It hasn’t happened since 1914, but invading Mexico is suddenly back in fashion. Dan Crenshaw and Tom Cotton want to send US Security Forces across the Rio Grande. Vivek Ramaswamy wants a shock and awe campaign in the drug war. For all the obvious aesthetic value, this week, we consider: Is it actually a good idea to invade a neighbouring state? Ursula von der Leyen has launched an EU probe into Chinese EVs. Coincidentally, it seems, at the exact moment that Chinese EVs are rapidly overwhelming their German and French competitors. Is this yet more evidence that the old WTO world is breaking down under the intensity of Far Eastern competition? Or is it just an entirely randomly-timed, totally-above-board probe? Remember stock buybacks? When the QE financial firehose was first turned on, CEOs with nothing better to do found they could boost shareholder value by simply buying up their own equity with free money. But as rates normalise – and the tide goes out on all those overvalued corporations – it’s time to see who was swimming naked.

The Three Seas. For much of eastern European history that’s meant chaos, conflict and conquest. These days, it’s a new initiative to link the Adriatic, the Baltic and the Black Seas. And it’s just added Greece as its 13th member. So is it a genetic freak of good intentions that will die naturally? Or is it the start of something altogether more toothy – a new kind of US dominance in Eastern Europe? The IRA is pumping money into the US economy. Meanwhile, over at the Fed, Jerome Powell is tightening the screws. It seems like fiscal and monetary policy in America are operating at cross-purposes. So is this macro-economic black magic designed to cast a love spell over the US electorate in the runup to 2024? And now, the Saudis have announced that they want to take oil back up to hundred dollars a barrel. Is their proposed spike a counter-spell to blast Biden out of the Beltway? *** Get us on Patreon, yo... https://www.patreon.com/user?u=86737989

It’s often been accused of being a talking shop. But now, the G20 is looking increasingly like yesterday’s talking shop. With the Brics having stolen their thunder two weeks back, is this week’s G20 meeting about as relevant as an Eagles reunion tour? The Chinese are being modest again. It took a teardown of the new Huawei phone to reveal the most alarming tech news of the year. The company has busted the chip sanctions, and successfully made ​​their own 5G model. Say hello to the Kirin 9000. Don’t you know there’s a war on? A shock report says that the US treasury is running a deficit as big as any in war time. Eight per cent of GDP. Two trillion dollars. But don’t worry - unemployment is the lowest since the 1960s. When none of the metrics make sense any more, is America entering its Brezhnev era? *** If you want to get us on Patreon for the Premium Episodes now up, and going forward, subscribe at: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=86737989

This week, we launch our first premium episode.It's a deep - and lengthy - consideration of two of populism's big challengers. Javier Milei - who now looks set to win the Argentinian presidential election. And Vivek Ramaswamy - who may even come second to Trump. *** To listen beyond this teaser, just jump over to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=86737989Sign up for the 5 bucks tier. And stick the secret RSS feed in your podcast player of choice.

This week, the lads are kicking back against the recent pervasive narrative in the financial press: that China is on the verge of a big wobble or recession. As they show, most of the China hawks are high on their own supply in an oriental Copium den. The biggest news of the week is the BRICS summit in Johannesburg. With plans to expand way beyond the famous five, are we witnessing the birth of The Global South as a political force, akin to the EU? Is this the moment when a new kind of regionalism comes roaring back? Finally, Andrew Collingwood has been looking into the US property market - and he doesn't like what he sees. With San Francisco visibly failing, now 160 financial companies have departed from high-tax high-crime New York. What becomes of big city America's decade-long property bubble now that the party appears to be over? *** Next week we launch our first PREMIUM PATREON EPISODE. And it promises to be the best thing since someone put fairy lights on the wheel. You can sign up on Patreon to hear the lads chew over the new wave of mega-ultra-populism embodied by Vivek Ramaswamy and Javier Milei. Don't be an Uncool Virgin Basic Subscriber. Become a Swinging Chad of Premium Multipolarity. Act now! https://www.patreon.com/user/posts?u=86737989