Brave New World
Back to homepageMoney, Munitions, Military Outlay, and EU’s Plight in War of ‘Catch-up’
There is no more enduring truth than that expressed by Roman statesman and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero: ‘The sinews of war are infinite money.’ The peace dividend, now exhausted, delivered European countries €4.2tn (£3.6tn) over the past 30 years —
Read MoreBinance Teeters as Regulators Close-in on Troubled Exchange
Crypto is having another ‘moment’. Wim Romeijn takes a look for CFI.co… Binance, the largest exchange for trading digital currency and its derivatives, is in distress. A dozen senior executives have left, and the company has fired 1,500 staff as
Read MoreCoal, Ja Bitte, Nuke, Nein Danke: Germany’s Other Sort of Nuclear ‘Disaster’ is Unfolding
Coal is a dirty source of fuel, and brown coal is the worst of the lot — yet, as Wim Romeijn reports, that’s what nuclear-shy Germans have opted for… Around the time Germany shuttered its last three nuclear power plants,
Read MoreOn Freeters and Other Exotic Creatures in a Land of Plenty
The sustainability of Japan’s society is in doubt for various reasons, writes Wim Romeijn. China, Europe, and even the United States are all said to be at risk of “Japanification”: a protracted malaise of low growth, low inflation, low interest
Read MoreChina Syndrome: A Wilting Economy, Financial ‘Long-Covid’, a Collapsing Property Sector — and the Spectre of Deflation Hovering Nearby
The global economy is supported by four pillars; two are wobbly, reports Wim Romeijn, and one is being rebuilt. The first in a series of four CFI.co investigations… The world’s major economies are facing up to an era beset by
Read MoreInverted Yield Curves and Central Bankers Pull Focus to the Tetons as BRICS Founders
Another day, another financial event — the 46th US Federal Reserve Summer Symposium — for Wim Romeijn to ponder… As BRICS leaders discuss ways to challenge US hegemony and overthrow the mighty dollar as the global reserve currency, the minders
Read MoreSouth Africa Looks on While Brazil and India Face Off China and Russia
Johannesburg BRICS Summit (22-24 August 2023) Is the Johannesburg summit anything more than just a chatgroup meeting for importers and exporters? Wim Romeijn reports. A champion of moderation, and its own interests, India seems determined to thwart plans by Russia
Read MoreArgentina Looks to Eccentric Outlier For an Economic Fix
A far-Right libertarian candidate has burst from nowhere to claim centre stage in Argentina’s election race. Javier Milei, a 52-year-old, self-described “anarcho-capitalist”, wants to shutter Argentina’s inept central bank, replace the long-suffering peso with the US dollar, abolish all but
Read MoreBehold the New War: Same as the Old War, but it Comes with an App
On the battlefields of Ukraine, massive military kit is trumping technology, reports Wim Romeijn. On the undulating plains of eastern Ukraine, tech wizardry powers and shapes a lethal cat-and-mouse game. Here, loss of human life and the destruction of military
Read MoreOh Dear: The Sound of Your Keystrokes Could Leave You Wide-open to a Cyberattack
A simple video call could open your laptop to hackers, experts warn… University researchers have created an AI system to decipher words from the sound of typing — with more than 90 percent accuracy. That remarkable achievement comes with an
Read More