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It was back in May 2010 that the very first ‘real world’ Bitcoin transaction was conducted: 10,000 bitcoins traded for two Papa John’s pizzas. Today that transaction would be worth nearly $4 million, probably making those the most expensive pizzas in the history of the world. But back then it was considered revolutionary
[Editor’s note: What follows is Tim Price’s hilarious, satirical take on a recent Financial Times fawning article on “Lunch with Ben Bernanke” by associate editor Martin Wolf.] — After literally saving the universe while at the helm of the US Federal Reserve, its former chairman is now quietly pursuing lucrative speaking engagements and
High up Yuntai mountain in China’s Henan province is a glass bridge that lets tourists walk out across the sky and look down at the lush valley floor over 3,000 feet below. Glass walkways like this are quite popular across China, stunning visitors with both beauty and the thrill of danger. Recently, this
It wasn’t that long ago that you could travel from one corner of the world to another with nothing but your good looks. There are people still alive today, in fact, who were born into a world where passports were not widely used for international travel. The passport itself is a relatively recent
It was just weeks ago that the US government barely averted a debt ceiling shutdown with a last-minute bill to kick the can down the road until December. This gave them 2 months to tackle a problem that’s been decades in the making, with a debt that now totals nearly $19 trillion. So
Now I’ve seen everything. For anybody who thought that the Obama phone or giving out food stamps to 50 million Americans was ridiculous, the Turkish government is taking campaign promises to a whole new level. “Once you have a job, salary and food. What is left? A wife.” Turkish Prime Minister told voters
1,426. That’s the number of Americans who renounced their US citizenship last quarter according to the US government’s report just released this morning. That’s a record high for a single quarter, easily beating the last record high set earlier this year, which beat the previous record high set in 2013. This is clearly
I’m in New Haven today to attend the funeral of Irwin Schiff, who unfortunately passed away last weekend. If you’ve never heard of Irwin, he was one of the original “tax protestors”. He believed not only that paying federal income was unconstitutional, but actually went so far as to stop paying tax altogether.
I have a pretty bad travel habit of always waiting until the last minute to head to the airport. Some people like to get to the airport three hours early. I’m not one of those people. In fact, when I flew to Bogota a few weeks ago from Santiago, I arrived to the
Last week Credit Suisse released its annual Global Wealth Report. The big headline grabber was their analysis showing that the top 1% of people now own 50% of the world’s wealth. That is true and rather astonishing. However, the report had another finding that was even more astonishing and largely overlooked. What they
When I was a kid, I used to proudly wear around a T-shirt explaining different economic systems using ‘two cows’ as a metaphor. It started off like this: Socialism: You have two cows. Give one to your neighbor. Then Communism: You have two cows. The government takes both and gives you some milk.
The Road to Ruin, as they say, is paved with good intentions. So I suppose the road to hell is paved in the best of intentions. And that’s how most laws often start: with the BEST of intentions. That was certainly the case when Barack Obama signed the HIRE Act into law in 2011.
When I was a kid growing up in the early 80s, the United States was the undisputed dominant superpower in the world. The US dollar was awe-inspiring; on a trade-weighted basis, the dollar index was at an all-time high, and had never been as strong ever before… or since. And the dollar’s strength
In 49 BC, a defiant Julius Caesar stood in front of his army at the River Rubicon and made the biggest decision of his life. It was strictly forbidden by Roman law for a general lead his army out of its province and into Rome. And the Rubicon marked the boundary. “Alea iacta
Forget Norway. Japan. Iceland. Switzerland. Or any of the other places around the world that are notorious for being painful on the wallet. Venezuela is now the most expensive country in the world, hands down. To give you an idea, the cost of a 15-minute taxi ride to the beach yesterday afternoon totaled