Economics and Investing:

The Chilling Ways The Current Global Economy Echoes The 1930s Depression Era – Sent in by B.B.

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Music to my ears! The War On Cash Is Irrelevant If You Own Gold And Silver – D.S.

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Items from Professor Preponomics:

US News

Lawmakers Ask Treasury to Probe Chinese Purchase of Chicago Exchange (Washington Examiner) Excerpt: “It is outrageous that a communist Chinese company — a front for the communist Chinese government — will be given access to trillions of dollars in the struggling U.S. economy and secure information about U.S. businesses. I strongly urge the Obama administration to investigate this firm and stop this purchase….”

It’s February, and China’s Already Broken the Annual Record for US Deals (Wall Street Journal) Excerpt: “The value of the 24 acquisitions of U.S. companies by Chinese buyers is up 15% from the previous record, set last year, when Chinese companies announced 115 deals valued at a total of $20.5 billion.”

Political Backlash Grows in Washington to Chinese Takeovers (New York Times) Excerpt: “As Chinese companies try to snap up American tech businesses, they are setting off ripples of unease in the Obama administration and in Congress, inciting a backlash that has stopped the latest acquisition attempt.”

US Food Chain Safety To Be Scrutinized After ChemChina-Syngenta Deal (Market Watch) Excerpt: “U.S. officials are likely to give the proposed takeover of Syngenta by China National Chemical Corp. scrutiny over food-security concerns, experts said Wednesday, after the Swiss seed and pesticide company said it agreed to a takeover offer from the Chinese government-owned firm.”

International News

Eurozone Crisis IMMINENT as Debt-Ridden Italy and Portugal on Verge of Being New Greece (Express) Excerpt: “Both countries are heavily laden with huge piles of debts and struggling to register any growth amid global market turmoil. Recent figures showed Italy’s economy grew by just 0.1 per cent in the last quarter of 2015, while Portugal’s was only 0.2 per cent.”

UK Ministers Warn of “Domino Effect” If Britain Leaves EU (Financial Times) What would a Brexit mean for the remainder of the European Union?

Multiple Crises Fence in Greece (The Corner) Excerpt: “This creates a dangerous mix that Tsipras has to handle carefully. The impressive factor about recent protests is not necessarily their size or intensity but the breadth of society that they cover. Never before during Greece’s never-ending crisis have farmers, engineers, lawyers and doctors stood side by side.”

Personal Economics and Household Finance

Scammers Score Payday on Craigslist, According to Study (Clark Howard) Be careful. Excerpt: “A study done by researchers at the University of Maryland, New York University and Cornell University found that over half of fraudulent real estate rental ads were not flagged for removal by Craigslist, which means these ads were available for unsuspecting victims to happen upon them – doing great damage to them, and their wallets.”

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