All roads this week point towards the April US core PCE print on Friday which in MoM terms is expected to edge down from +0.32% to +0.26%, which would be the lowest monthly increase of 2024. As DB’s Jim Reid notes, you don’t need an economist to tell you how well scrutinized this data will be and how important it is to the Fed. As part of the same release, personal income (+0.4% forecast vs. +0.5% previously) and consumption (+0.2% vs. +0.8%) will likely come in a little softer.

Back to inflation, and the preliminary May CPIs are out in Germany tomorrow, and in France, Italy and the Eurozone on Friday. DB’s European economists see this coming in at + 2.55% (+2.4% in April) for headline and +2.84% (+2.66% April) for core inflation. At the start of 2024, euro area inflation avoided the sizeable upside surprises we saw in the US, but the last print in April did see core inflation slightly stronger than expected. It would be a tall order for the data to derail the strongly signaled ECB cut next week but it could have important implications for the ECB’s signal beyond this. We will also have the latest inflation expectations from the ECB consumer expectations survey for April today. A DB survey suggests that median medium-term expectations are likely to stay stable at 2.5%. Finally on inflation, Tokyo CPI is also out on Friday.

Elsewhere, in the US we have consumer confidence today, the Fed Beige Book tomorrow, the second reading of GDP and the Trade Balance on Thursday with the Chicago PMI alongside the personal spending and income report (alongside core PCE) on Friday. In China, May’s PMIs on Friday will be the highlight. You can see the full day-by-day week ahead at the end including all the main central bank speakers highlighted too.

In what is a busy busy year for elections, this week we have the South African election tomorrow, the last leg of the Indian elections on Saturday and the Mexican equivalent on Sunday. Note it’s also less than two weeks until the European Parliamentary elections.

Courtesy of DB, here is a day-by-day calendar of events

Tuesday May 28

• Data : US Q1 house price purchase index, March FHFA house price index, May Conference Board consumer confidence index, Dallas Fed manufacturing activity, Japan April PPI services, Germany April wholesale price index, Canada April industrial product price index, raw materials price index
• Central banks : Fed’s Mester, Cook and Kashkari speak, ECB’s consumer expectations survey, ECB’s Knot and Schnabel speak, BoE’s Haskel speaks
• Earnings : Cava
• Auctions : US 2-yr Notes ($69bn), 5yr Notes ($70bn)

Wednesday May 29

• Data : US May Richmond Fed manufacturing index and business conditions, Dallas Fed services activity, Japan May consumer confidence index, Germany June GfK consumer confidence, May CPI, France May consumer confidence, Italy May consumer confidence index, manufacturing confidence, economic sentiment, Eurozone April M3
• Central banks : Fed’s Beige Book, Williams speaks, BoJ’s Adachi speaks, ECB’s Villeroy speaks
• Earnings : Salesforce, Telecom Italia
• Auctions : US 2-yr FRNs (reopening, $28bn), 7-yr Notes ($44bn)

Thursday May 30

• Data : US April advance goods trade balance, wholesale inventories, retail inventories, pending home sales, initial jobless claims, Italy April unemployment rate, PPI, Eurozone May services, industrial, economic confidence, April unemployment rate, Canada Q1 current account balance, Sweden and Switzerland Q1 GDP
• Central banks : Fed’s Williams, Bostic and Logan speak, BoE’s Breeden speaks
• Earnings : Dell, Marvell, Dollar General, Costco

Friday May 31

• Data : US April personal income and spending, PCE, May MNI Chicago PMI, China May PMIs, UK May Lloyds Business Barometer, April net consumer credit, M4, Japan April jobless rate, job-to-applicant ratio, industrial production, retail sales, housing starts, May Tokyo CPI, Germany April retail sales, import price index, France Q1 total payrolls, April consumer spending, PPI, May CPI, Italy May CPI, March industrial sales, Eurozone May CPI, Canada Q1 GDP
• Central banks : Fed’s Bostic speaks, ECB’s Vujcic speaks

Finally, looking at just the US, Goldman writes that the key economic data releases this week are Q1 GDP revision on Thursday and the core PCE report on Friday. There are several speaking engagements from Fed officials this week, including remarks from Governors Bowman and Cook, and Presidents Mester, Kashkari, Williams, Bostic, and Logan.

