U.S. Economy

On New Year’s Eve 1974, President Gerald Ford snuck in an executive order legalizing private gold ownership, revoking FDR’s previous policies banning gold “hoarding.”

Most editorialists and pundits have labeled Jimmy Carter's presidency a failure, but his activities after he left office as a rousing success. The truth is that his successful deregulation efforts have left a positive and lasting legacy.

President-Elect Trump has been threatening tariffs against BRICS countries unless they abandon their plans to abandon the US dollar. While Trump may come off as being "tough" in his negotiations, he cannot bluster his way to a stronger dollar, thanks to reckless monetary policies.

We have reached this point: the government keepers of money do not even understand what money is or why inflation is harmful. To them, the real threat to the economy is “deflation.”

Thanks to the Fed's balance sheet and the Fed's policy on reverse repurchase agreements, it's hard to tell whether the Fed is being hawkish or dovish. 

Tom DiLorenzo is interviewed by Sarah Westall.

Is marijuana the magic elixir for economic performance and a cure for the Fed’s inflation?

If you thought federal deficits and spending would go back to normal after the covid panic, you were wrong. If anything, deficits are now on track to be bigger than the covid years.

With the two-month total at over $620 billion, the year-end total is likely to be over $3.5 trillion by the end of the year. That would make the next annual deficit even larger than 2020’s.

A modern misconception of antebellum slavery is that it “built the country.” Actually, the institution of slavery, economically speaking, was a deadweight loss to the US economy.