The Post-Partisan Emporium

  TEOTWAWKI And I feel fine RADIO FAR SIDE On the 6th of June 1974, the Watergate scandal was in full bloom, the global economy was in the crapper, and I was anxiously awaiting my 13th birthday to become a full-fledged teenager. President Nixon had instituted a national 55mph speed limit, which essentially pissed off everyone who lived west of the Mississippi River. Japan was the China of the day and the Vietnam war was nearing the end of its decade-long stranglehold on Merkin culture. At that moment, Prince Fahd ibn Abdel Aziz and US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger were  sitting down to change the world  and create an empire. The Petrodollar Pact, among other things, forced the world to buy oil and gas in US dollars, and created Saudi Aramco, the single most powerful energy company ever. At the same time, Nixon had ended  the Bretton Woods agreement  and closed the gold window at the Federal Reserve Bank, thus severing US currency from its Constitutional lin...

The Big Stiff: Russia-Iran dump the dollar and bust US sanctions News of Russian banks connecting to Iran’s financial messaging system strengthens the resistance against US-imposed sanctions on both countries and accelerates global de-dollarization. By Pepe Escobar February 09 2023 The agreement between the Central Banks of Russia and Iran formally signed on 29 January connecting their interbank transfer systems is a game-changer in more ways than one. Technically, from now on 52 Iranian banks already using  SEPAM , Iran’s interbank telecom system, are connecting with 106 banks using  SPFS , Russia’s equivalent to the western banking messaging system SWIFT. Less than a week before the deal, State Duma Chairman Vyachslav Volodin was in Tehran overseeing the last-minute details, part of a meeting of the Russia-Iran Inter-Parliamentary Commission on Cooperation: he was adamant both nations should quickly increase trade in their own currencies. Ruble-rial trade Confirming that the...

The New Year brings both optimism and hope.  A chance to start fresh.  To turn over a new leaf. The sentiment is welcome.  The outcome, however, can be a grave disappointment. If you recall, 2022 was supposed to be a year of redemption and prosperity.  After the ugly coronavirus fiasco, the economy was finally reopening.  The general belief was that the resurgence of economic activity was going to bring a new boom and a new cycle of prosperity. But then something unexpected happened.  On the first day of market trading, January 3, 2022, the S&P 500 hit a closing peak of 4,796.  Yesterday, just over a year later, the S&P 500 closed at 3,808.  Down over 20 percent. Over this duration, the yield on the 10-Year Treasury note spiked from 1.66 percent to 3.70 percent.  In other words, Uncle Sam’s borrowing costs have more than doubled. At the same time, transitory inflation proved to be enduring.  And gross domestic product (GDP) went ...