The war in Ukraine has brought back the debate on international security among European countries, especially in the countries of the former Soviet bloc in Central and Eastern Europe. Most of these countries, such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, broke free from the communist regime with the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the 1980s.

In the July 26 Financial Times article entitled “Is the Dollar about to Take a Turn?,” Barry Eichengreen writes that the US dollar has had a spectacular run, having risen more than 10 percent against other major currencies since the start of the year. According to Eichengreen, the key reason behind the spectacular strengthening in the US Dollar is that the Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates faster than other big central banks, drawing capital flows toward the US.

The same people claiming inflation was transitory are the same ones telling you there is no recession. Isn’t that strange?

This Wednesday’s press conference, following the Fed raising rates by 75-bps, shows how critical the act of sticking to script is for the purpose of public policy. Jeff Cox at CNBC pointed out the latest elephant in the room:

After months of being portrayed as a villain or worse in the mainstream media, Joe Manchin suddenly has become a Democratic Party hero—all because he has declared he will support legislation that he and President Joe Biden claim will “reduce inflation” and give us better weather.

We are in revolutionary times. Given an adequate understanding of economics and behavior, we can learn from the history of past revolutions.

The French Revolution

In France in 1789, the government had long built up debts. The elites resisted reforming themselves.