Libya’s never ending War



To search for a consensus Libyan candidate that would be acceptable to both Haftar and Serraj. Rumours abound in Libya that such an acceptable third ‘candidate’ to all sides in the conflict is known. Such third way is being spoken of in both Tripoli and Tobruk as well as London, Washington and Moscow..and, according to some sources, the person stands ready in waiting.

Read the full article by Richard Galustian on the Duran website.

The Duran: Trump gives Huawei some space, US-Chinese talks resume

Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris discuss the G20 Osaka compromise between President Trump and President Xi, to pause the ongoing trade dispute and continue negotiations for a deal between their countries. Trump agreed to allow US companies to sell parts to Huawei, while not excluding the firm from the Government’s blacklist. Trump told reporters that “US companies can sell their equipment to Huawei,” providing that equipment poses no “great national emergency problem.” Trump’s ‘backtracking’ was criticized by the establishment media and many members of Congress.

My Comment: Trump’s [minor] concession to the Chinese was in exchange for Xi’s promise that China will import more food from the US. Trump’s supporters among farmers will no doubt be glad. The President’s decision not to levy higher tariffs on Chinese goods shows just how important trade relations between China and the US are. Even though the US has the know-how and the capital and the land and the skilled labor necessary to be self-sustainable, the short term belt tightening and higher prices required for such a dramatic course of action is – given the present political situation – simply untenable. Chinese goods and Chinese demand for US output aren’t going away any time soon.

A good deal can and will be reached between Xi and Trump, but once signed it has to be maintained – and it will be maintained only if geopolitical tensions won’t escalate. And I’m not referring just to the South China Sea, but to Venezuela and Iran as well.


UFA instead of UBI

by Serban V.C. Enache

UFA stands for Unconditional Food-stamps for All. For the past few years, while considering pro and contra arguments vis-a-vis UBI [Unconditional Basic Income], I came up with UFA as an alternative program. The logic behind it?

Easier to introduce as a nation-wide pilot test, with fewer complaints from across the [skeptical] political spectrum. UFA would allow citizens to better manage their finances and secure their food basket every month. We have an astronomical overproduction of food relative to effective demand at global scale. About 1.4 billion tons per year of unsold food gets wasted, enough to feed 2 billion people. Given this context, food price inflation should not occur under UFA – at least, not as a result of demand-pull. Note: effective demand means the real intention to purchase by people with the means to pay.

Those who don’t wish to use these ‘unconditional food stamps,’ like the rich and upper middle class, can donate them to charities, or just sit on them [until they expire]. UFA would have a great and swift effect on sector specific economic activity & alleviate poverty [with all the good social and psychological effects that come with it], while allowing previous purchasing power designated for the monthly basket to be redirected somewhere else. Unlike cash, you can’t use these food stamps to gamble, buy drugs or alcohol, video games or what not.

To give the UK as an example of how much the UFA would cost the National Government in money terms, I used numbeo’s minimum amount of money for food per person, which is 171,55 pounds, and multiplied it with 66 million [total UK population from 2017 census]. The cost figure comes down to 11,32 billion pounds per month. Multiplying that to 12 months we get 135,86 billion per year. For the sake of keeping the math simple, this means I categorized 1/4 of the population [being children] as adults. So the true nominal figure will be smaller than 135,86 billion annual.

For those concerned with UBI [unconditional cash payments] causing big and harmful distortions to business planning, to the labor market, and to the general price level, and for those concerned with the size and nature of the spending cuts required to accompany such a program, then the UFA [Unconditional Food-stamps for All] would be far more palatable & easier for activists [on the left, right, and center] to sell it to the public. At least, to test it out nation-wide and see its effects on labor force participation, crime rate, birth rate, school abandonment, hospitalization rate etc. Many people say that the time for UBI hasn’t arrived yet. But I don’t think we can find so many to say that we can’t have enough effective demand to feed every soul, because reality [year after year] says otherwise.

The Cure For Hyperinflation: Weimar and Venezuela

by Serban V.C. Enache


The Weimar Republic. Background.


The Plan To Fix The Problem




Enter the Rentenmark



Tight Money Policy



See the graph below.


Thoughts On Venezuela






Update on Venezuela: a report by CEPR finds that US sanctions against Venezuela, started by Trump in 2017, are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths.

So What’s The Cure, Dammit?


Money and Progressive Resource Allocation

Procedure, while important, shouldn’t make us oblivious to priorities

by Derek McDaniel

I want to talk about “Progressive resource allocation”. In this case, what I am referring to, has nothing to do with political progressivism, except by coincidence. I am using the word “progressive” simply to describe a sequence of steps or priorities, a “progression”, if you will. Continue reading “Money and Progressive Resource Allocation”