and the growing importance of Western Europe, dominated by West Germany.
The Chinese currency, the yuan, has become a major player in Russia’s foreign trade, according to data from the country’s central bank. The share of renminbi in Russia’s import settlements jumped to 23% by the end of last year from only 4% in January 2022. The yuan’s share in export settlements also surged from 0.5% to 16%. At the same time, the two countries have been slashing the share of the US dollar and euro in their bilateral trade.
While the rest of America was gearing up for the Super Bowl Sunday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised Q4 inflation numbers higher on Friday.
This is actually huge news.
Preprogrammed algos bought billions in stock off of November and December CPI off of faulty assumptions about inflation going away easily, which sparked the huge rally.
The inflation revisions are a double whammy.
Over the past year, an alphabet soup of otherwise wonky economic statistics have become household names as American families suffered through the worst inflation in 40 years: CPI (Consumer Price Index), PPI (Producer Price Index), PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures and ECI (Employment Cost Index).
Tuesday‘s CPI reading will come as investors recalibrate expectations for high interest rates will go this year after Fed Chair Jerome Powell implied in a speech last week that the battle against inflation was in its early stages. For much of the year, many were betting the U.S. central bank would pause its interest rate hiking campaign this year.
(May 31, 2016)
The basic framework was strikingly simple. The U.S. would buy oil from Saudi Arabia and provide the kingdom military aid and equipment. In return, the Saudis would plow billions of their petrodollar revenue back into Treasuries and finance America’s spending.
It took several discreet follow-up meetings to iron out all the details, Parsky said. But at the end of months of negotiations, there remained one small, yet crucial, catch: King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud demanded the country’s Treasury purchases stay “strictly secret,” according to a diplomatic cable obtained by Bloomberg from the National Archives database.
He said: “It‘s like the ghost of Trichet has come back and taken over.”
Recession fears driven by soaring gas prices and looming blackouts pushed the euro to a 20-year low of $0.9536 against the dollar in September.
Riyadh is apparently set on another course. It intends to join Brics and is increasing its cooperation with China, including through its unprecedented consideration of trading oil for yuan instead of dollars. The UAE is also making moves, with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed recently visiting Moscow, and his energy minister saying Russia is irreplaceable in the oil market.
For the fourth quarter of 2019, total wealth in the U.S. was $111.04 trillion.
Collectively, Americans have nearly $900 billion dollars in credit card debt, and if you carry a balance, your bill is about to get more expensive, as the Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate for the fifth time this year. Currently, the average interest rate on a new credit card offer is more than 21%, according to LendingTree’s Matt Schulz. “You can expect that average to go up to over 22% in the next couple of months because banks don’t tend to waste a lot of time on raising rates when the Fed does,” Schulz said.
Das Hauptproblem: Die hohen Zinssätze treiben den US-Dollar in die Höhe – zum Nachteil anderer Länder. Denn nicht nur Importe werden teurer, sondern auch die Bedienung von Krediten. Die straffe Geldpolitik der US-Notenbank bekommen daher vor allem einkommensschwächere Länder zu spüren, die sich während der Pandemie hoch verschuldet und ihre Kredite in US-Dollar aufgenommen haben – selbst aber keine Dollars verdienen.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Yuan has already become a de facto reserve currency in Russia. Russian leadership turned to China after facing sanctions from the West due to its invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. Now, 17% of Russia’s foreign reserves are denominated in yuan. The yuan is also the third most demanded currency on The Moscow Exchange.
As these partnerships become stronger, the yuan’s status as a reserve currency could be further entrenched.
Another driver is from the government‘s side, as Chinese authorities were tolerant of a „gradually“ weaker yuan, which can benefit exporters by making the price of their goods more competitive.
Statistics showed China had surpassed the US to become the largest trading nation in the world from 2013. The US has lost its leadership role in international trade, and now the motivation of avoiding the risk of exchange rate fluctuations is likely to be the catalyst of de-dollarization in the world. In light of the US‘ irresponsible monetary policy, a de-dollarization push will likely be the beginning of the disintegration of Washington‘s dollar hegemony.
Der Lebensversicherer China Life, die Ölriesen Sinopec und PetroChina, der Alukonzern Chalco sowie der Chemiekonzern Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical kündigten gestern Anträge für ein Delisting ihrer US-Hinterlegungsscheine (ADS) noch im August an.
