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This entire week has been full of eye-rolling— borderline eye-gouging— cowardice and deceit in the halls of Congress. It started on Monday when none other than Dr. Anthony “the Science” Fauci appeared in front of the House Oversight Committee for two days of testimony. And every time the guy opened his mouth, we
Next month will mark 80 years since the US dollar was formally anointed as the world’s reserve currency. It was July 1944. And with the war in Europe near its denouement, governments were already trying to plan what the postwar world would look like. Most urgently, they needed to figure out how to
On August 4, 2017, the most hated person in the world was sentenced to seven years in prison. You may remember the case: his name is Martin Shkreli. Shkreli had quite infamously taken over a pharmaceutical company and jacked up the price of a medication by 50x, practically overnight. Media outrage ensued, and
In 2007, Giuseppe Ferrarello found himself facing a monumental challenge as the newly-elected mayor of Gangi, Italy — an incredibly picturesque yet dwindling town nestled in the mountains of Sicily. Like many rural communities across Italy and beyond, the village of Gangi was grappling with depopulation and economic decline. Once home to 15,000
In the year 1712, an English ironworker and part-time Baptist preacher named Thomas Newcomen finally put the finishing touches on a new invention that had been more than a century in the making. Newcomen called it the ‘atmospheric engine’, and it was essentially a very crude, rudimentary steam engine that he used to
This morning Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Yolanda Diaz, released an announcement to “celebrate that Spain recognizes Palestine State. . . [which] will be free from the river to the sea.” This comes on the heels of her boss, the Prime Minister of Spain, announcing formal recognition of Palestine as a sovereign nation, alongside
On Tuesday, September 15, 1992, the two most powerful financial officials in the British government held an urgent meeting that night to review their plan for when the markets opened the next morning. The tone of the meeting must have felt frantic… even desperate… because the value of the British pound had been
On July 12, 1648, dozens of angry French politicians gathered at the hallowed Palais de Justice in Paris to draft the final ultimatum that would be sent to their nine-year-old king, Louis XIV. The politicians were all members of France’s national parliament, and, like most modern politicians, they were almost all lawyers who
If you want to understand the complete dysfunction of the federal government, look no further than the case of Marty Gruenberg. At least for now– and hopefully not much longer– he is the petty tyrant in charge of the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation); he has served in that position for 10 out
Did you hear the cheering in the streets? The celebratory gunfire coming from the Federal Reserve? The champagne bottles across Wall Street being uncorked? What’s got people so excited today is the monthly CPI report— which showed consumer prices increasing by ‘only’ 3.4% year-over-year. And core inflation, which strips out food and energy
By the early 400s, the Roman Empire was coming apart at the seams and in desperate need of strong, competent leadership. In theory, Honorius should have been the right man for the job. Born into the royal household in Constantinople, Honorius had been groomed to rule, practically since birth, by the finest experts
In 1983, the tiny Caribbean islands of St. Kitts and Nevis were among the last colonies to finally gain independence from Great Britain’s dissolving empire. The two islands joined to become one country. And with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants, its microscopic economy was almost entirely dependent on sugar production… which can be an
Social Security’s annual trust fund report was released yesterday… and, no surprise, the report states very clearly that trust fund balances “are projected to become depleted during 2033.” Allow me to repeat that: Social Security’s most important trust fund will run out of money in nine years. This is a fact, not some
“Today, it’s Climate Day,” said President Biden in a speech on January 27, 2021, “which means that today is Jobs Day.” “Dealing with [climate change] and increasing our economic growth and prosperity, are one and the same. When I think of Climate Change, I think of jobs.” These were among the remarks the
Retired Canadian Army corporal Christine Gauthier lost the use of her legs in a 1989 military training accident. But that never kept her down; she competed in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics in canoeing, and regularly competes in other similar events. Gauthier lives in Canada, which has a socialized healthcare system. That