global monetary hegemony

A Guide to Good Money

Modern money, having now become a key tool of government economic policy and a source of massive tax revenues, has strayed far from its original purpose. This is doubly regrettable, as the better money functions at an individual level in satisfying demand for quality, the better it is for economic prosperity and freedom.
This book presents how modern money works both in the domestic economy and globally, outlining the essence of what makes good money. How does modern money differ from this ideal?

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Science vs Technology

Does Science Shape Economic Progress?

We might think that scientific breakthroughs are necessary in order for us to have technological advancement. But as Lipton Matthews shows in this article, that isn’t necessarily the case. He says, “history has shown that science often lags technology” but “advancements in science propel technological growth.” One key concept to understanding this article is the difference between Science and Technology. The goal of Science is knowledge and understanding. But the goal of Technology is to mold the environment. Technology is the practical application of science.

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Natural Monopoly

There is No Such Thing as a “Natural” Monopoly

The for many years telephone services and electricity were considered “natural monopolies” and competition was prohibited by the government or you could say the dominant player was protected by the government. But then in January of 1982, the government reversed its longstanding protection of Bell Industries and broke it up into a bunch of “Baby Bells” that could compete against each other. And along came cell phones and the rest is history.

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Central Bank Digital Currency

Is it Really Paranoid to Worry about a Central Bank Digital Currency?

Recently there has been talk about the FED creating a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). A CBDC is similar to a cryptocurrency, except that its value is set by the central bank and equivalent to the country’s fiat currency. Some countries like Venezuela have already tried a National Cryptocurrency in an effort to solve their inflation problem, but since the same guys are pulling the levers, it worked out about as well as you would expect.

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Fifth Third Bank Louisville

Commercial Banks Suffer Along With Commercial Real Estate

This article looks at the current abysmal state of the commercial real estate market and its effects on companies like Blackstone, Fifth Third Bank, and Union Bank. With commercial real estate selling as low as $9 /sf, these companies are taking a big hit to profits as they try to sell excess real estate for less than half of what they paid for it just a few years ago. Some companies like Brookfield are simply walking away from the properties in places like downtown Los Angeles.

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NYSE Weekly 4-26-23

Big Move Coming in Stocks

The stock market appears to be approaching an “inflection point.” Mr. Market is going to have to make up his mind… whether this is going to turn into a bullish or bearish market. At this point, it could still go either way, but the big caveat is that when it moves, the move will probably be dramatic. Looking at the following chart, we can see the two blue short-term support and resistance lines are forming a “pennant” formation. Generally, when that happens, it is like a spring being coiled up as the index gets compressed into the two lines. When it finally breaks free in one direction or the other, it is often explosive.

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Inverted Yield Curve March 2023

Stock Market Outlook – March 24, 2023

Today Chris Ciovacco of Ciovacco Capital Management looks at the market situation in light of the bank failures. First up is the Inverted Yield Curve. We can see that it originally inverted in July of last year, when short-term interest rates moved higher than long-term rates. From there it moved steadily lower before rebounding earlier this month. So although it is still inverted it is not anywhere near as bad as it was just a few weeks ago.

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Dollar Dominance

More Cracks in U.S. Dollar Dominance

Back in 1933, Roosevelt forced Americans to sell their gold to the government for $20.67 an ounce and then promptly raised the price to $35/oz. Thus he presided over a 69.33% gain in the value of gold which was equivalent to a 69% tax on the ownership of gold. Then at the tail end of WWII, Roosevelt pulled off the Bretton Woods agreement that made the U.S. the dominant world currency. When that began to fail Nixon cut a deal with Saudi Arabia instituting the “Petrodollar” which once again put the dollar at the top of the heap. But now some cracks are once again emerging.

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