by Michael Wilkerson | Aug 9, 2026 | Blog Articles, China, Finance, Geopolitics, Germany, Iran, NATO, Oil, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, Trump Administration, Ukraine, USA, War
The fact that China is America’s greatest geostrategic challenge is now so obvious as to have become cliché. Yet over the past five years, the United States has expended great effort and astronomical sums of resources—not to mention deficit spending—on two potentially...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 31, 2025 | Banks, Blog Articles, BRICS, China, Economy, Finance, Geopolitics, Gold, Inflation, Monetary System, Russia, Sanctions, Trade, Ukraine
2025 was an extraordinary year for precious metals. Gold, silver and platinum each outperformed other asset classes, including equities, Bitcoin (2024’s best performer) and even indexes tracking artificial intelligence (“AI”), one of 2025’s favorite investment themes....
by Michael Wilkerson | Jul 3, 2025 | Blog Articles, Geopolitics, Historical, Iran, Islam, Israel, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, Terrorism, Trump Administration, USA, War
For over 45 years, the people of Iran have been under the oppressive boot of the radical Islamic clerics who took over the country in 1979. The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in power since the death of the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, has continued his...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 29, 2025 | Africa, Banks, Bitcoin, Blog Articles, CBDCs, Crypto, Finance, Inflation, Monetary System, Sanctions, Technology
It used to be that if you lived in a remote village in Africa, or for that matter, Southeast Asia, Latin America, or even behind the Berlin Wall in Eastern Europe, you had desire and need for U.S. dollars, but no easy way to access them. You couldn’t readily exchange...
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 | Jan 21, 2025 | Africa, Blog Articles, Economy, Finance, Inflation, Russia, Sanctions, Technology
Lab-grown diamonds are cannibalizing the overpriced luxury market Something strange has been happening in the diamond market in recent years. In an inflationary period where other “store of value” commodities such as gold and silver have been appreciating in value,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 29, 2024 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, CBDCs, China, Crypto, Economy, Elections, Finance, Geopolitics, Iran, Monetary System, Russia, Sanctions, Technology, Trump Administration, USA
When then Presidential Candidate Donald J. Trump pivoted in 2024 from crypto-skeptic to arch crypto-advocate, he successfully won over an industry of potential voters that, for the most part, hadn’t previously been active in politics or, in many cases, even voted at...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 8, 2024 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Geopolitics, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, Terrorism, Ukraine, USA, War
In the 2002 Hollywood thriller The Sum of All Fears (based on the 1991 Tom Clancy novel of the same name), protagonist Jack Ryan (played by a young Ben Affleck) races the clock to save the world from nuclear war. Ryan, a CIA analyst more interested in getting to the...
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 | Oct 28, 2024 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Covid-19, Disinformation, Economy, Elections, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, USA
Could we witness something unprecedented which derails November’s vote? The 2024 Presidential elections are days away. Early voting has already started in many states. On Sunday night, GOP nominee and former US President Donald J. Trump spoke to a full house of over...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 13, 2024 | Africa, Blog Articles, BRICS, CBDCs, China, Economy, Finance, Geopolitics, Monetary System, Russia, Sanctions, USA
Will the gold-backed UNIT Challenge U.S. Dollar Dominance? Later this month, Russia will host the sixteenth BRICS Summit, bringing together its member countries for Head of State level discussions on trade, monetary policy, security, and other matters. This capstone...
by Michael Wilkerson | Sep 11, 2024 | Banks, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Covid-19, Economy, Finance, Inflation, Policy, Sanctions, Tariffs, Technology, USA
With equity markets, real estate, and other financial asset values at or near all-time highs, that small minority of citizens which primarily benefit from the Wall Street economy have never been more well-off in financial terms, at least on paper. On the other hand,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jul 23, 2024 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Election 2020, Elections, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, Terrorism, USA
When one pulls on a loose strand of cloth, one never knows where it will lead or how much of the entire fabric will unravel. So it seems to be going with the official narrative of the attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump. It is coming undone,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jun 22, 2024 | Banks, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Covid-19, Economy, Finance, Inflation, Iran, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, USA
Gross domestic product is the yardstick of economic activity. U.S. GDP growth has been decelerating for three quarters. The revised first quarter figures showed only 1.3 percent real (i.e., after inflation) GDP growth. Expectations for the remainder of the year are...
