"Should we throw our bantam weight behind the president in search of personal gain? Or should we put on our Good Citizen lapel flag and rally round to save the country’s finances?" Continue reading →
"The real story—and scandal—of intelligence surveillance and incidental collection is the mass incidental collection and use of Americans’ communications without a warrant. Under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), countless Americans are subject to the same incidental collection that President Trump now thinks is a serious problem, and the rules for accessing and using those communications are far more lax than the Susan Rice process, and totally unrelated to foreign intelligence and national security." Continue reading →
"The Trump administration's justification for its airstrikes on Syria manages somehow to be even weaker than Obama's Libya arguments. The time to push back is running out for Congress. If they can't do it with a deeply, widely unpopular president who in his first three months in office has antagonized not just members of the opposition party but members of his own as well, they may never be able to." Continue reading →
The Pentagon has admitted to an airstrike that is believed to have killed more than 200 civilians in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, at the edge of the autonomous Kurdistan region. In the 1980s, Kurdistan was targeted by Saddam … Continue reading →
"One famous answer to the riddle of fiat money is that governments use force to ensure that fiat money is valued. But this can't be the case in Somalia: it hasn't had a government since 1991, yet shillings continue to be accepted." Continue reading →
"President Trump inferred that immigrants are responsible for a crime wave sweeping our nation. He announced in his address to Congress that he ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create a new office – Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) – to provide a voice to those victimized by immigrants. The reality is that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native born Americans. Among men aged 18 to 49 years old, immigrants were 20 to 50 percent less likely to be incarcerated compared to their native-born counterparts. You are nearly 300,000 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to be killed in a terrorist act committed by a refugee." Continue reading →
"There are a few things you should know before taking the plunge. I am happy to assist you with your pre-immigration US tax planning. Just let me know when you would like an appointment. If instead, you feel more comfortable speaking to a fellow Brit, I am sure Boris Johnson will be able to tell you a few things about the US tax system (and most likely, why you should avoid it at all costs)." Continue reading →
Developed-world governments are joining their developing-world counterparts in governing by surprise and openly placing their citizens' wealth at risk through anti-cash messaging and actions. Continue reading →
Every day provides increased evidence that developed-world sovereign debt is quite literally "a bubble in search of a pin", as Peter Schiff put it in his 2011 book 'Crash Proof'. Continue reading →
"More than 19% of today’s loans are going to subprime or 'deep subprime' borrowers — and total volume for lower credit score borrowers is just shy of its 2005 record. Indeed, lenders are basically giving loans to anyone with a pulse. The New York Fed recently found that application rejection rates have dropped to 3.3% from more than 10% a few years ago. The average loan now stretches out to a record 67 months, while 27% of U.S. loans sport terms of six to seven years. That’s because buyers can’t afford their monthly payments any other way. Bottom line: If you own auto stocks or stocks leveraged to the auto industry, sell them." Continue reading →