Category: INFLATION

If You’re Making More Money Than Ever, Why Does It Feel Like You’re Falling Behind?

“Track burgers, poor man’s gold, not headlines. They tell you what your labor is really worth.” — YNOT! Back in 1980, when I was in high school, I worked at Burger King. I made $3.50 an hour, just above minimum wage. A Whopper was under a dollar — but let’s call it $1 for simple math. That meant I had to work about 20 minutes to earn one Whopper. Fast forward to today. A Whopper is around $8 in many places. If the same 20-minutes-of-work relationship held true, you’d need to earn about: $27 per hour Because: $8 burger  … Continue readingIf You’re Making More Money Than Ever, Why Does It Feel Like You’re Falling Behind?

What Actually Happened to Silver — and Why Does the Official Story Smell Funny?

“When you play their game, by their rules, they always win” — YNOT! What do you call it when the price collapses, the systems go dark, and the people who needed the crash walk away clean? Let’s start with the part they hope you won’t notice. On Friday — the Friday — JPMorgan Chase quietly closed its massive silver short at the exact bottom. Not near the bottom. Not after the dust settled. The bottom. If that doesn’t raise an eyebrow, you may want to check whether yours are still connected. Now, I wasn’t planning to write this. I … Continue readingWhat Actually Happened to Silver — and Why Does the Official Story Smell Funny?

Happy New Year 2026 — When the Abyss Looks Back

“And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.” –YNOT!! We like to believe we’re observers. Rational. Detached. Standing safely on the sidewalk while the madness of the world speeds by. Markets inflate, governments print, bubbles grow so large they block out the sun—and we tell ourselves we’re just watching. But no one watches the abyss for free. This last stretch of history has been a master class in temptation. Free money. Infinite growth. Risk without consequence. A generation taught that gravity was optional and cycles were myths invented by pessimists who missed the … Continue readingHappy New Year 2026 — When the Abyss Looks Back

The $315 Trillion Paradox: If Every Nation Is in Debt, to Who?

“The modern banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process is perhaps the most astounding piece of sleight of hand ever invented.” — Sir Josiah Stamp, former Director of the Bank of England 🪶 “The Greatest IOU Ever Written” There’s a strange comfort in owing money — as long as everyone else does too. Mankind once borrowed grain from his neighbor to survive the winter. Now, we borrow from the unborn to survive the quarter. We have traded our handshake for a signature, our gold for paper, and our promises for interest rates. Somewhere along the way, debt … Continue readingThe $315 Trillion Paradox: If Every Nation Is in Debt, to Who?

How to Survive Hyperinflation – a little history – little planning – lots of praying

“When paper burns, only the tangible survives.” The Madness of Printing Prosperity  Every generation believes it’s smarter than the last — that this time, the math won’t matter. That governments can conjure prosperity from thin air, and central banks can turn zeros into salvation. But as history likes to remind us, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch… especially when you’re paying with paper.” In the last hundred years, three great economies learned this lesson the hard way: Weimar Germany (1923) — where a loaf of bread cost 200 billion marks. Zimbabwe (2008) — where a $100 trillion … Continue readingHow to Survive Hyperinflation – a little history – little planning – lots of praying

Never Stand Between Giants and Walls

Never stand between something ten times bigger than you and something that won’t move—because you will get crushed.It doesn’t matter whether it’s a truck, a ship, Bitcoin, the stock market, or the bond market.They all have one thing in common: mass—and with mass comes momentum. There are always forces and players bigger than you, and there are immovable objects like governments, markets, and time itself.When those two collide, the little guy in between—if he isn’t careful—becomes part of the pavement. The lesson?Step aside, observe, and wait for the moment when giants stop fighting and the dust settles. That’s when it’s safe to … Continue readingNever Stand Between Giants and Walls

The Fed – Neither Federal, Nor Reserve, Nor a Bank –

When I was a boy, I thought the “Federal Reserve Bank” was a mighty vault buried under Washington, full of gold coins guarded by men in uniforms. Later I learned it was neither federal, nor much of a reserve, nor a bank in the way you or I know a bank. It was more like a magician’s hat: call it whatever you like, and the trick still works. The name was chosen the way a snake oil salesman chooses a label — not to tell the truth, but to sell the bottle. So what would be a better name? … Continue readingThe Fed – Neither Federal, Nor Reserve, Nor a Bank –

The Shrinking Yardstick: Gold, Bitcoin, and Beef: What Happens When your Money is Melting.

