I know that hyperinflation of the US dollar seems like a remote possibility, but alerting yourself to the possibility of a phenomena can improve your understanding of the phenomena and related issues, allow you to make cautionary considerations, and permit yourself to be psychologically toughened to the entire class of remote, but dangerous, events. During the actual occurrence of such phenomena fear and paralysis can occur. Therefore, prior rational thought, learning, and action can help displace such paralysis and make you better prepared to act in the real world.

This week, ISIS (the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria), also known as ISIL, IS, or Daesh, has reappeared in the headlines following the killing of two Iowa National Guardsman—Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard—in an ISIS airstrike in Palmyra, Syria. These two American men are only the latest of the over 40,000 soldiers, from numerous different nations, who have lost their lives in the war against ISIS—a war which America’s supposed greatest ally against terrorism, Israel, has not assisted.

In his article “The Irrepressible Conflict,” the historian Frank L. Owsley argued that the doctrine of “State Rights” is a political philosophy of decentralization, a worldview that is provincial rather than national in its orientation. It is concerned not only with the interests of states but also with the interests of regions within states.

Comparative political theorists and historians occasionally describe the early Ming dynasty (1368-1644) as one of the least intrusive periods of governance in Chinese history since the Han. Tax burdens were relatively light, bureaucratic penetration into village life was shallow, and much social regulation was left to families and local elites. These features have led some observers to characterize early Ming rule as “restrained,” or even proto-liberal, especially when contrasted with the later fiscal and administrative expansion of the Ming state.

What is probability? The probability of an event is the proportion of times the event occurs out of a large number of trials. For instance, the probability of obtaining heads when a coin is tossed is 0.5. This does not mean that when a coin is tossed 10 times, five heads are always obtained. However, if the experiment is repeated a large number of times, then it is likely that 50 percent will be obtained. The greater the number of throws, the nearer the approximation is likely to be.

After briefly topping $94 this morning. 

Wherever one observes the transformation of society into one where access to economic opportunity is increasingly contingent upon credentials, one sees the unmistakable hallmark of state interference with the spontaneous order of the market. The moment violence interposes itself between man and his capacity to labor, trade, and create, he no longer lives in a market but under a system of privilege. Protection, in the statist sense, is not about safeguarding the individual; it is about disabling him.

As a “stealth tax,” inflation requires no legislation to impose, no agency to collect, and diverts responsibility for damages onto politicians’ favorite whipping boys. It gives government the ability to buy almost anything for nothing, while creating endless problems that serve as a pretext for intervention. Inflation is the foundation of arrogant government and a prescription for our own demise.