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Global stock markets have lost hundreds of billions of dollars following China’s “Black Monday.” Virtually every world market was affected, including Asian, European and U.S. indexes. At one point, the Dow Jones dropped over 1,000 points. Chinese stocks suffered an 8.5% overall drop, the biggest fall seen on that market since 2007. European stocks also […]

The shock Chinese devaluation of the yuan is yet more bad news for Latin American economies, which are already in or hovering close to recession. The strength of the dollar and the collapse in oil prices combined with this latest development mean South American exports are fetching a lot less in the international marketplace. Importantly, […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has now taken “full responsibility,” according to Gina McCarthy, EPA’s administrator, for the accidental release of millions of gallons of toxic waste into the water systems of Colorado and neighboring states. The toxic sludge, which contains contaminants like arsenic and lead, will cost millions of taxpayer dollars to clean up […]

Puerto Rico has defaulted on a debt payment for the first time in its history, confirming on August 4 that it had failed to make a bond payment of more than $50 million.  The U.S. commonwealth had been openly stating for months that the crisis was coming, with governor Alejandro Padilla saying at the end […]

Following the recent announcement jointly by Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the Clean Power Plan, already opposition is not only growing, but preparing for lengthy legal battles in U.S. courts, primarily based upon the EPA’s legal power to introduce the said plan. The Clean Power Plan (the aim of which is to […]

Between 2010 and 2014, the National Science Foundation awarded $695,485 in U.S. taxpayer dollars to teach children a particular type of film-making when tutorials on the subject are available online – for free. On July 30, the Washington Times reported that the Federal government “spent more than half a million… to teach kids how to […]

The U.S. trade deficit grew during June to 7.1%, predominately due to record imports, a strong U.S. dollar and heightened consumer demand. The difference in exports and imports increased to $43.8 billion, up from a (revised) May figure of $40.9 billion. Total imports, on the back of increased imports of food and cars, rose 1.2% […]

The minimum wage movement is gathering momentum across the United States, with hikes passed in LA, San Francisco and Seattle, and New York now following suit. A panel led by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo voted Yes on proposals to introduce a $15 minimum wage for the city’s fast food workers. The increase is set […]

Now that approval has been given for Greece to begin negotiations with the eurozone on their 3rd bailout (for 86 billion euros / $95 billion), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is making it clear they would like no part of any deal whilst the issue of the Greeks ability to actually repay has not been […]

After Friday’s announcement of the proposed merger between two major U.S. healthcare companies, Anthem and Cigna, they subsequently lost a combined $3 billion from their stock value. U.S. citizens will soon have only 3 options with regard to their healthcare insurance as Anthem have agreed to pay $54 billion for Cigna, in a move they […]