“In the natural sciences, some checks exist on the prolonged acceptance of nutty ideas, which do not hold up well under experimental and observational tests and cannot readily be shown to give rise to useful working technologies. But in economics and the other social studies, nutty ideas may hang around for centuries. Today, leading presidential candidates and tens of millions of voters in the USA embrace ideas that might have been drawn from a 17th-century book on the theory and practice of mercantilism, and multitudes of politicians and ordinary people espouse notions that Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and others exploded more than two centuries ago. In these realms, nearly everyone simply believes whatever he feels good about believing.” – Robert Higgs

Vladimir Putin has seemed unusually amenable of late. In November, Kremlin sources revealed the Russian President’s openness to discussing a ceasefire deal and, earlier this month, Putin said he was ready to compromise over Ukraine in talks with incoming US president Donald Trump.

How did Vladimir Putin rise into power? What is the truth about Vladimir Putin? Not many people know the story of how Putin came into power, but the US government made a colossal mistake after the fall of the Soviet Union, paving way for a leader like Putin to rise up into power. In today’s video we break down what went wrong, how Putin rose, and what happens next in Russia

Kyiv controls vast gas and mineral deposits. Does Trump want those flowing west, or to Russia and China?

“I have not become the King’s First Minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire.” – Winston Churchill, 1942

The ‘Kellogg Plan’ looks totally unacceptable to Moscow in its leaked form, but it’s still good to talk

Frustration escalates for the the lame duck president

Putin made a pass at Schulz by suggesting that the last undamaged part of the Nord Stream pipelines could be swiftly put back to use if Germany helps Russia in Ukraine by rejecting Trump’s reported plans to “escalate to de-escalate”.

It’s complicated.

Putin gave a keynote speech at the annual Valdai Summit where he laid out his latest version of his “multipolar” world view.