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Finance and the Economy

Why Trump And Musk Ignore The Largest Money Laundering Scheme In Human History

April 14, 2025 Lee Camp, Scheer Post. , , ,
President Trump and Elon Musk will tell you they’re saving money for the US government and thereby the US taxpayer. The DOGE team have claimed that they have already cut out $65 billion of waste and fraud – equaling savings for the American people. Incredible! (I’m going to invest my cut of that money in an up-and-coming fad called “fidget spinners”.) Oh, I forgot to mention – Everything Musk has said is utterly false. “…some of the biggest errors in savings [announced by DOGE] are, as CBS first reported, a USAID contract for $650 million that was listed three times, as The Intercept first reported, a Social Security contract listed as $232 million, instead of $560,000, and an ICE contract that DOGE listed as $8 billion, when, in reality, it was $8 million.”

Will Trump’s Tariffs Trigger A Second Great Depression?

April 12, 2025 Jon Jeter, Black Agenda Report. , , , , ,
That the Trump administration’s trade war will trigger a steep economic downturn in the U.S. is almost a foregone conclusion a week after the president announced sweeping new tariffs on imports. Last week, JP Morgan, the nation’s largest bank, estimated that there is a 60 percent chance of an imminent recession. That was followed by an announcement from Goldman Sachs, America’s second-largest investment bank, that its economists had raised the odds of a recession to 45 percent, representing the second time in a week that it has increased its forecast.

Chris Hedges Report: The Economics Of A Dying Empire

April 10, 2025 Chris Hedges, Scheer Post. , ,
“These are levels of craziness that are part of the decline I suspect of all empires when they consume themselves,” Professor Richard Wolff says of America’s current situation in the outset of Donald Trump’s second term. He joins host Chris Hedges on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report to discuss the history and rationale behind the decisions made by Trump and how it relates to the decline of the US empire. From tariffs to deregulation, Wolff says it is all erratic, uncoordinated and unpredictable, which are tangible signs of America’s decay. “You cannot tell people what a tariff will do.

China Retaliates With 84% Tariff As Trump’s Trade War Escalates

April 10, 2025 Abdul Rahman, People's Dispatch. , , , ,
On Wednesday, April 9, Trump announced that he is raising the tariffs on China to 125%. Earlier that day, China raised its tariff on all American imports to 84% in response to the US raising the total tariffs on Chinese exports to 104% on Monday. The new rates will be effective from Thursday, the Chinese state council said in a brief statement. China also issued a white paper on Wednesday about its trade relations with the US. Published on the same day that Donald Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs” regime went into effect, the white paper refutes his claims of a massive trade deficit with China.

Militarizing The Ledger, Colonizing The Future

April 7, 2025 Arnie Saiki, Onibaba. , , , , , ,
When we begin to examine U.S. hegemony, the Military-Industrial Complex often serves as the shorthand for understanding the entangled relationship between investment capital, militarism, neocolonial extraction, and unipolar power. But to truly unravel this system, we must look deeper into how the Military-Debt Nexus is legitimized—not only through ideological alignment or geopolitical pressure, but through institutional mechanisms such as trade agreements, national accounting rules, and debt-financed militarization. The intersection between military expenditure and global trade is not incidental; it forms the core infrastructure of compliance and control, shaping everything from resource acquisition to sanctions enforcement, all under the veil of economic normalcy.

McKinley Or Lincoln? Tariffs Vs. Greenbacks

April 7, 2025 Ellen Brown, Scheer Post. , , , , ,
President Trump has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Republican President William McKinley, highlighting his use of tariffs as a model for economic policy. But as critics note, Trump’s tariffs, which are intended to protect U.S. interests, have instead fueled a stock market nosedive, provoked tit-for-tat tariffs from key partners, risk a broader trade withdrawal, and  could increase the federal debt by reducing GDP and tax income.  The federal debt has reached $36.2 trillion, the annual interest on it is $1.2 trillion, and the projected 2025 budget deficit is $1.9 trillion – meaning $1.9 trillion will be added to the debt this year. It’s an unsustainable debt bubble doomed to pop on its present trajectory.

Republican Agenda’s ‘Triple Threat’ To Low- And Moderate-Income Families

April 7, 2025 Brendan Duke and Gbenga Ajilore, Portside. , , , ,
The Trump Administration and Republican majorities in both houses of Congress are advancing a policy agenda that deeply threatens millions of families’ ability to afford the basics by making it harder for them to secure health coverage, buy groceries, or afford everyday goods — all while pursuing expensive tax cuts that are skewed toward the wealthy. The centerpiece of that agenda is far-reaching tax and budget legislation intended to be passed through the fast-track budget “reconciliation” process. But that legislation works hand-in-hand with other Administration policies, both accelerating and deepening the damage to families with modest incomes.