by Michael Wilkerson | Apr 17, 2024 | Banks, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Crypto, Economy, Finance, Geopolitics, Hamas, Inflation, Iran, Israel, Monetary System, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, Ukraine, USA, War
On Friday (April 12), intraday prices for gold hit an all-time high of $2,445 per ounce before closing the day at $2,360. For a normally sleepy asset, gold’s ten percent rise in three weeks is remarkable. Gold is up 14 percent year-to-date, but most of the price...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 25, 2024 | Banks, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Crypto, Finance, Monetary System, Politics, Sanctions, USA
When a powerful interest holds a profitably monopoly, it will fight tooth and nail to defend it. So, it is no surprise that the Biden administration and its allies have gone on the offense against the nascent cryptocurrency industry though a coordinated effort of...
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 | Jan 23, 2024 | Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Economy, Finance, Geopolitics, Inflation, Monetary System, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, USA, War
While the United States is ostensibly not at war with anyone, our government is spending taxpayers’ money as if it were. This year, the budget for the U.S. Department of Defense is $844 billion. The U.S. spends nearly three times more on defense than does China and...
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 20, 2023 | Antichrist, Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Hamas, Iran, Islam, Israel, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, Terrorism, USA, War
Image credit: © Oliver Schopf, www.oliverschopf.com Iran’s official policy is the elimination of the Jewish state of Israel, and the hard-liners are determined to develop nuclear weapons capabilities to achieve it. The United States needs to reconsider its approach to...
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 | Oct 19, 2023 | Africa, Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Russia, Sanctions, USA, War
The United States needs to get serious about the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its primary geopolitical tool, the BRI. This week China hosts its third international conference focused on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the development...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 15, 2023 | Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Finance, Hamas, Iran, Islam, Israel, Politics, Sanctions, Terrorism, USA, War
In the summer of 1914, none of the Great Powers realized that they were sleepwalking towards disaster. A singular regional event, the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by a radicalized Serbian nationalist, would prove to be the proverbial spark...
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 | 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 19, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Covid-19, Crypto, Finance, Inflation, Sanctions, USA
One of the most important disciplines in investing, whether personally or professionally, is to look back on investments made and take stock not just of how they performed, but why. What decision-making or other avoidable errors led to bad outcomes? What lessons can...
by Michael Wilkerson | Feb 14, 2023 | Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Politics, Sanctions, Ukraine, USA, War
I watch a lot of French news and other media in my ongoing and laborious attempt to learn a new language at midlife. I’ve learned something interesting in the process. While France and the United States are both democracies that ostensibly support freedom of speech,...
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 14, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, CBDCs, China, Crypto, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Sanctions, Stormwall Book, USA, Why America Matters Book
We’re at a turning point in history. This could be said of many things, but it is certainly true of the modern monetary system. Like most transitions in life and in history, the monetary system’s transformation is occurring slowly, then suddenly, in that the changes...
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 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 | 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 | Jul 16, 2022 | Africa, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Russia, Sanctions, Stormwall Book, Tariffs, Ukraine, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
Lightning strikes above the Manhattan skyline after a summer storm in New York in 2014. (Photo credit: Reuters) Article published on July 15, 2022 by Bryan Jung of The Epoch Times To read the entire article, please CLICK HERE. War sanctions against Russia,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 19, 2020 | Blog Articles, Russia, Sanctions
As soon as news broke on Thursday morning of a cyber-attack against the US Treasury and other institutions, it was quickly asserted and widely disseminated by the media that this attack came from Putin’s Russia. This claim has been repeated ad nauseam without...