(9. Februar 2012)
Der Amtsantritt Angela Merkels in Deutschland 2005, mit Hilfe der bereits degenerierten SPD, der in 2007 folgende Amtsantritt von Nicolas Sarkozy in Frankreich, für den Segolene Royal durch die eigene „Sozialistische Partei“ und ihren damaligen Ehemann Francois Hollande hilfreich aus dem Weg sabotiert wurde, sowie der Amtsantritt von Dmitri Medwedew in Russland 2008, markierten nicht nur das Ende eines zeitweiligen Gegengewichts gegen den us-amerikanisch-britischen Imperialismus und seiner in Europa bis heute tabuisierten Feldzüge und Eroberungskriege (irrationale Propaganda inklusive). Mit diesen Amtsantritten vollzog sich auch der brutalstmögliche Verrat an der Europäischen Idee.
Statt eines demokratischen Europas – und das heisst immer: ein Europa der souveränen Demokratien – organisierten die nun neu zusammen gesetzten Regierungsräte in Brüssel einen Putsch von oben. Nacheinander wurden alle verfassungsmäßigen Rechte alle Bürger in allen EU-Mitgliedsländern systematisch, systemisch zersetzt, gebrochen, ignoriert, umgangen oder nach Möglichkeit abgeschafft. Gleichzeitig wurde die bereits voran gegangene systematische Enteignung der Menschen im Machtbereich der „Europäischen Union“ eskaliert, insbesondere im neuen Währungsgebiet „Euro“. Der widerstandslos von allen vermeintlich linken oder sozialen Organisationen akzeptierte brutale Sozialraub durch die Hartz IV-Gesetze in Deutschland, der heute nach allgemein akzeptierter Auffassung als eine Ursache der Staatskrisen in Europa gilt, wurde Vorbild für das, was danach kam.
Allen voran in diesem Putsch marschierten sämtliche Unterparteien der „Sozialdemokratischen Partei Europas“ SPE/PES, wie die SPD in Deutschland und die SPÖ in Österreich, sowie alle Unterparteien der „Europäischen Volkspartei“ EVP, wie CDU und CSU in Deutschland und ÖVP in Österreich. Und Seit an Seit mit dabei: die „Europäische Liberale, Demokratische und Reformpartei“ ELDR, mit ihrer Unterpartei FDP, die „Europäische Grüne Partei“ mit deren Unterpartei Bündnis 90/Die Grünen und natürlich die „Europäische Linke“, mit ihrer ganz besonderen Unterunterpartei in Deutschland.
Ebenfalls eine zentrale Rolle in diesem kalten, geostrategischen Putsch spielten die Einheitsgewerkschaften, allen voran natürlich der „Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund“ DGB. Nicht umsonst ist deren Vorsitzender auch der Vorsitzende des „Internationalen Gewerkschaftsbundes“ IGB.
Ökonomisches Konzept ist hierbei die Kontrollgewinnung über möglichst viele Volkswirtschaften in Europa, die Schaffung einer Einheitszone und nachfolgend die strategische Absenkung aller Löhne und Sozialstandards auf möglichst niedriges Niveau, um von China im Zuge dessen Aufstiegs zur Tributzone des Währungszentrums USA die Rolle der Handelszone zu übernehmen. Soll heissen: niedrige Währung, niedrige Löhne, niedrige Standards, ergo niedrige Produktionskosten im weltweiten „Wettbewerb“, maximale Gewinne für die exportierenden Konzerne und Handelskammern bei Verkauf bzw Lieferung in Währungszentrum und Tributzone. Der Zusammenbruch der Binnennachfrage wird hierbei gezielt in Kauf genommen und ist Teil des Konzepts.
Diese Aufteilung der Welt in Vier Zonen der Ökonomie basiert darauf, dass das nichtstaatliche, durch keinerlei Verträge oder Gesetzgebung eingeschränkte weltweite Interbankensystem des Kapitalismus, basierend auf dem seit dem Römischen Imperium entstandenen Gewohnheitsrecht „Lex Mercatoria“, unantastbar bleibt.
Was in Griechenland passiert, ist ein seit Inkrafttreten des Lissabon-Vertrages Dezember 2009 in Zeitlupe ablaufender Staatsstreich, der reihum durch die Demokratien Europas gehen soll, wie die Pest des Mittelalters. Er soll zerstören, er soll lähmen, er soll Freiräume schaffen, rechtsfreie Räume, in denen dann das Zweite Paradoxon Feudalismus, die Herrschaft einer verschwindend kleinen reichen Minderheit über eine durch das Dritte Paradoxon Hierarchie und Stände gelähmte Mehrheit, mit den neuen Technologien der Bevölkerungskontrolle im 21. Jahrhundert perfektioniert und ein neues, dunkles Zeitalter einläuten soll.
