Originally published at: Debt Passes $40T as ‘Outcast’ Sanctions Hit US Allies, Russia Warns UK, and FDA Approves More COVID Jabs – Peak Prosperity
Economy
An op-ed at The Burning Platform cited Ludwig von Mises and stated that U.S. national debt has exceeded $40 trillion, increasing by $13.4 billion daily since July. The author argued that the official 4.1% unemployment rate excludes 106 million working-age Americans outside the labor force and that the Ludwig Institute’s functional unemployment measure stands at 24.9%. The piece noted record or near-record delinquencies on credit card, student loan, and auto debt. It also reported Federal Reserve balance sheet growth of $224 billion and corporate insider stock sales of $77 billion. The author concluded that current debt trends point toward eventual adoption of central bank digital currencies. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Kevin Warsh signaled that financial conditions do not appear restrictive enough.
A separate analysis by Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast outlined three potential triggers for debt-related strain: reduced foreign demand for U.S. Treasuries between 2027 and 2030, rising net interest costs projected to reach $2.1 trillion by 2036, and erosion of dollar reserve status linked to sanctions such as the seizure of $300 billion in Russian assets. The analysis recommended building local production capacity, holding hard assets including Bitcoin and precious metals, and reducing variable-rate debt.
Meanwhile, UBS strategist Sagar Khandelwal is betting on diversified commodity exposure across precious metals, energy, industrial metals, and agriculture. He cited electrification, power demand growth, AI infrastructure spending, supply constraints, and prior underinvestment. UBS described gold as a diversifier supported by central bank purchases. The Quantix Commodity Index rose more than 22.5% since late June, with London copper above $14,000 a ton and European tungsten exceeding $3,000.
Energy
President Trump announced U.S. majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven oil reserves through a partnership with private business. Interim President Delcy Rodriguez projected $100 billion in investment and $209 billion in tax revenue. Analysts noted the absence of precedent for such a U.S. government arrangement and cited infrastructure and political risks. Skeptical commentary questioned the arrangement’s legal foundations given the interim leadership’s lack of electoral mandate.
Geopolitics
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that British military facilities in Ukraine and elsewhere are legitimate targets following Britain’s plan to transfer technology for Ukrainian production of Storm Shadow missiles. She urged UK residents to consider the consequences of the policy. Britain’s Ministry of Defence said it stands with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi called for military restraint after three drone incidents at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Radiation levels remained normal. The plant attributed the incidents to Ukrainian forces, while the IAEA did not assign responsibility.
Iran War
The U.S. Treasury applied its first secondary sanctions under “Operation Economic Outcast” against Iran by cutting off the UAE branches of Egypt’s Banque Misr—both close American allies—from dollar transactions over their dealings with Tehran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the step holds Iran’s enablers accountable and severs remaining economic lifelines, and officials also sanctioned a Hong Kong entity linked to Bank Melli for helping launder money for a sanctioned Iranian exchange house. The measures apply only to those specific UAE branches and leave the rest of Banque Misr’s operations intact, even as it remains unclear whether Washington will impose similar penalties on major Chinese banks. The Economist assessed that the sanctions are unlikely to bring about the fall of Iran’s Islamic republic and may strengthen the regime.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department and Pentagon are reviving prize law procedures, dormant since World War II, to seek court conversion of seized Iranian oil and vessels into U.S. property. Houston is under consideration as a venue.
Health
The FDA approved updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and Sanofi targeting the XFG subvariant for adults 65 and older and individuals 12–64 with underlying conditions. The agency accepted single-arm studies instead of placebo-controlled trials “because of operational and feasibility challenges.” No press release accompanied the approvals. Reported uptake stands at 17.5% among adults and 10% among children.
In other news, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. questioned Pennsylvania’s report of the state’s first measles-related deaths in 35 years. Lancaster County Coroner Steve Diamantoni stated his office has no record of measles deaths but examined an infant whose primary cause of death was a spleen laceration. Pennsylvania’s Health Department maintained the “measles-associated” classification.
