Where finance and media interesects with reality.

In the Blind Spot: Just what on earth were the Germans thinking?

SNEAK PEEK — The EU-MERCOSUR deal: Von der Leyen’s push to finalize the agreement may shield Europe from U.S. trade shocks — unless it ignites a farmers’ revolt at home. — Syria’s fragmenting future: With jihadists advancing and old power centers stirring, the country could revert to its historic city-state roots. — Germany’s EV reckoning: […]

In The Blind Spot: How Silicon Valley became Silicon Vassal

  SNEAK PEEK — The great migration reverse ferret: U.K. PM Keir Starmer whips out the Donald Tusk playbook on migration, but the real story is visa outsourcing. — Why the V in VC stands for Vassal: Silicon Valley is having an epiphany about how it’s been doing the bidding of the state all this […]

In The Blind Spot: War games

  SNEAK PEEK  — Do you know when you are being played? Dario delves into the new iteration of alternate reality games and explains why they are actually revolutionary political tools. — What if the real blind spot in nuclear war is that it’s more survivable than people appreciate? Dario explores. Dear subscribers, Here’s the […]

In the Blind Spot: Prepare to be privatized

  SNEAK PEEK —  There’s a big hullabaloo surrounding China’s recent issuance of dollar-denominated bonds in Riyadh. But Izzy argues this is not the show of strength most think it is.  — Privatization vs Nationalisation: Why not all deregulation is being made equal. Izzy runs through the very different agendas of the competing transatlantic “efficiency” […]

In The Blind Spot: Manufacturing fetish or US growth illusion?

  SNEAK PEEK —  Free speech campaigners fear Elon’s status as the champion of free speech is about to clash with his role as efficiency czar in the Trump administration. — IQM’s Jan Goetz updates us on how quantum developments are going in Europe. — Germany is reawakening its nuclear ambitions in more ways than […]

In The Blind Spot: Dario’s takeover bonus

  SNEAK PEEK — Why Georgia’s election controversy is even more interesting and geopolitically important than appreciated. — How little Martinique may be part of a big French puzzle that some say shouldn’t be solved. — Flooding in Valencia leads to more accusations of weather manipulation on social media and why traditional media needs to […]

In the Blind Spot: Why everyone’s the ‘resistance’ now

  SNEAK PEEK — Why the Trump 2.0 regime really does represent a technocratic takeover of the U.S. government. But maybe that’s not a bad thing? — How JD Vance has primed the U.S. legislative machine for a Chinese selective default based on the non-payment of antique Chinese bonds. — The reinvention of Kazakhstan’s Mukhtar […]

In the Blind Spot (Technocratic coups)

  SNEAK PEEK — Is a coalition of tech bros and industrialists planning to rescue America in the event all hell breaks loose after the November 5 U.S. election? — Rumors of the dollar’s demise are greatly exaggerated because alternatives are still too expensive and require even more pre-paid capital. — China’s economic model faces […]

Britain’s art-loving elite fumes at money laundering crackdown (POLITICO)

By Eleanor Myers · Oct 23, 2024 LONDON — At London’s annual Frieze art fair, attendees trickle into a fake sauna. Inside, a screen shows a person dressed as a pink alien in fuchsia lingerie, gyrating in an abandoned swimming pool. Thumping techno accompanies the spectacle. An employee speaks over the deep bass to lament […]