April 13, 1975: The Fuse Was Lit
April 30, 2025A bus triggers a war in Lebanon and changes the fate of a 12-year-old boy. A Levantine youth reveals a Middle East in flames through an intimate lens.Releases on May 7. Seven and a half years during which my destiny collides head-on with History. Buy it: in France: FNAC in Switzerland: PAYOT in Lebanon: ANTOINE…
The countdown has begun
April 27, 2025In just a few weeks, the White House and the United States have gotten themselves into a situation from which they will have the greatest difficulty escaping. Starting on April 10, trade between the U.S. and China progressively — but irresistibly — came to a halt. Cargo bookings, in fact, collapsed in the wake of…
Saudi Arabia is rising for good
April 25, 2025Saudi Arabia is pumping less oil and embarking on massive spending (cities of the future, major sporting events). The most important statistic to watch is its balance of payments, which—as you can see from this chart—turns negative in 2024. From being a lender to the world, it has become a borrower, and this is happening…
The message from “Une Jeunesse Levantine” to the ferocity of François’s detractors
April 23, 2025“How could a Pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, have favored a Muslim invasion of Europe?A pope who defends the development of radical Islam.That red Jesuit.We need a European Pope who understands History and sees the difference between welcoming and invading… Welcoming human beings who respect us and want to integrate is a…
Make the Fed GREAT AGAIN!
April 21, 2025Unhappy with Jerome Powell, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, for not complying with his demands to lower interest rates, President Donald Trump is seeking legal ways to dismiss him. Trump believes it is necessary to ease U.S. monetary policy to offset the economic impact of his tariff policy. His attacks on Powell have now…
An exorbitant privilege — and a persistent one
April 17, 2025Asking what the world would look like without the USD as the unquestioned world reserve currency across finance and trade is a bit like asking a fish what the world would be like without water. There isn’t an obvious alternative to the dollar. There are a range of currencies that investors could diversify into,…
Auto goal ?
April 15, 2025China halting all Boeing orders! EU and Japan are winning the trade war right now. The euro and the yen have gone way up, making all their imports cheaper, which keeps their official inflation measures lower. The end result of the trade war will be a bigger trade deficit.
Flip-flop policy
April 13, 2025Trump has just lowered tariffs on smartphones, computers, and electronic devices imported from China. Every day, the White House backtracks, revises downward, cancels… In such conditions, where can one find the motivation to set up a factory and bring industrial jobs back to the United States? Tariffs are not a policy, but a tool…
April 9th., 2025
April 9, 2025In response to the United States, China is increasing its tariffs from 34% to 84%. It is not yielding to pressure. Globalization officially ends today.
Trump’s Tariffs: Economic Voodoo at Work
April 7, 2025“They are to economics what creationism is to biology, and astrology is to astronomy,” tweeted Larry Summers, former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. A statement that highlights the sheer absurdity — even outright foolishness — of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Why then has Lesotho, one of the poorest nations in Africa —…
Trump: on a record-breaking streak
April 5, 2025The tectonics of global investment are undergoing spectacular upheavals, to the severe detriment of the United States, which is experiencing a full-scale exodus. Foreign investors and speculators are liquidating U.S. assets at the most dramatic level of the CENTURY, accompanied by massive capital outflows being repatriated outside the U.S. Breaking news: According to Bessent, U.S.…
The Liberation According to Donald Trump
March 30, 2025In our hostile environment, it’s every nation for itself. The lubricant of economies—globalization—is on its last breath. While just yesterday, nations collaborated to draft laws and regulations they pledged to uphold, they are now breaking apart past alliances and consensus. Through subsidies and tariffs, they are scrambling to promote their own industries while undermining those…
Magnificent vs Maleficent
March 27, 2025All eyes are on the “Magnificent 7” (Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Tesla, Nvidia, and Meta), whose market capitalizations are shrinking. However, allow me to draw your attention to the “Maleficent 12″—arms companies whose stocks, in anticipation of future wars, have surged by 82% this year and have risen by 180% over the past two years.…
Trump: The Organization of Chaos
March 23, 2025Without explicitly stating it, Donald Trump draws a correlation between the undeniable reserve currency status of the dollar and its impact on the industrial competitiveness of the United States. In truth, the facts support his argument, as industrial jobs now account for only 10% of employment in the U.S., compared to 40% in the 1980s.…
The melting of…
March 20, 2025The Turkish overnight lending rate urgently raised to…46%. This move aims to contain, as much as possible, the dramatic collapse of the lira (see chart) following the arrest of the Mayor of Istanbul, a serious opponent to President Erdogan. Hence the question: Can we still trust the State?
