John Loeffler: February 15, 2016

When signs converge ahead of a looming storm, what do we need most to get us through? In this week’s boralogue, John compares today’s portents with those facing our nation in the early 1930s. Sprawling bureaucracy, executive orders, and taking from one group to give to another are not new concepts. People can easily become depressed when faced with such as these. What they need is hope. Not hopey changey slogans, but real hope that comes from the Lord Himself. Slow economic growth and questionable central bank policies have driven global stock markets down this week. We welcome to the show Jim Puplava (www.financialsense.com), President of Puplava Financial Services, who discusses how the U.S. market is behaving versus Europe, Japan, and China; the dangers of negative interest rates; and what we actually need to improve our economy. Russia, with its tentacles spread across the global chessboard, is raising eyebrows in Europe and the Middle East. Andrew Kuchins (www.ceres.georgetown.edu), East European expert at Georgetown University, examines Russia’s economy in light of low oil prices, and the resultant increase in military strategy in Syria and Ukraine. It’s been 50 years since the papal encyclical Nostra Aetate exhibited the Catholic Church’s view on Jews and the State of Israel. Was its implementation successful or did it fail? Susan Warner (www.israelolivetree.org), Founder of Olive Tree Ministries, rejoins us to analyze the effects of the document and asks whether current actions by the Church promote or discourage anti-Semitism. John’s quote of the week: “People need hope. Hope is the expectation of a purpose and good things in the future even when things look bleak…. Christians have hope and we need to give that hope to other people…. We need to shine in the midst of this.” As always, join us online for our Section 6 intelligence briefing featuring analysis by John on important stories highlighting emerging geopolitical trends around the world.