On July 21, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan spoke in an interview with Turkey’s ATV television, and confirmed that his office had cut off direct communications with President Obama, and in fact, were no longer even answering calls received from the White House. See: http://www.examiner.com/article/u-s-ally-cuts-off-communications-with-obama-and-seeks-new-trade-outside-dollar
It would appear the BRICS countries are gaining in their quest to move past the dollar-based global trade environment. This will not bode well for those who are holding dollar-denominated assets. If you have not moved toward a wealth preservation orientation, you might want to consider it. If you are highly leveraged with much debt, you might want to move toward a “no debt” life. How many more countries will join them? Before long we will call them BRICSTGFBSPGA…
In the 1980’s, the Southwest U.S. suffered a deflationary recession due to the oil bust. Texas, Oklahoma, and other surrounding states saw real estate prices drop up to 50%. I can recall looking at houses and being concerned that if we bought a house, the value could drop further and we would be “upside down” on the loan by tens of thousand of dollars. That is the negative side of leverage. Auto buyers know all too well how that can happen.
Stronger sanctions against Russia will further alienate Germany. The German economy has many economic ties to Russia and Germany has the greatest influence in the European Union. The U.S. is pushing Germany to participate in stronger sanctions. This may backfire.
If you try to control everyone and everything, you end up controlling nothing. The U.S. may have the strongest military but it doesn’t have unlimited resources. Throughout history, this path has always ended up in failure. Overextension of reach only serves to shorten the duration of control.
As I continually write, the solution to today’s complex economic problems can only be solved by Our Heavenly Father. Mankind has painted itself into a box. Structure has brought us to servitude. Only Our Heavenly Father can set us free. Think about it.