by Michael Wilkerson | Aug 21, 2026 | Artificial Intelligence, Banks, Blog Articles, Economy, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Markets, Trade, USA
The current AI-related bubble in financial assets increasingly echoes warning signs from the global financial crisis (GFC), precipitated by excesses in residential housing, and the spectacular collapse of Enron, “the world’s leading energy company,” whose executives...
by Michael Wilkerson | May 18, 2026 | Banks, Blog Articles, Economy, Energy, Finance, Geopolitics, Inflation, Iran, Markets, Oil, Politics, Trump Administration, USA, War
If the economy were represented by a dashboard, the warning lights have been switching on one by one over the past month. Each week brings not an alarm announcing an emergency, but discrete indicators quietly turning from green or yellow to red across multiple areas...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 31, 2026 | Blog Articles, China, Economy, Energy, Inflation, Iran, Markets, Oil, Trump Administration, USA, War
Prices for retail diesel and gas have each risen by over one-third ($1.30+ and $1.00 per gallon, respectively) since the launch of Epic Fury. Americans learned in the 1970s that Middle East conflict means energy pain, and that lesson has been reinforced through every...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 28, 2026 | Blog Articles, China, Economy, Energy, Finance, Geopolitics, Inflation, Iran, Markets, Oil, Qatar, Russia, Trade, Trump Administration, Ukraine, USA, War
And How the United States and Russia May Benefit The global natural gas market is now in disarray, and this negatively affects everything in the modern economy … from agriculture to transportation to semiconductor manufacturing and beyond. The market did not just...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 6, 2026 | Armed Forces, Blog Articles, Economy, Energy, Finance, Geopolitics, Germany, Gold, Healthcare, Historical, Inflation, Iran, Monetary System, Oil, Politics, Trump Administration, USA, War
A wartime economy is no longer a hypothetical future scenario to contemplate. It has already arrived. This week, with U.S. forces launching what the Trump administration labeled “Epic Fury” against Iran, the question is no longer whether war will affect markets and...
by Michael Wilkerson | Nov 8, 2025 | Artificial Intelligence, Blog Articles, China, Crypto, Economy, Energy, Finance, Geopolitics, Russia, Technology, Trump Administration, USA, War
It is difficult to overstate the sea change that the world is facing as a result of the rapid acceleration of advanced computing technologies and their applications—especially in AI, robotics, quantum computing, and micro-nuclear power. Thanks to a generation of human...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 27, 2025 | Blog Articles, Economy, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Tariffs, Trade, Trump Administration, USA
This week’s release of September’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), a barometer of U.S. inflation, confirmed that inflation persists across the economy. Both CPI and Core CPI (which excludes food and energy prices), advanced by three percent on an annual basis. This was...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 3, 2025 | Artificial Intelligence, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Economy, Education, Energy, Finance, Geopolitics, Immigration, Inflation, Politics, Technology, Trump Administration, Ukraine, USA, War
America is fighting a war on three fronts. The first is primarily external; a conflict waged against known foreign adversaries based outside our borders. The second front is against the domestic enemies of our nation, actors actively working as a fifth column within...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 19, 2025 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Economy, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Oil, Sanctions, Tariffs, Trump Administration, Ukraine
Energy prices are falling, but perhaps for the wrong reasons U.S. inflation cooled in February, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rising less than expected at 2.8 percent. Excluding food and energy, Core CPI rose by 3.1 percent, as services costs such as shelter and...
by Michael Wilkerson | Feb 22, 2025 | Banks, Bitcoin, Blog Articles, BRICS, CBDCs, China, Crypto, Economy, Energy, Finance, Geopolitics, Inflation, Tariffs, Trump Administration
Precious metals prices are on the move 2025 has started off with a golden hue. Gold and silver have been among the best performing asset classes in 2025, up 12% and 14%, respectively, year-to-date. Over the past two months, these precious metals have outperformed...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 21, 2024 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Economy, Energy, Finance, Geopolitics, USA
China has upped the ante in the trade war with the U.S. by imposing stringent export restrictions on critical minerals essential to U.S. semiconductor and defense industries. Following the U.S. Department of Commerce’s announcement earlier this month of additional...
by Michael Wilkerson | Nov 14, 2024 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Covid-19, Crypto, Disinformation, Economy, Elections, Energy, Finance, Geopolitics, Inflation, Iran, Israel, Monetary System, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, Tariffs, Technology, Ukraine, USA, War
image credit: Getty Images Following Donald J. Trump’s election victory last week, the President-elect and his transition team have announced multiple cabinet-level and other appointments, outline both domestic and foreign policies, and set the stage for a return to...
