Politics

It took the market about 6 months to realize that contrary to initial expectations, Trump's fiscal reform would be substantially delayed and implemented in 2018 at the earliest, if at all. Next, it's time to take the machete to the total size of the program, which is what Goldman's chief political economist Alec Phillips did today when he reported that Goldman is lowering the firm's expectations for fiscal policy changes over the next year: "Rather than the $1.75 trillion/10 years tax cut we had previously assumed, we now assume a cut of $1 trillion" or a cut of over 40%.

In between the binge drinking, strip clubs and excessive gambling, not necessarily in that order of course, the financial elites of the world who decided to attend this years SALT conference in Las Vegas were treated to an epic little dose of Joe Biden.  In return for a modest $200,000 speaking fee, Biden offered up some fairly candid thoughts on Hillary and the possibility of a 2020 Presidential run.

If the protests that have rocked Venezuela over the past few months can teach us anything, it’s that the Maduro regime is desperately clinging to power. As SHTFplan.com's Mac Slavo writes, protests are normal in any country, but when they occur every day for weeks on end, and result in dozens of deaths, it’s obvious that the government is in an unstable position. And as the government grows more desperate, their methods of controlling the population will always become more extreme.

Authored by Zainab Calcuttawala via OilPrice.com,

It’s “Infrastructure Week” in Washington, and foreign powers are taking note.

Ahead of President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has promised to make $40 billion of its sovereign wealth fund available to the United States to bankroll part of the roughly $1 trillion in infrastructure improvements that Trump promised on the campaign trail.

Authored by Jose Nino via The Mises Institute,

Venezuela Before Chavez: A Prelude To Soclialist Failure

Venezuela’s current economic catastrophe is well documented. Conventional narratives point to Hugo Chávez’s regime as the primary architect behind Venezuela’s economic tragedy. While Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro deserve the brunt of the blame for Venezuela’s current economic calamity, the underlying flaws of Venezuela’s political economy point to much more systemic problems.