The near certainty of another 50-bps rate hike at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) next week forces us to consider the monetary system in which we find ourselves; whereby currency debasement is a useful economic tool, that is until it becomes detrimental, which according to the Fed, can only be cured by rate increases.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released new Consumer Price Index data this morning, and it shows price inflation in May surged at the fastest rate since 1981. The overall CPI showed prices increased last month at a rate of 8.6 percent, year over year. That’s nearly a forty-one-year high—the highest since December 1981’s CPI surge of 8.9 percent.

As state legislatures clear out and head home for the summer, one reality has emerged: Sound money is a winning issue in the states.

At a time of record-high inflation and geopolitical uncertainty across the globe, states are wisely taking steps to better enable citizens to acquire, sell, and/or use gold and silver.

Today it is conclusive that Africa’s socialist experiments failed, as did the state-led development approach. Not only was the heavily statist approach unable to develop African economies, but it made poverty worse.

It would be easy to write a very negative review of Robert Kuttner’s Going Big (New Press, 2022), but it would be a mistake to do. Kuttner is a well-known progressive economist and the founder of the Economic Policy Institute. He is an ardent New Dealer who regrets that political exigencies, as well as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s own hesitancies, made it impossible for FDR to proceed in as radical a fashion as the times required.

Many have read that there is a food crisis looming and there are significant concerns about grain shortages. The main reason for this possible crisis is the Ukraine invasion. However, this is not the full picture.

Many countries around the world have a large deficit of cereal, which is essential to feed livestock. The main culprit is rising government intervention, which has made costs soar even in periods of low energy prices and an unsustainable level of restrictions that has made it impossible for farmers to continue planting and producing grain.

The United States consumption figure seems robust. An 0.9 percent rise in personal spending in April looks good on paper, especially considering the challenges that the economy faces. This apparently strong figure is supporting an average consensus estimate for the second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) of 3 percent, according to Blue Chip Financial Forecasts.