“Inflation is a thief dressed up as gains — it picks the poor man’s pocket and makes the rich man wealthier.” – YNOT Everywhere you look, the numbers are screaming. Stocks at highs, gold at highs, Bitcoin at highs, even rent and ground beef at highs. Folks say it’s a bubble, but when everything is a bubble, maybe the problem isn’t the bubbles at all—it’s the measuring stick. The dollar is shrinking in your hand while the world pretends it’s growing taller. That’s the joke, and it’s on us. You can’t trust a scale that keeps changing its weight … Continue readingThe Shrinking Yardstick: Gold, Bitcoin, and Beef: What Happens When your Money is Melting.

Paying Less Than It’s Worth: The Enduring Wisdom of Value Investing – Stocks, Real Estate, or Anything else.

YOU MAKE YOUR MONEY WHEN YOU BUY, YOU COLLECT WHEN YOU SELL! Wall Street is a lot like a carnival—bright lights, fast talkers, and plenty of ways to part a fool from his money. Every new generation thinks it has discovered gold in the form of some shiny stock, only to learn later it was nothing more than gilded brass. The secret, as old as commerce itself, is simple: don’t pay a dollar fifty for a dollar bill. Value investing isn’t about chasing the parade—it’s about waiting patiently by the roadside, tipping your hat only when a bargain walks … Continue readingPaying Less Than It’s Worth: The Enduring Wisdom of Value Investing – Stocks, Real Estate, or Anything else.

Living on Borrowed Time — and Borrowed Money America’s $37 Trillion Hangover

If this screen were a movie, it’d be a horror flick — and the monster’s name is Compound Interest. Every number here is a mile marker on America’s road trip into the red, and the gas pedal’s stuck. We track debt like social media likes — faster than we can count, and somehow we’re proud of the speed. You can binge-watch these numbers spin like it’s the stock market on energy drinks, but the plot twist never changes — we owe more than we own, and we’re paying interest just to rent our future. The only real question is, … Continue readingLiving on Borrowed Time — and Borrowed Money America’s $37 Trillion Hangover

The Battle of the Titans Returns – Trump vs Powell

Well, here we go again—two titans, one stage, and the fate of the economy hanging in the balance like a crooked chandelier in a hurricane. On one side, you’ve got Trump, the barnstorming populist with a Twitter finger and a tax cut in every pocket. On the other, Powell, the soft-spoken banker who moves interest rates like a man diffusing a bomb with a butter knife. It’s 2021 all over again, folks. Only this time the stakes are higher, the deficits are fatter, and the bond market’s more jittery than a cat on a hot tin roof. The last … Continue readingThe Battle of the Titans Returns – Trump vs Powell

The Great Derivative: How Debt Drives Everything—From Gold to the Dollar, Stocks, and Inflation

“Keep it simple, stupid: we’re in debt. Everything else—tariffs, earnings, rate hikes—is just noise.” — Matthew Piepenburg Now I ain’t no fancy economist with a necktie tighter than common sense, but I can tell you this: when your house is on fire, you don’t blame the thermometer for reading hot. So pull up a chair, grab a cup of reality, and let’s talk about what’s really going on. The folks in high places—central bankers, treasury secretaries, and every talking head on television—have been feedin’ us a steady diet of distractions. Tariffs, interest rates, and “soft landings” are the buzzwords … Continue readingThe Great Derivative: How Debt Drives Everything—From Gold to the Dollar, Stocks, and Inflation