In the Blind Spot: Iran – we cool now?
SNEAK PEEK — US-Iran nuclear talks appear to be progressing adequately, with fascinating consequences. — The Serbian/Srpskan kerfuffle is plodding along mysteriously. — The discovery of a potentially life-supporting exoplanet is typically misguided. Dear subscribers, It feels like it’s been ages. That’s because it’s been relatively quiet in pure geopolitics land. All the attention has been stolen […]
In the Blind Spot: When the black market becomes the free market
SNEAK PEEK — How Trump’s tariffs could turn China’s grey markets into America’s secret weapon. — The ECB is panicking about the rise of USD stablecoins. That’s not necessarily a good sign for the euro. — Why the proposed European Defense Mechanism (EDM) has something of the CDO about it. Happy Easter Monday, subscribers! […]
In the Blind Spot: Breaking the People’s Bank of China
SNEAK PEEK — Why the 90-day pause and exemptions on U.S. tariffs don’t represent capitulation but are rather classic “art of the deal”. **(Updated)** — Reminder that the Trump administration’s whole objective is transforming exorbitant privilege from a right into a service. — Now is probably a good time to familiarize ourselves with the […]
Blind spots to watch on “Orange Monday”
Greetings subscribers, I’m actually off on Easter school hoildays this week, but before I turn to family matters I thought I would jot down a few things to be mindful of. This is based on a mix of personal analysis and source-based insight. — As Rabobank’s Michael Every has been saying for a while, we […]
In the Blind Spot: Global shock therapy and the rise of the American Mittelstand
SNEAK PEEK — THE ULTIMATE MAGA TARIFF Q&A: You’ve seen the mainstream take on Trumpian tariffs. We answer all your questions about the counter perspective. — Does Trump’s pardoning of HDR Global Trading give us a hint about what they’re planning for dollar liquidity management? — The return of MEFO bills. Oh yeah. Good […]
U.S. tariffs as an attack on the rentier class?
Yes, don’t laugh. But this coming Palm Sunday, as Christians around the world mark the day Jesus drove the moneylenders from the temple, a different sort of cleansing might be underway on Wall Street — one targeting America’s rentier class. One undertaken by arguably the most famous rent extractor of all: Donald J. Trump. As […]
In the Blind Spot: Nord Stream + Nuclear = War?
SNEAK PEEK — Why the two most salient agreements that could emerge from talks between Germany’s CDU and SPD do not mean what you think. — Were massive structures really found under the Giza Plateau? Dear subscribers: Dario here. We’re a lot more geopolitics-focused this week, with a fun detour in the Giza plateau. […]
The coming dollar superstructure: Why stablecoins are America’s next great export
As we peer into a future shaped by real-time, surge-priced liquidity demands, it’s becoming increasingly plausible that stablecoins will provide the plumbing. In a world where funding needs appear not just daily but intraday, and the Fed is increasingly hesitant to overextend its balance sheet or assume timing risk, market-based mechanisms are poised to take […]
The Fed’s quiet pivot to servicing intraday liquidity — and why it matters
Quite an important tweak happened to the U.S. financial system last week that you might have missed. And we at The Blind Spot consider it our duty not just to draw attention to it but to frame it in the broader context of what’s actually going on under the hood of modern monetary plumbing. From […]
In the Blind Spot: Exorbitant privilege as a service
SNEAK PEEK — The risky attempt to transition from an era where America provided the world with liquidity for free to one where access to the dollar is a premium service. — U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent provides some more clues about how a U.S. sovereign wealth fund might work. — Ask not what the […]