The comparative military strengths of the U. S. and Iran was never an issue. The U.S. knew it could blow more stuff up. But that hasn’t been enough to “win” if by win you mean getting a new regime in Iran willing to agree to all of the U.S.’s demands. Iran turned out not to
The Iran War Belongs to Trump Now. Check for Slippery Slopes. Read More »
Published on December 13, 2024 Suzanne Maloney’s explanation is the most concise and clearest explanation of how our relationship with Iran evolved I’ve ever seen. The title is “The Middle East’s Dangerous New Normal: Iran, Israel, and the Delicate Balance of Disorder.” Here’s the link. If you read this, you’ll understand more than about 98%
How Did We Find Ourselves at War With Iran? Best Article Ever. Read More »
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, a Roman historian and politician, was born around 56 A.D. In his book Annals, he described some economic dislocation that occurred in Rome around 33 AD. Read these two paragraphs slowly. Anything ring a bell? Sound at all familiar? It’s always, always, always the same when too much debt accumulates. Eventually, the
Lessons From Tacitus Read More »
Hanna Horvath wrote a Substack article called, “The grift economy is going mainstream.” It describes how AI can be used, and increasingly is being used, to take money out of our pockets. “This is the rip-off economy — or the grift economy — in its purest form: a world where everything — your attention, your
Are You Using AI? Or Being Used By It? Probably Both Read More »
This is from David Halberstam’s book The Best and the Brightest.
When people talk about invading Cuba, I remember this quote: Read More »
David Bahnsen, founder of The Bahnsen Group, has written a very relevant article titled “Markets as a Video Game – January 23, 2026.” He states, “Investing is not a game. I resist any attempt to infantilize decisions around capital allocation. I do not begrudge people having fun with a few bucks on Draft Kings or
How Has Investing Become a Form of Entertainment? Read More »
I spotted this on 1/22/26 in a post by Torsten Slok. Free to sign up for his daily posts. We hear about all the younger people who are living with their parents, but then we see this chart. I worry they are all baby boomers.
Only one person in 29% of U.S. Households- Note the Trend Read More »
On January 12, 2026 Raghuram G. Rajan, a former governor of the Reserve Bank of India and chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, wrote the article with the title above. He begins: “Recent developments suggest that the US Federal Reserve’s bond purchases are no longer just a “monetary operation,” but an essential component of
“Are Central Banks Enabling Unsustainable Government Deficits?” (Hint- Yes) Read More »
Here’s a December 15th, 2025 article from Myrmikan Research called simply “Truth” on the history of paper money, gold and currency debasement. Read it if only for the quotes. Walk away from it knowing where we stand and what’s always happened when a society stands here. The author writes early in the article: “The tragedy
The More Things Change….. Read More »
This is one of the reasons I never expected demand for oil and gas to go away or even decline much. It is a fungible commodity. If you don’t want it, somebody else trying to live better will buy it.
Energy Consumption Required for Improved Living Standards Read More »