Politics and Economies

It's the American dream: little lonely kid with only a handful of people who appear to like him talks with one or two of them and they come up with a geeky idea : let's put our college yearbook (a curiously American thing) into a database and let everyone in it tell everyone in it what they are doing, and let them read what everyone else is doing. Then, as the others, one by one, find out that the reason he's the little lonely kid is that he's a sociopathic egotistical self-absorbed autocrat, he ends up alone and somehow sitting on something that generates thousands of millions of dollars in share value. Then someone spills the saucer full of secrets and Americans are shocked out of their stupor and they don't like it.

For those that can't be bothered to keep up with US President Trump's online twittering, there are various ways of getting just the gist of what he's up to. One of the most fun is to scan the last 11 or so months of headlines from The Economist. Here are the highlights of his Washington shenanigans. Foreign trade and foreign policy are, often, from another planet and we don't want to go there. Of course, it also allows us to relish the Economist's punny headlines and to ask a basic question: why is someone who is so in favour of the USA's pro-gun lobby so determined to shoot himself in the foot?

For those that don't recognise the name, Elizabeth Warren is a US Senator representing the state of Massachusetts but she was born in Oklahoma. Warren is a member of the Democratic Party and has been dubbed "a progressive." She claims historical links to the Cherokee Indian tribal group and says she is part Cherokee. That's in doubt.

It might take a stretch of the imagination to join the UK's departure from the EU and the wife-murdering, perhaps syphilitic, definitely unstable, ferociously misogynistic Tudor monarch who is, arguably, the UK's most famous king. But there is a certain logic and the admirably named Lord Judge has applied his considerable legal knowledge and intellect to make that connection and to rightly harry those responsible for the poor legal drafting that plagues English law and, in particular, that relating to the not-admirably named "Brexit." At the heart of his concerns are a major constitutional issue now known as "Henry VIII powers." This month, Parliament is making much of that while debating Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill.

The UK's housing loan crisis of the late 1980s to early 1990s and the US version in 2006 that led to the global financial crisis were both prefaced by three very specific warning signs. In the UK, all three warning signs are once more present.

The UK's housing loan crisis of the late 1980s to early 1990s and the US version in 2006 that led to the global financial crisis were both prefaced by three very specific warning signs. In the UK, all three warning signs are once more present.

Boeing plays dirty:what it can't win with honest competition it tries to win by alleging dirty tricks by rivals with a view to undermining their access to markets. As a major US employer, when it starts action in the US, it's always assumed that it has home court advantage and because those judging are political appointees that vested and conflicts of interest will almost inevitably mean a decision in favour of Boeing. To the surprise of all, Boeing's action against Bombardier, has been thrown out.

The 1MDB scandal seemingly forgotten in Malaysia, the next order of business is the forthcoming general election. After a budget that dramatically increased funding by taxpayers to various Islamic organisations and religious leaders, Prime Minister Najib's next target the federal territory of Labuan. Labuan has been on the recieving end of federal (i.e. national taxpayers') money before and that hasn't worked out as well as it was hoped - but the island has, so far, not lost faith with the Party. But with a tiny resident population, a small number of electors can swing the vote. With the smallest percentage of Parliament since it began, Najib can't afford ignore even little seats. His promises are interesting.

The USA's fascination with finding names of laws that can be turned into snappy acronyms reached new levels in December 2015 when it past the FAST Act. The name, Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act gives no hint as to what it does. It's a highly aggressive tactic against taxpayers with unsettled debt. The Act has crept up pretty much unnoticed but it is being implemented starting this month.

Far from providing leadership, the USA is increasingly creating friction with allies and alienating itself from countries that don't agree that ratcheting up sanctions against other countries is the best way to go. Add in the decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel (and only Israel) and there is an increasing risk that the tables might turn and countries begin to apply sanctions against the USA. If that was to happen, what form could they take and which countries could be caught in the cross-fire?

A survey by Arton, a residence / citizenship consultancy, shows that some passports are more useful than others when it comes to ease of travel.

The scandal over contaminated eggs originating in the Netherlands raises a serious question about one of the fundamental principles of the EU: the free movement of goods. Without taking sides one way or the other, we point out why this issue may be about eggs, but its ramifications are about something far more.

Here's why it's ironic that Brussels is in Belgium.

The UK's General Election is all over bar the shouting: there remain a handful of seats to declare but the result is already beyond doubt: even if the Conservatives will all the outstanding seats, they will still not have enough seats to form a majority government. That, Prime Minister, Theresa May, had thought impossible: her objective in calling an election at short notice was so arrogant that her stated expectation was to increase the majority her party had so as to bulldoze her view of separation from Europe without effective opposition. Now, her first job, is to decide if she will even be PM tomorrow morning after the electorate demonstrated that there is a global move towards genuine democracy and, equally importantly, that Presidential campaigning does not work in today's Britain.

Australia has long been a dangerous environment in the housing market. It was, in relative terms, barely affected by the global financial crisis and rampant inflation has been ignored by national and state governments, both of which have significant influence over the market. It's a bizarre market: the signs of imminent collapse are ignored and prices continue to rise, causing excessive borrowing and thousands of families trapped in rentals because they cannot afford to buy. New South Wales has today announced significant changes to the taxes under its control to try to fix some of the causes of under-supply. But interest rates, the most important weapon, are in federal hands.

There is something almost sad about Angela Merkel's campaign to remain relevant in world, EU and, even, German politics. Increasingly isolated on all fronts, her political rallies are carefully photographed to give the impression of many supporters rather then the dozens that actually turn up. And she's trying to find pro-EU leaders to cozy up to - in denial of the fact that her brand of EU politics is one of the things most putting the future of the Union at risk. Increasingly strident, demanding, almost hectoring of her audience, Merkel is beginning to sound like an extremist, even if her words speak of a particular form of unity. Then again, she might just be positioning herself for a top EU role.