United States

Authored by Steve H. Hanke of The Johns Hopkins University. Follow him on Twitter @Steve_Hanke.

The United States has recorded a trade deficit in each year since 1975. This is not surprising. After all, we spend more than we save, and this deficit is financed via a virtually unlimited U.S. line of credit with the rest of the world. In short, foreigners in countries that save more than they spend (read: record trade surpluses) ship the U.S. funds to finance America’s insatiable spending appetites.

Over the weekend we reported that as Obama was speaking at the APEC summit in Peru, hoping to salvage his global trade legacy, the TPP, China's President Xi Jinping officially called for the launch of the Free Trade Area of Asia-Pacific for "institutional guarantee of open economy", a move many had expected would take place as China was eager to fill in the void left by the US in any trans-Pacific trade treaty.

Submitted by Soeren Kern via The Gatestone Institute,

Michael Brendan Dougherty proposes that Trump should try to end the war in Yemen:

But if Trump does want to bring some positive change to U.S. foreign policy, he should seek to end the war in Yemen.

Supporters of Californian independence have taken the first step towards secession from the US by submitting a ballot proposal to the state attorney general. A group called called the ‘Yes California Independence Campaign’  submitted their proposal for a ballot measure on removing a piece of the state’s Constitution that describes it as an “inseparable” part of America. The group has been around since 2014, but the idea of California’s secession gained momentum since President-elect Donald Trump’s victory.