Last month, I took a look at the criticism leveled against Lego for making toys that are too “girly” or which are not enough like toys made for boys.

A look into monetary history shows that people, when given freedom of choice, opted for precious metals as money. This doesn’t come as a surprise. Precious metals have the physical properties a medium must have to serve as legal tender: They are scarce, homogenous, durable, divisible, mintable, and transportable. They are held in high esteem and represent considerable value per unit of weight. Gold fulfills these requirements par excellence, and this is why it has always been peoples’ first choice in terms of money.

Is the world economy strong and growing, or is it weakening? Are we in a boom or in a bust?

Two ways that I use to gauge the strength is to look at the price of oil and the Baltic Dry Index (BDI). Oil is used in the production and transportation of most goods produced. The Baltic Dry Index reflects the price of shipping manufactured goods and materials internationally.

Those who wish to portray Ludwig von Mises as the “moderate” one, compared to the more radical Murray Rothbard, will often point out that Mises was no “anarchist.”

This assertion, however, runs into trouble when we consider Mises’s comments in Liberalism on the topic of radical decentralization:

The topic of our Mises Circle going on in Houston this weekend is “Where Are We Headed in 2016?” (Click here to watch live on Saturday.) While Austrians understand that the future is unknowable, this week give us some clues as to what may be ahead.

In a surprise move, the Bank of Japan announced last night that it would employ negative interest rate policy for the first time in its history.

The formula for this is rather complex. It’s based on interest for bank reserves held with the central bank, and it seems that only new deposits will be charged the negative rate.