Diplomacy 'Back In Motion' With Witkoff-Kushner Heading To Switzerland, Despite Overnight Rising Death Toll In Lebanon

Gulf Energy Shock Spreads To Global Plastics As War Sparks Force Majeure Wave Building on our earlier "Global Demand Destruction" note, which mapped how the Gulf energy shock is spreading globally and the immediate effects of rationing, price controls, and fuel shortages, another second-order disruption is quickly emerging: supply chain disruptions in critical plastic feedstocks. Plastics are core to the modern economy, and a troubling new Bloomberg report indicates that several producers of monoethylene glycol (MEG) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) have declared force majeure, as tanker flows through the Strait...

From Hormuz To Houston: The US Takeover Of Global Energy Flows Ramps Up Authored by Simon Watkins via OilPrice.com, The Americas are replacing the Middle East as the key source of global oil supply, with crude exports from the Western Hemisphere hitting a record 14.5 million bpd while Strait of Hormuz traffic collapsed. Trump’s broader energy strategy aims to weaken OPEC’s influence and cement U.S. dominance over global energy markets. Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil are emerging as the biggest growth engines, with Venezuela rebuilding output, Argentina rapidly expanding Vaca Muerta shale production, and...

Despite the claims of the chartalists, early American monetary history tells a much different story than one falsely claiming state-issued fiat money undergirded the colonial economy. In fact, much of the historical evidence illustrates Menger’s monetary theory.