Economy
American lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are expressing serious concerns about a bid by the communist dictatorship ruling mainland China to purchase Canadian energy firm Nexen and its vast U.S. oil and natural gas holdings. The deal by the Chinese regime, acting through its state-owned front company China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), also represents a potential national security risk, warned Republican and Democrat members of Congress.
If approved by authorities in the United States and Canada, the Nexen takeover would mark the first time that the communist Chinese dictatorship would be operating U.S. leases in the Gulf of Mexico.
The latest report from the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) not only confirmed the explosive growth in the country’s proven reserves of oil and natural gas, it also shattered popular myths about America’s decline.
Federal subsidies distributed to the private sector in Fiscal Year 2012 cost American taxpayers nearly $100 billion, according to a startling new report by the libertarian Cato Institute. “That includes direct and indirect subsidies to small businesses, large corporations, and industry organizations,” the think tank stated in its policy analysis.
The latest financial news from Europe may fall into the “good news, bad news” category — although the “good news” simply means that things have not fallen apart as much as they could have. The problems of the Mediterranean Basin region of the European Union — France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus — reinforce that idea.
As concerns over the U.S. dollar and the Federal Reserve continue to grow, U.S. lawmakers explored sound money, competing currencies, and the route to monetary freedom during an August 2 hearing chaired by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). It was the final House Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee hearing led by the long-time champion of honest currency and reining in the controversial Fed, but analysts say the impact of Rep. Paul’s work is only just starting to be felt.
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