Tuesday, May 28

• 12:55 AM Cleveland Fed President Mester (FOMC voter) speaks: Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester will speak at an event hosted by the Bank of Japan in Tokyo about the effects of conventional and unconventional policy instruments. Speech text is expected. On May 16, Mester said “monetary policy is well positioned for risk management as we gather more evidence on how the economy is evolving” and that she “expected progress on inflation over time, but at a slower pace than we saw last year.”
• 12:55 AM Fed Governor Bowman speaks: Fed Governor Michelle Bowman will speak at a closed event at the Bank of Japan. Speech text is expected. On May 17, Bowman said “at its current setting, our monetary policy stance spears to be restrictive… my baseline outlook continues to be that inflation will decline further with the policy rate held steady, but I still see a number of upside inflation risks that affect my outlook.”
• 09:00 AM FHFA house price index, March (consensus +0.5%, last +1.2%)
• 09:00 AM S&P Case-Shiller 20-city home price index, March (GS +0.5%, consensus +0.30%, last +0.61%)
• 09:55 AM Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari (FOMC non-voter) speaks: Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari will give a speaker address followed by panel remarks at the Barclays-CEPR International Monetary Policy Forum in London. A Q&A is expected. On May 15, Kashkari said “we probably need to sit here for a while longer until we figure out where underlying inflation is headed before we jump to any conclusions.”
• 10:00 AM Conference Board consumer confidence, May (GS 96.4, consensus 96.0, last 97.0)
• 01:05 PM Fed Governor Cook speaks: Fed Governor Lisa Cook will speak on AI and the economy at the San Francisco Fed. A Q&A is expected. On March 25, Cook said “The path of disinflation, as expected, has been bumpy and uneven, but a careful approach to further policy adjustments can ensure that inflation will return sustainably to 2% while striving to maintain the strong labor market.”

Wednesday, May 29

• 01:45 PM New York Fed President Williams (FOMC voter) speaks: New York Fed President John Williams will join the Watertown Community Services Roundtable in Watertown, NY. On May 16, Williams said “I don’t see any indicators now telling me … there’s a reason to change the stance of monetary policy now, and I don’t expect to get that greater confidence that we need to see on the inflation progress towards a 2% goal in the very near term.”
• 02:00 PM Beige Book, June Meeting period: The Fed’s Beige Book is a summary of regional economic anecdotes from the 12 Federal Reserve districts. The Beige Book for the April/May FOMC meeting period noted that activity expanded slightly in early 2024 and that firms’ economic outlook for the remainder of the year was cautiously optimistic. Businesses reported weakness in discretionary spending due to heightened price sensitivity among consumers. Manufacturing activity declined slightly while residential construction increased slightly and home sales strengthened across most Districts. In this month’s Beige Book, we look for anecdotes related to possible turning points in regional labor markets and for further commentary on businesses’ inflation expectations over the next few months.
• 07:00 PM Atlanta Fed President Bostic (FOMC voter) speaks: Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic will speak in a moderated conversation on the economic outlook and leadership. A Q&A is expected. On May 23, Bostic said that cutting rates too soon “could spur a sort of resurgence, if you will, of economic activity that might be counterproductive to what we’re trying to accomplish. I have really taken that on board… and it might be that we have to be a little more patient and be more certain that inflation is on its way” to the 2 percent target.

