Epstein Secrets

. Netanyahu to try to push the President into a corner publicly and raise questions about Washington. Is that really the message he wants to send to Tehran? There is no reason to doubt President Obama's often-repeated commitment to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon. But 70 percent of Americans (in

.75 percent in 2050, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office. By comparison, spending in this category has exceeded 8 percent of G.D.P. in every year since World War II. Spending for defense alone has not been lower than 3 percent of G.D.P. in any year during that period. Applying t

cess to U.S. markets. The Iraq War was designed to "shock and awe" that nation's ruler and to convince other opponents of the U.S., in Damascus and Tehran, especially, that they could be next. Meanwhile, it was hoped that once a pro-Western, democratic Iraq stabilized, it would give the U.S. leverage

A_R1_00441191 EFTA01964443 answered, "At least $200 a barrel." But it's half that — for a reason: "We now use 60 percent less energy per unit of G.D.P. than we did in 1973," explained the energy economist Philip Verleger. "If the trend continues, we will use half the energy per unit of G.D.P. in 20

ssentially Shiite revolution have run into the complications of the Arab Spring. Emboldened by the fall of the pro-American Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, Tehran has subsequently watched with disquiet the isolation of Syria's Bashar al-Assad and the potential loss of llamas, not to mention the rise of the Ta

, collapse. But Ireland, which has done everything the austerity crowd wanted, is in terrible shape too, with unemployment near 15 percent and real G.D.P. down by double digits. Portugal and Spain are in similarly dire straits. And austerity in a slump doesn't just inflict vast suffering. There is gr

in Iran in any case. But his strategy — striking a diplomatic bargain to stop the nuclear program — also narrows his options in Syria. A deal with Tehran will require the support of Russia, which happens to be hosting the next round of negotiations. Russia, in turn, is opposed to forcing Assad, a lon

precipitate drop in government spending would equal an economic contraction of more than five hundred billion dollars, more than three per cent of G.D.P. The impact could send a fragile economy back into a recession. "It's two to three times bigger in negative terms than even the biggest year of the

dicator of where his priorities really lie—is Erdogan's decision this month to let NATO deploy antimissile radars near the Turkish-Iranian border. Tehran is predictably furious. "We expect friendly countries and neighbors ... not to promote policies that create tension, which will definitely have com

ll-scale market run on the much larger economies of Spain and Italy. At this point countries in crisis account for about a third of the euro area's G.D.P., so the common European currency itself is under existential threat. And all indications are that European leaders are unwilling even to acknowled