European Politics
Residents of Spain’s Ceuta enclave are reportedly taking matters into their own hands, demanding the migrants leave, removing tents at El Trampolín beach, and discarding belongings after a reported surge of over 70,000 crossings into a city of 84,000. Protests drew over 2,000 people calling for the resignations of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the government delegate. In response, police fired rubber bullets at some of the locals. Four soldiers were injured in a reported incident involving stone-throwing.
US Politics
Two more historic churches have burned to the ground like many before them: Grand Rapids’ 133-year-old former All Souls Universalist building and Alabama’s 175-year-old Ebenezer Baptist Church, both with causes still listed as unknown or under investigation. The losses continue a wave that includes last week’s incendiary destruction of a mid-1890s Cleveland church, at least 33 Canadian churches burned since 2021 (24 of them confirmed arsons and more than 96 percent unsolved), and nearly fifty fires or arson attempts on French churches in a single recent year. Historic Christian sites keep disappearing across the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Canada while clearance rates remain extremely low. Despite the trend, some incidents have been attributed to accidental factors such as outdated wiring.
Sources
UBS: Bet on Commodities as Scarcity and Supply Crunch Converge
The illusion of abundance is likely behind us.
Kremlin Warns UK Bases Now Fair Game Over Storm Shadow Transfers
We have repeatedly warned that the response to Ukrainian strikes using British weapons against Russian territory could be directed against any British military facilities and equipment in Ukraine and beyond.
RFK Jr. Questions If Pennsylvania Fabricated Measles Deaths
The announcement appears to have been premature, and the deaths may even have been altogether fabricated by one of the Governor’s hopeful staffers.
Source | Submitted by PhilH
US Iran Sanctions: Dollar Coercion After Costly Military Failure
The economic offensive doesn’t look like a demonstration of Washington’s confidence anymore – rather, it is an acknowledgement that further military action is getting unsustainable.
Source | Submitted by PhilH
Mises’ Warning Ignored: Elites Plot Collapse Amid Fake Stats and Debt Delusions
There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency involved.
Source | Submitted by richcabot
Ceuta Locals Clear Migrant Camps as Police Fire on Citizens
In the complete absence of any meaningful government action, the people of Ceuta have taken matters into their own hands.
Source | Submitted by Acorn Endeavors
IAEA Urges Restraint After Drones Strike Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant
Grossi said any attack on nuclear power plant sites is “unacceptable” and renewed his call for maximum military restraint from all sides to avoid the risk of a nuclear accident.
The $40 Trillion Debt Bomb: Three Triggers to Slow-Motion Collapse
We are in a slow decay. There is a time bomb ticking and it’s the kind of bomb you cannot disarm.
Source | Submitted by ResilienceRob
US Revives Ancient Prize Courts to Grab Iranian Oil
The Justice Department, working with the Pentagon, is preparing to use prize law, which historically allowed courts to decide whether vessels and cargo captured during armed conflict could legally become property of the United States.
US Slaps Egyptian Bank with First Iran Secondary Sanctions, China Still Untouched
Ironically both of these latter countries are close American allies, and this comes at a moment the White House has failed to confirm whether the US will actually go after China for the same trade violations.
FDA Quietly Approves New COVID Shots, Skips Placebo Trials
Manufacturers are going to run single-arm studies evaluating the shots in humans, according to FDA documents.
Historic Churches Keep Burning as ‘Unknown Causes’ Pile Up
Two more historic churches are gone. Burned to the ground like hundreds more before them.
Trump’s No-Cost Oil Play: US Firms Gain Venezuela Reserves Stake
At my direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, working closely with Highly Respected Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, and, through a partnership with private business, have secured majority U.S. control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American taxpayer.
In addition to sources submitted by community members, the following were also used in the creation of this report: Lukas Vorpahl, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Wojciech Szewko, El Faro de Ceuta, Daniel Lacalle, and CNN.