Thursday, May 30

• 08:30 AM GDP, Q1 second release (GS +1.1%, consensus +1.3%, last +1.6%); Personal consumption, Q1 second release (GS +2.0%, consensus +2.2%, last +2.5%): We estimate a 0.5pp downward revision to Q1 GDP growth to +1.1% (qoq ar), reflecting downward revisions to personal consumption (-0.5pp to +2.0%) and inventory investment, the former reflecting net negative retail sales revisions as well as softer recreation details in the quarterly census survey (QSS).
• 08:30 AM Initial jobless claims, week ended May 25 (GS 215k, consensus 218k, last 215k): Continuing jobless claims, week ended May 18 (consensus 1,795k, last 1,794k)
• 08:30 AM Advance goods trade balance, April (GS -$94.0bn, consensus -$92.0bn, last -$91.8bn)
• 10:00 AM Wholesale inventories, April preliminary (consensus flat, last -0.4%)
• 10:00 AM Pending home sales, April (GS -0.6%, consensus +0.1%, last +3.4%)
• 12:05 PM New York Fed President Williams (FOMC voter) speaks: New York Fed President John Williams will speak at the Economic Club of New York. Speech text and a Q&A are expected.
• 05:00 PM Dallas Fed President Logan (FOMC non-voter) speaks: Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan will speak at an event hosted by the Borderplex Alliance in El Paso, TX. A Q&A is expected. On April 5, Logan said “to be clear, the key risk is not that inflation might rise – though monetary policymakers must always remain on guard against that outcome – but rather that inflation will stall out and fail to follow the forecast path all the way back to 2 percent in a timely way.”

Friday, May 31

• 08:30 AM Personal income, April (GS +0.2%, consensus +0.3%, last +0.5%); Personal consumption, April (GS +0.25%, consensus +0.3%, last +0.8%); PCE price index, April (GS +0.27%, consensus +0.3%, last +0.3%); PCE price index (yoy), April (GS +2.68%, consensus +2.7%, last +2.7%); Core PCE price index, April (GS +0.26%, consensus +0.2%, last +0.3%); Core PCE price index (yoy), April (GS +2.77%, consensus +2.8%, last +2.8%): We estimate personal income increased 0.2% and personal spending increased 0.25% in April. We estimate that the core PCE price index rose +0.26%, corresponding to a year-over-year rate of 2.77%. Additionally, we expect that the headline PCE price index increased by 0.27% from the prior month, corresponding to a year-over-year rate of 2.68%. Our forecast is consistent with a 0.22% increase in our trimmed core PCE measure (vs. +0.24% in March and +0.24% in February).
• 09:45 AM Chicago PMI, May (GS 41.9, consensus 40.9, last 37.9): We estimate that the Chicago PMI rose by 4pt to 41.9 in May, reflecting the rebound in US and foreign manufacturing activity.
• 06:15 PM Atlanta Fed President Bostic (FOMC voter) speaks: Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic will give the commencement speech to Augusta Technical College. Speech text is expected.

Source: DB, Goldman, BofA

According to Bloomberg, citing maritime security firm Ambrey and a US defense official, a bulk carrier flying under the Marshall Islands flag was attacked in the southern Red Sea on Tuesday. This incident occurred as Israeli forces advanced further into the south of Gazan city of Rafah. The culprits behind the maritime incident were likely Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.

The 750-foot-long Greek-owned vessel is currently taking on water and leaning to one side. The ship was targeted about 54 miles southwest of the Yemeni city of Hodeida, according to Ambrey. It was hit with three missiles. There were 80,000 tons of cargo on board, yet no information was given on what the ship was hauling. 

Vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg shows that Laax was approaching the Bab al-Mandab Strait during the attack. The ship is currently broadcasting “ARMGUARD ONBOARD” as its destination, possibly in an apparent attempt to prevent boarding. 

Bloomberg noted, “Yemen’s Houthis have not been named as the attackers but the group has carried out a series of assaults on ships transiting the waterway which is crucial to international shipping over the past few months in retaliation for Israel’s war in Gaza.”

Continuing attacks in the Red Sea are not entirely unexpected, as the Houthis often retaliate against IDF offensives in Gaza. The latest fighting in Rafah will likely trigger more attacks in the Red Sea and other critical maritime chokepoints across the Middle East.

Furthermore, the ongoing attacks on critical maritime chokepoints represent a colossal failure by the Biden administration’s Operation Prosperity Guardian. The administration is weak because it’s an election year, and it doesn’t want to push Brent crude prices above $90/bbl. 

