Gold has big year in 2020 and outlook for this year robust. Learn about monetary expansion and gold future prices.Read More

The gold futures price reached US$1,767/ounce this week before retreating, which was the second time it has surpassed US$1,760 in the past two months, marking some of gold's highest levels in several years.Read More

Most said they had heard at least something about the new anti-terrorism legislation – and less than one in five (19 per cent) worried that it goes too far, compromising freedoms and privacy. Nearly half (45 per cent) said the bill strikes the right balance, while 36 per cent said it does not go far enough. – Globe and MailDominant Social Theme: The new Canadian anti-terror bill is &qu...Read More

Attorney General Eric Holder has given the Justice Department an opportunity to rewrite his legacy as the lead federal prosecutor who refused to take on some of the most notoriously larcenous bankers in history. – TruthoutDominant Social Theme: Remove this curse of predatory lending.Free-Market Analysis: Predatory lending is a big meme these days. During the sub-prime postmortems it was brou...Read More

No More Payday Predators … If you were thinking straight, would you pay more than 300 percent in annualized interest – or risk losing your home – to borrow a few hundred dollars? If the answer is no, you might see the wisdom of regulating the short-term, small-sum credit commonly known as payday lending. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: Those who prey on the poor are repre...Read More

Put Extra Eyes on the Fed … From its actions during the 2008 financial crisis to its policy of quantitative easing, there has been a considerable amount of controversy regarding the Federal Reserve system in recent years. Now that Republicans have taken control of the U.S. Senate, the calls for the U.S. Government Accountability Office to "audit the Fed" have increased and gotten l...Read More

Is Russia Planning a Gold-Based Currency? … The "perfect-storm" of geopolitical instability, diplomatic isolation, severe currency depreciation, and economic decline now confronting Russia has profoundly damaged Moscow's international standing, and possibly for the long-term. Yet, it is precisely such conditions that may push the country's leadership into taking the radical...Read More

Regulating the Regulators … U.S. lawmakers say they want regulators — notably, financial regulators — to weigh the economic impact of their actions more carefully. That's actually not a bad idea, as long as it doesn't end up neutering rules that the economy badly needs. With the stated goal of reducing red tape and a modicum of Democratic support, Republicans in Congress...Read More

US hosts anti-extremism summit after global terror attacks … The US has opened a three-day summit on countering violent extremism. Representatives from around the world are attending the gathering, which follows shooting incidents in Denmark, France and Australia. Vice President Joe Biden said it was imperative to engage with immigrants who may be radicalised because of marginalisation. &quo...Read More

3% down payments lure first-time homebuyers … After years of moving around the country for his job with Marriott hotels, John Eddleman wanted to put down roots. Last month, he bought a brick bungalow on Des Moines' south side, taking advantage of a recent federal policy change that allows down payments of as low as 3%. "It came at just the right time because otherwise I would have h...Read More

In Yemen there is no longer a government or a president. On January 22, after the Houthi, (Zaydi Shiites) militiamen in the north besieged the presidential palace in Sana'a, both interim President (since 2012) Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah (of a caretaker government which secured parliamentary confidence in December 2014), resigned. Washington has closed its embassy an...Read More

What a Central Bank Can, and Can't, Do About Government Debt … In the 1920s, Britain embarked on a determined drive to work off the debt accumulated during the First World War through a program of severe austerity. As the International Monetary Fund pointed out in a 2012 report, Britain failed; by the early 1930s, its debt was higher as a share of GDP than it was at the start of the 1920...Read More

Republicans: We will get blamed for DHS shutdown … Republicans are getting pummeled in the messaging wars amid an escalating standoff over Homeland Security funding. In interviews with The Hill, centrist Republicans are conceding that their party — not the Democrats — will be blamed if the critical agency shuts down at the end of the month. – The HillDominant Social Theme:...Read More

Dallas Fed chief urges power shift at bank … The outgoing head of the Dallas Federal Reserve called Wednesday for major changes to the central bank's power structure, arguing that current policies fuel perceptions that big banks have too much influence with regulators. During a fiery speech to the Economic Club of New York, President Richard Fisher criticized the current structure, argui...Read More

What We Know About Recessions Might Be Wrong … What are business cycles? Many people think that booms naturally lead to busts — that excesses built up during good times lead inevitably to a crash. Today's economists don't see it that way. Modern macroeconomists think that recessions and booms are random fluctuations around a trend. These fluctuations tend to die out — a d...Read More

Greece presents bailout plans to EU finance ministers … Greece's anti-austerity government is presenting its first concrete proposals for an alternative debt plan at an emergency meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels. The government wants to overhaul 30% of its bailout obligations, replacing them with a 10-point plan of reforms. But EU ministers have warned that Greece must a...Read More

For the third time in a century, America will have to ride to Europe's rescue … From the sidelines, the US is watching the unfolding Greek tragedy with growing horror. It must stand ready to assist as the euro breaks apart. It would be the third time in a century. Will America once more end up having to save the fratricidal Europeans from themselves? – UK TelegraphDominant Social T...Read More

Rand Paul's Know-Nothing Fed Bashing … See if you can spot the errors in Senator Rand Paul's push to audit the Federal Reserve, which he laid out Friday in Des Moines: "Anybody here want to audit the Fed?" Paul asked from the stage. "Anybody feel that the Fed's out to get us?" … "They'd be bankrupt, they'd be insolvent," he said. "...Read More

Why Legal Cannabis Is 2015's Best Startup Opportunity … Every entrepreneur dreams of discovering an untapped market where they could start with a low investment and build a huge business. If that's you, consider the developing legal marijuana industry. This sector is growing faster than ganja under grow lights. The best part is, it's early days for this – cough – budd...Read More

'Free trade' isn't what Trans-Pacific Partnership would deliver … Think the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a free trade agreement? Think again. In principle, almost everyone's in favor of free trade. It promotes international harmony, raises wages, helps economies grow. It's an article of historical faith that the enactment of harsh protective U.S. tariffs in 1930 contribut...Read More

Organic food sales have gone through the roof. It's no wonder. It's widely believed that organic foods are more nutritious and safer than non-organic — they're even said to fight cancer — even though the evidence is far from clear …The premium prices may not be buying everything that's promised. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: Who needs natural food?Free-M...Read More

Central Banks Move to Drive Down Currencies, Yielding Domino Effect … The central-bank stimulus spree of 2015 has the look of a global currency war. In quick succession, countries representing about a third of the world's economic output—from the eurozone to China, Australia and Canada—have taken steps that have driven down the value of their currencies. – Wall Street J...Read More