Choke Point: The Global Economic Consequences of The Persian Gulf Shutdown

The German Bureaucratic Dream Of "Society with Bound Capital" Submitted by Thomas Kolbe They form a massive workforce, the last continuously growing sector of our society: civil servants. Approximately 5.5 million employees work in the public sector, and last year alone, 205,000 new civil servants were added. This is by no means a blind attack on the bureaucracy. Civil servants indispensable to our society work to maintain internal and external security and uphold the judiciary as guardians of law and order. Yet the question must be allowed. How can a civil service army grow...

Israel Halts Arms Purchases From France In Rebuke For Iran War Stance Israel on Tuesday took the drastic step of announcing that it will halt the acquisition of defense-related goods and services from France, according to an Israeli Defense Ministry announcement. "The Director General of the Israel Ministry of Defense. Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Baram has decided to reduce all defense procurement from France to zero, replacing it with domestic Israeli procurement or purchases from allied countries," a Defense Ministry spokesperson confirmed. via Reuters The move is being done in direct rebuke to...

Meta Plunges After Boosting Capex Outlook Again On "Higher Component Pricing" The last of the giga-caps to report today, the increasingly more misnamed Meta Platforms, had some good news to report for the just completed Q1. It also had bad news, and judging by the plunge in the stock price, the market is focusing on the latter.  First, the good news: the company reported revenue and EPS both of which beat estimates, and guided Q2 revenues which came in roughly in line with estimates. Here is the breakdown.  EPS $10.44 vs. $6.43...