Long one: I was watching a history show tonight about the American Revolution. After we beat Britain and gained our independence we had massive war debts and wrote tons of IOU’s to other countries to fund it all. After the war the US plunged into a huge Depression. Our currency tanked as a result. It was nearly worthless. Inflation soared. They said at the peak a horse cost $150,000 US Dollars. Many merchants stopped taking US dollars and would only accept gold. This isn’t a goldbug conspiracy. Maybe it’s crypto this time or something else. Regardless, you can’t help but wonder if we are heading back to days like these. You look around today see that a decent house in a nice city costs $1 million dollars. A drink at a restaurant can cost you $30. Order Door Dash and a cheeseburger and fries is $40. None of this is affordable for 90% of Americans. I used to think a great inflation couldn’t happen here. We were too sophisticated I thought and had learned from the past. Now I’m just not so sure anymore. In fact, I’d argue that when you look around maybe the days of the post Revolution might not be far away as our debt grows to $40 trillion. But “We’re the world’s global reserve currency” they say. Well then start acting like it and stop running the USA like a Ponzi scheme. I seriously worry that it’s too late and we can’t stop heading down this inflationary path. Another part of me looks around at our insane cost of living and wonder if we aren’t already kinda there.

Wow this is wild. Only 9% of daily stock trading volume is retail investors down from 15% last year. You’re basically trading against algos/bots that are much faster and are becoming even more effective as they incorporate AI into their systems.

Prohibition Part 2 except this time it’s voluntary. No one has any money to go out.

Ouch That’s going to leave a mark 💀

This is why you can’t let inflation run hot at 3.6%. The numbers to retire no longer work. You’ll be working until death: