Right now, the financial world is focused on the breathtaking stock market crash in China, but don’t forget to keep an eye on what is happening in Europe. Collectively, the European Union has a larger population than the United States, a larger economy than either the U.S. or China, and the banking system in Europe is the biggest on the planet by far. So what happens in Europe really matters, and at this point the European economy is absolutely primed for a meltdown. European debt levels have never been higher, European banks are absolutely loaded with non-performing loans and high-risk derivatives, and the unemployment rate in the eurozone is currently more than double the unemployment rate in the United States. In all the euphoria surrounding the “deal” that temporarily kept Greece in the eurozone, I think that people have forgotten that the economic and financial fundamentals in Europe have continued to deteriorate. Whether Greece ultimately leaves the eurozone or not, a great financial crisis is inevitably coming to Europe. It is just a matter of time. (Read More...)
European Union
Vladimir Putin’s Vision Of A Socialist European Free Trade Zone That Stretches From The Atlantic To The Pacific
Back during the Cold War, one of the great fears was that the Soviet Union would invade western Europe and absorb it into their socialist empire. But now could essentially that exact same thing happen in the name of free trade? Over the past couple of decades, the European Union has gone from being just a “free trade area” to a highly repressive socialist regime run by a bunch of control freaks. As many in Europe have correctly noted, the European Union is highly centralized, deeply corrupt and almost entirely undemocratic – just like the former Soviet Union. Now Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is publicly proposing that all of Europe should join with Russia to create an absolutely gigantic “free trade zone” that would stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific. (Read More...)