Russia has no intention of canceling its embargo on food products from countries that imposed sanctions on Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich says. “We are not planning to cancel the food embargo so far,” said Dvorkovich at the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum on Saturday. The deputy premier added that Russian authorities are instead discussing the reduction of... 

A study by the International Monetary Fund tracked three decades of income and found that as unionization declined, the wealth of the richest 10 percent in advanced countries showed a continuous increase. More specifically, the study’s authors found that when researching income levels during the period of 1980-2010, the decline in unionization explained about half of the rise in incomes for the... 

Earlier this week John Williams warned that hyperinflation will begin to appear in America sometime in 2015. He noted that, though the dollar is currently strong compared to other fiat money, signs that a currency collapse is coming will begin with the sell-off of the U.S. dollar. It’s a known fact that the Russians and Chinese have already begun divesting themselves of dollar dependency by implementing... 

Ukraine has agreed to increase the cost of gas to consumer by 280 percent, and 66 percent for heating, as part of the IMF terms for getting extra financial aid, says Valery Gontareva the head of the National Bank of Ukraine. “From now on, in accordance with our joint program with the IMF, the tariffs will see rather a sharp increase of 280 percent for gas and about 66 percent for heat,”... 

The Russian State Duma has ratified the $100 billion BRICS bank that’ll serve as a pool of money for infrastructure projects in Russia, Brazil, India, China and South Africa, and challenge the dominance of the Western-led World Bank and the IMF. The New Development Bank is expected to start fully functioning by the end of 2015, according to the Russian Finance Ministry. Russia has agreed to provide... 

The jobless rate in Australia reaches a 12-year high. Official figures show that the unemployment rate in Australia reached a 12-year high of 6.4 percent in the month of January. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday that the number of full-time employment had dropped by 28,100 last month. “The decrease in employment was driven by decreased full-time employment for both males (down... 

More than 3,000 Americans renounced their US citizenship or long-term residency in 2014, a new record, according to the US Department of Treasury. The number of US citizens who gave up their citizenship last year reached 3,415, a 14 percent increase from the 3,000, who did so in the previous year, which was also a record. Many experts believe the trend is accelerating due to the US government’s... 

A view of the community of Mimili in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands, a local Aboriginal area in northwest South Australia. The Australian government has decided to discontinue the provision of free water and electricity supplies to up to 200 indigenous communities, saying it can no longer afford the basic services, delegating it to state governments. The remote communities, located... 

German Industrial machinery maker Siemens has said it will slash 7,800 jobs worldwide as part of a restructuring plan aimed at saving almost one billion euros (USD 1.14 billion). “In a drive to streamline administrative and overhead functions, about 7,800 jobs are to be cut worldwide, including some 3,300 in Germany,” the company said in a statement released on Friday. Joe Kaeser, the... 

Debt and (not much) deleveraging, McKinsey Global Institute The entire world is in debt, huge debt… a debt of 199 trillion dollars, 18 of which is own just by America alone, but the question is, to whom do we owe such a vast unimaginable sum of money? To companies? To a small 1%? Maybe communism had it right with its economic equality after all. How did the world end up in this hellhole anyway?... 

Winter deaths are soaring across the UK . Official figures reveal that the death rate related to cold snaps in England and Wales is over 30% higher than normal for this time of year. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) some 28,800 people died in the fortnight ending January 23. ONS said the flu virus and the cold snap are the main reasons behind the recent spike in winter deaths. Elderly... 

China surpasses the US as the top destination for foreign direct investment. China has surpassed the United States as the top destination for foreign direct investment (FDI), a position held by the US for 11 years, a United Nations organization says. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recently published a report showing China had attracted USD 127.6 billion in foreign investment... 

Village of Bobodol, near Knin, in central Croatia. Croatian government have gotten creditors on board a plan to erase the debts of some 60,000 poorest citizens. The “fresh start” scheme targets less than 1 percent of the entire debt, but is hoped to boost the economy in the long-term. The unorthodox measure was voted for by the government on January 15 and comes into force on Monday. To be eligible... 

The Central Bank of Russia bought a record amount of gold in the first 11 months of 2014 spending an estimated $6.1 billion. Increasing gold reserves attempts to reduce dependence on the dollar amid geopolitical tension, Mark O’Byrne of GoldCore, told RT. Russia’s gold purchases accounted for a third of the world’s total of 461 tons, according to research by Thomson Reuters GFMS (Gold Fields... 

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. Greece hasn’t outright asked Russia for a loan, but Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Moscow wouldn’t rule it out. His statement comes days after Greece openly opposed further economic sanctions against Russia. “Well, we can imagine any situation, so if such [a] petition is submitted to the Russian government, we will definitely consider...