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What’s Behind the Erosion of Civil Society?
What’s Behind the Erosion of Civil Society? Rebuilding social capital and social connectedness is not something that can be done by governments or corporations. As the mid-term elections are widely viewed as a referendum of sorts, let’s set aside politics and ask, what’s behind the erosion of our civil society? That civil society in the U.S. […]
Why Is Social Media So Toxic?
Why Is Social Media So Toxic? The desire to improve our social standing is natural. What’s unnatural is the toxicity of doing so through social media. It seems self-evident that the divisiveness that characterizes this juncture of American history is manifesting profound social and economic disorders that have little to do with politics. In this […]
What’s the Real Meaning of the Stock Market Swoon?
What’s the Real Meaning of the Stock Market Swoon? Nobody dares discuss it openly for fear of triggering a panic, but there aren’t enough lifeboats for everyone. There’s no shortage of explanations on the whys and wherefores of the US stock market’s recent swoon / swan-dive / plummet. Here’s a few of the many credible […]
Shadow Banning Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg: We’re All Digital Ghosts Now
Shadow Banning Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg: We’re All Digital Ghosts Now Just about the only bulwark against being silenced by the modern-day tech-corporate-NKVD-Stasi is Patreon. If you do a search of shadow banning, you’ll find sites that claim to help you identify whether Twitter or Instagram has shadow banned your account. The […]
Globalization Has Hollowed Out Rural America
Globalization Has Hollowed Out Rural America The value of local control and local capital far exceed the pathetic “savings” reaped from shoddy commoditized goods. What do we make of an economy in which a handful of bubblicious urban areas are magnets for jobs and capital while rural communities have been hollowed out? The short answer is that this progression of […]
The Coming Inflation Threat
The Coming Inflation Threat Falling asset inflation plus rising cost inflation equals stagflation. Inflation is a funny thing: we feel it virtually every day, but we’re told it doesn’t exist—the official inflation rate is around 2.5% over the past few years, a little higher when energy prices are going up and a little lower when […]
Mutiny, Class, Authority and Respect
Mutiny, Class, Authority and Respect Humiliation and fear of a catastrophic decline in status foment mutiny and rebellion. I recently finished The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty, a painstakingly researched history of the mutiny, but with a focus on how the story was shaped by influential families after the fact […]
The Coming Inflation Threat: The Worst Of Both Worlds
Sandusky Register The Coming Inflation Threat: The Worst Of Both Worlds Expect falling asset inflation, but rising cost inflation Inflation is a funny thing: we feel it virtually every day, but we’re told it doesn’t exist—the official inflation rate is around 2.5% over the past few years, a little higher when energy prices are going […]
Is the Greatest Bull Market Ever Finally Ending? (Hint: Follow the Money)
Is the Greatest Bull Market Ever Finally Ending? (Hint: Follow the Money) The key here is the gains generated by owning US-denominated assets as the USD appreciates. Is the Greatest Bull Market Ever finally ending? One straightforward approach to is to follow the money, i.e. global capital flows: assets that attract positive global capital flows […]
The Distortions of Doom Part 2: The Fatal Flaws of Reserve Currencies
The Distortions of Doom Part 2: The Fatal Flaws of Reserve Currencies The way forward is to replace the entire system of reserve currencies with a transparent free-for-all of all kinds of currencies. Over the years, I’ve endeavored to illuminate the arcane dynamics of global currencies by discussing Triffin’s Paradox, which explains the conflicting dual […]
The Global Distortions of Doom Part 1: Hyper-Indebted Zombie Corporations
The Global Distortions of Doom Part 1: Hyper-Indebted Zombie Corporations The defaults and currency crises in the periphery will then move into the core. It’s funny how unintended consequences so rarely turn out to be good. The intended consequences of central banks’ unprecedented tsunami of stimulus (quantitative easing, super-low interest rates and easy credit / […]
The Dynamics of Decadence
The Dynamics of Decadence In the present era of decadence, Universal Basic Income (UBI) is the modern equivalent of Bread and Circuses. The dynamics of decadence are easy to understand: as affluence becomes the norm that is widely assumed to be permanent, shared purpose and sacrifice for the common good is replaced by self-absorbed decadence […]
Pensions Now Depend on Bubbles Never Popping (But All Bubbles Pop)
Pensions Now Depend on Bubbles Never Popping (But All Bubbles Pop) We’re living in a fantasy, folks. Bubbles pop, period. The nice thing about the “wealth” generated by bubbles is it’s so easy: no need to earn wealth the hard way, by scrimping and saving capital and investing it wisely. Just sit back and let central […]
How Do We Change Our Lives in a System That’s Broken?
How Do We Change Our Lives in a System That’s Broken? Rather than fight a system designed to thwart us, we need a model for our own lives that bypasses the perverse tides and obsoletes the impediments in our path. Everyone wants to change their lives for the better (or preserve what’s positive), and this […]
Fixing Infrastructure Isn’t as Simple as Spending Another Trillion Dollars
Fixing Infrastructure Isn’t as Simple as Spending Another Trillion Dollars It isn’t easy to add new subway lines or new highways, and so “solutions” don’t really exist. If there’s one thing Americans can still agree on, it’s that America needs to spend more on infrastructure which is visibly falling apart in many places. This capital […]
