ECONOMY
How We Got Here: A Brief History of America’s Banking System
President Reagan famously said that the closest thing to eternal life on this earth is a government agency. Surely that aphorism applies to the Federal RESERVE. And most especially when you put a Trumpian ALL CAPS focus on the “reserve” part of its title. That is to say, the purpose […]
Can Social Security Be Saved for Future Generations?
Are we wise enough to refuse politicians’ offer of “free money” to spend today that was stolen from our future, and from our future generations? Probably not. Can Social Security be saved for future generations? Many have already concluded it’s hopeless, and if the current trajectory is left untouched, that is […]
Can You Guess The Number One Challenge That Americans Believe They Are Facing In 2025?
We sure have seen a lot of really crazy things happen so far this year. But in the minds of most Americans, there is one crisis that far outweighs everything else. As I have been documenting for years, our standard of living has been collapsing as the cost of living […]
Thailand Freezes Over 3 Million Bank Accounts
Thailand has become a case study for the use of biometric data in every facet of life. Every banking transaction is monitored and scrutinized. Any perceived discrepancy is flagged as fraud and punished without due process. Regulations have overwhelmed the system, resulting in a full-fledged banking crisis. Over three million Thai bank […]
The Single Most Important Chart in the World is Flashing “Danger”
The single most important chart in the world is flashing “danger.” The defining issue of the last ~45 years has been the secular bull market in bonds. From 1980 until 2022, the yield on the U.S. debt (called Treasuries) was in a downtrend. In the very simplest of terms, this […]
The Vanishing American Dream: Why Young Adults Can’t Afford Homes, Families, or Stability
The American Dream has become prohibitively expensive, with home affordability at historic lows and the traditional middle-class lifestyle now out of reach for most ordinary people. But no demographic has taken it more on the chin than young Americans. You can see it in stark terms in this week’s chart […]
Why Our Systems Collapse
When merit is replaced with ideology, fires rage unchecked, killers walk free, and fragile systems collapse—leaving lives and cities in ruin. America has a lot of built-in safety backups and redundancies. But every once in a while, when tradition, science, time-tested protocols, and common sense are ignored, a fragile system […]
The People Who Can Literally Print Money Are Loading Up on Gold
Last week I noted that the single most important chart in the world is flashing “danger.” By quick way of review… Central banks are fully aware of this situation and have been taking steps to prepare for what’s coming. As you no doubt are aware, there are three methods of […]
Is This the Last Bubble?
The consensus holds there will be another bubble after the Everything Bubble pops, but this might be misplaced confidence in the godlike powers of central banks. The consensus holds that central banks–the Federal Reserve in the US–will gradually inflate away the world’s rising debt burden while propping up assets and the […]
California Tries to Stop the Exodus of Its Oil Refiners, Oops Too Late
After doing everything to get rid of fossil fuel producers, Governor Newsom has second thoughts. Climate Focus Shifts in California The Wall Street Journal reports California Wants to Halt Oil Industry Exodus After Years of Climate Focus Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office made its first-ever call to Chevron’s refining chief last week, […]
