The Myth that Won't Die: "War is Good for the Economy"

Pentagon Removes Press Offices After Federal Judge Blocks Trump Restrictions The Defense Department has announced plans to remove media offices from the Pentagon after a Clinton-appointed federal judge sided with The New York Times in a lawsuit challenging limits on reporters' access to the building.  The action is seen as a "loophole" strategy to bypass the ruling against restrictions which the Trump Administration has struggled to enforce in the wake of a hailstorm of national security leaks. The press area of the Pentagon, known as "Correspondents' Corridor", has been used for...

Moscow Claims NATO Nuke Smuggling Plot Into Ukraine - UK Denounces 'Heinous' Charge It's hard to know what's true amid the fog of war, but when Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) comes out with whatever new accusation it lodges against Ukraine it usually 'goes big'. That's true of the latest statement Tuesday, which happens to mark the fourth anniversary of the full-scale Ukraine invasion of 2022. The SVR is newly alleging that France and the UK are plotting to secretly arm Ukraine with a nuclear weapon. French M51 submarine-launched ballistic missile. Photo credits:...

Weather & Weak Demand Drive US PMIs Down To 10-Month Lows In February, But... While 'hard' data has been fading modestly in recent weeks, 'soft' survey data has bounced back but today we get a first glimpse at February's PMIs from S&P Global to see if that survey-based confidence is continuing. It is not as both Manufacturing and Services PMIs dropped notably., Flash US Services PMI Business Activity Index: 52.3 (January: 52.7). 10-month low. Flash US Manufacturing PMI: 51.2 (January: 52.4). 7-month low.    Source: Bloomberg Overall that dragged the US Composite PMI down...