by Michael Wilkerson | Sep 28, 2024 | Banks, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Covid-19, Economy, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Tariffs, USA
U.S. Net International Investment Position Hits All-time Low What is a rich country? In relative financial terms, it is a country whose net investment position is positive. The net investment position reflects how much one country owns of all other countries’ assets,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 20, 2024 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Covid-19, Economy, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Monetary System, Politics, USA
The last few days have produced a bumper crop of disappointing news on inflation. First, we saw that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew at 0.4 percent in February, the highest monthly increase since September of last year, resulting in a higher than expected 3.2...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jan 30, 2024 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Economy, Energy, Finance, Geopolitics, Inflation, Iran, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, USA
In a little noticed statement slipped out last Friday, the Biden administration pulled another plank out from under America’s energy security and future prosperity. Declaring the climate crisis “the existential threat of our time,” President Biden announced that his...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 23, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Crypto, Economy, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Monetary System, Politics, USA
2023 caught the experts by surprise. Economists and market analysts alike started the year on a pessimistic note, anticipating recession, market declines, and overall weakness in the face of inflation and high interest rates. Yet the much anticipated recession never...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 11, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Crypto, Economy, Energy, Finance, Geopolitics, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, Technology, USA
Asking the CEOs of the U.S.’s largest TBTF banks their opinion on crypto was like asking the wolves to vote on whether the fences should be removed from around the sheepfold. The Biden administration continues to work tirelessly to undermine the U.S.’s energy...
by Michael Wilkerson | Nov 2, 2023 | Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Russia, Sanctions, USA, War
The Biden administration has fallen into a dangerous trap. While some of the catastrophes and pits fallen into by the Biden administration have been self-made, this particular trap has been intentionally laid by America’s primary geopolitical and economic adversary....
by Michael Wilkerson | Sep 20, 2023 | Africa, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, BRICS, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Sanctions, USA
Much of the commentary on the motives behind the expansion of the BRICS trading alliance announced last month has been centered on the anti-American bias of the coalition. Specifically, that behind the smiley-faced façade of an ostensible economic cooperation...
by Michael Wilkerson | Sep 13, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Sanctions, USA
Anyone who filled up their gas tank in the last couple of months could see this coming. Having hit a low in December 2022, U.S. retail gas prices have been on the rise ever since. The increase started slowly, then in August, more rapidly. This week, this average U.S....
by Michael Wilkerson | Aug 24, 2023 | Blog Articles, Economy, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Sanctions
When in 2018 then U.S. President Donald J. Trump warned Germany’s political leadership of the dangers their energy policies posed for the future of their nation, he was scornfully mocked and laughed at by the arrogant and self-satisfied representatives of the European...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jul 18, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA
There was much rejoicing last week as June’s headline CPI came in at three percent, the lowest level of overall price level growth since March 2021. Financial media declared that the U.S. has entered “disinflation mode” and that the season of post-pandemic inflation...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jul 5, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, BRICS, Crypto, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA
Bank failures, an AI-led bull market, persistent inflation, Euro area recession, France engulfed in riots, and perhaps the biggest U.S. presidential corruption scandal ever. Looking back on the first half of 2023, it is hard to believe the extraordinary events and...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jun 22, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA
On the longest day of the year, the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services welcomed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to address its concerns around inflation and weakness in the U.S. economy. Powell warned Congress that the fight against inflation is far...
by Michael Wilkerson | May 11, 2023 | Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, USA
This morning’s release of the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, showing annual inflation had fallen slightly from 5.0 percent in March to 4.9 percent in April, was an unpleasant reminder that price inflation, while down from last year’s highs above nine percent,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Apr 4, 2023 | Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, BRICS, China, Covid-19, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Sanctions, Tariffs, Ukraine, USA, War
After one year, ten increasingly stringent rounds, and over 14,500 specific sanctions imposed on Russian individuals, companies, and institutions, the U.S. led sanctions regime appears to be hurting Western economic and geostrategic interests as much or more than...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 3, 2023 | Africa, Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, Ukraine, War
Following the launch of Russia’s “special military operation” and invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Joe Biden and EU leaders confidently asserted that Western sanctions would bring the Russian economy to its knees. A primary stated objective of sanctions was...