Authored by Ven Ram, Bloomberg cross-asset strategist,

Market pricing on the European Central Bank’s rate trajectory for the year is now a lot more realistic, but still has room to mellow.

After factoring in as many as three reductions just days ago (and almost seven cuts at the start of the year), traders are now pricing in some two-and-fractional cuts, but that is still work in progress.

The ECB’s Chief Economist, Philip Lane, spoke in Dublin yesterday stating that the full impact of their unprecedented monetary-tightening campaign is yet to be felt.

“While the impact of the tightening cycle on economic activity might have reached its maximum level at the turn of this year, model-based analysis suggests that the bulk of the impact on inflation is comparatively backloaded, with substantial pass-through still expected to transpire in the period ahead,” Lane said.

The first expected reduction in June is nearly done – signed and sealed, but just waiting to be delivered.

The interesting question, though, is what happens beyond.

Will the governing council go at alternate meetings, delivering a cumulative 75 basis points of cuts for the year?

Most policymakers are unwilling to even comment on the subsequent path given uncertainty over wage growth and factors like the fighting in the Middle East.

“In deciding on the appropriate policy rate path, we will continue to follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restriction, and we are not pre-committing to a particular rate path,” Lane said.

Or will they opt for just one more beyond June – especially in the event that the Federal Reserve is constrained from easing?

Should the Fed find itself unable to loosen policy, it would be tall order to expect the ECB to reduce three times this year.

The markets are now veering around to that view, but there is still a bit of a ground to cover.

Nvidia’s massive rise in the AI era has been well-documented, but did you know that it’s currently the world’s third most valuable company?

To put the massive market cap of Nvidia into perspective, we’ve put it side by side with a collection of other major U.S. tech companies.

All figures were sourced from Companiesmarketcap.com, and are as of May 23, 2024.

Data and Takeaways

All of the numbers we used to create this graphic are included in the table below.

These figures are even more impressive when you consider that at the beginning of 2020, Nvidia was valued at a relatively tiny $145 billion.

Since then, the company has greatly surpassed other American chipmakers like Intel and AMD. This growth is due to several key factors:

• Expansion into AI and data centers: Nvidia’s chips are highly effective for AI training, making them essential for companies engaged in machine learning and generative AI

• Advancements in AI software: Nvidia has developed AI software platforms, such as CUDA-X and TensorRT, which are widely used by researchers.

• Strong financial performance: Nvidia has consistently delivered strong financial results in recent years, with substantial revenue growth.

Closing in on Apple

With Nvidia’s latest stock surge (up 13.5% over the past five days ending May 24, 2024), the company could possibly overtake Apple to become the world’s second most valuable company.

Microsoft, another major player in AI, holds the #1 spot with a market cap of $3.2 trillion.

If you enjoyed this graphic, be sure to check out this graphic that breaks down Nvidia’s revenue by product line, from 2019 to 2024.

By Jake Lloyd-Smith, Bloomberg Markets Live reporter and strategist

The global oil market is in OPEC+ walk-up mode.

That should keep prices supported this week ahead of the (now online) gaggle, which falls on June 2.

After that, price direction hinges on the immediate fallout from the meeting, plus bets about the market’s 2H trajectory.

Conventional wisdom points to an extension of the cartel’s current curbs, especially as weakening near-term timespreads suggest that physical conditions aren’t quite as tight as they have been of late.

Bloomberg’s Grant Smith, a well-seasoned OPEC+ watcher, leans that way, and that looks to be a sound call.

The existing reductions amount to ~2 million bpd, and the tap-tightening has contributed to a growing volume of unused capacity — a theme that may get an airing.

Crude’s sentiment this week will also be shaped by indications of just how strong Memorial Day weekend demand has proved to be in the US as the country embraces the start of the traditional driving season and takes to the roads (and skies).

Early signs have pointed to a solid showing, both on the highways and in the skyways.

Transportation Secretary Mayor Pete made his rounds on Face the Nation this weekend where he was both laughed at to his face by the host and suggested during the interview that increased airline turbulence is occurring as a result of climate change.

