Fiat Currency Graveyard: A History of Monetary Folly
This article has been moved to the Gini Foundation website . The Gini Foundation is focused on building cryptographically secure technologies that protect human rights, provide...
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This Is How Democracy Dies
Self-Censorship Destroys Accountability and Democracy. A free society and a free press are required to protect citizens from government and corporate tyranny. But when five giga...
Read MoreDo You Need More Proof?
This article is a follow-up to Is U.S. Foreign Policy Controlled by Corporations? No matter how much evidence you present to some people, they still cannot escape their propagan...
Read MoreIs U.S. Foreign Policy Controlled by Corporations?
In the Beginning. . . American foreign policy has been an influential driver of global economic and geopolitical affairs for over two centuries. After the ratification of the U....
Read MoreEconomics, Cryptocurrencies, & Politics
Ancient Roots. The interdependent fields of modern Economics and Political Economy today are the result of thousands of years of accumulated economic ideas and philosophical inq...
Read MoreMeet the Real Adam Smith
Most people have never read Adam Smith’s book, The Wealth of Nations ; and far fewer have read the complete, unabridged version, which exceeds 1,100 pages. This is understandabl...
Read MoreEconomic Liberalism vs. Political Liberalism
To avoid political and ideological confusion and to ensure that our analysis remains as objective and politically neutral as possible in the articles and books I write, it’s imp...
Read MoreClassical Liberalism vs. Neoliberalism
The difference between “Classical Liberalism” and “Neoliberalism” is confusing to many people; so, let’s briefly summarize these terms and some of the people and ideas associate...
Read MoreNeoliberal Case Study: Chile
This article was originally in my recent book, GINI: Capitalism, Cryptocurrencies, and the Battle for Human Rights . However, some people said it was too data-heavy for the book...
Read MoreNeoliberal Case Study: The United States
This article was originally in my recent book, GINI: Capitalism, Cryptocurrencies, and the Battle for Human Rights . However, some people said it was too data-heavy for the book...
Read MoreThe Emerging Crypto Banking Cartel
Commercial Agenda vs. Open Source Crypto Ethos. There’s nothing wrong with for-profit companies seeking to maximize profit as long as they’re doing it in an ecosystem-sustainabl...
Read MoreHow to Overcome Big Challenges?
While working on significant technical, economic, and geopolitical projects over the years, I've developed several mental frameworks that help to create clarity whenever I'm con...
Read MoreFIRE & Wealth Concentration
To understand the purpose and value of our Gini Blockchain and why it’s different from any other blockchain, it’s useful to review why several fiat currency economies are collap...
Read MoreWe Are Paying the Price for Realpolitik
Many American political scientists and commentators seem to be oblivious to the long history of American intervention in Syria since the late 1940s. They also seem to ignore wes...
Read MoreBlockchain Patent War Coming
Bank of America has more blockchain patents than any other company on Earth, including IBM, Google, Facebook, and other Silicon Valley tech companies ( Bloomberg ). JPMorgan and...
Read MoreWhat Is Our "National Interest"?
I was recently asked, "Why is the U.S. Government involved in Afghanistan?" Aside from the idiotic "War on Terror" justification given by the Bush, Obama, and Trump Administrati...
Read MoreWhen the Media Fails, Countries Fail
It’s amusing to see how the U.S. Government’s fiscal policies are covered by the mainstream press. For example, in headlines like “Rand Paul delays budget vote as shutdown looms...
Read MoreWhat Would the USA's Founders Do in the Middle East Today?
I was asked that question recently. Here was my response: For the first 123 years of the USA's existence, the U.S. Founding Fathers and all U.S. presidents were committed to: "p...
Read MoreThe Creation of the Euro & the Role of the USD
This presentation was produced for a university lecture that I gave. It covers the basic mechanics of the global currency exchange rate system. I was asked to critique another e...
Read MoreThe Atomic Bomb & the Obliteration of Moral Authority
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s often easy to second-guess historically important decisions. World War II is filled with many momentous decisions taken by the Allied Powers...
Read MorePoverty & Genocide: Fueled by Psychological Distancing
Gang Behavior. Have you ever been a member of a street gang fighting rival gangs over gangland territory? How about a sports team gang preparing to demolish the other guys ? A c...
Read MoreCapitalism & Cyborgs: Making Humanity More Resilient
I recently had a conversation with a colleague about the clash between science and ethics. Below is a brief summary of my response to him. The Concept of Eugenics Highlights the...
Read MoreThe Birth of the Modern Welfare State
The modern age in the field of Economics was born from the destruction of Europe in World War I. That war inspired a young British economist—John Maynard Keynes—to closely exami...