by Michael Wilkerson | Feb 15, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Florida, Politics, USA
The rapid rise and near dominance of the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) agenda in corporate board rooms and executive suites is one of the more remarkable business transformations of the twenty-first century. ESG requires that directors and managers look...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jan 26, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Sanctions
There have been many sighs of relief exhaled across the United States in recent days as inflation continues to slow. New data shows that Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation has declined for the sixth month in a row, down from 9.1 percent in June 2022 to 6.5 percent...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jan 5, 2023 | Africa, Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, BRICS, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Sanctions, Stormwall Book, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
2022 was a year of surprises: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, persistent inflation fueled by energy costs, the collapse of FTX and crypto markets, the revelations of the Twitter Files, and one of the worst equity markets in recent history, to name but a few. 2023 is...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 17, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, USA, Why America Matters Book
As Americans anticipate the arrival of the holidays, it appears that many households may struggle to fill their family’s Christmas stockings this year. A new poll released on Thursday reveals that 82 percent of American likely-voter respondents have been negatively...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 16, 2022 | Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, Ukraine, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
With each passing day, week, and month, the U.S. is being drawn further and further into direct military conflict with Russia. We’re already engaged in a proxy war; and we are now tempting the dogs of war to slip off the leash well beyond our ability to control them....
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 5, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA, Why America Matters Book
Americans are under increasing financial pressure, and the stress is beginning to show across multiple fronts. For well over a year now, inflation has ravaged Americans’ wallets. Despite October’s slightly lower CPI rate of 7.7 percent vs. 8.2 percent in September,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Nov 10, 2022 | Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Sanctions, Ukraine, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
While I wish it were otherwise, the unpleasant fact is that Ukraine cannot win the war against Russia. The Biden administration and the leaders of the UK and the European Union know this full well. The question is, how much longer will they persist in deceiving the...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 28, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, USA, Why America Matters Book
As the Biden administration continues to drain the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a dangerous gamble to suppress gas prices and win votes before the mid-term elections, another fuel crisis is brewing. While gasoline prices have indeed come down from this summer’s...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 20, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, USA, Why America Matters Book
September’s CPI inflation result came in above expectations at 8.2 percent, marking the seventh straight month of consumer inflation above eight percent. Gone is any talk from U.S. Treasury or Federal Reserve officials of price inflation being “transitory.” If there...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 10, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, USA, Why America Matters Book
Image credit: American Greatness Gas prices are on the rise. Here’s why. Iran and Saudi Arabia have been implacable foes for centuries. Their competing brands of Islam get on no better than Brad and Angelina, and both nations contend for the same economic and...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 4, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
Image credit: American Greatness Who sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea, near the Danish island of Bornholm? The United States and Europe, along with Ukraine, insist it was Russia, while Russia and others point the finger straight back at the...
by Michael Wilkerson | Sep 18, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Covid-19, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, Student Loans, USA, Why America Matters Book
If you read no further than this first paragraph, in which I ask the rhetorical question, “Who pays?”—that is to say, who pays for the various Biden administration programs, whether it be student debt forgiveness, the Green New Deal, inflation, aid to Ukraine, or...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jul 20, 2022 | Africa, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, USA, Why America Matters Book
The world is facing a looming food crisis. The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, said at the end of June 2022, “There is a real risk that multiple famines will be declared in 2022. And 2023 could be even worse.” Even before this crisis, around...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jun 15, 2022 | Africa, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Stormwall Book, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
If there is anything upon which the Western consensus has agreed in recent months, it is that the Russian government is evil and must be stopped. America’s preferred way of arresting Russian efforts has been the use of economic sanctions against Russian President...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jun 10, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Stormwall Book, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
The commodities traders sitting in Geneva and Houston who buy and sell oil and gas for their industrial clients have a stern message for us. We haven’t yet seen the worse of the fuel crisis. Bottlenecks will hit the supply chain, and prices will go much higher, later...
by Michael Wilkerson | Apr 12, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Geopolitics, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, USA
In Aesop’s fable, a foolish grasshopper ignores the warnings from a prudent ant that the bountiful crop of summer food will disappear once winter arrives. The grasshopper plays and feasts while the ant labors and stores up reserves. When winter eventually arrives, the...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 26, 2021 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Covid-19, Energy, Inflation, Vaccines, Why America Matters Book
Photo by Sabina Music Rich on Unsplash “The inflation we’re experiencing is not transitory. It’s here to stay, and its effects will be horrific.” The inflation we’re experiencing is not transitory. It’s here to stay, and its effects will be horrific....
by Michael Wilkerson | May 10, 2021 | Blog Articles, Energy
A warm war continues against the United States US critical infrastructure has once again come under state-sponsored cyberattack. This reveals another facet of what I described in Stormwall as an imminent danger from antagonistic states seeking to undermine our economy...
by Michael Wilkerson | Feb 22, 2021 | Blog Articles, Energy
It was less than a month ago, but well before the blizzard that savaged Texas’s electrical grid, when I wrote that the Biden Administration’s efforts to cancel Keystone XL were: … symptomatic of a greater folly. For the first time in decades, America finally regained...