United States

Just two days ago we shared our complete shock that Obama's justice department agreed to stay a federal court case, that would have granted amnesty to 4 million illegal immigrants, citing a "change in Administration" (see "Trump Wins Again - Obama DOJ Halts Amnesty Lawsuit In Uncharacteristic Display Of Humility").  But some immigration advocates are refusing to give up the fight and, as Bloomberg notes, are urging Obama to use his last couple of months in office to release nearly 4,000 "asylum seekers" from Central America currently being held in "jail-like" facilities in Texas and Pennsyl

Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid is one of the few strategists on Wall Street to admit he was wrong (although he may still end up being right). Previewing his annual credit outlook titled "Volatility Ahead", Reid confesses that "we’ve long felt that as we approached 2017 we would likely be at the turning point of the credit cycle. Indeed our forecasts are for wider spreads in our annual outlook for the first time since the Euro Sovereign crisis earlier this decade. However in the course of writing this outlook much has changed." 

Submitted by Jeffrey Snider via Alhambra Investment Partners,

Ten civilians including children were killed by U.S.-led airstrikes on Monday in Syria’s al-Raqqah province, according to state news agency SANA. US warplanes had targeted a cotton mill near the de facto capital of ISIS. Xinhua reports: The airstrike targeted a cotton mill in the village of Salhiyeh in the northern countryside of al-Raqqah, killing three workers and a displaced family of six as well as another person from the village. Children were among those killed, SANA said, noting that the killing is another massacre by the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition.

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.