Rents rose 0.5% last month in another of a series of sharp increases since last summer. The cost of rent — the biggest expense for many households —has jumped almost 4% in the past year. Food prices also increased again, up almost 1% in January. The cost of groceries have climbed 7.4% in the last 12 months — a 14-year high. Dairy and fruit showed the biggest increases last month. Energy prices rose almost 1% last month due to a large spike in the cost of electricity. Cold weather also boosted demand. Gas and natural gas prices fell slightly, but the respite for consumers probably won’t...
prices
Impacts Of Rising Nitrogen Costs
As noted, AFPC’s study shows farmers are currently facing nitrogen costs 80% higher than last year. That’s as Anhydrous Ammonia prices reached 2008 levels in October at over 1,000 dollars per ton. And those prices have been steadily rising ever since. “You're talking fertilizer price that have gone up somewhere close to $200 an acre for this next year for some producers, and the revenue being generated is not offsetting that. And that's just the fertilizer industry,” says Edgington. “That’s not even talking about the chemistry industry or land values or equipment that people can't get....
12/30/21 Basir Bita on the Economic Crisis in Afghanistan
Scott interviews activist Basir Bita about the economic calamity that’s hit Afghanistan since the U.S. withdrawal this past summer. With the U.S. and IMF freezing Afghan government funds as well as widespread market corrections after the fall of the previous regime, Afghanistan has been thrown into turmoil. Food prices have tripled since the summer and many Afghans face issues with food security. Bita argues that the Biden Administration and others should get over their hesitation to work with the new government of Afghanistan. And that a refusal to do so reveals how little they truly...
Salafis Throwing Bombs: How American and British Planners Partnered With Al-Qaeda Affiliated Groups At the Start of the Syrian Civil War
Introduction In the mainstream view, al-Qaeda did not play a role in the Syria conflict until Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dispatched his deputy, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, to Syria in August 2011 to establish a wing of the group there, called Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front. Additionally, al-Qaeda allegedly did not carry out any military operations until December 2011 and did not announce its establishment until January 2012. However, there is evidence that al-Qaeda affiliated militants were involved in the Syrian conflict much earlier. Saudi intelligence...
Lunatic With a Plan: Erdogan and Turkey’s Economic Woes
Since the first assault on Turkey’s finances in 2018, which I wrote about multiple times (here, here, and here), I’ve been the lone voice telling everyone that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a lunatic but he’s a lunatic with a plan. That plan is to de-dollarize the economy of a valuable member of NATO geostrategically. Since the first shots across the bow by the Trump administration at Erdogan’s toying with those powers east of the Bosporus (Russia, China and Iran) the Turkish lira has been the primary mode of attack against Erdogan. Erdogan has pursued what has been deemed unorthodox...
TGIF: Democracy Can’t Fix Socialism
However you feel about democracy, it can’t fix what’s wrong with socialism. In theory, modern representative democracy -- unlike ancient Greek direct democracy -- means that people vote for so-called representatives to fill various executive and legislative government offices. Those officials then enact and enforce rules that people are expected to obey under threat of fine and/or imprisonment. In theory, socialism has mostly been understood as direct government economic planning through public, that is, state, ownership of the means of production. In no real sense can a...
Democrats For Sale For Low Low Prices
Bloomberg is just buying them up.
4/3/17 Patrick Osgood on Iraq’s present crisis and future prospects
Patrick Osgood, Kurdistan Bureau Chief for IraqOilReport.com, discusses the referendum on Kurdish independence, battling ISIS in Mosul and beyond, the impact of low oil prices on Iraq's economy, and whether Iraq can become a cohesive functioning state without a perpetual US military presence.
Shop Our Books
Voluntaryist Handbook
Hotter Than The Sun: Time To Abolish Nuclear Weapons
[playlist artists="false" images="false"...