Read MoreThe Secret History of the War on Drugs
The “War on Drugs” Begins. In 1971, U.S. President Nixon declared the “War on Drugs” . He said, “America’s public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse,” but Nixon...
Read MoreThe Truth About North Korea
If you have not seen this thought-provoking, free film on YouTube , please watch it. As you watch it, try to block out all your preconceived notions about North Korea, the Unite...
Read MoreThe Collapse of the Human Labor Force
The Job Apocalypse. It’s difficult to understand and appreciate why the U.S. and global economies are in so much trouble today without understanding the truth about the unemploy...
Read MoreAre We in a Propaganda Bubble?
Paths to Truth or Fiction? There can be many paths to truth, but truth only exists when it's supported by verifiable facts. When a given path (e.g., in alphabetical order, Al Ja...
Read MoreIs Capitalism Sustainable?
Angry Humans. I often see well-intending, angry humans talking about the problems in our world today. Many of them blame Capitalism. Some of them seek a revolution at any cost....
Read MoreAyn Rand's Welfare Secret
The Birth of an Ayn Rand Disciple. I was an avid fan of Ayn Rand for most of my life. I devoured her books, including Atlas Shrugged , Anthem , and her nonfiction essays. I thou...
Read MoreAre You Possessed by the Demon of Political Correctness?
Praise Feels Good . . . My book, Broken Capitalism: This Is How We Fix It , has received almost universally positive praise from humans across the socioeconomic spectrum. In fac...
Read MoreShould We Blame Rich People?
The Evolution of Blame. It’s human nature to seek scapegoats to blame when things break. The reasons for this are deeply rooted in the evolutionary development of group behavior...
Read MoreJustice, Power & Wisdom
We All Lose from Systemic Injustice. I have a good friend who is a founder of a multibillion-dollar company who has been thoroughly eviscerated by a biased judge in a protracted...
Read MoreHas Globalism Worked for Indonesia?
Is Indonesia’s free trade policy today achieving broadly shared prosperity? If it is, then we should see economic and human health outcomes that result in the broad creation and...
Read MoreCrowd Wisdom & The Memory Hole
Introduction to LibroGod. A friend of mine (I'll call him LibroGod.) is an accomplished business person and a fanatical connoisseur of "important books." LibroGod has collected...
Read MoreBelgium's Political Economy
This was a research project that I worked on with several colleagues to evaluate the economic and political conditions in Belgium. Belgium has a very unique political culture an...
Read MoreProof of Google Censorship & a Path to Freedom
My professional life depends on rationally separating facts from fiction, evidence-based economic analysis, data-driven decision-making, and real-world experience. In fact, I’ve...
Read MorePolitical Party Systems in Germany vs. France
Germany has such an extraordinary level of institutional integrity and higher quality governance than virtually any nation on Earth. So I spent some time studying their system a...
Read MoreTruth & Reconciliation: Germany vs. Japan After WWII
This has always been an interesting philosophical and cultural question: After World War II, in general, why did German society accept responsibility for Nazi atrocities while J...
Read MoreThe Virus That Spawns the Disease of Terrorism
What International Relations framework is most capable of dealing with global terrorism in the 21 st Century and beyond? This is a question I have been asked several times. Ther...
Read MoreWhat's Really Wrong with the Banking System?
Many people have a vague sense that the financial system is broken and corrupt, but they often don't know how to explain exactly what is wrong. This is understandable because th...
Read MoreThe Switzerland of South America: "Freedom or Death"
“Freedom or death” is Uruguay’s national motto. Those three words give us meaningful insight into Uruguay’s national psyche, its cultural affinity for the principles of civil li...
Read MoreThe Mechanics of a Global Wealth Transfer
Economic Models Collapse in the Real World. Economic neoliberalism is a theoretical economic framework that many academics and political and business leaders like to promote bec...
Read MoreTransnational Economic Cannibals
The Genesis of Today’s Global Economy. When the international trade regime (GATT, WTO, NAFTA, etc.) that dominates the world today was created between 1947 and the 1990s, it was...
Read MoreThe Rise of Nuclear Trump
Americans Have a Choice Between Two Insane Options. They are forced to choose between an insane foreign policy and an insane nuclear weapons policy . Recently, I had a conversat...
Read MoreWhy Aren't There More Women in Politics?
The Nature vs. Nurture False Dichotomy. It requires a kind of religious zealotry or willful blindness to believe that biology is the primary determinant of social behaviors and...
