The psychological impact of a lifetime within a fiat money economy cannot be underestimated. With more wealth seemingly available at the click of a computer button, refusal to spend more on government programs must stem only from cruelty and greed.
As the government continues to pile up trillion dollar deficits, when interest rates return to a historical norm, interest payments on the national debt may exceed payments to Social Security recipients.
EU politicians and technocrats like to present themselves as progressive and enlightened policymakers. But that virtuous mask slipped after German auto giant Volkswagen announced that its new facility would be located in Turkey instead of an EU member nation.
Environmentalists rightly point out it is very difficult to manage a complex ecosystem. But they conveniently ignore the fact it's even more difficult to manage an economic system — especially one thrown into disarray by environmental regulations.
What exchanges take place, and which do not, is affected by how markets are regulated. Black markets and regulated markets have different outcomes than free markets.
Today's tariff policy relies on the fanciful idea that politicians can pull the right levers to make the economy more efficient or more just. As always, the idea is based on fantasy.
