'German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sought to underscore the unity among G7 members. "As democracies, we are successful in systemic competition with autocratic forces when our partners and friends around the world have confidence in us. We must avoid that our unity is misunderstood by others as separation or that new rifts are opened," she said in a statement before her tby archive - Archive
'Ukraine could defeat Russia much more quickly, saving lives on both sides, if it were supplied with modern aircraft, both jet fighters and helicopters. Today I talked to a Ukrainian pilot. He is a commander of an aviation unit conducting combat and evacuation missions. In Bakhmut and elsewhere. The story that captured my attention was of his conversations with Russian pilots. They knby archive - Archive
'..Ukraine is preparing for a major counteroffensive with the intent to liberate all of its territory. We must help Ukraine win—the future of a Europe whole, free, and at peace hangs in the balance—as do hopes of deterring Chinese moves against Taiwan.' 'The best way the United States can deter China from military aggression in Asia is to help Ukraine defeat Russia. The West’by archive - Archive
'Another reason to give Ukraine long-range strike capability to deny sanctuary in Crimea for Russian Navy, Air Force who are launching missiles and drones from Crimea against Ukrainian civilians. If we're short of missile defense, hit them "left of launch". Make Crimea untenable.' - Ben Hodges (Source, April 12, 2023) Context The liberation of Crimea.. Airby archive - Archive
'“Inflation is much stickier than anticipated even a few months ago,” Gourinchas wrote in the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook. ' 'WASHINGTON (AP) — The outlook for the world economy this year has dimmed in the face of chronically high inflation.. .. “Inflation is much stickier than anticipated even a few months ago,” Gourinchas wrote in the IMF’s latest World Economicby archive - Archive
'BERLIN, March 30 (Reuters) - German inflation eased significantly in March on the back of lower energy prices but still came in above forecast, adding to pressure on the European Central Bank to further tighten its monetary policy. .. Food prices continued to rise rapidly, up 22.3% year-on-year. .. Europe's labour market is so tight that workers have gained bargaining powerby archive - Archive
'Until specialists and society in general fully grasp the essential theoretical and legal principles associated with money, bank credit, and economic cycles, we may realistically expect further suffering in the world due to damaging economic recessions..' - Dr. Jesús Huerta de Soto, Banking Reform - English/Dutch) '..a truly stable financial and monetary system for the twenty-fiby archive - Archive
'The source also said the Kremlin had used Brussels as a hub for foundations and other fronts that back far-right candidates.' Russia covertly spent $300m to meddle abroad - US BBC News September 14, 2022 Source Russia has covertly spent more than $300m (£260m) since 2014 to influence politicians in more than 24 countries, the US has alleged. The Department of State'sby archive - Archive
'Yes, "very difficult" if we don't provide long-range precision strike capability. The UKR Gen Staff is more creative than the Pentagon...pushing out all the Russians is a very linear approach. Liberate Crimea, the decisive terrain, and watch Russian defenses collapse elsewhere.' - Ben Hodges (Source, April 2, 2023) 'Excellent by @juliaioffe. Only part withby archive - Archive
"As long as Russia maintains a military presence on Crimea, Ukraine will never be fully safe. There'll always be the possibility of renewed fighting. This is why any end to the conflict, militarily or diplomatically, must result in Crimea being returned to Ukraine." @LukeDCoffey - Ben Hodges (Source, April 3, 2023) Context '..the priority is to make Crimea untenabby archive - Archive
'It is unclear if former Vulkan engineers now in the west pose a security risk, and whether they have come to the attention of western counter-intelligence agencies. Most, it would seem, have relatives back in Russia, a vulnerability known to have been used by the FSB to pressure Russian professionals abroad to collaborate. Contacted by a reporter, one ex-staffer expressed regret at havinby archive - Archive
'..The past few decades of easy money created markets so large — nearing five times larger than the world economy — and so intertwined, that the failure of even a midsize bank risks global contagion. .. A restrained government was a key feature of the industrial revolution, marked by painful downturns and robust recoveries, resulting in strong productivity and higher per capita incomeby archive - Archive
'..The U.S. is supplying weapons to Ukraine at a remarkably slow pace .. What likely most fears is the U.S. and its allies slamming the accelerator..' '..the longer the conflict drags on, the worse things get for Moscow. Vladimir Putin seeks to prevail in Ukraine through an exhausting war of attrition in which he outlasts his opponents, or so the expert consensus has it. Theby archive - Archive
'Bullard said it was "relatively common" for some financial firms to fail to "adjust their businesses appropriately" as financial conditions change, noting events like the collapse of Continental Illinois bank in 1984 and the 1998 collapse of Long-Term Capital Management. "These events received considerable attention at the time, but were not ultimately harbingersby archive - Archive
'WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was not considering providing "blanket insurance" for banking deposits following the collapse of two prominent U.S. banks this month. Yellen made the comments at a hearing of a U.S. Senate appropriations subcommittee, where lawmakers poseby archive - Archive
'Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve can look past low liquidity in the Treasuries market and continue with its rate hikes, according to strategists at JPMorgan Chase & Co.' - JPMorgan Says Treasuries Coping Amid Worst Liquidity Since 2020, March 22, 2023 'Another difference was that the banking system remains awash with €4tn of excess liquidity, stemming from years of vaby archive - Archive
'..Another critical characteristic of the earlier inflation era was frequent temporary reversals in inflation, only to be followed by new peaks..' - (Global Stagflation)(Inflation out of control) - Inflationary Psychology Has Set In. Dislodging It Won’t Be Easy. 'Food prices jumped 18% in the 12 months through February, compared with the 16.7% rate recorded the previous monby archive - Archive
'Until specialists and society in general fully grasp the essential theoretical and legal principles associated with money, bank credit, and economic cycles, we may realistically expect further suffering in the world due to damaging economic recessions which will inevitably and perpetually reappear until central banks lose their power to issue paper money with legal tender and bankers lose tby archive - Archive
'The rollback was leveraged with a lobbying campaign that cost tens of millions of dollars that drew an army of hundreds of lobbyists and it was seeded with ample campaign contributions. The episode offers a fresh reminder of the power that bankers wield in Washington, where the industry spends prodigiously to fight regulation and often hires former members of Congress and their staff toby archive - Archive
'When you are a bank for billionaires .. You can die in three days.' - 'Switzerland's secretive Credit Suisse rescue..,' March 21, 2023 '..Republicans in the House of Representatives on Monday vowed to oppose any universal federal guarantee on bank deposits above the current $250,000 limit, throwing a major roadblock to a key tool regulators could deploy if bby archive - Archive
'There is every reason to take the unfolding crisis most seriously. There will be comparisons to 2008, but we must recognize the potential for something worse.' 'Global markets did not “seize up” this week. However, the week had all the characteristics of the start of a serious period of de-risking/deleveraging. The SVB and U.S. banking crisis is, of course, an important dynamicby archive - Archive
'Secondly, the EU and member states should encourage dialogue across the political spectrum and civil society in order to create momentum for a long overdue constitutional review that could prompt better implementation as well as needed amendments. Holding credible provincial elections is a necessary but insufficient condition for addressing the underlying problems spotlighted by the Tishreeby archive - Archive
'EU-harmonised prices rose by 9.3% compared with the same month a year before..' 'BERLIN, March 1 (Reuters) - German consumer prices, harmonised to compare with other European Union countries, rose more than anticipated in February, pointing to no let-up in stubborn cost pressures and pushing up European Central Bank rate hike expectations. EU-harmonised prices rose by 9.3% cby archive - Archive
'There’s no convincing evidence that central banks’ purchases of trillions of dollars of bonds and other financial assets helped any economy.' - It’s Now Clear That QE Was a Colossal Policy Mistake, November 22, 2022 'Lawmakers from both parties at odds over future legislation to shore up the financial system .. “The fact is that President Biden — through all of the sby archive - Archive
'Piro: I asked Saddam, “When sanctions were lifted, what were you going to do?” He said, “We were going to do what we needed to do or what we would have to do to protect us.” Which was his way of saying he would have reconstituted his entire WMD program. .. We had a very short time frame to really leverage the removal of Saddam before the Iraqi people saw us as an occupying force. I beby archive - Archive
'Priority: use long-range precision strike to isolate Crimea, then make it untenable for Russian forces. Drive Black Sea Fleet from Sevastopol with daily precision strikes. Ditto for Russian Air Force at Saky, etc. Allow no sanctuary for Drone . Land forces can come later.' - Ben Hodges (Source, February 27, 2023) 'Excellent map depicting how long-range precision strikes caby archive - Archive
'..All I can say, however, is that in continuing to fight for Bakhmut, the Ukrainian government is remaining consistent in its methods of war. It is exhausting and at times leads to moments that we have seen this past week—the importance of it, however, will only be known when Ukraine goes on the offensive. The more Russia is weakened now, the better chance that offensive has to be decisive.by archive - Archive
'Podolyak also stressed that the UAF needs long-range missiles for the offensive, and Western partners should increase the supply of heavy 155 mm artillery shells. The defense minister Oleksiy Reznikov recently confirmed that preparations for the Ukrainian counteroffensive are underway.' - Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Will Start in Two Months, Zelensky’s Aide Says, March 10, 2023by archive - Archive
'I contemplate how the world would be these days had not trillions of monetary inflation (i.e. U.S. current account deficits, central bank QE, fiscal deficits) created massive international reserve holdings for both China and Russia. I ponder the scope and duration of China’s Bubble inflation without the endless fuel of loose U.S. finance and Trillions of trade deficits.. .. Once inflaby archive - Archive
'All of which suggests that, in order for Washington and Western capitals to dial up the pressure on Moscow still further, they'll need to force Western firms to sever their connections to the Russian market..' '..another significant reason for this continued solvency has to do with Russia's commercial ties with the West. That's because, despite extensive internatby archive - Archive