The worst bubble in human history is the government spending bubble, up from about 8 percent of GDP in 1900 to about 40 percent of GDP today. Column by Christopher Chantrill.

Realtors seem to think that rage-quitting the market will somehow make prices go up. Things won’t go the way they hope. 

Last week’s surprise release of a draft Ukraine war peace plan has raised hopes that the nearly three-year bloody conflict may finally come to an end. Ukraine has suffered horrible losses that may change the demographics of that country for decades to come.

If this peace plan can be negotiated in a way that satisfies all sides and the guns finally go silent, I will be the first to cheer. However, the continued failure to understand the nature and origin of the current conflict leaves me skeptical that a real peace can be reached this way.

The research aligns with two other studies on the Gaza death toll, which have found the real number of violent deaths is likely around 40% higher than what the Gaza Health Ministry has reported. 

“The Ukrainians have agreed to the peace deal,” the U.S. official told CBS News. “There are some minor details to be sorted out but they have agreed to a peace deal.”

AI data centers are key: Data centers are expected to consume anywhere from 6.7% to 12% of total U.S. electricity by 2028, up from 4.4% in 2023.

Is the Federal Reserve an “inflation-monger,” as monetary economist Brendan Brown labels it in his new book, “Bad Money”? Of course it is. The Fed has stuck us with a constant depreciation of the purchasing power of the dollar. With its “inflation targeting” regime beginning in 2012, it promises to continue to depreciate the dollar forever, inflation without end. 

The alarming political drift further away from freedom taking place in Europe must be seen against the background of an economic coercion that has been practiced for many decades on the Old Continent.

A vacancy tax is defined as,

. . .a charge imposed on property owners who leave residential or commercial properties unoccupied for a specified duration. The primary objective is to incentivize owners to either rent out or sell these vacant properties. This policy seeks to increase the available housing supply and discourage the speculative holding of real estate.