Author: Christine Schier

Last week we drew attention to the effect of central bank interest rate increases on the banking system, and in particular to the devaluation of bank assets as a consequence of higher yields on government bonds. The rise in yields is ascribed to inflation fears and to increased government debt, i.e., an increased bond supply on the market – both […]

The Oct. 8 elections for a new state parliament in Bavaria and in Hesse delivered a resounding blow to the federal government, with all three parties losing votes. While economic and migration issues were at the center of both election campaigns, Berlin’s pro-war policy was only opposed by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. More than Bavaria, Hesse was a […]

During a discussion at the Valdai Club’s annual conference on Oct. 5 in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected any notion of lowering the threshold for Russia’s use of nuclear weapons. He was responding to a question from Sergei Karaganov, a founding member of the Valdai Club, who suggested the government should modify its doctrine and move “steadily and sufficiently quickly […]

As part of the new transitional government’s efforts to make Gabon safe for development, Lee White, the Minister of Water and Forests under the Bongo government that was just ousted in a coup and a close friend of the British King, was put under house arrest on Oct. 4. He is accused of “complicity in illegal logging” and “embezzlement of funds”. […]

The new Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum is not only an assault on science, it also threatens to undermine the credibility of the Vatican just as it is conducting efforts to arrange peace negotiations over Ukraine. The paper was published on Oct. 4, St. Francis’ Day, and presented as a continuation of the Laudato sì Encyclical written by Commander of the […]

The United Kingdom’s new Defence Minister Grant Shapps told the Telegraph (Sept. 30) that he had held talks with Army leaders about moving “more training and production” of military equipment into Ukraine, while calling on British defense firms to set up production there. He also revealed that, during his visit to Kyiv on Sept. 27, he had talked to Volodymyr […]

Just hours before the deadline of midnight, the U.S. Congress averted a government shutdown on Sept. 30, when the Senate voted 88-9 to pass a clean continuing resolution, providing for the temporary extension of government funding until Nov. 17. The vote came several hours after the House of Representatives had voted 335-91 in favor of a similar clean bill (clean […]

As we reported last week, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) has sounded the alarm on the effects of interest rate increases on overall debt, with a focus on government debt. The IIF being the lobby for the “financial industry,” they, of course, disregard the elephant in the room, i.e., the effects on the private sector. One gets a good […]

Although opinion polls in Slovakia had indicated that the left-wing nationalist Social Democrats of Robert Fico might win the parliamentary election, the result of the vote on Sept. 30 sent a shock through geopolitical circles in Europe. With nearly 99% of the electoral districts counted by early Sunday morning, Fico’s party “Direction – Slovak Social Democracy” (Smer) had 23.3% of […]

One year ago, on Sept. 26, 2022, a series of explosions destroyed the Nord Stream pipelines connecting Russian gas fields and Germany. This outrageous act of terrorism against civilian energy infrastructure helped to usher in an enormously expensive winter for Germany and Europe generally, after energy prices increased by an order of magnitude for several months. Since then, energy-intensive industries […]