Forbes: Venezuela's Latest Lurch Into Insanity

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Venezuela just lurched from the absurd into the insane.

While the country suffers the brutal effects of hyperinflation, its socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, just mandated that the country's banks now must accept a certain type of cryptocurrency.

It's hard to know how that will help ease its economic crisis. Read more here.

Middle East Eye: Uncertainty around Aramco IPO shows Saudi dysfunction

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The apparent delay in the sale of Saudi Arabia's mammoth-sized oil firm Aramco is a symptom of dysfunctional government, analysts say. 

It is just one example of bizarreness emanating from the kingdom, which says it wants to unhook its economy from oil dependence.

Earlier this month, a slew of conflicting reports broke claiming that the initial public offering (IPO) of the state-owned oil company was either off or delayed. Read more here.

Forbes: Turkey To Face Brutal Credit Crunch

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Not only is Turkey suffering a currency crisis it is now headed for a brutal credit crunch, according to new research. Read more here.

Korn Ferry: Greece-- One Down, Still Many More to Go

Things haven’t been great for Greece. Its people have been subject to crushing cutbacks in civil services and a troubled economy for nearly a decade. And while this week brought good news—the country successfully completed an emergency bailout loan program—leaders there face the daunting task of reinvigorating the nation’s people and economy. “You have to win hearts and minds,” says Kirsta Anderson, the London-based global solutions leader for Korn Ferry’s Culture Transformation practice. Read more here.

BBC World News: Is Globalization Over?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

BBC interview with David Lubin (Citigroup) and me a few days ago preceded by a report from the U.S. Interview starts around 2.49 minutes into the video.

Forbes: 9 Things You Need To Know About Turkey

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Turkey is in a mess.

Its currency is in a tailspin and inflation is out of control.

There really is a lot going on so here are some important things to know.

Forbes: How Trumponomics Torpedoed Gold Prices

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Gold's not been having a good year, and you can lay the blame at the door of Trumponomics. Read more here.