The U.S. economy added 911,000 fewer jobs over the 12 months ending in March than the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) initially reported, according to data released by the besieged agency Tuesday.
In a widely anticipated reevaluation of employment data, the BLS said it likely overreported the total number of jobs added by the U.S. since March 2024 by nearly 1 million, a 0.6 percent reduction estimated to be the largest revision in history. Continue reading
When I was growing up, it was assumed that pretty much everyone in my generation would be able to achieve the American Dream. But today most of the U.S. population is not living the American Dream, and more people are falling out of the middle class every day. As I have detailed in previous articles, this is particularly true for Millennials and those in Generation Z. The collective prosperity of the middle class has been declining for an extended period of time, and now that long-term decline threatens to become a full-blown avalanche. Continue reading
Emerging-market central banks have been active buyers since the freezing of Russian reserves in 2022 underscored the vulnerability of foreign-exchange holdings.
Goldman Sachs said gold prices are poised to extend their record-breaking rally through 2026, with the potential to climb far beyond current levels depending on how central banks, private investors, and U.S. monetary policy evolve. Continue reading
Gold has always held a unique place in human history, symbolizing wealth, security, and power. Even today, investors and everyday people remain fascinated by it, often rushing to buy when markets feel uncertain. Yet gold is not immune to volatility, and at times it loses value, leaving many to wonder why the obsession persists. The reasons are rooted in psychology, history, and cultural perceptions that go far beyond simple price charts. To understand why do people obsess over gold, you have to look at the mix of fear, tradition, and trust that surrounds it. Continue reading
“If I were a rich man,
Daidle deedle daidle, Daidle daidle deedle daidle dumb…”
President Trump’s relentless attacks on the independence of the Federal Reserve help remind us why the Constitution established a totally different monetary system than the one under which we have all been born and raised.
The reason that the Federal Reserve — or central bank — was established as an independent federal agency was because it’s a very bad idea to have a president deciding monetary policy. That’s because presidents inevitably want to use the monetary system to benefit themselves politically, which ordinarily means expanding the money supply to create an artificial sense of economic prosperity, which then enables a president to exclaim, “Do you see how beneficial my tariffs and other economic policies are?”
Then, when prices of things start rising in response to the expanded quantity of devalued money in the system, a president can easily blame the rising prices on such things as greed, profiteering, Big Oil, and so forth, with hardly anyone realizing that the president’s monetary policies are the reason for the price rises. Continue reading
While not obvious, it is amazing, and a bit concerning, how great an impact monetary policy has on our lives. Decisions that an “independent” Federal Reserve makes have profound implications for future generations. Monetary policy decides the fate of our economic well-being, good or bad.
If we are going to debate President Trump’s attempt to influence the Federal Reserve’s implementation of monetary policy, then we must discuss another: the competency of Federal Reserve monetary decisions and the Fed’s obvious acquiescence to previous presidents. Continue reading
I kept warning about what would happen to our economy if we stayed on the path that we were on. For decades, our leaders have been making unbelievably bad decisions, and now the consequences are really starting to catch up with us. The cost of living has become incredibly painful, a larger housing bubble than the one that we faced just prior to the Great Recession is beginning to burst, and large companies are conducting mass layoffs all over the country.
We were handed the keys to the greatest economic machine that the world has ever seen, and our leaders have completely wrecked it. As a result, economic pessimism has soared to unprecedented heights. Continue reading
For centuries, the Byzantine Empire’s gold coin, known as the solidus, had been the backbone of global trade in the medieval world; nearly pure gold, the solidus was trusted by merchants from Baghdad to London.
But by the 11th century, multiple emperors had chipped away at its gold content – watering it down to pay for wars, bureaucracy, and the costs of an empire in decline. Continue reading
“If human equality is to be forever averted – if the High, as we have called them, are to keep their places permanently – then the prevailing mental condition must be controlled insanity.” ~ George Orwell, 1984
The government, federal or otherwise, has no business model because it is not a business. We know this at the outset because government does not compete on the market for people’s money, as every other business must do. As a monopoly of violence it seizes the money it needs through taxes and monetary inflation. As long as the government doesn’t get carried away by taxing and inflating too much, most people – some of whom call themselves libertarians – regard this setup as the best we can hope for. Continue reading
The ‘stay-put penalty’ contributed to constrained housing supply, industry experts said.
President Donald Trump is considering supporting a bill to eliminate the capital gains tax on home sales. Continue reading