Can we still trust the State?
March 16, 2025Kuwait is Purging its Citizens. For the past few months, this Emirate has been publishing lists of nationals stripped overnight of their citizenship. Some are even caught by surprise when they attempt to board an international flight, believing they are entering the airport as Kuwaitis, only to leave it stateless—not without having first been detained…
Central Banks: The Hidden Engine of European Rearmament
March 9, 2025In 2015, during a joint NATO exercise, German soldiers were faced with such a severe weapon shortage that they had to replace unavailable machine guns… with broomsticks. Ironically, their leader at the time, Ursula von der Leyen, now President of the European Commission, is now trying to embody the continent’s “rearmament” ambitions. Talking about money…
Musk fatigue
March 6, 2025Having shared a message on X suggesting that Carlos Slim might have ties to criminal groups, the latter immediately canceled all commercial collaborations of his companies with Starlink in Latin America, instantly causing Musk to lose $7 billion. An hour later, Slim announced that he was also canceling his planned projects with Starlink for the…
A Fatal March
March 3, 2025Trump’s Tweet and the Initial Reaction (March 15, 2025) On March 15, 2025, at 8:43 a.m., America is abruptly awakened. A tweet from Donald Trump, as brief as it is devastating, strikes the country like an earthquake: “America First! 20% tax on Mexican and Canadian oil, immediate. No more energy dependence!” This is not just…
But where are the translators of yesteryear?
March 2, 2025In the presence of a translator, who was not wanted by Zelensky, the Oval Office debacle could have been avoided. This translator would, of course, have allowed the Ukrainian president to be more precise in his communication. But, more importantly, they would have helped to defuse and calm tensions through their choice of words, their…
Champagne Shortage at the Kremlin
February 27, 2025As far as I know, I am not aware of any historical precedent, across the millennia of human adventure, where a hegemonic power has so joyfully and swiftly sabotaged itself.
“What did you do last week?”
February 23, 2025“What did you do last week?“—this is the form sent by Musk’s teams to all U.S. government servants. The American government is now run like a startup! Even more bureaucracy to ease bureaucracy, in the end.
Central Banks: The New Weak Link in Our System?
February 22, 2025The European Central Bank announces a loss, the largest since its creation, of 8.3 billion euros for the 2024 fiscal year. By choice, or by lack of rigor, it has paid to banks interest rates far too high in relation to the returns on the various bonds that it holds. At the current stage we…
Iran: A Suffering Population and Failing Rulers
February 15, 2025In Iran, food prices have skyrocketed by over 100% in a year, exemplified by the soaring cost of potatoes, which has sparked nationwide outrage. Last week, the price per kilo surged within days from 200,000 rials to 750,000, even triggering public discord within various branches of the Iranian government, with officials openly blaming each other.…
A crazy story with ChatGPT, MUST READ
February 11, 2025Before going to bed yesterday, not having a calendar in bed and making appointments with a friend, I ask ChatGPT to give me the calendar for February 2025, so the current month. RESPONSE: Here is the calendar for February 2025: February 1st: Sunday February 2nd: Monday February 3rd: Tuesday February 4th: Wednesday February…
Real Estate Speculation vs. The Citizen
February 10, 2025The West faces a major challenge. We do not want our society to be divided into two classes: wealthy property owners and poor tenants.” These were the words recently spoken by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Under his leadership, Spain will soon impose a 100% tax on any real estate purchased by non-resident nationals…
The exorbitant burden
February 3, 2025“We consider it unlikely that customs tariffs will be put in place. The weapon of customs tariffs will always be loaded and ready to be used, but rarely triggered. Another differentiated point of view that we have is that Trump will pursue a weak dollar policy rather than imposing customs tariffs. Tariffs are inflationary…
Trump and Arab Philosophy