Early in the interview CBS’s Margaret Brennan called out Mayor Pete on something we wrote about just days ago: after spending more than $7 billion since 2021 on EV infrastructure, the nation has less than 10 EV chargers to show for it.

As we noted earlier this month, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed by Biden in November 2021, allocated $7.5 billion for EV charging. Of this amount, $5 billion went to states as “formula funding” for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program to establish a network of fast chargers along major highways.

Today, there’s seven chargers with a total of just 38 parking spots.

And how do you know the problem is bad if you’re a Democrat? First, it was the Washington Post calling out the lunacy. Now, it’s CBS. When pressed for an answer, Mayor Pete tried to deflect the issue, leading to an involuntary laugh by host Brennan. 

WATCH: CBS’s Margaret Brennan laughs in Pete Buttigieg’s face when he is unable to explain why only 7 or 8 electric vehicle charging stations have been built despite the Biden admin spending $7.5 BILLION to build chargers. pic.twitter.com/BmFK17Dk5O

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 26, 2024

If that wasn’t bad enough, later in the interview Mayor Pete commented that 

Speaking about the recent injuries on a Singapore Airlines flight that was met with severe turbulence, he said that the incident was “very rare,” but also that “turbulence can happen and sometimes it can happen unexpectedly.”

Then, tying the two issues together, he said: “Our climate is evolving. Our policies and our technology and our infrastructure have to evolve accordingly.”

.@SecretaryPete says an increase in flight turbulence is one of the effects of climate change that “are already upon us in terms of our transportation.”

He says the deadly turbulence on a recent Singapore Airlines flight is “very rare,” but “turbulence can happen and sometimes… pic.twitter.com/GIOvMHi7fh

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 26, 2024

“We’ve seen that in the form of everything from heat waves that shouldn’t statistically even be possible threatening to melt the cables of transit systems in the Pacific Northwest,” he continued, according to the NY Post. 

“This is all about making sure that we stay ahead of the curve, keeping aviation as safe as it is. It’s not for nothing that it became the safest form of travel in America. We’ve got to treat that not as some mission accomplished.”

He also pointed out a declining number of air traffic controllers: “We inherited about a decade of falling numbers in terms of the number of air traffic controllers in the workforce. We’ve stabilized that.” 

And finally, when pressed on the inordinate number of incidents involving Boeing aircraft, he said: “There’s an encouraging part and a concerning part. We want Boeing, and any producer in the aviation space, to have a culture of if you see something, say something.”

When asked if he thought Boeing was stifling whistleblowers, he responded: “I’m not here to make an accusation like that at this time.”

In another ominous sign of things to come, leading Western governments appear to be preparing for ‘something big’ at a moment the proxy war between Russian and NATO centered in Ukraine is escalating at uncontrollable pace.

“Rishi Sunak has vowed to introduce mandatory national service for 18-year-olds if he is re-elected, in his first major policy announcement since the start of the election campaign earlier this week,” Financial Times has reported.

Interestingly, the next line to the very same report screams Russia! as the subtext…

The move is part of what he said was an effort to provide security and opportunity in “an increasingly uncertain world”.

The plan would involve 18-year-olds working closely with the professional armed forces on a 12-month rotation or a ‘community work’ basis. 

Sunak framed it in terms of civic duty and a matter of national patriotism…

“Generations of young people have not had the opportunities or experience they deserve and there are forces trying to divide our society in this increasingly uncertain world,” he said. 

It was only in January that the head of the British army, General Sir Patrick Sanders, urged for the populace to get ready to be on a war footing with Russia:

Britain should train a “citizen army” ready to fight a war on land in the future, the head of the Army has said.

General Sir Patrick Sanders warned that an increase in reserve forces alone “would not be enough”.

He highlighted the threat from Russia and pointed to steps being taken by other European nations to put their populations on a “war footing”.

This is part of the continuing theme of Western leaders asking their populations to ‘sacrifice’ for Ukraine amid deep trepidation and uncertainty over possible bigger nuclear-armed confrontation.

