Author: Gary North

Senate bill 1177 is a bipartisan measure to federalize education, all in the name of preserving local control. It will be imposed on charter schools and all private schools that accept a nickel of aid. As I said 30 years ago, “If you take the government’s nickel, you also take its noose.” S-1177 is about to pass. Here is a warning: Protecting our children from increasing oppressions and loss of freedoms will require not allowing federal S.1177 to pass. The name of S.1177, which now sits in the Senate on Capitol Hill, is also: “The Every Child Achieves Act of … Continue reading →

Have you ever wondered where the income tax havens are? Find out here. Have you ever wondered where the worst places are to live for high-income people? Find out here. The USA is at the high end, if you count state income taxes. But there are loopholes for the super-rich — lots and lots of loopholes. They pay lower rates than the middle class. Also, there are states with no income tax: Nevada, New Hampshire, Florida, Texas, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Alaska, and Tennessee (salaries). Oh, yes: and one city: Texarkana, Arkansas. One former Latin American former Communist stronghold has … Continue reading →

Remnant Review Lots of people celebrate July 4. I do not. The Declaration of Independence justified armed secession. It was signed by a handful of lawyers on July 4, 1776. Secession was a way of transferring a great deal of power to colonial legislatures, where most of these lawyers were members. It was a way of replacing governors appointed by the King with governors elected by men of the colonies. Then the law of unintended consequences once again made itself felt: higher taxes, hyperinflation, price controls, default on state debts, and (in 1788) a new centralized government that dwarfed the … Continue reading →

Thirty years ago today marked the release date of Back to the Future. I mention this to call attention to a life marker. When it came out in 1985, it inspired a wave of nostalgia about 1955. I was in high school in 1955. A lot of that movie looked familiar. Now comes the double whammy. It has been as long since the movie was released as it was between 1955 and 1985. Younger people notice a single marker. They perceive that things are speeding up. Older people notice the double markers. “It has been as long from Y to … Continue reading →

Ludwig von Mises was a defender of the concept of the division of labor. He rested his entire social philosophy on this concept. This included his doctrines of social peace, market processes, monetary calculation, and private property. He always returned to this theme: the division of labor. This idea of the division of central to the recent arguments over the development of software and robotics. The age-old fear is that software and software-controlled robots are a threat to mankind’s employment. This argument has been common ever since the early years of the industrial revolution. Mises was adamant on this principle: … Continue reading →

Ideas have consequences, but not in a social vacuum. There are no social vacuums. Ideas that are held by a minority of fringe academics or polemicists sometimes become the foundations of victorious social movements after existing social institutions are undermined by a social crisis. OPTIMISM AND SOCIAL REVOLUTION There seems to be an inherent optimism in the thinking of most members of the human race. It is the source of men’s sacrifice in the present for the sake of the future. We think the future is going to get better, and therefore it is worth sacrificing present consumption for the … Continue reading →

If you run a small business, you had better be ready for the new rules for credit card transactions. They begin on October 1.
If you are not up to date, and there is a fraudulent card transaction, you pay, not the credit card company.
I will not go int…

I return to a theme that apparently only I ever talk about: the economic meaning of the phrase, “international capital flows.” You may think I’m exaggerating. You may think that what I am about to write is widely understood. You would be wrong. Either I’m dead wrong about what I’m saying, or virtually the entire economics profession in the financial press is confused about this topic. You be the judge. PHYSICAL CAPITAL FLOWS Let’s talk about physical capital flow. I got this example from Arthur Robinson. He has a research institute in southern Oregon. He built this facility out of … Continue reading →

Here is how I would fight back.

Here is why you should take me seriously. I was born in 1942. I have seen what works and what doesn’t. I have a Ph.D. I am rich by most Americans’ standards. I have never been divorced. I am in good health — and have been since age 9. I am content with my life. There is nothing that I want that I cannot not pay cash for. I spend almost no money on buying consumer goods, except for used books, because I own everything I want, and I have for 30 years. Take my advice. I could list these … Continue reading →

The British newspaper The Guardian has released information on a secret NATO plan to go to war with Russia in defense of Eastern Europe. It turns out that Hillary Clinton approved of this plan when she was Secretary of State. How did The Guardian find out about this? Wikileaks. Washington and its western allies have for the first time since the end of the cold war drawn up classified military plans to defend the most vulnerable parts of eastern Europe against Russian threats, according to confidential US diplomatic cables. The US state department ordered an information blackout when the decision … Continue reading →

Twenty-nine years ago, I bought a book by Michael Gerber. The book had a captivating title: The E-Myth. I did not know it at the time, but that book was to become a classic in the field of business start-ups. I was so impressed by the book that I invited him to speak at one of my conferences. It is always a little risky to do this. If you find an author who has written an exceptionally well-written book, you usually find that he is a competent speaker, but not a spellbinder. In Gerber’s case, I hit the mother lode. … Continue reading →

And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it (Micah 4:3-4). This is a prophecy regarding “the last days” (v. 1). The description of peace — swords into pruninghooks — is one of the most familiar … Continue reading →

The U.S. government has released a list of English-language books in the library of the fellow who got killed in Pakistan by the Seals in 2011. Here is the book list. One of them is Antony Sutton’s The Best Enemy Money Can Buy (1986). I wrote the foreword. It is here. Who knows? Maybe Osama read it. Because the printed edition did not mention me as the Foreword’s author in the Table of Contents, my Osama connection is not visible to anyone who does not get past the Table of Contents. Of all the books on the list, my Foreword … Continue reading →

20This video is excellent on how the special interests buy votes in Congress, and then collect billions of dollars worth of favors. Their return on investment (ROI) is sensational. Meanwhile, voters have no influence. The statistics are here: What’s that? You say were not told this in your high school civics class? Imagine that!