(Apr 23, 2010)
Die Lektion der Krise lautet, dass eine Währungsunion eiserne Haushaltsdisziplin erfordert, um einen Boom-Bust-Zyklus von vornherein zu verhindern. Wieder kommen drei Systemalternativen für die EU in Betracht, um eine solche Disziplin herzustellen:
· Das amerikanische System. In den Vereinigten Staaten gibt es keinen Rettungsmechanismus und keine zwischenstaatlichen Kredite, um bedrängten Staaten zu helfen. Verschwenderische Staaten machen gegebenenfalls Pleite. Die Märkte unterstützen die erforderliche Schuldendisziplin rechtzeitig, indem sie höhere Zinssätze für Staatsschulden fordern, wenn es gefährlich wird. Dieses System funktioniert seit dem 19. Jahrhundert recht gut, obwohl (oder weil) es zu einer beträchtlichen Anzahl an Staatsbankrotten geführt hat. Zuletzt ist New York in den 1970ger Jahren von den Märkten mit harter Hand zur Disziplin gezwungen worden.
(Nov. 9, 1978)
While the dollar was falling and rising, the Europeans were negotiating a new form of monetary union: the creation of a kind of deutschemark zone in Western Europe. This was no coincidence.
Just as the sovereignty of the nationstate is personified by the ability to create money, so the form and status of international money is an expression of changing power relationships. The events of the last few weeks merely confirm America‘s decline and the growing importance of Western Europe, dominated by West Germany.
n der Schweiz ist die Inflation allerdings wegen des starken Frankens vergleichsweise gering. Im Mai lag sie bei 2,9 Prozent. Für das Gesamtjahr 2022 wird nun nach SNB-Angaben eine Teuerung der Verbraucherpreise um 2,8 Prozent erwartet. Ohne die Leitzinserhöhung würde die Prognose „deutlich höher“ ausfallen, so die SNB.
„Es wäre fahrlässig, wenn man inflationäre Entwicklung nicht berücksichtigt“, sagte SNB-Präsident Thomas Jordan.
That means a monthly mortgage payment on a roughly median-valued $400,000 home, after a 20 percent down payment, would now be $1,874. Last year, the monthly payment on the same home would have been $1,335 — a difference of more than $500.
President Biden on Thursday said that a recession is not inevitable in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates at the quickest pace in nearly 30 years.
“First of all, it’s not inevitable,” Biden told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview. “Secondly, we’re in a stronger position than any nation in the world to overcome this inflation.”
Each rate hike means higher borrowing costs for consumers and businesses. And each time would-be borrowers find loan rates prohibitively expensive, the resulting drop in spending weakens confidence, job growth and overall economic vigor.
“There’s a path for us to get there,“ Powell said Wednesday, referring to a soft landing. „It’s not getting easier. It’s getting more challenging”
It was always going to tough: The Fed hasn’t managed to engineer a soft landing since the mid-1990s.
Using the Federal Reserve‘s rule of thumb that for every $1 loss in wealth, households reduce spending by 4 cents, the decline in asset prices to date will almost certainly result in consumers cutting back spending.
Such a prospectively large decline in consumer spending is the last thing that an already slowing US economy needs. This is especially the case at a time when consumer spending is already being constrained by sky high gasoline and food prices.
(15.06.2022)
“The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is causing tremendous human and economic hardship. The invasion and related events are creating additional upward pressure on inflation and are weighing on global economic activity. In addition, COVID-related lockdowns in China are likely to exacerbate supply chain disruptions,” the FOMC said in a statement announcing the interest rate hike.
In einer der letzten Plenumsversammlungen des Nationalparlaments in Ecuador ist das Dringlichkeitsgesetz zum „Schutz der Dollarisierung“ mit 86 Stimmen beschlossen worden. Dagegen stimmten 41 Abgeordnete, sieben enthielten sich. Zuvor war es zweimal zurückgewiesen worden.
Ecuadors Präsident Lenín Moreno setzt den Umbau des Landes im Sinne des Kapitals auch zum Ende seiner Amtszeit fort. Nachdem am 11. April mit Guillermo Lasso ein Bankier und Multimillionär zum künftigen Staatsoberhaupt gewählt wurde, verabschiedete das Parlament des Andenstaates am Freitag mit 86 Jastimmen bei 41 Ablehnungen und sieben Enthaltungen das »Gesetz zur Verteidigung der Dollarisierung«.
Relations are in free fall. Lines are being drawn. As the two superpowers clash over technology, territory and clout, a new geopolitical era is dawning.