The milk of American politics may be money, but the fuel for American socialism is Keynesian economics. Keynesianism’s inherent bias toward bigger government has made it the indispensable tool for statists around the globe. Politicians’ natural wont to spend and control benefited immensely when John Maynard Keynes published the General [...]

An interesting battle is shaping up between what I call the “Eggs” and the “Idiots.” The significance of the terms and which team you are on will become clear shortly. American Thinker discussed the intelligence of President Obama and concluded: As far as Barack Obama being smart as a whip [...]

History is a great teacher. It often provides clues that enable us to understand the present and future. The ancient regime’s concept of divine right of kings seems pertinent to today. According to Wikipedia: The Divine Right of Kings is a political and religious doctrine of royal absolutism. It asserts that a monarch is subject [...]

Friedrich Hayek warned about the dangers of socialism in The Road to Serfdom. It was a dispassionate attempt to describe how, when you relax the constraints on government, the results are unintended. His chapter on “Why the Worst Get to The Top” should frighten anyone, even the well-meaning, misguided persons [...]

The economic condition of the country continues to decline toward its rendezvous with an, as yet, unknowable catastrophe. Speculation regarding this outcome is natural because self-interest, if not self-preservation, is at stake. Here is but one possibility. It is not a prediction, but a look at a series of not [...]

Inflation is neither strategy nor solution; it is the last gasp of a desperate ruling class. Inflation is the inevitable ending of this awful economic crisis. The only questions are how much and when. Rising support champions inflation as a salvation strategy. Richard Russell in a recent newsletter provides the [...]

Obama’s election was supposed to transform America, at least in his mind. This country’s first Socialist President strode into office confident he would remake this country. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for the country, the timing of his election was twenty if not fifty years too late. Socialism failed in [...]

The “Pretence of Knowledge” was the title of economist Friedrich Hayek’s 1974 Nobel speech. In his first few sentences, he described the then-prevailing economic condition in words appropriate to today: … [this economic condition] has been brought about by policies which the majority of economists recommended and even urged governments [...]

It was a lazy afternoon.  At least it was until I came across a blog by Mish. There was little in the post that I didn’t know or suspect, but this quote triggered a reaction: “It hides the economic substance of what’s really happening—an unlimited taxpayer bailout.” William Black, a [...]

The U.S. government moves closer to a debt death spiral. Arguably, we are already in the beginning phase of this spiral as this rather scary observation points out: The nation’s debt leapt $166 billion in a single day last week, the third-largest increase in U.S. history, and it comes at [...]

Inflation is Inevitable The debate continues over whether inflation or deflation is our fate. I believe that we will ultimately end up in a massive inflation, possibly hyperinflation. My reasoning has always been based on how I anticipate politicians to react to the soon-to-be recognized Depression that we are in [...]

Another Valuable Part of our Past is Gone. Coach John Wooden died yesterday. John Wooden, arguably (and this comes from a Duke fan and graduate) the best college basketball coach of all time, left us four months short of 100 years of age. His impact on the game of basketball, both [...]

As the economic crisis approaches the two-year point, it is apparent that “this time is different.”  Few analysts believe that we are going to recover from this Great Recession in a fashion that resembles prior recoveries. Most argue about how long it might run (Japan’s recovery is now two decades [...]

In the early 20th century, Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world.  While Great Britain’s maritime power and its far-flung empire had propelled it to a dominant position among the world’s industrialized nations, only the United States challenged Argentina for the position of the world’s second-most powerful [...]

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Milton Friedman on Socialized Medicine. From a talk given at the Mayo Clinic in 1978. Although over 30 years old and focused on the medical industry, there are lessons here beyond the obvious. The semi-alert and above will recognize the process as a general [...]

As expected, the State of the Union (SOTU) speech was delivered with the usual élan from the gifted orator, President Obama. Unexpected, for most, was the content of the speech.  President Obama “doubled down” on policies soundly rejected by the American people. For a candidate who was so politically adept, [...]

I don’t know what President Obama will try to sell tonight in his State of The Union speech. I do know that what he says will have no relation to reality. But that could be said of any President in recent years with respect to this occasion. This particular President [...]

Healthcare destroys a presidency and jeopardizes a political party. In the fledgling days of the personal computer industry, software vendors frequently announced products that were not yet ready for release. The term “vaporware” was coined to describe such software. Most of these products never reached the marketplace. Some that did [...]

One of the simplest economic concepts to understand is the theory of demand. As the price of a good to users decreases, demand or use of that good will increase. As the price of a good approaches zero, theoretically the demand or use of the good will approach infinity. Nowhere is [...]

“… you don’t ever know where he comes from or where he’s going.” It is 2008. An unknown figure steps from the mist. No one knows his background. There is no birth certificate. No college transcripts or other records. No known friends. No apparent experience. A virtual blank slate stares [...]

Despite the rising stock market, virtually everything else continues to deteriorate in the economy. An earlier post dealt with this anomaly. There literally is not one thing that can be claimed as a positive. And that includes the phony GDP third quarter “improvement” and presumably a better (preliminary) number for [...]

Stock your bunker. 2010 is apt to be ground zero for financial markets. Sixty years later, a bomb-shelter strategy once again seems in order. But this time it will used for financial as opposed to physical protection. The year 2010 is likely to be the pivotal year where pundits stop [...]

“… all Ponzi schemes eventually fail under their own weight. The US debt scheme is no different.” Sprott Asset Management Belief in the economic recovery story is akin to belief in Santa Claus. Both make us feel better, but both are unlikely. We may have another quarter or two of [...]

“The essence of government is control, or the attempt to control.” Benjamin Tucker There is no better way to describe the so-called  health care plan than Tucker’s quote. It is not about improving health care; it never was. Oh there may be some dim bulbs in Congress that truly believe [...]