Donald Trump just proved that saying nothing can be better than answering a question badly. In the wake of Libertarian candidate Gary "What is Aleppo?" Johnson's failure to be able to name even one world leader when asked to pick his favorite, Trump one-upped Johnson by instead ...read more

As the future of Greece hangs in the balance over its debt obligations, the powerhouse German economy continues to surge.  While Germans are going shopping, Greeks are raiding forests to find wood to heat their homes. The dichotomy isn't exactly unique - there are rich ...read more

On Monday afternoon, President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House to break the unsurprising news that the United States has not decided to provide lethal arms to Ukraine. That's a decision I kind of agree ...read more

Not since President George W. Bush hit German Chancellor Angela Merkel with an impromptu double-Vulcan-neck-pinch has there been such an awkward moment in U.S. relations with Germany. Things were already strained after Edward Snowden's revelation that the U.S. monitored Merkel's ...read more

Germany and European Union officials are urgently exploring ways to rescue Spain's debt-stricken banks although Madrid has not yet requested assistance and is resisting being placed under international supervision, European sources said on Wednesday. Spain, the euro zone's ...read more

By Ben Cohen: One of the reason why I enjoy writing about economics is because it is not a topic that came easily to me. I would always ignore the economic and business news and focus on the politics - it was much easier to understand and a lot more fun. That was until I began ...read more

By Ben Cohen: The news that President Obama is set to challenge German chancellor Angela Merkel at the G8 Summit this Saturday on her continued support for austerity in the Euro Zone gives a very strong indication that the Obama administration clearly understands the global ...read more

By Ben Cohen: Socialist Francois Hollande's victory over Nicolas Sarkozy for the French Presidency could mark the beginning of a new economic era, not just in Europe, but the world. Hollande promised to reverse the austerity measures passed by Sarkozy that has yielded few ...read more

French socialist Francois Hollande has won a clear victory in the country's presidential election. Mr Hollande - who got an estimated 52% of votes in Sunday's run-off - said the French had chosen "change". Admitting defeat, centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy wished "good ...read more

By Ben Cohen: The Economist Magazine is widely read in the business community for a good reason - it largely validates the world view of the rich and seeks to further the ideology of deregulated markets. In many ways, it's a great magazine with succinct writing and ...read more

A reader writes in response to my post on France's proposed transaction tax on banks: Read you everyday. How can this possibly work? You know as well as I do that any charge applied by the government to the banks will end up being paid for by the consumer. The cost of doing ...read more

Not good news - the financial crisis in Greece appears to be worsening, threatening the entire global economy as a result. From the Guardian: The French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel will hold emergency talks on Wednesday in a desperate attempt to ...read more