Author: Robert Wenzel

Below are the remarks as prepared for delivery by Robert Wenzel for the Ninth Annual H.L. Mencken Cub Conference in Baltimore, Maryland on November 5, 2016. When I was first asked to participate here at the H.L. Mencken Club conference I was asked to speak on Libertarianism and the Right. I wasn’t aware that this was a mere subtopic under the broader title Enemies of the Right. For I am a libertarian but come here as a friend of the right or at least the right that I believe is represented here at this conference. I consider us cousins. Now … Continue reading →

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Harvard professor and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, Kenneth S. Rogoff, is out with a new book. The Curse of Cash. In the book, he attempts to make the case for banning paper money. His justification for banning cash is two-fold: It will hamper criminal activity and it will allow central banks to take rates, when necessary, deep into negative territory. As far as criminal activity, which  he wants to make more difficult, he paints a broad brush that includes many activities that not all would consider offensive or a threat. He says it would make drug dealing more difficult, that … Continue reading →

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Harvard professor and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, Kenneth S. Rogoff, is out with a new book. The Curse of Cash. In the book, he attempts to make the case for banning paper money. His justification for banning cash is two-fold: It will hamper criminal activity and it will allow central banks to take rates, when necessary, deep into negative territory. As far as criminal activity, which  he wants to make more difficult, he paints a broad brush that includes many activities that not all would consider offensive or a threat. He says it would make drug dealing more difficult, that … Continue reading →

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With a very high minimum wage, heavy taxes and extreme regulations. restaurant owners cut where they can. “I can’t absorb it anymore.” Matt Miller emails: See: The Great Restaurant Deluge (SanFrancisco Magazine)Between the skyrocketing cost of doing business and the unprecedented level of competition, Bay Area restaurant owners are sounding the alarm: A storm is coming. Between the skyrocketing cost of doing business and the unprecedented level of competition, Bay Area restaurant owners are sounding the alarm: A storm is coming. 15-month permitting process (vs. 10 weeks in Portland) $200,000 liquor license Double construction costs Taxes, minimum wage – if you pay … Continue reading →

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Grandpa Bush sure appears to have had a lot more on the ball than Jeb. In the below 1953 interview, for whatever it is worth, Preston Bush comes out in favor of higher interest rates to fight inflation. He also has some interesting comments on eminent domain, which I am sure Trump can twist to use to his advantage. There is definitely a sharpness and  energy gene that wasn’t passed along to George H.W., George W. and Jeb that grandpa had. Reprinted with permission from Economic Policy Journal.

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Three-dozen 747 cargo planes have arrived in Venezuela, all stuffed with newly printed money. This is what hyperinflation looks like. WSJ reports that Venezuela’s central bank’s own printing presses in the industrial city of Maracay don’t have enough security paper and metal to print more than a small portion of the country’s bills. This is what happens when massive amounts of new money are printed, the desire to hold cash balances shrinks to near zero. WSJ explains: Venezuela’s 30 million people can’t seem to get cash fast enough, said Steve H. Hanke, an expert on troubled currencies at Johns Hopkins … Continue reading →

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A Target Liberty reader sends along the below shocking workshop announcement email he received. It reveals the leftist agenda and how it is even seeping into grade schools. They want to create a society of crybabies, who are not taught productivity, entrepreneurship, seeking greatness, hard work and respect for hard work, but a society where “demands” on government, business etc. are foremost and every slight, minor or just imagined, must occupy hours of a person’s day with protests and other activism, while the decline in production, and lack of respect for work well done, leads to a deteriorating society and a … Continue reading →

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(via NinjaEconomics) Here’s a map to help you identify the countries. Note well that tiny little country in the middle of the map, with no natural resources that doesn’t get involved in foreign wars and other people’s affairs, but has a staggering per person wealth of $567.000 Reprinted with permission from Economic Policy Journal.

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I hold the view that across any sector, there is something of a bell curve when it comes to competence in a field, be it doctors, lawyers, whatever. Some are terrible, some are okay and some are superior and have mastered their field. Depending upon what you are looking for, you can use professionals at different points along the bell curve. If I have a cold and know exactly what medication I want to relieve it and it is a prescription medication, I have no problem going to a total incompetent, as long as he is cheap, has a prescription … Continue reading →

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Serious questions have been raised since Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would donate” 99% of his stake in Facebook shares to a new LLC he had formed with his wife Priscilla Chan. Zuckerberg, perhaps surprised that everyone is not as gullible as the Winklevoss twins, has returned to Facebook with a clarifying statement about the “donation.” With this clarification, it is clear that there is nothing special about the LLC. It is just a typical LLC where all income and capital gains recognized will flow through to Zuckerberg and his wife on their personal tax forms. Thus, the use of the term … Continue reading →

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The panic in the western world, since the attack in Paris, where approx. 130 were killed is quite over the top. Walking home Friday evening, at the corner of Montgomery and Second St., in San Francisco, I winessed train passengers rushing out of the underground train station. Police were rushing in. Someone had heard a “pop.” It was nothing. The panic has spread to small towns: And a plane headed to San Francisco was diverted because three men “suspiciously” swapped seats with each other: The flight landed at Kansas City International Airport around 7:50 a.m. The flight crew made the decision … Continue reading →

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The federal government is about to pay doctors who speak with patients about the type of medical care they want when they are “near death.” The rule announced on Friday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid service will reimburse, starting January 1, 2016, healthcare providers if they have conversations with Medicare patients about advance planning–also known as end-of-life discussions, reports WSJ. Make no mistake about it, this is about cutting the cost for the government of patient care. Notes WSJ: It is a delicate issue, however, because end-of-life discussions also are likely to lower health-care spending—which could lead to claims … Continue reading →

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WSJ’s John Carney has a report out on a very important story. The plan of the Germans to audit and physically inspect all their gold. Writes Carney: A German federal court has said that country’s central bank should conduct annual audits and physically inspect its gold reserves worldwide, including gold in the custody of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In addition to the FRBNY, Bundesbank gold is stored in London, Paris and Frankfurt. For decades, the Bundesbank has relied on written confirmation of its gold holdings in London, Paris and New York. According to the report from the … Continue reading →

The Federal Reserve July monetary policy meeting minutes were scheduled for release at 2 p.m Eastern Time, today. At 1:47 p.m., the Fed put out a statement saying that the embargo on the minutes had been broken. The minutes are extremely sensitive information as traders often react to details of the minutes, and considering that the Fed is close to increasing rates, the minutes are even more significant. But Bloomberg blasted this headline out before the embargo expired: MOST FED OFFICIALS IN JULY SAW CONDITIONS FOR RATE RISE NEARING. It appears that the embargo was broken at aprox. 1:35 p.m. Bloomberg … Continue reading →

Paul Krugman’s obsession with Ron Paul has not stopped. In a new post at NYT, he doubles down on his charge that Ron Paul’s warning about price inflation makes him Bernie Madoff-like: It seems increasingly clear to me that what we’re looking at here has nothing to do with intellectual discourse as we normally understand it. It is, instead, about tribal identities: there’s a certain kind of person who rails against policies that debase the dollar, and that kind of person admires others who do the same no matter how wrong their predictions and disastrous their financial advice. As I … Continue reading →