United States

Authored by Antonius Aquinas,

As long as the US Empire can be funded and maintained on the backs of its taxpaying public, the chance of de-escalation of tensions not only on the Korean peninsula, but throughout the world are practically nil.  And, as long as the nation’s current interventionist ideology holds sway, it will only be through a financial meltdown that the US’s role as global policeman will come to a much-needed end.

Hamhung, North Korea, June 30, 1950

Authored by Ron Paul via The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity,

Do we need a third major political party?

I often joke that I’d be happy if we actually had a second party, as when it comes to the big issues – war, monetary policy, civil liberties – the Republicans and Democrats are more alike than different.

Do you ever get the sense that with certain investigations, primarily those targeting conservatives, the FBI has a tendency to dot every 'i', cross every 't' and pursue charges at all costs, no matter how minor, but with others (think Hillary's email scandal) even the most glaring violations of federal law seem to go unpunished?

Coming in a little late to the game, UBS today released its top 5 themes and 19 trades for 2018. Not surprising from the bank whose base case S&P forecast is 2,900 one year from now (with potential upside to 3,200), and who just told CNBC that "valuations are still somewhat cheap", the bank is optimistic, if not "rationally euphoric" and writes that it all boils down to one question: will the Kool-Aid party continue, or "will underlying macro shifts reveal fragilities in asset valuations" and more specifically, will the yield curve invert. To wit:

While many in the 'resistance' have vociferously denounced the Senate tax reform bill in the last 48 hours, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers took the proverbial biscuit by warning that "thousands will die as a consequence of this new tax bill."

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the tax bill could reduce insurance coverage by 13m people, which to be conservative we can round down to 10m people.