An Essential Resource for Enlightened Minds Since 1972
“I have not done anything wrong,” Lois Lerner, head of the IRS’ nonprofit division, told a congressional hearing. “I have not broken any laws.” Then she invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to be second-guessed by the Congress that is supposed to be watching over all agencies of government. Seeing the IRS grilled like this… read more
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The opening talk at the Bitcoin 2013 conference in San Jose was given by the Wilklevoss twins, purported owners of 1% of the world’s existing Bitcoins. They addressed the burning question of whether and how much Bitcoin ought to be regulated by government. Their primary message: “I don’t think anyone wants a fight — I… read more
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I’ve noticed a trend with the writings of Chris Anderson, former editor of Wired magazine and the author of a new book on 3-D printing called Makers: The New Industrial Revolution. It goes like this. He comes out with a book, and the highbrow experts say it’s crazy, that this time he has gone too… read more
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Two years ago, I spoke to a gentlemen who had started and sold four companies. He was currently working on a new project that sounded very promising (for all I know, he has already sold that one too). We had just heard a talk in which the speaker told people that the whole key to… read more
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We crossed another milestone in industrial history last week. Over the weekend of May 4-5, 2013, the world’s first handgun was printed on a 3-D printer. It was fired and it worked. The implications are dazzling for people all over the world. The printers will become cheaper over time. The files for printing can be… read more
Read More CommentThe latest unemployment data reveal the hope and tragedy of the American economic plight. Cheers went up for a modest increase in hiring, one that: barely keeps up with population; features mostly temp workers; leaves out prime-age males and all young workers; and keeps labor participation rate at a low level from 1979. This is… read more
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A contributing factor in the rise of Internet commerce, a feature that gave it a kick-start, was that you didn’t have to pay sales tax on what you purchased out of state. Ah, the glory days of the 2000s, when you could order anything and, for once in your life, not get hammered by the… read more
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Now that Bitcoin seems to be on the way toward monetization, or at least the long process is noticeably under way, there are a number of issues that are troubling people. I will deal with a few here. Note this crucial distinction that is somehow lost on many commentators on the Bitcoin issue. The flaws… read more
Read More CommentAs someone who only recently dived into the rocky Bitcoin waters — and discovered a world I had never imagined — I enjoy talking to others who have been there longer. There are some amazing stories out there. We are sitting here today with Bitcoin comfortably trading at 1 BTC to $134, and we take… read more
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The Supreme Court — a politically appointed gang of black-robed lawyers — is soon going to decide on one of the most contentious issues in medical science: Can human genes be patented, and to what technologies can those patents be extended to cover? The particular issue concerns one company, Myriad Genetics, and its claim to… read more
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The least of the problems with the income tax is that it takes your money. The really big problem is that the income tax takes your life. It gives the government direct access to the things you own and sets up the political/bureaucratic sector to be the final arbiter of what you can and cannot… read more
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“Thanks to Bitcoin, I am now living debt-free, just today managed to pay off all of my credit card debt!” — so reports a poster on Reddit, and the statement was echoed by many others. A currency that not only discourages debt, but earns enough money to pay off previous debt, plus encourages saving? It… read more
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In March, I was at a conference in New Hampshire when a few Bitcoin businessmen sat me down to lunch. It seems like the last thing one wants, a long lunch at which one is hammered by unrelenting geek-speak about the glories of some crazy software thing. It turned out very differently. A developer suggested… read more
Read More CommentUnderstanding Bitcoin requires that we understand the limits of our ability to imagine the future that the market can create for us. That is exactly what is happening with Bitcoin right now. As I type, the price is exploding, the main exchanges are overloaded, and people around the world can’t convert from government currency into… read more
Read More CommentBitcoin may reach $100 today. That brings the total value of the existing Bitcoin stock (10,960,500) to more than $1 billion. It was only a few weeks ago when a local Bitcoin trader in my town wanted a 40% premium for a local cash-to-BTC exchange at the rate of $70 per coin. I balked on… read more