Read MoreWarning: Risk of Death to Your Economy
Dangerous Products Should Have Warning Labels. Products that come with plastic bags that can suffocate and kill children have warning labels. Economic policies that can suffocat...
Read MoreComparing the Quality of German & U.S. Governments
Why is Government Quality So Important? The quality of a country’s governance is the most significant factor that determines the quality of life that it can provide to its citiz...
Read MoreIs Capitalism Undemocratic?
Like most aspects of life, the true nature of Capitalism and its impact on humanity can only be understood as continuously shifting shades of reality. Karl Marx famously stated...
Read MoreThe Twin Tyrannies of the United Nations
There are two fundamental problems with the United Nations: representation and cost allocation. The problems can be summarized as follows: UN General Assembly Representation – T...
Read MoreChina’s IMF Victory: A 1,400-Year Journey
The Inventor of Fiat Money Finally Joins the Global Fiat Money Cartel. The Chinese currency (Yuan) has finally joined the elite club of national currencies in the IMF’s Special...
Read MoreAbortion & the Value of Human Life
Value Systems Should be Based on Facts. The values of a society are either based on facts or they are not. If values are not based on facts, then they are based on delusions, fa...
Read MoreDemocracy Building for Dummies
Until and unless the U.S. Congress and White House provide a more functional model of Democracy for other countries to emulate, we can expect our planet to continue along its cu...
Read MoreUnknown Truth or Untrue Conspiracy?
Why is Truth Often Disregarded as a Conspiracy Theory? This is an important question because a society that can't distinguish between truth and untrue conspiracy will inevitably...
Read MoreThe Mind of a Corrupt Organization
In " Unknown Truth or Untrue Conspiracy? ” and “ Is Institutional Corruption Only a Conspiracy Theory? ” we learned about some of the most shocking government and corporate “con...
Read MoreIs Institutional Corruption Only a Conspiracy Theory?
This article is intended as a map to hundreds of documented sources of government and corporate corruption and malfeasance. From now on, if you ever see anybody say, “It’s not t...
Read MoreA Snapshot of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill was a British politician, military veteran, journalistic war correspondent, and Nobel Prize-winning author of numerous historical and literary works. He served...
Read MoreThe Versailles Treaty and Its Discontents
The hostilities between Germany and the Allied Powers during World War I officially ended with the signing of an armistice on November 18, 1918. Thereafter, the Treaty of Versai...
Read MoreThe Fall of Hard Power
The Biggest Mistake of the 20 th Century. “If we can’t persuade nations with comparable values of the merit of our cause, we’d better re-examine our reasoning,” said Robert McNa...
Read MoreThe Systemic Illusion of American Democracy
Why is the U.S. Political System Dominated by Two Political Parties? This is the first logical question that every American should ask immediately after they are potty trained....
Read MoreHow Did Hitler Rise to Power so Quickly?
I've seen many people ask questions like, "How was it possible for Hitler to amass so much power so quickly without any resistance from the other European countries?" This is an...
Read MoreDistortions in the Incentivesphere Destroy Nations
Spheres of Reality. The composition of this world can be analyzed and defined in many ways. There is the sphere of economics, the sphere of politics, and other social science sp...
Read MoreSmall Government Reduces the Impact of Corruption
Entry Points Into Our Lives. The politically-driven expansion of the federal government is what enables special interest distortions to penetrate deeper and deeper into every as...
Read MoreThe Real Power of the Mind-Body Connection
Most adults understand the mind has a powerful impact on how the body responds to events in our lives. However, I still meet many accomplished and educated people who scoff at t...
Read MoreHow Does the Federal Reserve Really Work?
Preface. To avoid any confusion, I want to emphasize up-front that all the functions of the Federal Reserve (and any central bank) are entirely unnecessary in an economy based o...
Read MoreWhat Caused the Great Depression? (Part 3)
Americans Are Sentenced to Generational Debtor's Prison. As we learned in Part 1 and Part 2 of this "What Caused the Great Depression?" series, specific humans in the U.S. Congr...
Read MoreWhat Caused the Great Depression? (Part 2)
Too Much Debt. The total private debt-to-GDP ratio in the United States was nearly 300% by the time the Great Depression started in 1929. In fact, “never before in this country...
Read MoreWhat Caused the Great Depression? (Part 1)
Bad Diagnosis Leads to Bad Solutions. This is the most important question that any person can ask if they want to understand how an economy works and what is wrong with their ec...
Read MorePolitical Redemption & Reconciliation
No Demonizing. I have met numerous members of Congress and many unelected federal officials who I sincerely believe are thoughtful, passionate public servants. Many of them real...
