Africa’s crackdown on tax avoidance nets £204m to boost development

A team of tax experts from Kenya will be deployed to Botswana early next year in the latest round of an initiative that seeks to boost domestic revenue collection to fund national development plans. The move was announced last week at the second global partnership for effective development cooperation meeting in Nairobi, which brought together representatives of governments, civil society, …

Alternative Visions – Presidential Debates & the US-Russia-Syria Conflict – 10.14.16

Jack provides a brief overview of important developments in the global economy this past week, focusing on China. Renewed financial bubbles in real estate and rapidly slowing China exports that reflect a slowing global economy are discussed, as is the Asia region economy in general. The ‘canary in the Asian economy goldmine’, Singapore, recorded a -4.1% GDP contraction, as shipping sector indicators reveal a global economy and trade continuing to stagnate. Most of the show then focuses on the 2nd presidential debate of last week. Special attention is given to the comments by Clinton on the Russians—i.e. the declaration of alleged hacking of the Democratic party; the assertion that Russia is behind the recent Wikileaks revelations about Hillary’s ‘dual’ strategy (of saying one thing in closed meetings to business and bankers while another, sometimes opposite, to the general populace in her campaign); and her explicit statement in the debate the US should impose ‘no fly zones’ and commit US special forces to the conflict in Syria. Is the US sliding toward a direct confrontation with Russia in Syria? Does Hillary’s position represent the US war hawks’ re. Syria? Reading between the lines, the 2nd presidential debate appears to suggest so.

IMF’s Lagarde Slams Globalization, Warns Of A “Groundswell Of Discontent”

Two months after consultancy giant McKinsey dramatically flip-flopped on its long held position of praising globalization, cautioning that – as Britain’s vote to exit the European Union exemplified what happens when people feel like the system is letting them down – the system is on the verge of “explosion”, comparing the buildup of resentment over globalization to a dangerous natural gas leak in …

Pepe Escobar – Made in China: G20 and its geoeconomic significance

What has just taken place in Hangzhou, China, is of immense geoeconomic importance. Beijing from the start treated the G20 very seriously; this was designed as China’s party, not the declining West’s. And much less Washington’s. Outlining the agenda for the discussions, President Xi Jinping went straight to the point also geopolitically, as he set the tone: “The outdated Cold War …

JOHN MAULDIN – These 6 Charts Show Why the Average American Is Fed Up

The last 20 years have brought great wealth to a few while most of the population was lucky to break even. Whether you’re a member of the elite/protected class or one of the unprotected, it’s hard to deny this reality. Household income is going nowhere Here’s an update of Doug Short’s household income chart:

yler Durden – A Stunning Admission From Deutsche Bank Why A Shock Is Needed To Collapse The Market, And Force A Real Panic

In what may be some of the best, and most lucid, writing on everyone’s favorite topic, namely “what happens next” in the evolution of the financial system, Deutsche Bank’s Dominic Konstam, takes a look at the current dead-end monetary situation, and concludes that in order for the system to transition from the current state of financial repression, which has made a …

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard – IMF admits disastrous love affair with the euro and apologises for the immolation of Greece

The International Monetary Fund’s top staff misled their own board, made a series of calamitous misjudgments in Greece, became euphoric cheerleaders for the euro project, ignored warning signs of impending crisis, and collectively failed to grasp an elemental concept of currency theory.  This is the lacerating verdict of the IMF’s top watchdog on the fund’s tangled political role in the …

Jack Rasmus – Is the US Economy Heading for Recession?

Progressive Radio Network, May 01, 2016 This past week the U.S. government announced the country’s economy rose in the January-March 2016 at a mere 0.5 percent annual growth rate. Since the U.S., unlike other countries, estimates its GDP based on annual rates, that means for the first quarter 2016 the U.S. economy grew by barely 0.1 percent over the previous …

Barry Grey – IMF downgrades growth projections, warns of “synchronized slowdown”

The International Monetary Fund’s “World Economic Outlook” (WEO), released Tuesday in advance of this week’s semiannual meetings in Washington of the IMF and World Bank, gives a gloomy and fraught estimate of the state of the world economy, nearly eight years after the 2008 financial meltdown. The IMF has again downwardly revised its projection for global growth, the fourth straight …