Fast Rope

The truth will out.

Why the West Doesn’t Get Russia

by Lipton Matthews via Mises.org The decision of Western countries to punish Russia for invading Ukraine by lacing her with a wave of sanctions suggests that global leaders are failing to learn from history. Sanctions are an ineffective tool to curb the ambitions of rogue actors and they are unlikely to make autocrats think twice.  Non-democratic regimes […]

Sanctions Against Russia Are the Lockdowns of 2022

by Tho Bishop via Mises.org Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is nearing its second week. Vladimir Putin’s military continues its push west, with clear attempts to encircle Kyiv. To date, thankfully, America and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies have held off pleas from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to enforce a no-fly zone, which would risk the eruption […]

Price Inflation Hit a New 40-Year High in February

by Ryan McMaken via Mises.org No, It’s Not “Putin’s Fault.” According to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, price inflation in February rose to the highest level recorded in more than forty years. According to the Consumer Price Index for February, year-over-year price inflation rose to 7.9 percent. It hasn’t been that high […]

Recycling in North Vancouver

by Walter Block via International Man I don’t know how this is done in Vancouver and its other suburbs, but in North Vancouver, the law mandates compulsory recycling. If you don’t, in addition to a fine, the garbage men (Sanitation Engineers, nowadays) will decline to pick up your refuse. You are required to do this […]

Doug Casey Debunks the So-Called “Green Economy”

by Doug Casey via International Man International Man: Politicians, the media, and large corporations promote solar and wind energy as replacements for fossil fuels. Western governments are trying to pick winners and are subsidizing wind and solar energy to the tune of billions. What’s going on here? Doug Casey: Solar and wind energy can be useful. But generally […]

BLS Reports US Inflation Reaches a Whopping 7.9%

So much for “transitory” inflation assurances. Inflation is starting to really bite, and it looks like it’s only going to get worse. Courtesy of the Federal Reserve’s printing press, the Consumer Price Index officially hit a whopping 7.9%! Of course, we know that true inflation is probably closer to double that number. From the Bureau […]

Is Putin the New Coronavirus?

by Ron Paul via Ron Paul Institute President Biden’s “maskless” State of the Union signifies the near-end of the COVID tyranny we have lived under for the past two years. Fortunately for Congress, the President, and the Federal Reserve, the Ukraine-Russia conflict is replacing COVID as a ready-made excuse for their failures and a justification […]

On Human Responsibility

by Donald J. Boudreaux via AIER We denizens of modernity overestimate ourselves. As individuals, we are not close to being as intelligent, as reasonable, or as capable as we suppose ourselves to be.  Our overestimation of our abilities is understandable. Every day of our lives we see automobiles whiz by, hear jetliners soar overhead, and […]

Golden Insights in a Dark Setting of Ukrainian War and a Pivot in Swiss Neutrality

by Egon von Greyerz via Gold Switzerland In this timely MAMChat, Matterhorn Asset Management (MAM) principals Egon von Greyerz and Matthew Piepenburg address the economic realism behind the recent outbreak of war in the Ukraine and Switzerland’s unprecedented, non-neutral decision to publicly support EU sanctions against Russia.As to the cold math behind heated and often […]

Doug Casey on Making a Crisis Your Friend

by Doug Casey via International Man Nick Giambruno: Doug, you’re one of the foremost authorities in the world on the topic of crisis investing. Tell us a bit about your background on this topic. Doug Casey: After my second book, Crisis Investing, came out in 1979, I started publishing a newsletter of the same name. […]

The 50 Minerals Critical to U.S. Security

by Bruno Venditti via Visual Capitalist The 50 Minerals Critical to U.S. Security This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email every week. The U.S. aims to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 as part of […]

The Next Empire

by Jeff Thomas via International Man Throughout history, political, financial, and military leaders have sought to create empires. Westerners often think of ancient Rome as the first empire. Later, other empires formed for a time. Spain became an empire, courtesy of its Armada, its conquest of the New World, and the gold and silver extracted […]

Paul Craig Roberts: Ukraine Update #3

by Paul Craig Roberts via Institute for Political Economy Begin by reading Michael Hudson’s explanation that the sanctions actually fall on Germany and serve the interests of the three interest groups who rule in Washington. https://www.unz.com/mhudson/america-defeats-germany-for-the-third-time-in-a-century/   The sanctions do far more to serve Washington’s interest than to hurt Russia’s.  For Russia the main burden […]

Canada’s Freezing of Protesters’ Finances Shows How the “War on Cash” Ends

by Robert Fellner via Mises.org The Canadian government is now freezing the bank accounts and personal assets of those who donated to support the Freedom Convoy, which is an organized political protest of the vaccine mandates. The deputy prime minister announced that they will retain these so-called emergency powers permanently going forward and will also seek to implement […]

How Markets Tank & Gold Rises

by Matthew Piepenburg via Gold Switzerland Critical warning signs from the credit and rates markets are being ignored by tough-talking experts while gold bides its time before it rises in a global financial crisis mathematically too sick to save. It is fascinating to watch market pundits, policy makers, commercial bankers and other media-supported experts talk […]