And all of this is happening against the backdrop of the US and UK stymieing past and current efforts to see Moscow and Kiev sit down at the negotiating table.

British media and officials in particular have been emphasizing of late a high degree of Russian ‘interference’ and even sabotage across Europe and on British soil.

Authored by Dénes Albert via ReMix News,

While several countries are reintroducing compulsory military service, some EU politicians would welcome a uniform reintroduction across the EU.

Hungarian news portal Divány has rounded up the countries that have reintroduced conscription.

Professional armies are understaffed across the continent, as more and more European countries are recognizing. In recent weeks, not only EU leaders but also the leadership of the German Christian Democratic Party has brought up the idea of reintroducing compulsory military service.

At its party congress at the beginning of May, the CDU adopted a proposal that young people should be obliged to serve for a certain period either in the army or the social sector. Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party, made a similar statement recently, saying he would extend conscription to the whole continent.

Germany abolished conscription in 2011, and this is what would be gradually rebuilt.

The former compulsory military service would be reintroduced as a year of community service, either in the Bundeswehr or a social institution. The initiative would also open up the possibility for women to enter the military. The German government would reintroduce conscription based on several scenarios, making it compulsory for all 18-year-olds.

The Swedish model is seen by many as an example, with all citizens in the Nordic country, both men and women, having to register and, at the same time, indicate their willingness to serve in the military. In Sweden, only a small proportion of those who are of age are actually conscripted into the army.

Germany is not the only country to revisit the idea of compulsory military service, with Denmark planning to introduce the recruitment of women in 2026.

Military service is compulsory in the following European countries: Cyprus, Greece, Austria, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Cyprus, Denmark and Sweden.

Latvia was the latest country to reintroduce the system, with all men aged between 18 and 27 having to re-enlist in 2023 for 11 months of compulsory service, just 16 years after its abolition, while military service is voluntary for women.

The Baltic State’s decision was influenced by the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Lithuania decided in 2015 to introduce compulsory military service, also in response to the geopolitical situation.

Finland has also just decided on compulsory military service, with periods of 165, 255, or 347 days.

From the age of 18, all men can be called up, and military service is compulsory until the age of 30, after which Finns are considered reservists. The Swedish example, already mentioned, is a curiosity in Europe, where women, in addition to men, can also enlist on the basis of their declaration.

In Greece, military service is compulsory between the ages of 19 and 45, usually for 9-12 months, the length depending on the type of force, and in Cyprus it is compulsory for those over 18. In Denmark, the military service is similar to the abolished Hungarian system, with 18-year-olds having to serve for 4-12 months, which can be replaced by community service.

Those who wish to continue their education after secondary school can postpone their compulsory military service until the age of 25.

In Austria, in a 2013 referendum, more than 59 percent of the population voted in favor of conscription, with all men having to serve for eight months, which can also be replaced by community service.

Read more here…

Ukraine and Spain have inked a new military deal worth 1 billion euros ($1.08 billion), which will see the Spanish military transfer more military equipment to Kiev over the course of this year.

The commitment calls for greater supplies of modern military equipment which prioritizes “Ukraine’s key capacity needs” – especially safeguarding the country’s export routes.

El Pais newspaper listed that Spain has just pledged as part of the package a dozen U.S.-made Patriot anti-aircraft missiles and 19 second-hand German-made Leopard tanks.

Spain was among countries under pressure by EU leadership to essentially give up weapons it doesn’t need at this time for its own defenses, especially the Patriots.

However, the Patriot missiles are unlikely to include the full Patriot systems and batteries, according to El Pais, and thus this will be of limited advantage at a moment Kharkiv in the north, and Odessa in the south, are getting pummeled.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said of the agreement with Ukraine, “It is more important than ever to redouble our support.” This comes after Zelensky and his top officials have complained that Western aid has been too slow to arrive.

This also comes the day after a deadly Russian strike on a market in Kharkiv city over the weekend, per the BBC:

At least 12 people have been killed and 43 others wounded after Russian forces hit a supermarket in the northern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv with two glide bombs, local officials say.

