#56 Property Theft is Violence
Private property is one of the most essential foundations of a free and flourishing society. I’ve heard it said by fools that the theft or attempted theft of one’s property is not violence. This is…
#55 1971 + 49
On August 15th 1971, 49 years ago today, Richard Nixon, the only president of the US to ever resign, announced to the public: I have directed Secretary Connally to suspend temporarily the convertibility of the…
#54 The Revenue Act of 1913
Governments have traditionally generated revenue either via some form of direct taxation or through tariffs. In 1913, one of the progressive darling Woodrow Wilson’s priorities was to replace a large portion of the Federal government’s…
#53 The Aldrich Plan
As we discussed last time, the Panic of 1907 set the stage for the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. The dominant narrative among many bankers was that a more elastic money supply was…
#52 The Panic of 1907
The Panic of 1907 was a period of monetary contraction leading to a financial/banking crisis which set the tone for the creation of a central bank in the United States (The Federal Reserve). The panic…
#51 Fractional Reserve Banking
Many people mistakenly blame our current financial crises on fractional reserve lending. I believe this is an incorrect position. By definition, any lending institution is to some degree under-collateralized. This simply must be the case….
#50 Taxation without Legislation
With all the recent talk about systemic inequalities it’s helpful to remember the words of Milton Friedman: “Inflation is taxation without legislation”. We’ve discussed a great deal in the past how inflation redistributes wealth to…
#49 A Renaissance of Money
The Florin was a gold coin struck in Florence Italy from 1252 to 1533. Containing 0.1125 troy ounces of find gold, the metal content and design of the coin did not change during the near…
#48 The Goals of the Fed
Did you get to see our live stream on the Unpopular Opinions show? The three stated goals of the Federal Reserve are: maximum sustainable employment stable prices moderate long term interest rates All three of…
#47 The Burdens of Regulation
The Bank Secrecy act of 1970 was implemented to mandate cooperation between financial institutions and the United States government to detect and/or prevent tax evasion and money laundering. This is more colloquially known as AML/KYC…