More than just costs are a concern at Barrick Gold’s $8.5B Pascua-Lama megamine

Standing on a precipice 5,200 metres above sea level, the air is thin and the vistas are long. Just breathing is difficult at this altitude, with a howling wind disturbing the utter, majestic silence of the snow-capped Andes mountains, threatening to blow you over the edge. You’d think you were alone at the top of the world.

The one chart about oil's future everyone should see

When people read about a long-term forecast of world oil supply--say, out to 2030--they often believe that the forecasters are merely incorporating our knowledge of existing fields and figuring out how much oil can be extracted from them over the forecast period. Nothing could be further from the truth. Much of the forecast supply has not yet been discovered or has no demonstrated technology which can extract or produce it economically. In other words, such forecasts are merely guesses based on the slimmest of evidence.

credit bubble bulletin

Hotel California. "You can check out any time you like...but you can never leave"...Hotel California...The Eagles 

Treasury Yields Below Inflation May Last Years: Chart of the Day

Investors in Treasury securities will have to get used to yields lower than the U.S. inflation rate, according to Andrew Garthwaite, a global strategist at Credit Suisse Group AG.

Santelli's 'Republic, for Which it Stands'

Santelli's republic

World risks fresh credit bubble, Switzerland's BIS warns

Asset prices across the world have risen to heady levels not seen since the credit boom five years ago and may be losing touch with economic reality yet again, the Bank for International Settlements has warned.

Shadow banking worries limit China’s rebound

China's industrial output rebounded sharply last month and retail sales gathered speed, boosting hopes that Asia’s powerhouse economy has finally come back to life.

Mario Monti's exit is only way to save Italy

Italy has only one serious economic problem. It is in the wrong currency.

Europe clings to scorched-earth ideology as depression deepens

Like the generals of the First World War, Europe’s leaders seem determined to send wave after wave of their youth into the barbed wire of tight money, bank deleveraging, and fiscal austerity a l’outrance.

The world's commodity supercycle is far from dead

Great resource booms usually end abruptly, catching almost everybody by surprise.

Germany displaces China as US Treasury's currency villain

The US Treasury has issued a damning criticism of Germany’s chronic trade surplus in its annual report on worldwide exchange rate abuse, although it stopped short of labelling the country a currency manipulator.

China shakes off hard landing by reverting to bad old ways

China's gauge of manufacturing industry jumped to a seven-month high last month in the latest sign that Asia's powerhouse is springing back to life.

Hi-tech expansion drives China's second boom in the hinterland

By the end of this year a fifth of all computers in the world will be manufactured in Chengdu, the ancient Sichuan capital of western China.

China's 'Go West' boom offers bonanza for British banks

Rarely have British banks, insurers, and financial firms been offered such tempting fruit on a platter, if they are willing to take the plunge in China’s western hinterland.

US Conference Board fears Brics miracle over as world faces decade-long slump

The catch-up boom in China, India, Brazil is largely over and will be followed by a drastic slowdown over the next decade, according to a grim report by America’s top forecasting body.

French economy buckles as car sales collapse

France’s industrial woes deepened last month as car sales crashed 19pc and French brands lost market share at an dramatic pace, raising fears of a serious economic crisis next year once austerity hits.

Greek deal frays as IMF threatens walk-out on debt buy-back impasse

The eurozone's debt relief plan for Greece has hit serious trouble within days as banks and pension funds balk at fresh losses, raising fears that the package could unravel before a deadline in mid-December.

Merkel's day of reckoning as taxpayer haircut on Greece looms

Germany, Holland, and the creditor states of northern Europe have not lost a single cent on eurozone rescue packages, so far.

1930s medicine pushes Europe back into double-dip recession

The eurozone has relapsed into double-dip recession as the austerity shock in the Mediterranean region spreads to the core countries of the north.

Angela Merkel sticks to austerity script in Portugal as revolt builds

German Chancellor Angela Merkel braved hostile crowds in Portugal on Monday to show unflinching support for the country’s austerity ordeal and plead for patience as social cohesion frays.