ZeroHedge reports that last month Beijing increased oil imports by 10 percent from April, topping Feburary’s record high imports. It seems that China is stockpiling to brace for both economic and political turmoil.This says two things: First, that China needs to park its cash somewhere—and not in USD. It’s also not parking its cash in euros […]

This year’s presidential election is not a normal one. Rarely in U.S. history has an election year been preceded by as much economic fear and doubt. The results of the recent Fed report do not provide much encouragement for an already fearful electorate: The recent recession wiped out nearly two decades of Americans’ wealth, according […]

Last month, as part of Via Meadia‘s focus on what we have loosely defined as the “jobs of the future”, we highlighted the crowdfunding company KickStarter. KickStarter, like other crowdfunders, is designed to pool money from thousands of ordinary people to fund entrepreneurs with ideas. It’s venture capitalism by the little guy, for the little […]

For yet more evidence that a global carbon treaty will never work, read a recent post on Ezra Klein’s Wonkblog, which reports that China’s official statistics on carbon emissions may be significantly understating the real numbers. Researchers found that China’s reported growth rate in emissions of 7.4 percent is 1 percent lower than numbers accumulated […]

The Financial Times reports that Cyprus, which has been locked out of world capital markets for almost a year, is preparing to ask the international community for a bailout of its banking sector. Close ties to a collapsing Greece have exacerbated Cyprus’ financial woes, and now it’s looking for help wherever it can get it, […]

Though both sides have pulled away their warships, China and the Philippines are still engaged in a standoff near the Scarborough Shoal: a form of commercial warfare. A Chinese ban on Filipino bananas has left tons of fruit rotting on Filipino docks. China claims that health concerns prompted the ban, but Filipinos see it as retaliation for […]

After some gloomy announcements last week, reports from those engaged in negotiations with Iran have turned more positive. A one-hour talk between Iran’s lead negotiator, Saeed Jalili, and Lady Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, is said to have gone well, with Iran indicating for the first time that it is prepared to […]

June 12 is one of those world-historical days whose significance is not as widely appreciated as it deserves to be.At the Brandenburg Gate in 1987, President Ronald Reagan issued a memorable challenge to Mikhail Gorbachev: “Tear down this wall!” It was an important moment for President Reagan and the world, but back in Washington a […]

After we expressed our concerns during NATO’s Libyan war that the afterparty was likely to be chaotic and unpleasant, we’ve been watching the horrific humanitarian and political consequences unwind in several places.Most recently, Via Meadia has been keeping a careful eye on the growing troubles in northern Mali and the storied historical city of Timbuktu for […]

Here’s a story we’ve heard before: revenue in pension accounts falling short of expectations; the government considering reforms to ensure the system remains solvent; concerns that the changes might reduce opportunities for younger workers to find jobs.There’s one detail about this story that’s different, however: it comes from China. The retirement age in China was set […]