A large fire could be seen raging at the Epicentr K home improvement store on the northern outskirts of the city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said over 200 people could have been inside the supermarket when it was attacked.

With each new strike, Zelensky’s lashing out at his Western backers grows louder…

Russia has launched another brutal attack on our Kharkiv – on a construction hypermarket, on Saturday, right in the middle of the day.

As of now, it is believed that more than 200 people were in the hypermarket. All the emergency services are already on the site and providing… pic.twitter.com/9ItlGHkkEY

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 25, 2024

“If Ukraine had sufficient air defense systems and modern combat aircraft, Russian strikes like this one would have been impossible,” Zelensky stated. “And that is why we appeal to all leaders, to all states: we need a significant enhancement of air defense and sufficient capabilities to destroy Russian terrorists.”

“This is a task that must be accomplished and can only be accomplished together with the world. Every day, we call on the world to provide us with air defense and to save our people,” Zelensky continued. And in a veiled attack which appears aimed at Washington, he concluded with: “Every unmade decision to support us results in the loss of our people.”

Authored by Craig Murray

The collective shrug with which the Western media and political class noted the attempted assassination of Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has been telling.

Can you imagine the outrage and emotion that would have been expressed by Western powers if not Fico but a pro-Ukraine, anti-Russian leader within the EU had been attacked? The new orders for weapons that would have been presented to the arms manufacturers, the troops that would have been deployed, the sabers that would have been rattled?

Instead we have the media telling us that Fico opposed sending arms to Ukraine and opposed threatening Russia. We are told he did not accept the mainstream narrative on Covid vaccinations. The media do not quite say he deserved to be shot, but they come very, very close.

Fellow EU leaders followed correct form in making statements of shock and disgust at the attack on Fico, but they were formal and perfunctory. The “not actually one of us” message was very clear.

There are now an ordered set of neoliberal beliefs to which anybody in a Western nation participating in public affairs must subscribe, or they are beyond the pale. Not to subscribe to all of these beliefs makes you a “populist”, a “conspiracy theorist”, a “Putin puppet” or a “useful idiot”.

These are some of the “key beliefs”:

No. 1) Wealth is only created by a small number of ultra-wealthy capitalists on whom the employment of everybody else ultimately depends.
No. 2) The laws governing financial structures must therefore tend to concentrate wealth to these individuals, so that they may deploy it as they choose.
No. 3) State-created currency must only be concentrated in and distributed to private financial institutions.
No. 4) Public spending is always less efficient than private spending.
No. 5) Russia, China and Iran pose an existential threat to the West. That comprises both an economic threat and a physical, military threat.
No. 6) Colonialism was a boon to the world, bringing economic development, trade and education to people of inferior cultures.
No. 7) Islam is a threat to Western values and to world development.
No. 8) Israel is a necessary project for spreading Western values to the uncivilized Middle East.
No. 9) Security necessitates devoting very substantial resources to arms production and the waging of continual war.
No. 10) Nothing must threaten the military and arms industry interest. No battle against corruption or crime can override the need for the security military industrial complex to be completely unchallenged and internally supreme.

Dependent Orthodoxies

Listen to this Sky News report on the shooting of Robert Fico.

Not only do they come close to justifying it because he opposes aid to Ukraine, but they also casually imply that he’s being paid by the Kremlin.

This casual accusation is so prevalent in the West, and toxic. https://t.co/dccTYXKcGt

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 15, 2024

Within this architecture of belief, other orthodoxies hang dependent, such as the correct way to respond to a complex pandemic, or support for NATO and impunity for the security services. (Support for Israel is probably better portrayed as a dependent point, but with the subject of Gaza so prominent at the moment I have figuratively moved it into the main structure.)

Any deviation on any point of belief is a challenge to the entire system, and thus must be eradicated. You will note there is no room whatsoever, within this architecture of thought, for values like freedom of speech or freedom of assembly. They simply do not fit. Nor is it possible within this architecture to incorporate actual democracy, which would give people a choice of what to believe.

Read the rest at Consortium News…