From time to time, our work at the Tenth Amendment Center comes under attack from anarcho-capitalists. (Or if you prefer anarchists, voluntarists or simply libertarians.) These folks object to our emphasis on the Constitution because they argue that “the state” and its various governments lack legitimacy. The argue that by its very nature, even a…
"Jürgen Stark, former vice president of the Bundesbank, and also former chief economist of the ECB, resigned in late 2011 for his outright rejection to the purchase of government bonds by the ECB. The monetary system was saved in 2011 through concerted action by major central banks worldwide. But, according to Stark, the whole system is 'pure fiction'. The problem is the monetary model itself. That is, the printing of paper currency without real backing and the multiplier by which the commercial banks can expand credit-uncontrolled without prior savings. Stark recommended allocating part of this fictional savings to investment in traditional 'safe havens' such as gold or silver." Continue reading →
"Negative 1 percent. That’s how much the U.S. economy managed to 'grow' in the first quarter, according to the government’s revised estimate. After more than $800 billion in stimulus spending from Washington. After more than $3 trillion of QE from the Federal Reserve. After six-plus years of record-low interest rates … record levels of monetary intervention in the U.K., Japan and Europe … and the biggest bailouts in the history of the world. It’s much worse than the 0.1 percent gain the Commerce Department originally reported. It was twice as bad as the 0.5 percent decline economists were expecting. And it’s the worst reading since the first quarter of 2011." Continue reading →
Politician promises to “do ___ in the future” are usually grandstanding. Like a withdrawal from Afghanistan. Which should happen yesterday.
"When the Spanish conquered South America, their encomienda system of slavery typically required only 40 days of work from their victims. The French conquered Madagascar; they forced male Hovas between 16 and 60 to work 50 days a year. The US example is closer to that of Russia – where Emperor Paul I, in 1797, declared that three days a week was enough for serfs to give their lords and masters. That works out to nearly 150 days a year. A 50% tax rate – federal, state and local – is the equivalent of about 125 days of forced labor a year. Pretty steep. But that’s just the beginning. In our system of crony democracy, all the major industries have whips in their hands." Continue reading →
"It isn't just affecting the most financially restricted people on Earth: US citizens... it is affecting everyone. Take myself, for example. I operate numerous businesses worldwide. I am a Canadian citizen as well as the citizen of a Caribbean country and our business operations are also operated out of a non-tax jurisdiction in the Caribbean. On top of that we hold no bank accounts, whatsoever, in the US... instead, we have bank accounts all over the world. Yet, in the last two months we have had our accounts or transactions frozen, denied or questioned in different jurisdictions at least ten times. And we have had countless other problems over the last two years." Continue reading →
I had an interesting exchange by email with a reader I’ll identify (at his request) just as TJ, an independent researcher, about the original meaning of “natural born citizen” and my views expressed in this post. We’ve covered a lot of ground so I’m just going to pick out a part of it here, regarding the…
The confusion that arises due to not following the Constitution is confusion over the most basic idea in society: what is the role of government? Some believe it is to keep us safe. Some believe it is financial stability, both in the form of welfare and in central banks controlling the money supply.
"The Class of 2012 graduated with an AVERAGE financial hangover of $29,400. In more expensive parts of the country like the Northeast, four-year degree students owed even more – almost $34,000. We’re not just talking about a handful of students, either. More than 7 in 10 graduates had at least some debt when they got their degrees. The growth in debt is far outpacing the growth in income, too, rising at a rate of about 6 percent per year over the past half-decade. All told, student loan debt now totals around $1.1 TRILLION. That’s almost quadruple the level of a decade earlier. It’s now the single biggest category of consumer debt outside of home mortgages." Continue reading →