The dust-up between New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul over presidential fidelity to the Constitution — particularly the Fourth Amendment — was the most illuminating two minutes of the Republican debate last week. It is a well-regarded historical truism that the Fourth Amendment was written by victims of government snooping, the…
Bernie Sanders is an Independent U.S. Senator from Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats. He is a self-proclaimed socialist. He is a Democratic candidate for president. He is many things, but a Republican he is not. Yet, even though most people think there are many differences between Sanders and the typical Republican member of Congress…
"Now, the PBoC will look to supercharge efforts to re-engineer a stock market bubble via leverage by pushing brokerages to issue ABS backed by margin loans. If brokerages simply offload the margin loan risk to investors and use the proceeds to fund still more margin lending which can also be turned into still more ABS, and so on, then the effect will be to pile leverage on top of leverage. What happens in the event the underlying stocks become completely illiquid (i.e. Beijing decides to suspend trading on three quarters of the market again)? The punchline: the senior tranche (which accounts for CNY475 million of the total CNY500 million deal) is rated AAA." Continue reading →
"China's 2 percent devaluation of the yuan on Tuesday pushed the U.S. dollar higher and hit Wall Street and other global equity markets as it raised fears of a new round of currency wars and fed worries about slowing Chinese economic growth. U.S. stock indices dropped more than 1 percent and stocks also fell in Asia and Europe as investors contemplated the implications of a move designed to support China's slowing economy and exports. Companies that sell to China were hit hard, with heavy equipment maker Caterpillar losing 3.13 percent and Germany's Volkswagen dropping 4 percent. Energy and materials shares also tumbled on China demand concerns." Continue reading →
Whenever we publish something about an anti-commandeering-style nullification bill, somebody inevitably responds with something along these lines. “I’m not a lawyer, but doesn’t federal law supersede state law?” In short, the answer to that question is no. In fact, the Supremacy Clause doesn’t even apply when it comes to anti-commandeering. Anti-commandeering laws merely prohibit the…
SPRINGFIELD, Il. (Aug. 11, 2015) Last week, Gov. Rauner signed a bill into law to nullify in practice some Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules that prevent terminally ill patients from accessing experimental treatments. Introduced by Rep. Greg Harris (R-13) and 21 bipartisan co-sponsors, House Bill 1335 (HB1335) gives terminally ill patients access to medicines that…
"Alan Greenspan, who served as Fed chairman between 1987 and 2006, told Bloomberg: 'I think we have a pending bond market bubble. If we merely substitute the structure of equity prices, and we have the price of bonds, and instead of expected equity return we have expected interest rate return, that price earnings ratio is in an extraordinary unstable position.' Mr Greenspan, who has been criticised for fuelling the US housing bubble by keeping rates down in the early 2000s and failing to keep a closer eye on banks, said behavioural economics was playing a central role in investor decision making. Mr Greenspan also said oil prices had further to fall." Continue reading →
A couple of weeks ago, I appeared on “An Economy Of One” podcast to discuss the new Texas gold depository. Gary Rathbun and I discussed two important impacts the Texas depository will have. First, by controlling its own gold stores, it provides the state greater economic independence and autonomy. Second, it opens the door for Texans…
"The hedge fund report, authored by a trio of former International Monetary Fund economists, noted that Puerto Rico’s education spending had risen 39 percent in a decade during which school enrollment actually fell by a quarter. Surely, there must have been some unnecessary fat in the system to cut. It's easy to understand why this might seem outrageous. Firing teachers in the middle of what's essentially a nine-year depression seems like a good way to further exacerbate Puerto Rican unemployment, possibly while sacrificing some childrens' educations." Continue reading →
Last week, I appeared on the Scott Horton show to discuss six new laws that went into effect August 1. Four of these laws nullify specific federal acts in practice, and two others that went on the books placing significant roadblocks in the way of some federal programs. During the show, Scott and I talked…