Ed Dowd: The Fed Hiked Interest Rates Into A Supply Shock

You Can Buy Love... (But It's Never Been More Expensive) U.S. adults will spend a record $29.1 billion on Valentine’s Day this year, according to estimates published by the National Retail Federation. You will find more infographics at Statista">As Statista's (ironically named) Valentine Fourreau reports, this is up from last year’s $27.5 billion, with U.S. shoppers planning to spend $200 on average per person, up from $189 in 2025. You will find more infographics at Statista According to the NRF, Valentine’s Day was one of the annual events that shoppers tended to splash out the most on last year....

UK Targets Kremlin-Linked Crypto Network In Latest Sanctions Round Authored by Micah Zimmerman via BitcoinMagazine.com, The United Kingdom has unveiled a fresh package of sanctions against Russian financial structures that use crypto and offshore payment routes to sidestep restrictions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine.  The measures focus on the Kremlin-backed A7 network, a ruble-based settlement system, and a cluster of exchanges and firms that route payments through Kyrgyzstan and Georgia. Announced by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, the package covers 18 new designations that target what London describes as the backbone of Russia’s illicit finance channels.  Officials say...

California Democrats Attempt To Sabotage Voter ID Initiative In November, California voters will have the opportunity to vote on Proposition 39. The measure, officially the Voter Identification, Citizenship Verification, and Registered Voter List Administration Initiative, would require Californians to show identification when they vote and force state officials to clean up the voter rolls and verify that the people on them are eligible citizens. All signs suggest it will pass. A poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found in May that 71% of Californians support requiring proof of...