Essays

Why the Government Is Desperately Trying to Inflate a New Housing Bubble

"Many people claim the Federal government and Federal Reserve are trying to inflate a new housing bubble to trigger a new 'wealth effect,' i.e. people seeing their home equity rising once again will feel encouraged to borrow and blow money like they did in 2001-2008. But if we look at current income (down) and debt levels (still high), there is little hope for a renewed wealth effect from housing. That leaves us with this conclusion: The Federal government and Federal Reserve are trying to inflate another housing bubble to save the 'too big to fail' banks from a richly deserved day of reckoning." Continue reading →

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There Will Be No Economic Recovery. Prepare Yourself Accordingly.

"Everything you need to know that the media is not telling you... Stefan Molyneux, host of Freedomain Radio - and winner of the 2012 Liberty Inspiration Award - breaks down the unspoken facts about the end of freedom, opportunity and trade in the modern United States. There will be no economic recovery, prepare yourself accordingly." Continue reading →

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Robert Wenzel: An Examination of Key Factors in the Collapse of the Soviet Union

"The Henry Hazlitt Memorial Lecture, sponsored by James M. Rodney, presented at the Austrian Economics Research Conference. Recorded 21 March 2013 at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. Includes an introduction by Joseph T. Salerno." Continue reading →

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Will Grigg: “Ominous Threats” and Murderous Zeal

"That description was not applied to the masked, armor-clad Berserkers who kick down doors in the early morning or late at night and terrorize families over non-violent 'offenses.' Nor was it offered in reference to the militants who have purchased more than 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition -- much of it hollow-point rounds unsuitable for military use -- while distributing armored vehicles and other military hardware to their adherents in practically every city nation-wide. The Times didn't direct that rhetorical salvo at the people who are openly discussing plans to fill America's skies with robot planes that can -- and will -- be used as weapons platforms." Continue reading →

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Driver’s Taxes and Other Money-Grabbing Schemes Throughout History

"Did you know that you need a license in Japan to be a sushi chef? It’s true. In Japan, you need a license to slice raw fish. You can bet that if the sushi restaurants in the USA were to become so popular that they stood on every street corner, the government would increase taxes on them by requiring a special license to slice fish; and why not? They tax you to go out on the water to catch them! Throughout the history of man there have been all sorts of ridiculous taxes levied on people by their overlords. The government claims they are doing it for the good of society, but it’s all a money scam. Here’s a short list of some of my, er, 'favorite' taxes through time." Continue reading →

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Americans Are War Weary … And The Neocons Don’t Like It

"Americans may not know what's going on 'over there' or even know where 'over there' is on a map. But they do know that it's very expensive. Americans also know that the U.S. economy is a total disaster. CNBC can wave their pom-poms about a rising stock market, and the CPI can say 2% until the end of time. But the truth cannot be hidden. When Americans look at the unemployment surrounding them and the relentlessly rising bills hitting the mailbox, it doesn't cut it that the propaganda machine tells them it's only an illusion. The steel-tight system that the warmongers have crafted is eating itself alive." Continue reading →

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Will Grigg: Prison Profiteers

"One aspect of drug prohibition that gets far too little attention is the fact that the drug war is immensely profitable for prohibitionists. No decent person has anything but contempt for Drug Kingpins – but it’s difficult to see how Prohibition Profiteers are any less contemptible. And they’re hardly the only people who have become wealthy by monetizing the misery generated in the prison-industrial complex. Public incarceration is the only consistently growing sector of our increasingly socialized economy." Continue reading →

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Stop Fooling Ourselves: Americans Can’t Afford the Future

"Simply continuing along the status quo is a vote for digging ourselves deeper as the constraints of the future arrive. Behavior change is necessary in order to improve our chances. At the core of the needed change is redefining prosperity. In modern society, it has largely come to be defined by material possessions, usually assuming that the more (and the more expensive), the better. In the future, we'd do much better to define it by: our health (both physical and emotional), our purpose, our ability to meet our needs sustainably, our relationships, our level of happiness. In sum, all things that were once valued much higher in our culture." Continue reading →

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