Natural gas has the potential to bridge the gap between the current oil dominated energy mix and sustainable renewables. It’s cheap, abundant, and the cleanest fossil fuel in the world. In fact, at today’s consumption rates, estimated US natural gas resources could be used to supply domestic electricity generation for 52 years.That being said, shale gas is trapped thousands of feet underground. How do we extract it and what does the process look like? The infographic below has all the details.

Under current law, a sharp reduction in the federal budget deficit between 2012 and 2013 will cause the economy to contract but, the Congressional Budget Office projects, will also put federal debt on a path more likely to be sustainable over time. To illustrate the effects of fiscal tightening, CBO compared its projections under current law (the "baseline" projections) with projections under an alternative set of policies — two scenarios in a broad spectrum of choices - in the infographic below.

Much has been written about the merits of the Gold Standard but there seems to be a lack of knowledge about the history of the various exchange-rate regimes over the years and why each was introduced and replaced. The infographic below does an outstanding job of doing just that.

Unless the government acts quickly, it is probable that the term "fiscal cliff" will become a household phrase over the next few months. Unfortunately, this is reminiscent of the budget ceiling crisis about a year ago. In this report we will explain what the cliff is, discuss the worst case scenario, and determine what, if anything, you should do about it. Words: 1436

No one seems to understand what is happening in Europe the way Graham Summers does and, as such, his insightful articles keep appearing on this site as the best choice to convey the message. Below are introductory paragraphs to each of 12 articles with hyperlinks to each should you wish to read any in their entirety.

No one cuts through the economic noise better than the writer who posts articles under the pseudonym "Monty Pelerin" - so much so that the 30 posted on munKNEE.com and have, on average, received more reads than any of the 1,700 others on the site. His articles are all timely (and some even timeless) in nature so, in case you missed one or two along the way, below is a link to a page that highlights each of his articles on the site with a descriptive introductory paragraph to each article. I dare you to read just one!

The world has created another debt bubble and we've chosen to kick the can down the road just like Roosevelt did in the ‘30s, and Japan has been doing for the last 20 years. Also, just like in the ‘30s, we are going to get the same result which is persistently high unemployment and generally declining global economic conditions unless drastic steps are taken - and the cure to our problem is staring us right in the face. [ Let me explain.] Words: 760

Goldman Sachs investment strategist Abby Joseph Cohen's massive presentation on the state of the world economy and investment environment looks at the state of several key economic and financial market metrics in key countries around the world and discusses her outlook for the rest of 2012 and beyond.

The 21 month time frame for the next gold peak, the $30 trillion price tag for the debt, and the 64 month bull market fractal for money printing are all coming together squarely at the same date - June 2013. [That being determined, the best place to invest to take full advantage of the parabolic peak is in the stock of gold (and silver) royalty companies, or better yet, in the long term warrants of the two such companies that offer them. Let me explain my case.] Words: 1350

Mexico...is one of the most attractive investment destinations in the world for the U.S. given its good relations with the United States, geographic proximity, increasing competitiveness of its manufactured products vis-a-vis those from China, low government debt, fairly low inflation and robust foreign direct investment. [Let me explain further.] Words: 656