Donald Trump may soon find himself on the receiving end of a "visa war" that could have dire consequences for trans-Atlantic travel and European tourism. On Thuesday, EU lawmakers voted to force Americans to apply for visas when traveling to Europe in response to Washington refusing to allow all Europeans to travel to the States visa-free.
Can Truth Prevail?
Paul Craig Roberts
According to official US economic data, the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has expanded for 22 quarters, raising real GDP 12.1% above its high prior to the 2008-09 economic contraction. Yet, US manufacturing output and US industrial production have not recovered to their pre-contraction high.
So what is driving the real GDP growth? In my opinion, the rise in real GDP is an illusion produced by the under-measurement of inflation.
The currency markets are signalling that a massive shift might be about to happen.
According to a Bank of America/ Merrill Lynch fund manager survey, the US Dollar ($USD) is the single most crowded trade on the planet.
In a fiat world, the value of a given currency is based on where it trades relative to other currencies. In the case of the $USD, the Euro comprises 56% of the basket of currencies against which the $USD is valued.
Put another way, whatever happens to the Euro will effectively trigger an inverse reaction in the $USD.
The month of February was a mixed to positive among a broad sample of assets.
Via George Friedman and Jacob Shapiro of MauldinEconomics.com,