United States

Authored by MK Bhadrakumar via The Asia Times,

In the annals of Russian-American relations, it is difficult to recall a precedent for the Kremlin leader calling his White House counterpart to convey his personal gratitude and appreciation for the profound contribution made by the US’ Central Intelligence Agency and its director to Russian national security.

The great irony is that the incumbent Kremlin boss is a former KGB officer. Vladimir Putin never ceases to surprise.

Authored by Paul Craig Roberts,

What do we make of Trump’s national security speech?

First of all, it is the military/security complex’s speech, and it is inconsistent with Trump’s intention of normalizing relations with Russia.

Authored by Lew Rockwell via Mises Canada,

As the financial crisis of 2008 took shape, the policy recommendations were not slow in coming: why, economic stability and American prosperity demand fiscal and monetary stimulus to jump-start the sick economy back to life. And so we got fiscal stimulus, as well as a program of monetary expansion without precedent in US history.

Authored by Wip via Jim Quinn's Burning Platform blog,

It’s hard to think of something so complicated that has become so popular as fast as bitcoin.

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Oriental Review,

Australia is implementing its own “foreign agents” legislation modelled off of the US’.

The government recently announced that foreign lobbyists must register with the authorities and that political parties will be banned from accepting foreign donations.

The move to stop foreign funding is clear-cut and understandable, though there’s a lot of vagueness and prevailing uncertainty over what criteria will be used to designate someone as a “foreign agent”.