I Saw Firsthand How Excessive CEO Pay Harms Workers And Customers

March 6, 2025 Kieran Cuadras, Inequality.org. , , , ,
"Remember the 2016 “phony accounts” scandal at Wells Fargo? Executives relentlessly pressured employees to meet extreme sales quotas, leading them to create millions of fraudulent accounts without clients’ consent. As these fake accounts grew, the CEO of Wells Fargo at the time, John Stumpf, raked in bigger and bigger bonuses. After the scandal blew up, regulators hit Stumpf with fines totalling $20 million — only a small dent in the estimated $130 million he walked away with in compensation when he resigned. This is just one of countless stories of CEOs taking reckless actions to pump up their own paychecks while putting their employees and the general public at risk.

Here’s How To Buy Canadian And Fight Trump Tariffs

March 5, 2025 Melise Panetta, The Tyee. , , ,
Escalating trade tensions between Canada and the United States have ignited a new wave of Canadian patriotism, with consumers consciously choosing made-in-Canada products as an act of economic self-preservation and national pride. U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on most Canadian and Mexican goods on Tuesday. This, along with Trump’s calls to make Canada the 51st U.S. state, has prompted Canadians to rally around the so-called “Buy Canadian” movement. Recent research indicates a significant number of Canadians are now showing a strong preference for domestic products, with many willing to modify their purchasing behaviours.

Javier Milei Is Destroying Argentina’s Economy

February 28, 2025 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , , ,
Argentina is governed by a right-wing libertarian named Javier Milei. He proudly identifies as an “anarcho-capitalist”. His career has been cultivated by powerful billionaire oligarchs, such as Eduardo Eurnekián, who employed Milei and several of his cabinet members. Milei has also enjoyed the support of US billionaires like Elon Musk and Silicon Valley oligarch Peter Thiel. US President Donald Trump considers Milei to be an obedient ally. When he campaigned for president in 2023, Milei embraced the nickname “el loco” (the madman). He brought a chainsaw to rallies, pledging to cut government down to the bone.

Deporting Immigrants And Denying Them Entry Will Hurt The US Economy

February 25, 2025 Abraham Marquez, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , ,
Donald Trump and his supporters base their anti-immigrant arguments on the assertion that immigrants have broken the law. Corporate media commentators reinforce this narrative, labeling undocumented immigrants as “illegal aliens” and “criminals”, while failing to mention that US immigration law can change, often quite dramatically, with each administration. Generally, immigration law evolves to meet the capitalist system’s demand for low-paid labor. Immigration and citizenship policies are not fixed standards for every individual. They have double standards rooted in racism, and have always served as a tool of institutional discrimination.

Trump Wants US To ‘Partner’ With Russia To Weaken China

February 24, 2025 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
The Donald Trump administration is holding talks between the United States and Russia, and he says he wants to end the war in Ukraine. Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio has even proposed that the US could “partner with the Russians, geopolitically”. What is happening here? The simple answer is that this is all about China. Trump is trying to divide Russia from China, in an attempt to isolate Beijing. The United States sees China as the number one threat to its global dominance. This has been stated clearly by top officials in both the Trump administration and the previous Joe Biden administration.

Trump Provides An Opportunity To Change The Way We Look At Food

February 23, 2025 Lois Ross, Rabble. , , , , ,
As the political and economic instability created by the goings-on south of the border continue, it is time for all of us to recall how we arrived at this juncture. It is also time to acknowledge that, despite common belief, there has never really been “free” trade with the United States, but rather only a series of measures that have encouraged the unhealthy integration of the Canadian economy into that of our southern neighbours and the ensuing enrichment and concentration of wealth in the hands of transnational corporate giants. Throughout these so-called free trade agreements (FTA, FTAA, NAFTA, CUSMA) the US has often filed unfair trade practice complaints that have led to international trade dispute panels.

Musk’s Access To US Treasury Payments Risks Global Financial Meltdown

February 10, 2025 Kurt Cobb, Resilience. , , , , , ,
Whether or not you share the zeal for cuts in government spending embraced by President Donald Trump and his billionaire sidekick Elon Musk, you should know that giving Musk and his callow team of computer coders access to payment systems at the U. S. Department of Treasury risks a global financial meltdown. It doesn’t make such an event certain, but it lowers the odds considerably. Here’s why: First, the U.S. Department of Treasury processes some $6 trillion in payments each year. If that system were to come to a halt for even a relatively short period of time, the consequences would be devastating, not only for the U.S. economy but for the global economy as well.

‘Quantitative Easing With Chinese Characteristics’

February 9, 2025 Ellen Brown, Scheer Post. , , , , , ,
China went from one of the poorest countries in the world to global economic powerhouse in a mere four decades. Currently featured in the news is DeepSeek, the free, open source A.I. built by innovative Chinese entrepreneurs which just pricked the massive U.S. A.I. bubble. Even more impressive, however, is the infrastructure China has built, including 26,000 miles of high speed rail, the world’s largest hydroelectric power station, the longest sea-crossing bridge in the world, 100,000 miles of expressway, the world’s first commercial magnetic levitation train, the world’s largest urban metro network, seven of the world’s 10 busiest ports, and solar and wind power generation accounting for over 35% of global renewable energy capacity.
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