The global monetary system (the US Dollar Standard) is failing. That should be pretty obvious by now, but if you're in any doubt, take a look at the US National Debt Clock: at the time of writing, US National Debt is increasing by $100,000 every 2 seconds while tax revenue (money coming in to repay … Continue reading The Efficient Economy Hypothesis I: A Modern & Robust Alternative to Central Banking.

Corona Virus, Covid-19, or as I like to call it, the CCP Virus has already wreaked havoc on global stock markets, forced thousands of businesses to shut down, tens of millions have lost their jobs, and hundreds of millions are now "social distancing" at home. As we watch positive cases and fatalities rise on a … Continue reading CCP Virus: Economic Consequences

There is growing discontent over Capitalism as our economic system of choice. A 2016 Harvard Survey showed that 51% of Americans aged 18 to 29 no longer support capitalism, and more recent surveys suggest that number is growing. This is further supported by the rise of Bernie Sanders, and more recently Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who openly … Continue reading Part 3: The “Failure” of Capitalism

If you were to ask any economist how money is created in today’s economy, 10 out of 10 of them would give you some kind of spiel about the government or central bank. They’d be wrong, every single one of them, and wrong in two senses: Firstly, as you’ll know from Part 1, there is … Continue reading Part 2: The Dollar Standard – A Ticking Time Bomb

Money. It’s quite likely the most mis-used term in economics and finance, so much so that it’s conflation with credit pervades just about every textbook, the media, and the even the banking and finance industry itself. Even the dictionary no longer defines money in a way that clearly distinguishes it from credit. So, what’s the … Continue reading Part 1: The Quasi-Gold Standard – A Truly Modern Monetary System

First of all, there is nothing “modern” about modern monetary theory (MMT). It’s nothing but Chartalism, founded by German economist Georg Friedrich Knapp in 1905, renamed presumably to sound more, well, modern and appealing for marketing purposes. The basic premise of Chartalism is simple: the government supplies money to stimulate economic activity and creates demand … Continue reading The Inconvenient Truth About Modern Monetary Theory

Trade. It’s one of the most topical subjects in global economics these days given Donald Trump’s apparent partiality to so-called trade wars. Economists on both sides of the political divide seem to agree that tariffs and other trade barriers are bad, and that free-trade is better for everyone. In theory, this is true. However, the … Continue reading The Trump Trade

Democracy. Chances are you've been brainwashed into thinking it's the ultimate political system. It is, after all, government "by the people, for the people", and therefore must surely be the best and fairest system of government? It isn't, and the reason why was well understood by the founding fathers of the United States: “Democracy is … Continue reading The Fallacy of Democracy

Let me start by saying that I do believe that blockchain-based money is the future, but there are mountains to climb and financial crises to endure before we get there, and when we do, Bitcoin will undoubtedly NOT be part of the landscape. I've previously outlined some of the reasons it simply won't work in … Continue reading The Inconvenient Truth About Bitcoin

Warren Buffett is a man who isn't short on words of wisdom. One of his more famous quotes on getting rich, is to "be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful". With that in mind, take a look at Berkshire Hathaway's cash position over the last decade:   As at … Continue reading Buffett’s Cash Hoard: A Reason to be Fearful