Essays

It’s a Sound-Money Alternative to the Dollar

"It should be no surprise to any student of economics that when government has a monopoly on money, it will be mismanaged. A better approach would be a free market in money: currency competition among entrepreneurs. Bitcoin is one of the opening salvos in this battle. In some respects it is very promising as an alternative currency and as a possible wholesale replacement for a national currency. In other respects it falls short. Bitcoin is a fiat currency that has achieved popularity and value without the mandate of a government legal tender law. On the contrary, the government strongly discourages bitcoin use and has used regulations to frustrate its adoption." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIt’s a Sound-Money Alternative to the Dollar

The Mind-Boggling Implications of a Bitcoin Economy

"While much has been said and written about the nascent crypto-currency's underlying technology and recent volatility, one nagging question remains: what if Bitcoin emerges as a viable and sound currency, just as the world's central banks reduce their notes to confetti? If this simple question doesn't inspire chills, perhaps it should, given Bitcoin's potential to overwrite the matrix of the world's ailing currency system even faster than the internet went mainstream. This will be among the topics of discussion this October at an unusual gathering of libertarians, economists, and computer scientists in Atlanta for the first ever Crypto-Currency Conference." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Mind-Boggling Implications of a Bitcoin Economy

US Is World’s Largest Tax Haven

"What is the world's largest tax haven? If you guessed any country in the Caribbean, South Pacific, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Central or South America or Europe, then you would be wrong. Only the United States can lay claim to that title. Ever since the French loaned money to the struggling revolutionaries who defeated the British to create the United States, to today where the Chinese are buying U.S. Treasury debt, the United States would not be able to maintain its economy without large inflows of foreign capital. Foreign investors can invest in the United States virtually tax free — in structures that are legally protected from risks and, currently, with secrecy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS Is World’s Largest Tax Haven

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics… at FreedomFest

"Don’t believe everything you’re told by promoters about second citizenship and passports. They may be entertaining and persuasive, but they can get you into some serious trouble. Same goes with anyone who promises that you can somehow hide your offshore holdings from the IRS. You’re asking for a world of trouble (not to mention setting yourself up to be blackmailed). Look, I’ve been in asset and privacy protection business for more than a quarter century. I’ve seen these things come and go. And, from experience with thousands of clients, I can tell you that the only proper way to do this is the legal way." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLies, Damned Lies, and Statistics… at FreedomFest

Americans Are on a Tight Leash

"Dealing with the burdens associated with citizenship-based taxation is an unfortunate fact of life for Americans. It is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. In fact, I would bet that the burdens will actually increase as the US government becomes more financially desperate. Which is a significant incentive to act sooner than later… or before it is too late altogether. However unpleasant this reality is, it does not negate the need to internationalize. Quite the contrary. As spending on welfare/warfare related programs continues to rise, it is clear that the US government will sink deeper into fiscal and moral bankruptcy, with political risk increasing in tandem." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmericans Are on a Tight Leash

James Corbett: The State is Not Great

"While the so-called 'New Atheists' are spending their energies warning of the violence that is justified by religious belief, they miss the most dangerous, the most irrational, and the most pervasive religion on the planet: statism. Modern-day government is a god and statism is a religion that is responsible for 260,000,000 deaths in the last century alone. Join us today on The Corbett Report as we commit the heresy of denying the statist religion and disproving the government god." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJames Corbett: The State is Not Great

Is The Safety Of The State Really Worth More Than The Truth?

"The federal government was created by the Founding Fathers, begrudgingly, to serve one primary purpose: The defense of individual liberty. But what happens when the federal government no longer pursues this function? What happens when the government becomes the very enemy it was designed to defend us against? Has it not then violated the charter that made it legal in the first place? And if so, should it not then be exposed and disbanded as a broken tool, a useless piece of hardware that no longer does any good for the people overall?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs The Safety Of The State Really Worth More Than The Truth?

Bernanke “The Only Game in Town”: Really?

"America's real economy is innovating away from the dead hand of the Fed and its toxic spew of free money to the predatory class. There's actually three games in town: the financier game the Fed is playing that will end in collapse, the Federal government's borrow-and-blow trillions of dollars game that will also end badly, and the real economy, where millions of people don't give a rat's rear-end about Bernanke's latest attempt to placate the financial Monster Id he has created. Bernanke is irrelevant to millions of people who are building the next economy beneath the rotting soggy mess of the financialized one Bernanke is attempting to resuscitate." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBernanke “The Only Game in Town”: Really?

Government of the People, by the People, for the People. NOT.

"Does voting mean that government is by the people? Ask yourself what influence you have on any legislation by your vote or by your vote in conjunction with others. Many members of Congress frequently do not even have an influence, neither reading the massive bills nor knowing what is in them. A few members and lobbyists are writing laws in the dead of night. Hearings are rigged. What influence do you have on what a president decides? What influence do you have on what a Supreme Court says is or is not law? What influence do you have on what a Congress legislates? What influence do you have on who is elected to office and who your representatives are?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGovernment of the People, by the People, for the People. NOT.