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Back in February, after Argentine authorities inexplicably seized the contents of a U.S. military plane that was delivering equipment for a routine police-training exercise, a local official in the Buenos Aires city government summed up [1] the dismal state of her country’s foreign policy: “Our only friend right now is Hugo Chávez.” On April 16, President Cristina Kirchner poisoned yet another bilateral relationship when she announced the nationalization of a majority stake in Argentina’s biggest oil company, YPF, which is owned by the Spanish firm Repsol. Her move prompted outrage in Madrid and threats of retaliation. Meanwhile, the Spanish technology...

Let's try a thought experiment. Imagine you walked into the bank, told them you were going to be taking pay cuts for the next few years, and then asked for a loan. You'd be laughed out of the office or else pay an interest rate so high that "usurious" wouldn't do it justice. The logic is simple: If you're in debt and your income is shrinking, it's mighty hard to pay back what you already owe. ... Nearly a quarter of Spain's population is unemployed. Half of its youth are out of work. And it's only going to get worse....

We all have a pretty good idea of why the Soviet Union collapsed: it’s because its state-run planned economy wasn’t as efficient as its rivals in the free-market West. The lesson we’ve learned from this is that capitalism won the political argument. But it’s a false lesson, because capitalism didn’t. The problems that made the Soviet Union such a failure are now endemic in the West. To give one tiny example, in my Sunday paper last weekend was a story about how the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is launching ‘a drive to encourage Britons to holiday in their own country…...

With the IMF cutting its global growth forecasts and signs of slowing evident in the dramatic contraction in World Trade Volume in the last few months, it is perhaps no surprise that the central banks of the world have embarked upon what Goldman Sachs calls an 'Unprecedented Alignment of Monetary Policy Across Countries'. Our earlier discussion of the European event risk vs global growth expectations dilemma along with last night's comments on the impact of tightening lending standards around the world also confirms that this policy globalization is still going strong and is likely to continue as gaming out the...

Less than two years after emerging from bankruptcy,General Motors Co.has regained the title of the world's largest automaker. GM's worldwide sales rose 7.6% to 9 million vehicles in 2011. The Detroit manufacturer last held the top spot in 2007 before it was surpassed byToyota Motor Corp.the next year. Chevrolet, GM's flagship brand, set a record by selling nearly 4.8 million vehicles. That was more than what many entire auto companies posted in sales last year, including Nissan and Honda. "It is an accomplishment that GM has been able to reverse the tide in the U.S. and Asia, and they are...

AND NOW: People Are Starting To Flip Out Over France (Next) Simone Foxman Nov. 10, 2011, 11:10 AM Image: Brian Jeffery Beggerly on Flickr With all the agony dragging on in the eurozone, vultures are now circling around France. The yield on French 10-year bonds over German bunds is shooting up, even as the premium Spain and Italy have to pay on borrowing sinks. With high exposure to Italian sovereign debt and no access to European Central Bank resources to mitigate rising borrowing costs, France could be on a fast track to trouble. While France is generally regarded as one...

Todd Martin, an Asia equity strategist at Societe General SA, talks about the outlook for China's economy and credit market. Martin also discusses global stocks and commodities. He speaks with Rishaad Salamat on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move Asia." The interview starts off with a very weak idea "fundamentals have been thrown out the window". However the analysis gets much better as the video progresses. Here are a few key ideas from Todd Martin. RMB offshore vs. onshore rate is at a historic low. This shows Hong Kong or China mainlanders are hoarding cash, possibly to repay debts.The liquidation phase...

Here Are The Real Reasons Why Gold And Silver Plunged Mike "Mish" Shedlock, Global Economic Trend Analysis Sep. 24, 2011, 7:28 AM Many people have asked me to comment on the plunge in gold and silver. First let's take a look at the wrong answer: Case Closed: CME Hikes Gold, Silver, Copper Margins And there you have it: CME just hiked gold margins by 21%, silver by 16% and copper by 18%. Mystery solved. Sorry Tyler, wrong answer. Four Reasons for Metals Plunge * Fed did far less than expected * Mutual fund redemptions * Margin calls at hedge funds...

Soros Weighs In: “It Is Necessary to Think the Unthinkable” Mac Slavo September 19th, 2011 SHTFplan.com George Soros, billionaire financier, chairman of a Cayman Islands based private hedge fund, and Grand Master of the world’s chess board, is weighing in on the European crisis and details some of the problems faced by Europe, as well as some proposed solutions. Love him or hate him, Mr. Soros is a major player and holds significant influence, therefore we stress that his comments should not be ignored. By all accounts, the situation in Europe is very serious, though news coverage suggests (and has...

Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, warned that the global economy is entering a "dangerous new phase" on Friday, ahead of the G7 summit in Marseilles, France. ... "The world is collectively suffering from a crisis of confidence, in the face of a deteriorating economic outlook and rising concerns about the health of sovereigns and banks." Her speech at Chatham House in London came after a turbulent week for the markets, with the focus on sovereign debt issues

<p>The world’s developed economies are trapped at the “stall speed” of low growth and need to have greater fiscal stimulus and less austerity to kick-start growth, leading economist Nouriel Roubini told CNBC Friday.</p> <p>Speaking at the Ambrosetti Forum on the shores of Lake Como, near Milan, Roubini said in an interview: “We are in a worse situation than we were in 2008. This time around we have fiscal austerity and banks that are being cautious.”</p>

Gathered at Lake Como, finance experts see choppy waters ahead, possibly another recession CERNOBBIO, Italy (AP) -- Business leaders and finance experts gathered in Italy offered a downbeat assessment of the global economy Friday -- with several predicting another recession due to a calamitous cocktail of sluggish growth, eurozone dysfunction, and financial market volatility.The year's events -- from natural disasters and violent uprisings to fears of debt defaults -- have not only sent shock waves through the financial world but also caused a slump in confidence among consumers and industry."There is a significant probability of a double-dip recession," pronounced New...

Roll out the bunting. Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the modern global economy. That's right: come Monday morning we will have managed to survive four decades of fiat money – though, given the chaos in markets in recent weeks, it is anyone's guess how much longer it will last. On 15 August 1971, with the US public finances straitened by the cost of the war in Vietnam, Richard Nixon finally cut the link between the US dollar and gold. Until then, the US Treasury was duty bound to exchange an ounce of gold with central banks willing to pay...

Britain has not been asked to take part in any new European Union bailout of Greece, Downing Street said today. Downing Street said proposals drawn up last night by the 17 eurozone countries do not involve Britain. "There is no proposal on the table which would involve us. The arrangements in place for Greece are arrangements that involved eurozone countries, and we weren't involved in those arrangements." Asked if any specific request for help was directed to the UK, the spokesman replied: "No there hasn't." Mr Cameron will discuss the Athens situation with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso at...

The artificially engineered U.S. recovery is already starting to falter as a continuous procession of disappointing data continues to confirm the sad truth. Recent numbers on GDP, durable goods, housing, regional manufacturing, initial unemployment claims and leading economic indicators all indicate a sharp slowdown in GDP growth. Just today the ADP Employment report showed that the private sector added a paltry 38,000 jobs in May, down from 177,000 jobs in April, significantly below expectations, and the weakest number since September 2010. Just yesterday Case Shiller announced that the U.S. housing market had officially achieved a “double dip,” in that national...

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has secured more time for Congress to negotiate a deal to increase the borrowing limit of the US. Stalemate over the talks means the US risks defaulting on its debts because it will be unable to borrow beyond its $14.3 trillion (£8.6tn) limit. Mr Geithner had previously said the deadline for a deal was 8 July. But in a letter to Congress he said that better tax receipts meant the deadline could be extended to 2 August. Republicans want to tie any agreement on the US budget to spending cuts, especially in the healthcare programme....

SANYA, China (Reuters) - The BRICS group of emerging-market powers kept up the pressure on Thursday for a revamped global monetary system that relies less on the dollar and for a louder voice in international financial institutions.The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa also called for stronger regulation of commodity derivatives to dampen excessive volatility in food and energy prices, which they said posed new risks for the recovery of the world economy.Meeting on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, they said the recent financial crisis had exposed the inadequacies of the current monetary order, which has...

BRICS summit offers watershed moment for large emerging economies SANYA, China (AP) -- The leaders of the world's largest emerging economies gather this week in southern China for what could be a watershed moment in their quest for a bigger say in the global financial architecture.Thursday's summit comes at a crucial moment for the expanded five-member bloc known as the BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China, and, for the first time, South Africa.Chinese President Hu Jintao, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South African President Jacob Zuma will attend.With the G-20...

Global Economy? 23 Facts Which Prove That Globalism Is Pushing The Standard Of Living Of The Middle Class Down To Third World Levels From now on, whenever you hear the term "the global economy" you should immediately equate it with the destruction of the U.S. middle class. Over the past several decades, the American economy has been slowly but surely merged into the emerging one world economic system. Unfortunately for the middle class, much of the rest of the world does not have the same minimum wage laws and worker protections that we do. Therefore, the massive global corporations that...

Citigroup has warned of a fresh wave of bank failures and sovereign defaults in Europe unless EU leaders come up with a credible response to the crisis. Prof Willem Buiter, the bank's chief economist, said the eurozone was paralysed by a "game of chicken" between the European Central Bank and EMU governments. Both sides are trying to shift responsibility on to the other for shoring up southern Europe and Ireland, raising the risk of contagion spreading. "The market is not going to wait until March for the EU authorities to get their act together. We could have several sovereign states...