“There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll have a mania in gold. And because the gold and especially silver markets are so tiny, the rush into them will be like trying to push the contents of Hoover Dam through a garden hose. Our positions will go absolutely ballistic.” – ...read more

Oh, where to begin, dear reader? We have something important on our mind... Where is the real bubble? Is it a bubble in commodities? Or a bubble in the people who buy them? By the charts ye shall know them — bubbles, that is. The lines roll along nicely, calmly, along ...read more

So this is what it feels like in an inflationary melt up. House prices were up 6.2% in the third quarter over the same time last year, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. House prices in the capital cities are surging. Stocks are surging. Gold and oil ...read more

Every time I do a Q and A after a college lecture, somebody says (with a fanfare of indignation) — so as to reveal their own brilliance in contrast to my foolishness — “You haven’t said anything about overpopulation!” Right. I usually don’t bother. Their complaint, of course, implies that we ...read more

One of my friends read “Should We Talk About Secession,” an article just posted on the ‘net. He’s from the wild and wooly Montana-Idaho-Wyoming school of thought and commented, “I’ve been talking about it for two years.” Woohoo...some of us have been talking about it since 1840. I haven’t read the piece ...read more

Everything we know about classic economic theory suggests the U.S. economy should be experiencing Zimbabwe-like hyperinflation right now, thanks to the nearly $2.2 trillion the U.S. Federal Reserve has pumped into the system. But we’re not…yet. Classic economic theory says that money supply can be used to stimulate the economy and our ...read more

I staked out my position on the Doom & Gloom side back in 1992 when I was shocked by the problem I discuss first. What should you be concerned about? Start with the basics: what do you think you might have to survive? No point in making plans if you ...read more

Do you think ideas don't matter, that what people believe about themselves and their world has no real consequence? If so, the following will not bug you in the slightest. A new BBC poll finds that only 11 percent of people questioned around the world – and 29,000 people were asked ...read more

As the sun sets over this desert country, it bathes everything in a whiskey-colored tint. The still cranes perched on unfinished buildings look like ruins. But when the sun disappears and inky darkness fills the sky, Dubai’s cityscape lights up and takes on a magical quality.  Crowds fill its restaurants in ...read more

The other night, as I sat in my living room watching the local news I saw a story that really made me shake my head. The news reported that officials in Howard County, Maryland, had banned people under the age of 18 from using tanning beds. Huh. Why? It’s because health officials ...read more