Bank of Japan’s Kuroda Shocks Markets by Raising the Benchmark Rate to 0.5% From 0.25%

The Japanese yen is up 3.42% against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday as the Bank of Japan surprised the world by deciding to allow the benchmark interest rate to rise to 0.5% from 0.25%. The Japanese central bank was one of the only banks worldwide to hold off on raising benchmark interest rates, as policymakers … Read more

Bank Holdups and Protests Continue to Rise in Lebanon as Depositors Demand Their Own Savings

On Dec. 17, reports detail that residents in Lebanon have been staging sit-ins and protests at banks in order to access their own savings accounts. Since the economic collapse in 2019, Lebanon’s banks froze Lebanese bank accounts, and a number of branches have remained closed indefinitely. The deprivation of wealth has caused a few impoverished … Read more

Ghanaian Cedi Appreciates by More Than 30% in 4 Days — Currency Recovery Follows IMF Loan Announcement

Just a few months after it became the world’s worst-performing currency, the Ghanaian cedi’s exchange rate versus the U.S. dollar bounced back from just over 14 units per dollar on Dec. 1, to 8 units for every dollar by Dec. 16, new data has shown. The currency’s resurgence appears to have been fueled by reports … Read more

ECB Hikes Interest Rates by 50bps; Signals Need for Further Hikes to Fight Inflation

The European Central Bank (ECB) decided to hike three of its key interest rates by 50 basis points (0.5%) as part of its ongoing war against inflation. The organization stated that further increases are likely to happen “because inflation remains far too high and is projected to stay above the target for too long.” ECB … Read more

Federal Reserve Hikes Rate by 50bps, FOMC Signals Rate to Rise to 5.1% Next Year

The U.S. central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) convened on Wednesday and raised the federal funds rate by 50 basis points (bps). The 0.5 percentage point rise follows the four consecutive three-quarters of a point increases codified during the last few months. The FOMC’s rate hike follows the recent U.S. inflation report which indicated … Read more

Balaji Srinivasan Says FTX Is a Preview of State Failure, USD Bank Accounts Could Be Frozen or Inflated to Worthlessness

Angel investor Balaji Srinivasan says the collapse of crypto exchange FTX should be treated as “a preview of state failure.” He warned that one day U.S. dollar bank accounts “may be frozen or inflated to worthlessness,” emphasizing that the authorities “will show no interest in prosecuting.” Srinivasan cautioned: “That world is coming and we need … Read more

Elon Musk: Recession Will Be Greatly Amplified if the Fed Raises Rates Next Week

Billionaire Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Spacex, has warned that the recession will be “greatly amplified” if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates again next week. He added that things will “probably start looking better” in the second quarter of 2024. Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Recession and Fed’s Rate Hikes Tesla CEO … Read more

Robert Kiyosaki Expects Bitcoin Investors to Get Richer When Fed Pivots, Prints Trillions of Dollars

The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, says that bitcoin investors will get richer when the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, and Wall Street pivot and trillions of dollars are printed. Robert Kiyosaki Predicts Bitcoin Investors Will Get Richer The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has predicted … Read more

Remittances to Low and Middle Income Countries in 2022 Up by 5% to $626 Billion — Latest World Bank Report

Despite the headwinds that have dominated the year, remittances to low and middle-income countries in 2022 still grew by 5% to $626 billion, the World Bank Migration and Development Brief has said. Africa, where the cost of sending $200 averaged 7.8% in 2022, is the “most severely exposed to the concurrent crises.” Impact of the … Read more

‘Big Short’ Investor Michael Burry Warns of Extended Multi-Year Recession in US

Hedge fund manager Michael Burry, famed for forecasting the 2008 financial crisis, has warned about “an extended multi-year recession” in the U.S. He believes there isn’t a strategy to pull us out of “this real recession.” Michael Burry’s Recession Warning Famous investor and founder of investment firm Scion Asset Management, Michael Burry, has warned about … Read more