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I’m looking out the airplane window, marveling that the clouds are below me. My computer is out and I’m surfing online. As usual, I inhale a big intake of air, still dazzled that this is possible. A notification pops up that there is a meeting taking place in Austin, Texas, a digital Meetup sponsored by… read more
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Americans today live like there’s no tomorrow. You can see this in the data regarding retirement. People behave like they will never retire, and the prophecy is self-fulfilling. Under these conditions, they won’t. A new survey shows that 57% of households have less than $25,000 in total household savings and investments. And the trend line… read more
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The euro elites don’t call it theft or robbery or even a tax, much less an outright default by the banks of Cyprus. They are calling it a “stability levy,” a plan that could lead not to stability, but a domino-style collapse of the banking system in Europe. True to the nature of government propaganda,… read more
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If I were an extremely cynical gun manufacturer, I would save some extra profits to give to Democratic candidates for president. Such presidents come to the White House under a cloud. No matter how many photo ops they hold with guns, many people suspect that they want to ban them. It’s not a crazy assumption,… read more
Read More Comment Why is business so often scapegoated for all the problems of society? The term scapegoat comes from the Bible and refers to the goat cast out of the community as part of a purification ritual. Perhaps when people saw that lonely goat walk away and probably into its death, it made them feel better about… read more
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Twitter began by calling it “libertarian porn” — the longest and most sustained attack on leviathan from the Senate floor in modern history. But then it became more. And more. It went on for 13 hours. It was about halfway through when the junior senator leaned over to an aide and whispered: “Can I get… read more
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It’s bitter cold outside and the winter storm has lasted for days. The snow is two feet high and getting worse. It’s 1872 and you are living in a dugout, living off small pieces of bread and potatoes, unsure when the weather will settle down. You also have a baby to feed. Curious about what… read more
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Illegal immigrants will flood in! You will be stuck in security lines for hours! Children will go hungry! Planes will fall from the sky! No, this isn’t a recap of the nightmare scenarios concocted by Y2K maniacs some 13 years ago. Instead, this is what the White House itself has said about puny and largely… read more
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What’s called the “music industry” — which really means the big players in recording and performance — just climbed over the mountain. Global sales rose last year for the first time since 1999. That’s 14 years of hell ending with just a glimmer of light on the horizon. Still, everyone is celebrating the change. And… read more
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I leave Liberty Forum in New Hampshire, a three-day gathering of hundreds of people who are trying to find ways of living freer lives in times of despotic control. With me I have three types of nonpaper, nongovernmental monies. They all operate in competition with the government’s dollar. These include Bitcoin, the mind-blowing digital currency that has techno-geeks, edgy global traders, and even the World Bank buzzing about its potential to finally separate money from the state. … read more
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One of the most dangerous threats to liberty and privacy today is called the “Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act,” or CISPA. The activists slayed this monster last year. Or so it seemed. But of course, the beast didn’t die. Some powerful members of Congress are pushing it again. CISPA would allow government to force… read more
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There are certain sounds that tend to make people crazy. Think of nails on a chalkboard. An infant screaming nonstop on a long flight. A piercing whistle that won’t go away. Now we need to add another: a U.S. president who thinks he can legislate high wages into law. For anyone who knows the basics… read more
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Imagine a time when the government knew nothing about the money in your bank. It cared nothing about how much you made, where you made it, and what you did with it. You could take your earnings in gold, silver, paper, or anything else, and never filed a sheet with the government. How you earned… read more
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“This used to be a hell of a good country, I can’t understand what’s gone wrong with it.” said George Hanson in the movie “Easy Rider.” My old friend Joe Sobran (1946-2010) loved that line and quoted it often. Sobran, who worked alongside William Buckley at National Review during its heyday, was one of the… read more
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What is the best single thing you can do for your children? Send them to Asia for school so they can get a good education and learn Mandarin. Or so says a thinker and investor Jim Rogers. Some investors achieve the status of being legends, their opinions on all matters of economics and politics sought… read more
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