ASIA: US Trade Representative Katherine Tai suggested on Wednesday that punitive tariffs on Chinese imports will not drop until Beijing adopts more market-oriented trade and economic principles. Speaking at a discussion organized by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Tai elaborated on US President Joe Biden’s economic strategy with regard to China, characterizing it as […]

Russia has closed the major Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to Germany claiming it is off for 3 days for maintenance due to turbine issues. Europe and the U.S. dispute those claims and have accused Putin of “weaponizing” energy. I fail to understand the logic of what is going through the minds of Western leaders. […]

ASIA: India’s dominant services industry grew faster than expected in August thanks to a solid expansion in demand and a continued easing in cost pressures, encouraging firms to hire at the quickest pace in more than 14 years, a private survey showed. Driven by strong growth in services and manufacturing activity, Asia’s third-largest economy expanded […]

Liz Truss has been made Prime Minister of Britain. This was expected, but also the darkest day possible for Britain. Previously, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace had backed Liz Truss’ view that Russian forces must be pushed out of “the whole of Ukraine” – and suggested this should include Crimea. Even the Guardian at the time had […]

QUESTION: Hi Mr. Armstrong, Thank you for keeping up the good fight and keeping us all so informed. You have said that gold will rise when there is a loss of confidence in gov’t. I would think we are there already. Is there an objective measurement to the loss of confidence? Or is it a […]

ASIA: The Japanese Yen is trading at a fresh 24-year low against the US dollar as the short-term yield spread between the two countries continues to widen. Two-year Japanese bonds are currently trading with an 8bp negative yield, while the US two-year offers a meaty 3.51%, its highest level in 15 years. This gulf in […]

We are quickly reverting back to the Dark Ages. Cooking and keeping warm with fossil fuels may become a luxury as the energy crisis spreads across the West. Reports are growing from Germany that people are stockpiling firewood before the winter season. Google search results for “brennholz” (firewood) peaked this August in Germany as their […]

ASIA: The southwestern Chinese capital of Chengdu announced a lockdown of its 21.2 million residents as it began four days of citywide testing for COVID-19 as some of the country’s most populous and economically important cities battle outbreaks. Residents of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, were ordered to stay at home from 6 p.m. […]

ASIA: India’s economy grew 13.5% from a year ago in the April-June quarter, its fastest annual pace in a year, data released on Wednesday showed, though it is seen losing momentum in coming quarters as higher interest rates cool economic activity. June quarter growth, driven by manufacturing and services, such as accommodation and travel, rebounding […]

ASIA: Singapore’s key measure of consumer prices rose again at the fastest pace in more than 13 years in July, official data showed on Tuesday, increasing pressure on the central bank to consider further policy tightening later this year. The acceleration in inflation was mainly due to stronger growth in food, electricity, and gas prices, […]