Author: Barry D. Wood

Barry D. Wood is a writer, teacher and journalist in Washington, DC. His focus is the global economy and financial markets. He has reported from 60 countries and specializes in US China relations, Eastern Europe and Southern Africa. His 2017 book is Exploring New Europe, A Bicycle Journey.
global economy

The Renminbi is Unlikely to Displace the Dollar as a Global Currency

dailyfriend.co.za May 10, 2026 The Chinese renminbi is unlikely to become globally dominant OPINIONS    – LISTEN TO THIS On 29 April, outgoing Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell warned that political interference put at risk the central bank’s ability to pursue independent monetary policy, which he labeled as one of the reasons “why the US economy is the envy of the world”.  Central bank independence, Powell continued, … Continue reading The Renminbi is Unlikely to Displace the Dollar as a Global Currency

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American History

Thomas Edison’s Winter Home in Fort Myers, Florida

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPMXNw4vr7U If you’re an admirer of inventor Thomas Edison, you may have already visited his birthplace in Milan, Ohio, the significant sites in Port Huron and Greenfield Village, Michigan, and his home and factory in Orange, New Jersey. This video takes you to Seminole Lodge in Fort Myers, Florida where Edison and his wife Mina spent over 25 winters. Continue reading Thomas Edison’s Winter Home in Fort Myers, Florida

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Uncategorized

The USA Is Going Broke

DailyFriend.co.za. April 26, 2026 In the novel The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway’s character Mike Campbell is asked how he went bankrupt.  He famously replies, “Two ways, slowly and then suddenly.” The United States today is in the “slowly” phase. Savvy economist and interest rate guru Jim Grant agrees that “The U.S. government is going broke but is not now broke.” In every year for two decades … Continue reading The USA Is Going Broke

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global economy

Trump’s Iran War Could Portend Recession

The Daily Friend April 12, 2026 Even with the current ceasefire, does the US and Israel war against Iran portend recession? Since US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched their war on 28 February, US stocks tumbled to a six-month low, interest rates rose and gasoline prices are up by $1.00 a gallon.  With only a trickle of oil and gas … Continue reading Trump’s Iran War Could Portend Recession

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Africa

Being in Soweto on the First Day of the 1976 Student Uprising

The Daily Friend, South Africa January 22, 2026 June 16, 1976 – What it was like in Soweto on the first day OPINIONS    – LISTEN TO THIS Implausibly, on the morning of 16 June 1976, I first heard there was trouble in Soweto from London. Editors at NBC, the American broadcast network, telephoned me in Johannesburg to say that students were marching to protest the unequal, … Continue reading Being in Soweto on the First Day of the 1976 Student Uprising

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