Recent Podcast Episodes

Economists and pundits mistakenly call the Federal Reserve System's security holdings a portfolio. It is anything but.

As Murray Rothbard wrote, inflation is not an increase in prices. It is, instead, an increase in the supply of money in circulation. The distinction is important.

By itself, the end of the petrodollar won't destroy the dollar. But it will continue a trend that weakens both the dollar and the US regime's power. 

These days, the Fed and Chairman Jerome Powell are claiming the title of "inflation fighters." The more appropriate moniker should be "inflationists."

With Yale economics professor Yusuke Narita suggesting mass suicide—seppuku—as the answer to Japan's rapidly aging demographics, Jeff and Bob take a hard look at the economics and humanity of greying America.

Americans spend billions of dollars on treating heart disease. Prevention is cheaper, but thanks to perverse government incentives, preventing heart disease takes a backseat to medical spending.

Is the Ohio train disaster an example of "capitalism gone amuck"?

Australia is famous for its laid-back culture and for being founded by convicts from Great Britain. It also should be famous for its embrace of entrepreneurship.

The Constitution has not protected our natural rights, nor did it prevent the US from becoming a blood-soaked failed state a mere 73 years after the constitution was ratified. 

Ryan and Zack talk about the freak-out over the Chinese balloon.

When the Soviet Union collapsed more than thirty years ago, US and European political elites sought to isolate and threaten Russia. The result has been war, destruction, and death, none of it necessary.

Mark discusses the latest government economic reports. What can be made of these confusing numbers?

One of the modern progressive buzzwords is "stakeholder capitalism," in which people with no direct connection to a firm somehow have a "stake" in what the firm does. It is an incoherent term.

The recent case of retired megastar Usain Bolt losing millions of dollars to bad investments highlights the importance of sound money management.

Mark Thornton takes a look back at US stock markets, the national debt, and Fed policy.

The government can't return the SS money it stole in the past. It's impossible. That money's gone. Taxing today's workers to "pay back" pensioners is just creating a new group of tax victims. 

For nearly three decades, the Japanese economy has slowly imploded under low interest rates and heavy government debt. It may soon be time to pay the piper.

China has created a crackdown cycle that is hurting the entrepreneurial spirit.

The fact the money supply is actually shrinking serves as just one more indicator that the so-called soft landing promised by the Federal Reserve is unlikely to be a reality. 

Mark discusses the accuracy of the Super Bowl Stock Market Indicator.