

Originally published October 2021. The founder of modern economics, Adam Smith, was no fan of the merchants of his time. He regarded them as among the most responsible for how “the mercantile system”, as Smith called it, accorded legal privileges to politically...
The distorted market for woke capitalism

Greedy corporations and inflation
Inflation in the United States was over 7% in 2021. This is dramatically higher than just a couple of years ago when it was less than 2% per year. Why did it go up? The most obvious answer – and the one consistent with an extraordinarily large amount of evidence – is...
Greedy corporations and inflation

What Americans are really thinking
In a year-end review of polling and politics, one of America’s leading national pollsters, Scott Rasmussen, says most Americans have higher priorities than politics. And he says partisan thinking about race, particularly among Democrats, hasn’t kept up with...
What Americans are really thinking

The impact of higher inflation on US asset class returns
Which US asset classes perform best or worst amid periods of high inflation (6% or more)? Answer: commodities perform best, while bills perform worst. It’s commonly recognised that bonds are not a good inflation hedge – and they aren’t – but less recognised is that...
The impact of higher inflation on US asset class returns

Midwest markets demonstrate resiliency during pandemic
The Midwest region is a broad geography encompassing the Great Lakes and upper Mississippi and Ohio River watersheds. Major cities in the area include well-known names like Chicago and Detroit, and fast-growing smaller cities like Minneapolis and Columbus, OH. While...
Midwest markets demonstrate resiliency during pandemic