A crack-up boom in the making
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A crack-up boom in the making

The great Ludwig von Mises first described the concept of a crack-up boom as part of the Austrian business cycle theory, based on real life events that to an unsuspecting bystander might have appeared unconnected, or perhaps even quite bizarre and counterintuitive. Indeed, such a bystander might think the same…

Inflation outlook – A battle lost before it started
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Inflation outlook – A battle lost before it started

After months of consumer price increases and after countless working households found themselves in dire financial straits struggling to make ends meet, in the late May, President Biden finally revealed his grand plan to fight inflation in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. The much-anticipated response to the cost…

“Gold is an insurance policy against the stupidity of governments”
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“Gold is an insurance policy against the stupidity of governments”

Interview with Bob Moriarty As I mentioned many times before, trying to accurately forecast economic events or to “time the market” is a fool’s errand. To the chagrin of all central planners, mainstream analysts and all kinds of “experts”, the economy is a vastly complex, living organism, with too many…

“Real innovation and progress happen beyond Big Tech” – Part II
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“Real innovation and progress happen beyond Big Tech” – Part II

Interview with Bernd Rodler – Part II of II Claudio Grass (CG): A lot people still consider it safer to go with a huge, established corporation, thinking these solutions would be more reliable and robust, especially for business applications. What is your take on this view? Bernd Rodler (BR): This is a…

“Real innovation and progress happen beyond Big Tech”
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“Real innovation and progress happen beyond Big Tech”

Interview with Bernd Rodler – Part I of II Those who know me and who have read my writings before will be very well aware of how important the topic of decentralization is to me and to my way of looking at the world, at our societies and our economies. I truly…

Gold: A use case for the modern era
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Gold: A use case for the modern era

Part I of II For decades, physical gold investors have had to contend with superficial, naive and wholly ahistorical “arguments” from the mainstream financial press, from economists and experts of all stripes, claiming that gold is nothing but a barbarous relic. To them, the yellow metal is akin to investment superstition….

Cantillon effect: Who’s paying the highest price?
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Cantillon effect: Who’s paying the highest price?

Every time we hear government officials announce their big spending plans, their new welfare programs and their ambitious “job creating” schemes, they always present them as being in defense of the poorest and the most marginalized members of our societies. In coordination with their central bankers, they print and spend new…

Ukraine conflict: A dispassionate analysis
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Ukraine conflict: A dispassionate analysis

I realize that I shouldn’t be surprised at the way the crisis in Ukraine has divided our societies or at the blind fanaticism the conversations around it have provoked. After all, virtually every other development of consequence has tuned out exactly the same. From covid to the economy and from…