International Man: Recently, the State Bank of Vietnam deactivated more than 86 million bank accounts as part of its shift toward a new national digital ID system. Officials call it a ‘security upgrade,’ but it effectively cut off millions from their own money overnight. In Thailand, we’ve seen a similar push […]
International Man: The Federal Reserve recently cut interest rates. What does it signal about the current state of the US economy? Doug Casey: Let me introduce the subject with a joke. Einstein dies and goes to heaven. St. Peter greets him effusively and says, “Unfortunately, Mr. Einstein, because we’re a centrally planned […]
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 […]
International Man: Donald Trump has already deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles and Washington, DC, and threatened to send them into more cities. Is this a legitimate use of executive power, or a dangerous escalation? Doug Casey: Once upon a time, that wouldn’t even have been a question, because the Posse Comitatus Act […]
French Emperor Napoleon III reserved a special set of aluminum cutlery for only his most honored dinner guests. Ordinary guests had to settle for gold utensils. In the mid-1800s, aluminum was rarer and more coveted than gold. As a result, aluminum bullion bars were included among France’s national treasures, and […]
International Man: The US government recently took a 15% stake in MP Materials and a 10% stake in Intel to counter China’s dominance in rare earth elements and revive the domestic semiconductor industry. Are these national security necessities, or a fundamental break from free-market capitalism? Doug Casey: First, whenever you hear the […]
It’s back on track. I don’t know if you remember it, but last year I hypothesized that the Trump administration would focus their attention on a North/South axis of power… and less on an East/West. Part of this is down to the fact the US Military is stretched globally, and […]
International Man: JD Vance’s early political rise was fueled by over $13 million from Palantir co-founder and current chairman Peter Thiel—support that far outstripped grassroots contributions. What do you think drove Thiel to pour big money into launching the political career of someone virtually unknown to the public? Doug Casey: I’m innately […]
International Man: What is the role of a justice system in a society, and what should the State have to do with it? Doug Casey: In my view, what really holds a society together isn’t the laws enacted by legislatures or dictators, but peer pressure, social opprobrium, and moral approbation. […]
Recently, I wrote to you about how Trump had found “the perfect opening” to reshape the Federal Reserve when Governor Adriana Kugler unexpectedly resigned. What I didn’t expect was how perfectly this would confirm everything we’ve been tracking about Trump’s Reset. Trump didn’t just fill that vacant Fed seat with any […]