Some New Kids on the Monetary Block
Regulators and tax collectors can slow down the drive to modernize the money and banking system, but they can’t stop it. It is on its way, with young entrepreneurs working every day to innovate and break down the old model. It’s a heck of a way to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Fed. If… read more
Read More CommentWhine Time
Read More CommentBubbles, Bitcoins, and the Merit of Volitility: An Interview with Peter Earle
Read More CommentWhy Too Much Data Might Actually Protect Your Privacy
We’ve entered a new age based on technology and huge volumes of data. All these data will help to shape our future world. What this means for us is we can make smarter decisions and act faster. But it hinges on our ability to read and make sense of it all. The problem this creates… read more
Read More CommentShort Memories Make Greater Fools
Reuters reports on a story we’ve been following for a while: Big money is rushing to buy detached single family houses in Las Vegas while, according to the number crunchers at UNLV, 40,000 homes sit empty. These big investors and a handful of others have bought at least 55,000 single-family homes across the U.S. in… read more
Read More CommentJamie’s Birthday Suit
I review a great new book, The Bankers’ New Clothes for The Freeman. Also, the American Banker reports today, Second-lien loans have increased along with overall new issues in the leveraged loan market this year. U.S. companies closed on $130 billion in loans through April 30, an increase from approximately $90 billion at this point… read more
Read More CommentMen Who Built America
Who has seen “The Men Who Made America”? I can tell you that I’m absolutely crazy for this and I’ve only seen two episodes. This whole period, the Gilded Age, is completely forgotten in American history. Black out. It was the greatest time in the world to be alive, and the most prosperous spot on… read more
Read More CommentBitcoin Update
The market for Bitcoin is evolving quickly and furiously, posing both opportunities and risks. While the price has stabilized somewhat since the wild swings during the last two months but the velocity of transactions has fallen as people are choosing to hoard their existing stash rather than spend it. The consensus among close watchers is… read more
Read More CommentKhan Academy Tutorial on Bitcoin
Read More CommentLiving on Bitcoins for a Week
This piece in Forbes by Kashmill Hill has two surprises in it for me. First, Coinbase has fewer subscribers/users than I would have expected. Second, the retail market is actually more developed than I would have expected at this very early stage of adoption.… read more
Read More CommentThe eBook Release This Week
Tucker’s Take: Early Speculative Bubbles (Non-Member’s version) from Agora Financial on Vimeo.… read more
Read More CommentThe Trouble with New Model Cars
Here’s the problem with the newest models of cars. Thanks to government safety and efficiency regulations, they are not only super uncool but they also make you feel like you are driving a coffin. The tops of the doors are so high that you can’t see the road below you. The hood is high too… read more
Read More CommentThe Bitcoin “Crash” and the Trend
The people who want Bitcoin to fail keep going on about the Bitcoin crash, but here it how it looks today. A wild ride to be sure, but the overall trend is very impressive. This is also why I question the use of the term “bubble” to describe its high. Overbought is more suitable.… read more
Read More CommentThe Underwater Diploma
On Friday, CNBC.com headlines blared, “Job Picture Looks Bleak for 2013 College Grads.” If just simply finding a job isn’t bad enough, the Economic Policy Institute says the class of 2013 will earn less over the next 10-15 years. Recently, Brad Plumer wrote for The Washington Post that student loan debt “is dragging down the… read more
Read More CommentOblivion, The Movie that Questions Power
It took me a night’s sleep to figure out Oblivion, a new Tom Cruise sci-fi thriller. It is set in the future when Earth has been largely destroyed and a only a handful of people remain to keep the so-called scavengers away from the remains. Droids roam the earth to blast away the scavengers and… read more
Read More CommentThe Scramble To Get Away from Government Courts
For all people who think government courts are so necessary and fantastic, consider that in every big deal involving substantial amounts of money today, private arbitration agreements are routine. These agreements concede what everyone actually knows but few say outright: when the officials courts handle a case, only the government wins while both parties in… read more
Read More CommentGoldman Sachs Guy says Central Banks Should Buy Stocks
Jim O’Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, says is A-OK for central banks to buy equities. The subject came up in the context of the Bank of Japan more than doubling its investments in equity exchange-traded funds by the end of next year. ”The Bank currently holds ¥1.4 trillion ($14.1 billion) in ETFs with… read more
Read More CommentThe New Digital Age
This book looks like it could be extremely important. Review coming up.… read more
Read More CommentCISPA Dies in the Senate
Another remarkable defeat for those who want more government oversight of the Internet. CISPA, a bill that would have allowed government access to your digital data and permitted sharing between government agencies, was passed by the House but died in the Senate. A crucial role here was played by cyber activists who bombarded the Senate… read more
Read More CommentThe Modern History of Liberty and Much More
Here is an extended sit-down interview I did with Rise-Up Radio… read more
Read More CommentBitcoin Report and Video
My Bitcoin report for Club members comes out today. I’m very pleased by the final results. People who have looked at it say that it is the best and most coherent report for users yet written. Also, the Daily Reckoning has put together a good video on the topic.… read more
Read More CommentBankers Hear Bitcoin’s Footsteps
Ex-PNC boss Jim Rohr doesn’t mention Bitcoin, but tells American Banker, “When you are thinking about risk to the financial system, we are doing a really good job of nailing down the historic mistakes,” Rohr says. “But we are missing what technology is doing to the industry.” Firms beyond banking are claiming an ever larger… read more
Read More CommentMeet the Targets or Die the Death
I have a new piece up at FEE.org. It’s about education reform and how it is rather hopeless insofar as the government owns and runs the schools. Meet the Targets or Die the Death Sometimes a national story, reported in big venues in big ways for 48 hours, just goes away for no good reason.… read more
Read More CommentDiscussion with Austrian Bitcoin Skeptic
Bitcoin is a challenge for every theorist of money and that includes the Austrians. Even though the Austrian paradigm has long been named as the inspiration behind Bitcoin, older Austrians have been slow to fully comprehend the implications of this innovation. I just had a long conversation with a top theorist and I’ll summarize his… read more
Read More CommentWhen the bars accept Bitcoin
Read More CommentTwo Notable Bitcoin Studies from Serious People
George Selgin, author of Good Money, has released a paper that examines that macroeconomic implications of Bitcoin, which he regards as a new type of money that is neither fiat nor commodity based. He calls it synthetic money. His conclusion: Whether the future will give rise to more examples of unofficial synthetic commodity money, and… read more
Read More CommentExcellent Short Film about Bitcoins in Argentina
If you find the whole thing mystifying, have a look at this short film. It hits all the high points.… read more
Read More CommentThe Story of Tad
I told this in a Laissez Faire Today piece, but here it is on film.… read more
Read More CommentKeep the Populace Alarmed
In case you missed it LaGuardia Airport was evacuated this morning, just long enough to, as Vanity Fair writes, “pose for this chaotic-seeming photograph in the LaGuardia parking lot.” Bloomberg reports that US Airways flight 1716 was stopped at Logan Airport for security reasons. At a time like this we should remember the words of… read more
Read More CommentA “Lost” Book on Business Cycle Theory
I’m super excited to be releasing a very interesting book that was big in 1934 but then disappeared along with other excellent works on the business cycle from this period. This one is largely unknown, even in “Austrian” circles, even though it takes up the Mises-Hayek theme of how the central bank causes the business… read more
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