Americas

Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,

From issues such as declining fertility rates to the ongoing complications resulting from China’s famous “One Child Policy”, there are many demographic challenges that the world must grapple with in the coming years.

However, Visual Capitalist's Jeff Desjardins notes one problem of particular importance – at least in places like Europe and the Americas – is a rapidly aging population. As the population shifts grayer, potential consequences include higher dependency ratios, rising healthcare costs, and shifting economies and cities.

Authored by Patrick Buchanan via Buchanan.org,

The day after his “Silent Majority” speech on Nov. 3, 1969, calling on Americans to stand with him for peace with honor in Vietnam, Richard Nixon’s GOP captured the governorships of Virginia and New Jersey.

By December, Nixon had reached 68 percent approval in the Gallup Poll, though, a year earlier, he had won but 43 percent of the vote.

Contrast Nixon’s numbers with President Trump’s.

Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute,

In September, the FBI released new homicide data, and the overall US homicide rate rose for the second year to an eight-year high. 

According to the report, the nationwide homicide rate in the US in 2016 was 5.3 per 100,000, up from 2015's rate of 4.9. 

The homicide rate in 2014 - 4.4 per 100,000 - had been a 51-year low, and comparable to rates not seen since the 1950s. 

U.S. futures slid 0.2% as investors await a barrage of announcements including Wednesday's Fed decision, Friday's jobs report and, most importantly Trump's imminent announcement of who the next Fed chairman will be, although after the latest trial balloons, Jay Powell is now largely priced in. Asian equities edged modestly higher despite a tumble in Chinese stocks and bonds with Japan's Nikkei closing 3 points in the green, while European shares hold steady after concerns eased about the Catalan crisis with no notable developments over the weekend, pushing Spanish stocks and bonds higher.