Category: Trends & News

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The global food supply chain wasn’t designed for this

In the early 1980s, doctors and medical researchers around the world were confounded by the growing number of young, otherwise healthy patients who were dying of rare infections that typically only occurred in people with very weak immune systems. The situation was so alarming that the CDC in the United States set up

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Congress proposes 50% tax on guns and ammunition in the US

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, your finances, and your prosperity… and on occasion, poetic justice. Street Gangs enforce lockdowns in Brazil Last week we highlighted how Brazil’s president claimed Brazilians don’t get

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There’s a major sovereign debt crisis looming

By the mid 1300s, the Republic of Florence in modern day Italy had experienced one of the greatest economic booms in human history. In less than a century, Florence had grown from a tiny, irrelevant backwater to become one of Europe’s largest cities and preeminent financial center. The expansion was truly impressive. Florence’s

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I screwed up

First thing’s first– I screwed up. Yesterday I wrote to you about the US government’s initiative to loan money to small businesses, and I was wrong about an important detail. I said the maximum amount of the loan was equal to 2.5x a company’s annual payroll expense. That’s incorrect. The correct maximum loan

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The ‘Small’ Business Administration is now bigger than Walmart

[Editor’s note: this article was corrected on 30 March 2020; the proper way to calculate your loan is based on your average monthly (not annual) payroll multiplied by 2.5] As you’ve probably already heard, the US government unleashed a giant tsunami of money on Friday, passing a $2 trillion stimulus bill to help

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Marvel introduces superheros “Snowflake” and “Safespace”

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, your finances, and your prosperity… and on occasion, poetic justice. Alcohol to go: Why wasn’t this always a thing? You realize how absurdly micromanaged the economy is

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FDIC asks Americans to keep their money in the banks

Yesterday the Chair of the FDIC released an astonishing video asking Americans to keep their money in the bank. Accompanied by soft piano music playing in the background, the official said: “Your money is safe at the banks. The last thing you should be doing is pulling your money out of the banks

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Powerful wisdom from one of the toughest men who ever lived

One day back in the late 1990s when I was a wide-eyed 20-year-old cadet at West Point, we were told that a distinguished visitor was coming to speak, and to be seated in the auditorium by 1pm sharp. This was pretty routine; one of the great things about attending West Point was the

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If you think it’s too late, think again. There’s still time

[Editor’s note: This letter was written by Tim Staermose,  Sovereign Man’s Chief Investment Strategist and Editor of the 4th Pillar newsletter.] I’m writing from my remote rural villa in Southern Bali. I made a mad dash to get back here from Hong Kong before the borders effectively shut to visitors, and airlines cancelled

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COVID-19 -might- actually force governments to be more efficient

Well, at least there’s a bit of good news from the Corona Virus. In a few cases, it at least seems to be making government more efficient, and calls into question why so much bureaucracy existed to begin with. We think there’s a LOT more to come in terms of streamlining government. Millions

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Banks are going to drown in an ocean of defaults

On November 6, 2000, then US presidential candidate George W. Bush told a crowd of cheering supporters, “they misunderestimated me.” Now, if English is not your native language, allow me to clear the air: ‘misunderestimate’ is not a word. But then again, George W. Bush was legendary for hilarious slip-ups like this. There

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Writing to you from lockdown

As you might have heard, Puerto Rico is now on lockdown. Government offices and private businesses are closed, and no one is allowed to leave their homes except to buy food, attend medical appointments, etc. This is quickly going to become global policy, at least in the West. If these measures haven’t hit

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Venezuela wants every woman to have six children…

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, your finances, and your prosperity… and on occasion, poetic justice. Solved: why is Mississippi is so fat? Jail time for diet advice Mississippi is officially the fattest

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Predictions are hard. But here goes…

We certainly live in extraordinary times. Even people who have been irrationally dismissive of the Corona pandemic up until this point finally had to wake up and smell reality yesterday. The NBA. Tom Hanks. European travel ban. Our human brains, while magnificent and inspiring, are also wired in bizarre ways. We’re filled with

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