BankNotes Archive – July 2017

Moral hazard, easy money, and cheap credit have never produced good results. History is littered with examples of financial disaster brought about by monetary manipulation originating in central banks and then spreading to other parts of the system. One would think that the 2007/8 credit crisis, whose effects have not … Read more

How long could you the reader go without using Google, Amazon, Wi-Fi, or the supercomputer (a.k.a mobile phone) that sits in your pocket? Odds are most would be on edge rather quickly. The late 1990s are fondly remembered as a boom period. Even so, a rather primitive version of Amazon … Read more

by Doug French A Seattle resident told me last night she counted 50 high-rise construction cranes in her hometown. Seattle developer Kevin Daniel provides confirmation, “Seattle is definitely the pretty girl on the dance floor.” It turns out “there are currently 13 high-rise apartment or condo buildings of at least … Read more

By Leonard E. Read Note – Frequent readers of BANKNOTES are aware of my relationship with Leonard E. Read and my admiration for his works during his lifetime. In the following issues I will be sharing his book, VISION, one chapter per month. It was written in 1978. What a … Read more

— by Fred Reed “The consolidation of the states into one vast empire, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of ruin which has overwhelmed all that preceded it.” Robert E. Lee The man was perceptive. Amalgamation of the states under a central … Read more

“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower I’ve never killed anyone. My war experience – my lack thereof – does not entitle me to speak about war. I have … Read more

The Trump Administration is reportedly considering plans to sell off about half of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which is the federal government’s nearly-700 million barrel stockpile of crude oil. Such a move would help ease the budget crunch (bringing in about $17 billion at current oil prices) but would … Read more