News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
Ryan McMaken 
Libertarians talk a lot about the need to weaken—and even to abolish—the state. And rightly so. But a necessary part of opposing the state is building up other institutions that can challenge state power and offer alternatives to the state. That is, if we are to meaningfully undermine the state, it is necessary to encourage, … Read more
Donald Trump and his allies continue to complain that the central bank isn’t inflating the money supply enough. Last week, Bill Pulte, Trump’s appointee to the Federal Housing and Finance Administration—and the head of Fannie and Freddie—complained that Powell and the FOMC weren’t forcing down interest rates enough. Pulte wrote on X/Twitter: Because President Trump has crushed … Read more
There are many reasons for disliking the Federal Reserve, and readers often encounter a wide variety of these reasons in articles and commentary by financial writers and economists. It is often the case, however, that many critics of the Fed attack the Fed for the wrong reasons. For example, one will often see Fed critics attacking the … Read more
We often read of a variety of schemes put forward by pundits and politicians as a good way to pay down the national debt, even while ignoring the fact the federal government continues to rack up trillions more in debt every year. For example, Jonathan Russo at The Hill last year insisted that it is very important to pay … Read more
Over the past year, pundits and columnists have been forced to keep asking why Europe’s economy is stagnating and falling behind the US economy. Many of those asking the question are Europeans. One European headline reads “Why Europe is falling behind the USA,” and Le Monde tells us that compared to the United States, “The gap with European … Read more
Rand Paul, Elon Musk, and several others, have recently called for an audit of the US government’s gold holdings. This has reminded many Americans that the US government owns a hoard of gold—of 261 million ounces—at Fort Knox and other places. On the other hand, the debate will be news for some who have never … Read more
In recent days, President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Senator Rand Paul, and some others have pressed for an audit of the US gold reserves, with a special focus on the gold at Fort Knox. This is perfectly reasonable given that the US gold reserves—which are the property of the US Treasury and not the Federal Reserve—have not … Read more
In late January, the Trump administration issued a series of executive orders that paused Treasury payments to a variety of federal contractors and grantees. These orders also often cancelled contracts with NGOS and other contractors altogether. Soon afterward, we began to see countless media stories about job losses at private NGOs and for-profit federal contractors. … Read more
Workers across the country responded with anger and confusion,” the Associated Press reported last week, in response to the Trump administration’s layoffs of probationary workers. CBS News tells us “federal workers express shock, anger over mass firings,” and The New York Times writes that federal works face “sleeplessness, anger and tears.” Some workers launched lawsuits against the Trump administration. Others went on … Read more
Much of the debate over so-called “birthright citizenship” is over interpretations of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US constitution. Most of the people currently in power claim that the text means every baby born to every foreign national on American soil is an automatic US citizen. Others—like myself—believe that this interpretation is dubious and has … Read more
The issue of California secession isn’t going away. Last week, the California secretary of state approved a new ballot measure on secession for the signature gathering phase of the initiative process. If activists are able to collect enough signatures by late July, voters in 2028 will be able to vote yes or no to the … Read more
Earlier this week, Donald Trump signed a new executive order which attempts to end so-called “birthright citizenship” in the United States. During the signing ceremony, Trump declared that the United States is “the only country in the world that does this with birthright…” This is untrue and the Washington Post, among other publications, was quick to … Read more
The debate over immigration is working out perfectly for the deep state. Donald Trump is calling on the CIA and the FBI to “get involved” in domestic policing. At the same time, MAGA conservatives are begging the US government to impose a vast new surveillance state on Americans in the name of stopping illegal aliens. For at … Read more
Revolutionary totalitarian regimes have long attempted to make Christmas disappear, or to at least make Christmas into something more to the state’s liking. The earliest example of this can found with the French revolutionaries. Shortly after the First French Republic was established in 1792, the state imposed a new calendar which established a year of … Read more
It should go without saying that asking generals and other Pentagon bureaucrats about defense spending is like asking your barber if you need a haircut. They are hardly disinterested observers. So, it’s not surprising at all that the usual pentagon uniformed technocrats, after failing their audit for the seventh time in a row, remain unrepentant. … Read more
Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been making a lot of noise about all the federal employees it plans to fire. The DOGE people have framed total federal employment as something of a proxy for the total size of the federal government. Cutting the federal workforce is all well and good, but … Read more
The Thanksgiving holiday in the United States has a checkered past. Its more recent origins lie largely in government attempts at pushing propagandistic narratives. For example, Abraham Lincoln demanded Americans be thankful for ”the advancing armies and navies of the Union” during the Civil War. George Washington instructed Americans to give thanks for the new constitution in … Read more
Since 2001, has it really become almost three times more expensive…to patrol the border, to collect tariffs, and to check luggage for guns at the airport?
According to the most recent report from the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US economy added only 12,000 payroll jobs during October. This was the smallest month-to-month employment gain in nearly four years. Moreover, total private jobs fell in October by 28,000. This is the worst employment report since 2020, and it reflects an overall downward trend in employment growth … Read more
Donald Trump is the projected winner of the 2024 presidential election. After winning back states he had lost in 2020, Trump performed well in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—states Kamala Harris needed to win. Trump has won more than enough electoral votes to win back the White House and, as of early Wednesday morning, is projected … Read more