This article was originally published by William L. Anderson at The Mises Institute.  He spoke with a very thick Sicilian accent.“Ah, young fellow,” he said to Vito. “People tell me you’re rich. You and your two friends. But don’t you think you’ve treated me a little shabbily? After all, this is my neighborhood, and you should let me wet my beak.” — The Godfather, Don Fanucci tries to shake down Vito Corleone In the mid-1990s, Microsoft stood atop the high-tech world, and its founder and chairman, Bill Gates, had guru status among his fellow Americans. Microsoft had recently come out with its…

This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The Economic Collapse Blog under the title: The Battle For The Strait Of Hormuz Will Show Whether The World Can Survive Without Oil From The Persian Gulf Or Not Now, we are going to see what really happens to the global economy when the Strait of Hormuz is completely closed for an extended period of time. Before the war, approximately 45 percent of all Asian oil imports traveled through the Strait of Hormuz. The Chinese normally get more oil from the Middle East than anyone else, and the amount of crude…