Among the many facts of modern life that are accepted without question by most ordinary people is that it is somehow perfectly natural, expected, and unremarkable that every sovereign state should have its own currency. We see this everywhere in names such as “the US dollar” or “the Chinese yuan” or “the Japanese yen.” Indeed, among the 203 sovereign states of the world, there are nearly as many separate national currencies.

 While we were being distracted by the ongoing Russia/Ukraine war – and Washington’s increasing involvement in the war – tremendous developments in the Middle East have all but ended decades of US meddling in the region. Peace is breaking out in the Middle East and Washington is not at all happy about it!

Keynesian economists say that during an economic slump, the government must run large budget deficits in order to keep the economy going. In contrast, Austrian economists maintain that increased budget deficits are usually monetized, leading to general price increases. Therefore, from this perspective, the government should avoid increasing budget deficits and instead balance the budget.

In his excellent new book In Defense of Capitalism (Republic Book Publishers, 2023), the historian and political scientist Rainer Zitelmann asks a vital question about inequality. In asking this question, he makes a move characteristic of his work. Demands to reduce inequality of wealth and income are widespread, and often debates about proposals to do this are centered in political philosophy. Do people have natural rights to their property that state-mandated measures of redistribution violate? Is inequality inherently bad?

The past few weeks, major countries have been moving away from the US dollar, raising doubts about the dollar’s long-dominant role in the world. Eight weeks ago, it was just pariah nations like Iran or Russia trying to de-dollarize. Now it’s Brazil, France, even Saudi Arabia—the lynchpin of the decades-long “petrodollar” arrangement.

“On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to announce tough new tailpipe emission standards designed to effectively force the auto industry to phase out the sale of gas-powered cars,” reports The Verge, with the provocative headline “The End Is Nigh for Gas-Powered Cars.”

The recent spate of bank failures and the Biden Administration’s response has some talking about raising or eliminating the federal deposit insurance limit of $250,000. It’s important to remember, however, that what we call deposit “insurance” in no way resembles actual insurance.