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Just days after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, theories are flying from all directions. Many who ridiculed the “conspiracy theories” of conservatives are now suggesting the whole event was a set-up to boost Trump in the polls ahead of the election. Others suggest it was the “deep state” or even foreign actors who organized it.Former US Navy Seal and founder of Blackwater, Erik Prince, claims that “The fact that [the Secret Service]...

In modern America, an obsessive fixation on “safety” has given rise to a culture of fear, paralyzing action and warping decision-making across all levels of society. The conditioning begins early, with children trained to be fearful rather than competent in facing challenges or unfamiliar situations. In their formative years, children are inundated with rules and guidelines, ostensibly designed to maintain safety. But this only stunts their adventurous spirit,...

Jury duty assignment prevents a more comprehensive note, but here is a snapshot. Overview: The US dollar is consolidating in narrow ranges against most of the G10 currencies. The Australian and New Zealand dollars, along with the Japanese yen are off by about 0.25%, but the others are +/- 0.10. The latest BOJ data appears to imply that officials intervened not only last Thursday, but Friday as well. Emerging market currencies are mixed but mostly quiet. The Turkish...

Inflation from the government and the banking system is usually aided unconsciously by the people, who generally believe that some moderate periodic rise in prices is normal. If prices could decrease due to economic growth (price deflation as an outcome of increased productivity), people would be able to keep more of their income to plan further ahead and save more without having to worry about decreases in its value. And if the social demand for money increases, any...

The libertarian argument against civil rights laws strikes many progressives as fundamentally wrong because they view civil rights as the best way to promote liberal values including individual liberty. But any so-called values that lead inexorably to the destruction of society are not “liberal” in the true sense. In “Liberalism,” Ludwig von Mises explains the importance of pursuing what is good for society as a whole, rather than what seems good for one particular...

In a much younger life, I was a newspaper reporter. A journalism-school graduate, I was going to help change the world, proclaiming truth and justice under my byline. The job didn’t pay much, but with overtime we got by, and it was a heady experience for this young general assignment reporter to rub shoulders with politicians and celebrities and even have some of them return his phone calls.Later in life, I had a long academic career in economics. I came to...

Why I’m here instead of some superstar is one of those anomalies that defies explanation. But allow me to congratulate you on earning your degrees.Almost without exception, a college commencement speaker is a high achiever whose mere presence will tell graduates making it big is possible. The message they deliver varies widely in details and tone, but there are some common lines of thought among the most popular. Let’s look at a few of them:Steve Jobs, Stanford...

Overview: The assassination attempt on former President Trump has injected a new dynamic as his chances of being re-elected appear to have risen. There are a few trades that seem to benefit from a second term:  steepening yield curve, weaker Mexican peso, and stronger crypto. The dollar initially strengthened as the market's initially responded, while Tokyo markets were closed for Marine Day. As North American activity is about to begin, the dollar is mostly little...

This weekend a wannabe-assassin tried to kill former President Donald Trump, injuring him and two others and killing another man: Core Comperatore, who shielded his wife and daughter from gun fire. The man responsible is reported to be Thomas Matthew Crooks, who missed Trump’s head by mere inches. Crooks shot from atop a building to Trump’s right, somehow not being halted by the Secret Service. Tensions have been high since seeing it as a gross act of violence from...

After the first presidential debate on June 27, 2024, the media did something no one suspected: they began running headlines questioning President Biden’s mental capacity. CNN named its first analysis, titled “Biden’s disastrous debate pitches his reelection bid into crisis.” The author claimed that “objectively, Biden produced the weakest performance since John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon started the tradition of televised debates in 1960.”In the same analysis, the...