“China’s advantages in the production and refinement of rare earth elements are significant.” – The Lonely Realist TLR this week received a number of emails disagreeing with TLR's assertion in last week's commentary that China’s virtual monopoly over rare earth elements – that is, its 70% share...
“ETFs and rare earths (and even soyabeans) are economic weapons.” – The Lonely Realist An ETF is a public investment fund that trades on stock exchanges in the same way as a single stock (and with more liquidity than a mutual fund). An exchange traded fund...
“We are witnessing de-dollarization. Are we nearing a finale?” – The Lonely Realist A Dollar is “fiat currency,” a piece of paper. It has no intrinsic value. People believe in it because they have faith in America's economic and foreign policies, its judicial system, its Constitution,...
“Russia is winning the Ukraine War. What will Russia’s victory mean?” – The Lonely Realist Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated his intention to achieve total victory over Ukraine. He will not discuss a ceasefire (yet alone a peace treaty) without first receiving international acknowledgement of Russia’s...
“It’s paradigm-shifting ‘Trump Change.’” – The Lonely Realist Matt Levine wrote several months ago that “the current economic policy of the United States is apparently to cause maximum chaos by announcing drastic changes in the global economic order in the morning and then walking them back...
“The Democrats were once the Big Tent Party. No longer.” – The Lonely Realist The 20th Century’s Democratic Party was the Big Tent Party. Its policies attracted labor unions, blue collar workers, African Americans, young Americans, Catholics, Jews, liberals and often a majority of moderates. Its...