Back in November, we took a look at the link between austerity and anarchy.
Courtesy of RBS’ Alberto Gallo, we showed the correlation between budget cuts and riots, assassinations, and attempted revolutions. Here’s a look at the frequency of “incidents” versus the scale of expenditure cuts:
Conor Friedersdorf wonders why Sanders’ better foreign policy judgment hasn’t mattered very much so far:
Bernie Sanders has exhibited much better foreign-policy judgment than Hillary Clinton. Yet for some reason, that’s made little difference so far in the Democratic primary race.
The main reason for oil's torrid surge over the past 2 days is that following yesterday's Russia-Opec "oil production cut" headline fiasco, crude traders - who as we previously reported already had a record net short position - scrambled to cover their exposure on the assumption that where there is oily smoke, there will be fire.
Cruz and Rubio had the worst of it last night:
The frontrunner might have been wise to skip the debate after all. While he held a dueling event across town, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio were confronted with video montages of their past statements on immigration, putting them each on the defensive about a contentious issue that has been elevated to new heights in the Trump era.
The United States has warned Israel that products imported from the occupied West Bank should not be labeled as “made in Israel.” Guidelines were reissued last week by US Customs authorities in response to the repeated mislabeling of products made in the West Bank. Press TV reports: US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Thursday the decision to reissue the policy had been taken after mislabeling complaints. “US Customs and Border Protection reissued guidance on their marking requirements,” he told reporters in Washington, DC.