United States

Submitted by Erico Matias Tavares of Sinclair & Co.

The US Economy: Still On Track?

Raw materials and goods need to be transported regardless of how modern or sophisticated an economy is.

Every week the Association of American Railways (“AAR”) posts a free report on rail volumes transported across North America by major category. This provides some decent clues on the condition of the US economy, almost in real time.

Let’s see what the latest report covering virtually all of 2015 is telling us.

Russia have named the United States as a threat against its national security for the first time, signalling deteriorating relations between the two superpowers.  President Putin signed a document entitled, “About the Strategy of National Security of Russian Federation“, and for the first time in history it lists NATO and the U.S. as potential adversaries to Russia. Reuters.com reports: It says Russia has managed to heighten its role in solving global problems and international conflicts. That heightened role has caused a reaction by the West, it says.

Submitted by Robert Fantina via TheAntiMedia.org,

Out of nowhere, it seems, Daesh, also commonly referred to as ISIL or ISIS, spontaneously formed, a group that perverts aspects of Islam for its own violent ends, and threatens, we are told, all that the civilized world holds dear.

The “war on terror,” governments inform their citizens, has a new front. And that front is Daesh.

Excerpted from Doug Noland's Credit Bubble Bulletin,

The year 2015 was extraordinary. Incredibly, despite powerful confirmation of the bursting global Bubble thesis, market optimism remained deeply entrenched. All leading strategists surveyed in December by Barron’s remained bullish – some were borderline crazy optimistic.

In a new strategy document, Russia has for the first time appraised the United States as a threat to its national security. Times of India reports: The document, “About the Strategy of National Security of Russian Federation”, was signed by President Vladimir Putin on New Year’s Eve. It replaces a 2009 version, endorsed by Dmitry Medvedev, president then, and the current prime minister, which mentioned neither the United States not Nato. It says Russia has managed to heighten its role in solving global problems and international conflicts.