Read MoreCorruption & The Path to Political Purgatory
Syndrome of Distortions. With the exception of economically destructive natural disasters, every financial or political crisis is caused by either a corrupt regulatory process,...
Read MoreBeware of the Congressional Experience Myth
“Is experience in Congress required to be a good congressional representative?” This question is rooted in a common misconception perpetuated by the politicians themselves and a...
Read MoreA Sorrowful Political Party Prison
Rise of the Political Party Machines. The two-party political system in the United States has not always existed. The U.S. Constitution contains nothing about political parties...
Read MoreExploiting Sick Americans to Subsidize Foreign Wars is Bad Policy
The CIA, Crack Cocaine, and the Sabotage of Nicaragua. During the 1980s the White House and several influential members of Congress gave explicit and detailed orders to the Stat...
Read MoreThe Paradox of Campaign Finance Reform
How Do You Take Away a Citizen's Rights Without Violating Their Rights? Trying to compel the U.S. Supreme Court to reduce or cap private campaign finance spending is a monumenta...
Read MoreDebunking the Collapsing Gulf Stream Theory
Introduction to The Gulf Stream Collapse Theory. Since the late 1980s, there has been interesting research (and here and here ) into the impact that the melting Greenland Ice Sh...
Read MoreThe Solution to the Climate Change Debate
Evidence of Climate Change. Human activity does not explain the past 100 million years of global warming and cooling cycles, nor does it necessarily cause super storms and other...
Read MoreCan Swarm Intelligence Save Democracy?
From Agile Feedback Loops to Real-Time Swarm Intelligence. Swarm intelligence is very different from group intelligence and it is logically the final evolutionary step of the Ag...
Read MoreDemocracy & The Tragedy of the Commons
Suffering from the Tragedy of the Commons. Voting in a political election is a form of opinion polling, which reveals individual opinions and decisions within a group of citizen...
Read MoreThe Power of Agile Democracy
The Value of Agile Development. Individuals, teams, organizations, and nations can all benefit tremendously from applying rapid feedback loops to their critical decision-making...
Read MoreWhy is the U.S. Government so Broken?
Large Quantities of Small Rules Are Lethal. Individually, each discrete government rule may seem logical and benign, just like each little leech in a pond is benign to a human....
Read MoreThe Bridge Between Dream and Reality
Undisciplined Societies Cannot Compete in a Global Economy. Many people no longer believe wealth is created from hard work, discipline and patience. In fact, these concepts are...
Read MoreMonetizing Misery by Penetrating the Privacy Wall
Introduction to Gawker v. Peter Thiel. The initial inspiration for this article was the recent Gawker v. Hulk Hogan lawsuit, in which the famous wrestler Hulk Hogan sued the onl...
Read MoreThe Delusional Myth of Artificial Intelligence
The phrase "artificial intelligence" is a philosophical descendant of the debunked myth of the Sun revolving around the Earth: Both concepts are anthropocentric and egocentric p...
Read MoreWill the UK Escape the EU?
The UK will leave the European Union . It’s usually not wise to make absolute statements when discussing complex future economic and political events. However, sometimes the emp...
Read MoreBiology to Geopolitics: Evolving International Relations
The Pain-Pleasure Principle in Geopolitics. All behavior in the animal kingdom is governed by the avoidance of pain and the pursuit of pleasure. As we ascend from the primitive...
Read MorePower, Hegemony, and Geopolitical Balance
Should a State Seek Hegemony? “Hegemony” should be defined before discussing this topic. My definition: “Hegemony describes a dominant state’s capacity to compel other states in...
Read MoreThe Truth About Iraq: No End In Sight
Whenever I watch documentaries like “ No End In Sight ” that illustrate the gross incompetence and corruption in the U.S. Government’s (USG) senior political leadership ranks, I...
Read MoreBuilding a Non-Biased Political System
All Systems Have Bias. Every system created anywhere in the universe is vulnerable to various forms of conscious and unconscious bias. The philosophical reasons for this are bey...
Read MoreBe the Government You Seek
What is the Perfect Political System? If you could build the perfect political system, what would it look like? How would politicians behave in your system? Would they keep thei...
Read MoreThe Political & Economic Toxic Cloud
America is Heading in the Wrong Direction. Every major public opinion poll conducted over the past several years indicates a significant majority of Americans believe the United...
Read MoreDemocracy & Capitalism Depend on Clear Language
Obscure Language Sabotages Democracy & Capitalism. Most of the content of my books and articles are written using words that are generally simple enough for a reasonably intelli...
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