Economics and Investing:

Death Of Paper Gold Picks Up Speed Big Time Today

o o o

President Obama Calls Surprise Meeting With Financial Stability Oversight Council. Sent in by P.R.M.

o o o

Items from Professor Preponomics:

US News

Thanks, Bush and Obama: 1 in 7 Americans Were on Food Stamps in 2015 (Mises) Excerpt: “Forty-five million Americans were on food stamps — also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — at some point in 2015.”

The Hurdles to Getting US Workers Off the Sidelines (Wall Street Journal) Note: The Wall Street Journal may require sign-on, registration, and/or an active subscription to access content.

Medicaid Enrollment Surges Across the US (US News and World Report)

How Puerto Rico Got Into Its Current Financial Mess (Miami Herald)

International News

Venezuela Struggles to Contain Zika Outbreak Amid Economic Crisis (NPR) Commentary: This is a brief presentation including the personal history of a pregnant woman concerned that she may have contracted the Zika virus. It’s also an instructive reading, reminding us that economic hardships have far reaching implications including the ability of nation states, and perhaps even human civilization, to tackle public health concerns, crises, and most seriously, disasters.

Faith in “Healing” Central Banks Has Faded: BIS (CNBC)

Untapped Loans Double Canadian Banks’ Oil Exposure to $80B (Bloomberg)

Personal Economics and Household Finance

Hackers Successfully Target Apple Computers with “Ransomware” for the First Time (Clark Howard) Excerpt: “Ransomware is a type of malware that locks down or restricts access to a computer system, and then demands that the user pay a ransom to the creators of the malware to remove it from the infected computer.”

o o o

SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.