International Man: Doug, you recently visited Azerbaijan—a country most people have never heard of, let alone could find on a map. You’ve spent decades exploring some of the world’s least understood regions. What brought you to Azerbaijan, and how does it compare with other obscure countries you’ve visited for potential opportunity? […]
The US equity market is a bubble. Here is why: In my mind, to be defined as a “bubble” the potential for a sudden “pop” needs to be there. No matter how you define it, the probability of an extremely large drawdown in the S&P 500 has exponentially increased in […]
It’s hard to believe the United States government was ever debt-free. But it happened once—in 1835—thanks to President Andrew Jackson. He was the first and only president to pay off the national debt completely. One biographer says the former president viewed debt as a “moral failing,” a sort of “black […]
Looking at the above title, the reader may conclude that he has begun to read an article that he might better save until he has a holiday weekend in which to read it. And there can be no doubt that volumes could be written describing the Fed and its inner-workings. […]
The more the nation’s Fiscal Doomsday Machine cranks out ever higher spending and fatally rising public debt, the more we realize that the 16th Amendment was a monumental error. In the end its ratification in 1913 may well turn out to be the inflection point at which American democracy and […]
For the past few years, I’ve been on a journey that started with a single, terrifying question… My son, Maxim, was 18. He’d just finished high school (home school), and he had no idea what to do next. And frankly, neither did I. The default path we’ve all been sold—go […]
International Man: It seems now more than ever that people have less and less in common with others who happen to carry the same government ID. At the same time, like-minded people are finding each other from across the world. What’s your take on this trend? What does it mean […]
1913 was a terrible year for America and human freedom. It was the year Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act and ratified the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution, which authorized a federal income tax. At first glance, these two unfortunate developments may seem unrelated. Yet what are the odds […]
Recently, the Federal Reserve delivered what everyone expected—another rate cut. At the most recent FOMC meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced a 0.25% reduction, bringing total cuts since June to 1.5%. And while his statements were wrapped in the usual Fed-speak, the takeaway couldn’t be clearer—more cuts are coming. But […]
World War III is already underway, but most people don’t recognize it because they’re conditioned to expect war to look like traditional physical violence with bombs, guns, and battlefield confrontations. This bias stems from centuries of warfare taking a particular form, similar to how people once couldn’t conceive of light […]