Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, was a giddy day for European politicians and global investors. European Union officials announced a plan for addressing the EU’s worst financial problems. There would be a partial write-down of Greek sovereign debt—a 50 percent haircut for private bondholders, but no haircut for governmental creditors (the political class looks after its […]
It has occurred to me that Europe doesn’t give a damn if Greece goes down. The EU concern is not for Greece, but for all the banks that lent all those Euros to Athens and now stand to lose them. The cradle of Western Civilization is expendable, but the vaults of the bankers must be […]
It was early in the morning in Venice, California. A multi-agency raid by police in full SWAT gear, automatic weapons drawn and tear gas at the ready, made some serious arrests. Contraband was destroyed and cash confiscated. A drug raid? A terrorist sleeper cell? More “illegal” gold and silver currency a-la Von Nothaus? No, the […]
Recently I encountered the inane phrase “redistribution of wealth.” We all know that it refers to the evil plan of the left-wingers. But wait! Are we unaware that the redistribution of wealth has already occurred, and continues today? Don’t we know that the wealth in the United States is distributed more unevenly than ever before […]
The important piece of news out of Rome today is that the Vatican has allegedly called for a “central world bank” in reponse to the continuing speculation and instability in the world financial system. I say “allegedly” because the text in which this call appears is not by Pope Benedict, but by a Vatican office, […]
The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace issued a document today titled, “Toward Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of Global Public Authority.” Commenting on it is Catholic League president Bill Donohue: There has been much hyperventilation from some quarters over the release of this document. All of it is unwarranted. […]
There is a lot of talk on the streets and in the media about a thing called “corporate greed.” This greed is supposed to reside in entities called corporations that are somehow exploiting people to make a profit by valuing profit over people. The only problem with this construction is that a corporation is a […]
Two historic countries, moving in opposite — and unexpected — directions. “Sweden” isn’t the first word that normally crosses our minds when we hear the expression “free market.” But if President Obama, Paul Krugman, Warren Buffett, and other progressives want to find ways out of America’s seemingly-intractable economic crisis, they might consider looking to the […]
It isn’t easy to earn interest income these days. Interest rates on government T-bills, banks’ savings accounts, and certificates of deposit are microscopic. You can blame our government and central bank. They have “ZIRPed” millions of American savers. Here are the details: According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the average interest rate paid on federal […]
The purpose of this essay is to introduce you to the self-replicating organic fusion energy converter. Fusion energy, as you may know, is the dream of engineers. Fusion energy is produced when atoms collide together and fuse to form new elements. Now, when this fusion process occurs, energy is released. The challenge in energy production […]
I got a double shock Thursday morning when I turned on my radio. “Steve Jobs has passed away,” I heard a DJ remark. “That’s a shame.” Yes, it is a shame. I was saddened to hear that. I was equally shocked as I turned the dial and heard something even more deadly. It was a […]
The bankruptcy of “green jobs” darling Solyndra is still in the news because it could cost U.S. taxpayers $535 million due to a federal “stimulus” program loan guarantee. The Silicon Valley solar-panel maker’s failure comes on the heels of another “green” corporate-welfare beneficiary going under, Evergreen Solar. These deals were big losers for Americans. Both […]
I confess that until now I have never read anything by Wendell Berry. In fact, I deliberately avoided reading anything by him, or indeed by any agrarian writer. There was a strategic reason for avoiding these writers. The bulk of my work is devoted to explicating Distributism in purely economic terms, and Distributism is often […]
The Greek government is in a gigantic financial hole and is teetering on the brink of defaulting on its debt. It has been able to limp along since last year only with bailouts from outside of Greece. According to the latest reports, the Greek government will run out of money in October unless it receives […]
I’ve only recently come to realize the nature of the hurdle this country faces in trying to turn around a stalled economy and horrendous deficit. Here it is: liberal Democrat politicians have fully convinced huge numbers of people that our economic/fiscal mess is the result of two principal demons: 1) “the rich” and 2) the […]
Somewhere in the Analects of Confucius, the Master says that the first step in solving a problem is to call things by their right name. When things are mislabeled, it is very difficult to think about them correctly. On the other hand, if you do not wish people to think correctly about an issue, the […]
It has been over a year since I have written about the fragile condition of the European Union’s financial system. The financial crisis of a possible Greek default has been papered over since then, but now it is coming to a head again. Greece again is teetering on the brink of default. Last Friday, Greek […]
If you watched President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress, you didn’t see anything new. He did what he does best—campaign for re-election and pay lip service to private enterprise and fiscal responsibility while proposing more top-down economic planning that (despite his claims to the contrary) will surely plunge the government more deeply […]
The country has just passed through a long debate to reach a doubtful end. Indeed, it is not really an end at all, but a mere postponement of the fight, a fight that will last through the next elections at least. Hence, we will spend the next year and a half witnessing a debate over […]
The task we will face will depend on the shape of the collapse, which will vary from city to city, and from town to countryside. [Part 1, Part 2] Modern life is dependent on complex networks for electricity, water, sewer, transportation, gas, education, security, banking, food supplies, medical care, and so forth. Almost all of […]
I could go on with this analysis [see Part 1] through system after system, but I think you get the idea, and I would like to turn our attention to another and more serious problem, namely the problem of culture and religion. It is here, I believe, that we confront a situation for which there […]
We have failed to heed the lessons of economic history, with terrible consequences for our economy and country. And the most crucial of those lessons, particularly since the start of LBJ’s Great Society, is this: deficits have been caused not by a lack of income-tax increases but by recession and, most of all, by excessive […]
Here’s a fact that was not lost on my teenage daughter: The infamous debt-ceiling deal doesn’t actually reduce much of our debt until she finishes high school, graduates from college, and has potentially purchased a minivan and a pair of mom jeans. Did I mention she’s just about to start ninth grade? “Wait,” my daughter […]
The price of gold has gone on a tear this summer, from slightly under $1500 per ounce to well over $1800 per ounce, and it looks like it wants to go higher. What gives? Well, if you bought gold last spring, you’re looking pretty smart. And if you bought gold a decade ago at $300 […]
