In The Long Emergency (2005, Atlantic Monthly Press), I said that we ought to expect the federal government to become increasingly impotent and ineffectual - that this would be a hallmark of the times.  In fact, I said that any enterprise organized at the colossal scale would function poorly in ...read more

The Fed’s been carrying on with its wayward monetary policy. And it's carried on with the carry trade by keeping short-term rates low. In deciding to make hardly any changes to its interest rate policy or even the language from its last statement, the Fed is encouraging traders to resume the ...read more

Let’s review the big picture for gold. What's going on? And what are people saying? For much of 2009, gold traded in the range of low-mid $900 per ounce. There was a dip over the summer, with a strong upswing starting in September. Gold is now trading well over $1,000 per ...read more

A couple weeks ago, I had my TV tuned to a business show that loves to give predictions on the markets and the economy. On that day, one of the program’s regular guests declared it was time to “short” gold, that it had reached its top, and that the precious ...read more

Are the Western Welfare States (the U.S., Japan, and EU nations) really going bankrupt? Things were headed that way before the credit crisis began. The Global Financial Crisis may be becoming a sovereign debt crisis and that will worsen an already bad situation. First, let’s check out the chart below from ...read more

Earthlings are all convinced that a financial crisis of cosmic proportions befell the planet last fall. Had the authorities failed to act with determination and speed, it would have been the end of the world. In the popular mind the politicians have saved capitalism from its own excesses. Our views are ...read more

Were I an aspiring farmer in search of fertile land to buy and plow, I would seriously consider moving to Detroit. There is open land, fertile soil, ample water, willing labor, and a desperate demand for decent food. And there is plenty of community will behind the idea of turning ...read more

If this isn’t a BO-HICA moment, I don’t know what is. (Bend-over; here it comes again). Friday, October 30, nine (9!) banks failed and were taken-over by the FDIC. That brought the total bank failures to 115 so far in 2009. This number of failures hasn’t been exceeded since 1992 AND ...read more

One of the most important things to remember about socialism – or coercion of any kind – is it fails eventually because human beings have an innate desire for liberty and a strong need for personal property rights. In fact, the origins of government lie in the need of agricultural ...read more

With this article I wrap up my review of Lemay: The Life and Wars of General Curtis Lemay by Warren Kozak. "Cometh the hour, cometh the man," I've said many times during this narrative of the life and wars of General Curtis Lemay (1906-1990). And when the hour has passed? Well, ...read more