February 1, 2025The White House confirmed tariffs will be implemented today: 25% on Canada, 25% on Mexico, 10% on China. Did you know that “tariff” comes from Arabic from the word تعرفة (ta‘rifa), which means a “list of prices”? Ibn Khaldun, in his Muqaddimah, discusses taxation and economic policies, using terms like المكوس (al-mukūs), which refers…
Enacting violence on others in pursuit of good aims
January 29, 2025The new libertarians in power in the United States are swimming in their contradictions. While they loudly advocate for unbridled liberalization in all areas, they are systematically putting in place surveillance technologies that will allow them to carry out their imperialist agenda. However, this exacerbation of American patriotism, these refrains glorifying and elevating…
War and business
January 27, 2025Last spring, I obtained confidential information that allowed me to write my article “Gaza 2035: A Clean Slate?“, which was picked up by the press in France and Switzerland. Trump has just called for the displacement of Gaza’s inhabitants to Egypt and Jordan as part of a peace plan aimed at “cleansing the Palestinian enclave,”…
The Price of Freedom
January 22, 2025The stock price of GEO Group has nearly tripled since Trump’s election. Why? GEO Group is a “private prisons” company. In 2021, Biden signed an executive order eliminating the very concept of private prisons. An order that has just been overturned by Trump. His Attorney General is Pam Bondi, who, before her appointment, openly…
Syria: Finally, the Return to Raison d’État
January 19, 2025The Syrian government has just increased customs duties on all imports from Turkey by a staggering 300%. Has Ahmad el Charaa, Damascus’ new strongman, drawn inspiration from Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened trade partners with sharp tariff hikes since taking office? Not quite. The recently installed Syrian administration is, in fact, harmonizing…
From Realpolitik to Empty Chair Politics
January 17, 2025Tensions Between Scholz and His Foreign Minister Baerbock at Breaking Point. She turned her back on him without even responding to him, and did so publicly and ostentatiously. What caused this volte-face? Scholz rejected a €3 billion aid package for Ukraine, concocted by Baerbock and Boris Pistorius, the Defense Minister. I myself attended meetings…
Argentina in the Paradise of Lawless Capitalism
January 14, 2025The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) has firmly condemned Trump’s repeated threats to forcibly target the Panama Canal. The condemnation was nearly unanimous, with just one dissenting voice—unsurprisingly, that of Argentina, led by the self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist” Milei, an unwavering supporter of Trump. The Argentine president is bleeding his economy dry, having…
Lebanon: A Final Chance to Seize
January 12, 2025The Worst Economic Crisis Since the Mid-19th Century. This is what Lebanon has been enduring since 2019, suffering an extraordinary contraction of more than 60% of its GDP over four years, a currency that has lost 98% of its value, inflation rates at times nearing 200%, and a poverty rate that now affects…
These 30 Billion Syria Owes Iran That Will Never Be Paid Back
January 7, 2025Syria’s debt to Iran is estimated at $30 billion. This figure, originating from the Office of the Iranian Presidency, was leaked in August 2023. It represents the price Iran has paid since 2011 to keep Assad in power. The repayment of this massive debt is all the more unlikely given that those now in…
“The dollar is our currency, but it’s your problem”, John Connally
January 4, 202580% of the dollars in circulation have been created… in the last 5 years! Such an acceleration, unprecedented in the macroeconomic history of the world’s most powerful country, raises the question: could it harm the dollar’s status as a reserve currency? In my opinion, the opposite is true—the dollar, once again, is being used…
Marcel Duchamp, a fountain of misogyny
January 2, 2025A cold examination, without being a forensic expert, clearly indicates the misogyny of Marcel Duchamp. He was, of course, a man of his time – the late 19th/early 20th century – but his disrespect for women, which more moderate critics might call irreverence, was recurring in his art. He shared this attitude with his friend…
Happy New Year, with an enriched blog!
