It might sound like a conspiracy theory spun by right-wing crazies. But judging by the increasing desperation of governments to reboot the world economy, it just might happen. “It” is the recall or confiscation of cash, i.e., dollars, euros, pounds, etc., in physical form. And a key justification that those calling for this radical measure cite is that it reinforces the ability of central banks to impose negative interest rates. Negative rates mean that lenders literally pay businesses and consumers to borrow money. They also penalize savers for hoarding it. The Danish and Swiss national banks have gone the farthest … Continue reading →

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Review of Christopher Kelly and Stuart Laycock, America Invades: How We’ve Invaded or Been Militarily Involved with Almost Every Country on Earth (Book Publishers Network, 2014), xix + 396 pgs., hardcover. The song “America the Beautiful” should be changed to “America the Invader.” According to Christopher Kelly and Stuart Laycock, the United States “has invaded or fought in eighty-four out of 194 countries” and “has had some form of military involvement with a spectacular 191 out of 194.” Their findings are published in the appropriately titled America Invades: How We’ve Invaded or Been Militarily Involved with Almost Every Country on … Continue reading →

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THE RECENT EXPANSION of Google’s Timeline feature can provide investigators unprecedented access to users’ location history data, allowing them in many cases to track a person’s every move over the course of years, according to a report recently circulated to law enforcement. “The personal privacy implications are pretty clear but so are the law enforcement applications,” according to the document, titled “Google Timelines: Location Investigations Involving Android Devices,” which outlines the kind of information investigators can now subpoena. The Timeline allows users to look back at their daily movements on a map; that same information is also potentially of interest to law enforcement. “It … Continue reading →

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In April 2014, ESPN published a photograph of an unlikely duo: Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and former national security adviser and secretary of state Henry Kissinger at the Yankees-Red Sox season opener. In fleece jackets on a crisp spring day, they were visibly enjoying each other’s company, looking for all the world like a twenty-first-century geopolitical version of Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. The subtext of their banter, however, wasn’t about sex, but death. As a journalist, Power had made her name as a defender of human rights, winning a Pulitzer Prize for her book A … Continue reading →

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“A modern day mass migration is taking place … that could change the face of Europe’s civilization,” warned Hungarian President Viktor Orban. “If that happens, that is irreversible. … There is no way back from a multicultural Europe,” said Orban. “If we make a mistake now, it will be forever.” Orban acted on his beliefs. He erected a 110-mile fence on the Serb border, redirecting hundreds of thousands of migrants away from Hungary to Croatia, thence to Austria and Germany. Sunday, after a third of a million had passed through, Croatia replaced a center-left with a rightist party. A fortnight … Continue reading →

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This article is adapted from a talk delivered at this past weekend’s Mises Circle event in Phoenix. The topic of our symposium this morning is “What Must Be Done,” which originally was the title of a talk given by Dr. Hans-Hermann Hoppe at a Mises Institute conference in 1997. Hoppe posed his title as a declarative, but it’s also the question we all wrestle with as libertarians in a world so dominated by the state and its apologists. And it’s a question we hear time and time again at the Mises Institute: What can we do to fight back against government? We … Continue reading →

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Researchers in Germany say marijuana may treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) better than the popular drug Adderall. Scientists studied 30 patients with ADHD who had minimal success with Adderall or Ritalin, another popular ADHD drug. After using medical cannabis, all 30 participants reported “improved concentration and sleep” and “reduced impulsivity.” At the end of the study, 22 of the subjects decided to ditch the pharmaceuticals they’d been taking for their symptoms and stick with pot. [1] The data is some of the first to frame medical marijuana as a viable treatment for the difficulty concentrating, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and forgetfulness associated … Continue reading →

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Hey, remember that 80s movie “Back To The Future”? Yeah, I know you do, but you won’t admit it. Just like you won’t admit to those Boy George and Culture Club records you’ve been feverishly trying to find in the garage before your grandkids do. That, and the photos of you with the front bangs of your hair looking like a breaking wave out at Malibu. Don’t look at me! My style never changed: T-shirt, jeans, work boots. To paraphrase a country song, I was not-cool when not-cool wasn’t cool. But, listen, didn’t ya love the 80s? Great movies like … Continue reading →

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While many hope that every low-skill person can become a high-skilled worker, training people doesn’t create jobs for them. One of the most appealing beliefs about technology–that it will always create more jobs than it destroys–is no longer true. It was true in the first and second industrial revolutions, for one simple reason: the new industrial revolution created vast numbers of low-skill jobs that offered displaced workers abundant opportunities for work that did not require more than entry-level skills. It only took a few minutes to learn one’s job on an assembly line in the first industrial revolution, and many … Continue reading →

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Coughs, sneezes, aches and pains can strike for many reasons, and the time of day they occur can be a clue to working out their cause and how to treat them. Here, the experts reveal why timing could be the key to discovering why you are feeling unwell. HEADACHE MORNING: If you wake up with a headache, it could be due to sleep apnoea, where the walls of the throat collapse during sleep, interrupting breathing. Sleep apnoea, characterised by snoring, can cause levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) to rise in the blood. Too much CO2 can create a build-up of … Continue reading →

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“Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government, owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.” ― Theodore Roosevelt America’s next president will inherit more than a bitterly divided nation teetering on the brink of financial catastrophe when he or she assumes office. He will also inherit a shadow government, one that is fully operational and staffed by unelected officials who are, in essence, running the country. To be precise, however, the future president will actually inherit not one but two shadow governments. The first shadow government, referred to as COG or continuity of government, is made … Continue reading →

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At the same time, this is only the beginning of the crisis, because the conditions inciting people to flee their homelands will only worsen. And the EU, many of whose members have the world’s largest and best-equipped welfare systems, appears to be overwhelmed by it — politically, morally, and administratively. This paralysis creates a significant risk for the EU. No one seriously believes that individual member states — particularly Italy and Greece, the two countries most affected — can overcome the long-term challenges posed by large-scale migration on their own. But many member states reject a common European effort, a … Continue reading →

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