The 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’s domestic policy chief, John Ehrlichman, said in 1994 before he died: The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had […]

Are 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 Jazeera, BBC, CNN, Fox News, RT, Wikileaks, Wikipedia, or a book, article, corporate memo, direct life experience, etc.) leads us to a given fact, that fact […]

Justice, 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 court battle. In fact, I know several people who have been on the receiving end of court decisions that were substantially corrupted by institutional […]

Has 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 broad distribution of wealth and health for the majority of the Indonesian people. This would be considered a “democratic free-trade outcome.” If, instead, we find that […]

Proof 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 even written about the difference between truth, fiction, and propaganda. So, what I’m about to share with you is not coming from somebody who shouts “conspiracy!” without substantial evidence. Background Summary. As some of […]

Political 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 and contrasted it against France’s, which has a lot of features that are similar to the U.S. political system. Germany’s Party System Germany’s party system is usually classified […]

The Virus That Spawns the Disease of Terrorism

What International Relations framework is most capable of dealing with global terrorism in the 21st Century and beyond? This is a question I have been asked several times. There is a short answer and a slightly longer answer. The short answer: Constructivism is the best approach because it’s not blinded by ideology and special interest […]

What’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 there is so much noise, false information and propaganda spewed in the mainstream media. Additionally, many politicians and corporate executives deliberately manipulate public perceptions of […]

The 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 liberty and self-determination, and its deep yearning for economic freedom. From its earliest days in the mid-19th Century, the modern state of Uruguay has been a nation with a […]

The 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 because it performs well inside clean-room laboratory conditions (i.e., economic models).1 Some people embrace these models in good faith; others use them strategically to manipulate and deceive. Regardless, in the […]