January 2, 2025I’m kicking off 2025 with a small shift, which will also see me posting articles about art on this blog – my other great passion… alongside several others. Then, with the spring, a surprise will follow, which we’ll discuss in detail later. Happy New Year, dear reader.
Trump and the Loudmouths
December 20, 2024Trump threatens heavy tariff sanctions if the European Union does not buy more oil. Yet, European imports from the U.S. have only been increasing: they have been rising substantially and consistently, year after year. Conclusion: Trump makes loud demands that are entirely realistic, as it will be easy for…
Pitiful Germany
December 17, 2024Germany is now heading toward early elections. Chancellor Scholz has lost the confidence vote in Parliament, signaling the end of the coalition that had already collapsed on November 6. The main issue? In short, the budget, and especially the famous “debt brake” that was enshrined in the German constitution under Merkel. The federal budget…
Man is not a Too Big To Fail
December 3, 2024There is only one economy that truly endures. This economy never falters, and it doesn’t chase growth at any cost. It has functioned for billions of years, long before the emergence of humankind. It is Earth. Its components—its “agents,” to borrow a trendy term—are the oceans and the forests. Its currency is oxygen and…
Currency is the Perfect and Easy Weapon Against Trade Wars
November 23, 2024In 2018, as part of their trade war, the U.S. imposed an average tariff of 12.5% on imports from China. The direct consequence? The yuan gradually declined by a similar proportion. Now, consider the U.S. imposing tariffs on imports from the Eurozone. For the European Union, the best defense would be inaction. Why? Because…
Germany in an Existential Crisis
November 20, 2024“We Germans look towards Moscow and Warsaw. Paris and London are cities of the past,” a German acquaintance confided to me only three years ago. It was still the golden age for a country convinced that globalization, so beneficial to its industry, would last forever. Angela Merkel, hailed as the “indispensable European” by The…
Europe: How Many Divisions?
November 17, 2024The China-centred map really changes the way you think about the world: The Pacific and US-China relations are at the centre of the world, and Europe becomes a minor peninsula of the Eurasian continent. In 1971, Kissinger asked Zhou Enlai whether he thought the French Revolution of 1789 was good. Zhou replied, “It is…
US Trade Deficit: A Need for Nuance
November 11, 2024On the surface, the shocking $1 trillion annual trade deficit in the U.S. suggests that foreign companies completely dominate trade. However, a significant part of this deficit actually comes from American companies manufacturing abroad to re-sell in the U.S. market. Therefore, a trade war would be far less painful—and partly won—if American workers enjoyed a…
Unemployment weakens a government; inflation kills it
November 8, 2024How many charts had we – economists and analysts, myself included – presented to show that the American economy’s health outpaced that of Europe? And how many official inflation indicators had we copied and pasted, proving, quarter after quarter, that price pressures were slowly but surely easing? Why, then, did American media, which prides…
«It’s the economy stupid !»
November 6, 2024Graph of Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction with the U.S. Economy, and Explanation of Trump’s Victory
Europe: A Mere Union of Interests
November 2, 2024A telling graphic shows the extensive trade between many European nations and Russia, routed through Kyrgyzstan. Europe has chosen to prioritize trade relations with Russia over fully committing to help Ukraine confront Putin’s aggression. This choice has further tarnished our reputation and jeopardized our credibility. It reveals a truth I have denounced for…
In the face of Trump, the last barriers are crumbling
October 27, 2024During his first presidential campaign in 2016, Trump continually subjected certain major media outlets to public condemnation. His primary targets were CNN, which he labeled as “fake news” and “garbage”, as well as the Washington Post, which he called a “disgrace to journalism”. After Trump’s victory, the Post positioned itself as a staunch guardian…