THIS POST IS :”STICKY.” It will remain at the top of the page for a few days. New posts will appear under it. Below is a response I received to my article on American Thinker:  http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/08/keynes_as_useful_idiot.html (also posted on this site on August 31. It should be near the bottom [...]

This blog consistently emphasizes the importance of microeconomics over macroeconomics. Indeed, I argue that macroeconomics is not economics but rather a part of either history or statistics or some other field. It is merely the summary of past aggregates. In that sense it is both history and statistics. It summarizes [...]

Some mostly political reading/watching for a Sunday morning: “So, you think President Obama had a tough week? Wait’ll you get a load of what happened to the Congressional Democrats.”  http://pajamasmedia.com/vodkapundit/2010/08/25/handicapping-the-house-5/ From Politico “Bailouts, Bailouts, Bailouts. No investigation poses a more significant political danger to Obama than a no-holds-barred GOP probe [...]

Another guest post in the series of An American Future from Kevin: An American Future: Finding Real Return By Kevin of 20smoney.com Through the first three parts of this series, we have been making the case that we’re in the beginning stages of a major shift in the American economy. [...]

The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable. John Kenneth Galbraith Claude Rains was “shocked, shocked!” when he learned that there was gambling at Rick’s in the classic film Casablanca. It appears that certain elites in our society are using the Claude Rains’ gambit. The phrase [...]

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 [...]

Readers know that I am a big fan of Chris Martenson and his “Crash Course.” Everyone should watch it to understand where we have been, are and likely to go. Chris is in the midst of what some might call a survival series. I think it is more valid to [...]

From Consent of the Governed: I have two articles of interest to share with you – especially if you have some sort of nest egg. First off - Congress and Obama want your 401 (k)s and IRAs It’s in the works kids…. you’ve been saving and investing for years and now [...]

Geoffrey Britain, who has a website that should interest many of my readers,  responded with two comments regarding Kevin’s recent article on An American Future. Both comments are worthwhile, but I thought the one below was interesting and worthy of a post. His comment paints a future first expounded by [...]

Investing is never easy, although sometimes it seems that way. During a bull market, most everyone is successful and believes he has superior abilities. Many investors were geniuses, at least in their own minds, during the decades of the 1980s and 90s. In the 21st Century, markets and the economy [...]

Guest Post by Kevin of 20smoney.com In the previous part of this series entitled, “An American Future,” we laid out the case that the economy is shrinking.  Whether we label it a double-dip recession or an economic depression, it makes no difference.  While business opportunity as a whole is shrinking [...]

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 [...]

What do education and prostitution have in common? Probably several things, but the important one is that the delivery of both services is virtually unchanged since the time of Socrates. I know of no other industries that can fit that characterization. Given the nature of the product, it is not [...]

Just after posting the “Alan Greenspan – Hypocrite” piece, I came across a post that I believe puts Greenspan’s morality in context. Indeed, it puts most politician’s into perspective. How many times have we elected someone who goes into Washington as a “good man” and then changes to become just [...]

There was good response to yesterday’s quiz, both on-line and off-line. The following quotes were presented: The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. … the [...]

Identify the Person Here is the first in a series of Who Said the Following? On an intermittent basis, I will present some quotes from a person and ask readers to identify the individual. If you think you know or you would just like to guess, send in your answer [...]

Here is James Quinn’s list of five books to understand where we are and where we are headed: If someone asked what 5 books they should read today to understand where we are and where we’re going, these are the 5 I would recommend: The Long Emergency The Fourth Turning [...]

People in general are optimistic. Successful people in any occupation usually exhibit this characteristic. It is one of the attributes that lead to their success. One must be careful, however. Noble people assume that promises and commitments will be met. Unfortunately, that is likely to be untrue, at least in [...]

A guest post in the “An American Future” series from Kevin: An American Future: The Shrinking Economy By Kevin at 20smoney.com As we continue a look at America’s future, we turn to the American economy.  What I’m proposing here is that the American economy has peaked in real terms.  For the [...]

I recommend highly an interview by Daily Bell with Dr. Walter Williams. The interview conveys what Dr. Williams is about and what America is supposed to be about. Very worthwhile and he is a breath of fresh air and sense. Daily Bell described Williams thusly: Yes, throughout his career Dr. [...]

Hat tip to John Cooper a reader who suggested an improvement to the recent Our Patrick Henry Moment is Here post. My original piece was constrained by size limitations, but Mr. Coopers comments would be a worth addition. Obviously socialism can be attacked on many grounds. I chose the economic [...]

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 [...]

I am very pleased to present a guest post from Kevin at 20smoney.com. Kevin brings a different perspective than I. He is much younger and just starting his journey into a career. I am impressed by his knowledge and commitment. He appears wise beyond his years. Regardless of your age, [...]

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 [...]