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In response to the U.S. government’s weaponization of the dollar through such measures as sanctions and trade wars, China, along with Russia and other nations, are making efforts to dethrone the dollar as the world’s international reserve currency. For example, Russia and China are now using the Chinese yuan, rather than the dollar, for payment for Russian oil. Saudi Arabia is now talking about doing the same thing.  One of the interesting aspects of this process...

(Charleston, West Virginia, USA – January 11th, 2023) – Another pro-sound money legislative effort has been introduced in West Virginia. Del. Chris Pritt has introduced House Bill 2333, the “Legal Tender Act.” This measure would establish gold and silver as legal tender in West Virginia, as well as create a nonrefundable tax credit for the use gold and silver in West Virginia on state taxes. Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming have enacted similar measures into law. Idaho has...

The second essential step is to recognize how the spectacles of “news” and entertainment distract our attention from this erosion of basic rights. Hierarchical power structures like city-states arose as problem-solving solutions, not just for the elites who benefited from the concentration of wealth and power but for the citizenry. This dynamic underpins the analysis presented in my recent book Global Crisis, National Renewal: when nation-states and global...

The escalating cost of food and other goods is putting an increasing strain on many societies. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally Global stability is most threatened by rising food and energy costs, climate-related disasters and the risk of further military conflict, according to 1,200 experts canvassed by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The WEF Global Risks Report 2023 reflects the concerns of political and business leaders around the world. The soaring cost of living has...

ABN Amro became the first bank in the Netherlands to register a digital bond on the public blockchain, using Fireblocks. The digital bond was issued to a select group of investors to raise funds on behalf of APOC, an ABN Amro commercial client in the aerospace industry. ABN Amro’s bond issuance sets an innovative precedent in bringing more real world use cases of blockchain technology to traditional financial markets. This initiative showcases the potential of new...

After years spent toiling as an activist against the tide of Czech politics, Vít Jedlička concluded that it would be easier to build a libertarian nation from scratch somewhere else. In April 2015, he declared that a new country called the Free Republic of Liberland would be founded on unclaimed land on the Danube River. Legal scholars Harry Hobbs and George Williams reject the prevailing perspective that Liberland and other similar initiatives are “mere oddities”...

Overview: Fed Chair Powell did not push against the easing of US financial conditions when he ostensibly had an opportunity yesterday. This coupled with expectations of another decline in the US CPI, which will be reported tomorrow, has kept the greenback mostly consolidating the losses seen last Friday and Monday. With a light calendar today, continued sideways movement is the most likely outlook for the North American session today. The rise in US yields seen...

Legislators have a strange relationship with magic. To achieve that which physically cannot be done, they like to wave magic wands and pretend that it can. Reality puts a limit on political power, a realization that always sits poorly with those in charge of our trillion-dollar bureaucratic machinery. Senator Elizabeth Warren is a stunning case in point, and she’s had her aim at the magic-seeming world of digital assets like bitcoin for a while. Last month she...

In recent years, it has become popular in parts of conservative discourse to discuss the “Brazilianization of America,” a reference to the challenges a large country faces in governing an increasingly multicultural “universal nation.” But this weekend, it was the Americanization of Brazilian politics that took center stage as pro-Bolsonaro forces rose up in aggressive protest against the newly inaugurated Lula regime, in a move reminiscent of what played out in...

Switzerland’s Tête de Moine (Monk’s Head) cheese broke all-time sales and production records last year, due particularly to its “conviviality”, according to the sector’s president. Tête de Moine sold 3,300 tons sold worldwide in 2022, up 3.7% on the previous year, despite a difficult economic climate marked by the strong Swiss franc and war in Ukraine. The main export markets are Germany and France, sector president Jacques Gygax said on Monday. Gygax put this...