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Implausibly, Freedom Gets a Boost

Jan 12th, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, Politics
Every once in a while, the Supreme Court takes notice of the Constitution and actually comes to the defense of that thing called freedom. True, it doesn't happen often, and hasn't happened much at all for, oh, 100 years or so. But it can and does happen. This time, the ...read more

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Posted in Featured, Politics | No Comments »


Capitalism or Money in Crisis?

Jan 11th, 2012 | By | Category: Economics, Featured
When the Financial Times started its series on "Capitalism in Crisis," I winced. Here we go yet again, an attempt to blame private enterprise for what are actually the failures of the state and paper money. And some writers -- but not all -- in the series have done exactly ...read more

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Posted in Economics, Featured | 2 comments


Why Federal Deficits May Not Be the Ones That Matter Most to You

Jan 10th, 2012 | By | Category: Economics, Featured, Politics
Yesterday we pointed out that lending money to national governments may not be the best use of one's money. Concerning national government debt, Detlev Schlechter said, "Wouldn't touch it with a bargepole." And who could blame him? Just a couple of days ago, the debt of the U.S. government reached a symbolic ...read more

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Posted in Economics, Featured, Politics | 1 Comment »


When the Bond Buying Stops, the Game Is Over

Jan 9th, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, Gold, Personal Investing
I would not touch bonds with a barge pole, especially government bonds. After 40 years of unending fiat money expansion, the world suffers from excess levels of debt. A lot of this debt will never be repaid. My expectation is that the market will increasingly question the ability and the ...read more

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Posted in Featured, Gold, Personal Investing | 5 comments


The Monetary Metal That Won’t Die

Jan 6th, 2012 | By | Category: Currencies, Economics, Featured, Gold, Politics
For more than one hundred years, governments have been trying to kill gold's role in the monetary system. They've dreamed of a day when the cursed metal would vanish completely except as jewelry and luxurious adornment. And yet its monetary properties won't go away. Central banks still hold it, and ...read more

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Posted in Currencies, Economics, Featured, Gold, Politics | No Comments »


Elections and the Illusions of Choice

Jan 5th, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, Politics
The political season has unleashed its predictable frenzy, much to delight of people who make a living off it. But to what end? There are only two types of politicians who end up holding office, wrote H.L. Mencken: "first, glorified mob-men who genuinely believe what the mob believes, and secondly, ...read more

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Posted in Featured, Politics | 4 comments


Vivien Kellems: Giving the Taxman Hell

Jan 4th, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, Personal Liberties
If principles are expressed through people, then Vivien Kellems’s life (1896-1975) shouts out that business is not the handmaiden of government. For over 25 years the Westport, Connecticut industrialist battled the federal withholding tax, which she refused to collect from employees’ wages. If the government wanted her “to be their agent,” ...read more

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Posted in Featured, Personal Liberties | 3 comments


Iran’s Desperate Gamble to Push Oil Up to $200

Jan 3rd, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, International, Oil
As this tumultuous and volatile year draws to an end, it's time to turn your thoughts to 2012. What will the new year bring…and what can you do to prepare for it? I've given it a lot of thought, drawing on my decades of market-watching experience. In the end, I came ...read more

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Posted in Featured, International, Oil | 4 comments


There’s No Such Thing as a Stable State

Jan 2nd, 2012 | By | Category: Emerging Markets, Featured, Macro Economics, Politics
Twenty years ago, and much to the shock of just about everyone, the mighty Soviet Union, the very embodiment of Hegel’s view of the state as the divine on Earth, dissolved and disappeared. The malicious foe of the U.S., the deadly grizzly that was said to wander the world seeking ...read more

Posted in Emerging Markets, Featured, Macro Economics, Politics | 9 comments


Nicaragua and the Cold War Political Theater

Jan 2nd, 2012 | By | Category: Emerging Markets, Featured, Personal Investing
Some friends and co-workers spent their holidays at Rancho Santana in Nicaragua, where you can live like a king on a pauper’s salary. The beaches are among the best in the world, and the people are nuts for Americans. There is every amenity and consumer product, even better stuff than ...read more

Posted in Emerging Markets, Featured, Personal Investing | No Comments »


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