Wealth & Poverty Review

^{Scott S. Powell
June 15, 2026
Principles

7}

Dawn or Twilight? America at 250

_{Scott S. Powell
June 15, 2026
Principles

7}

2026 is of course America's 250th anniversary, and we face challenges on many more fronts than during the War of Independence or the Civil War. Inasmuch as the Founding Fathers and Lincoln were all willing to give their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to establish and save the nation, how should Americans now think about their obligations? Read More ›

gold bar overlay money dollars, Concept In a poor economy Investors should hold dollar or gold.

^{Nathan Lewis
June 11, 2026
Currency, Economic Policy, Inflation

6}

The Only “Rules-Based” Monetary System That Has Ever Worked

_{Nathan Lewis
June 11, 2026
Currency, Economic Policy, Inflation

6}

Remember the Federal Reserve’s “2% Inflation Target”? It has been 63 consecutive months since that target has been met. In May, the official Consumer Price Index (which has been continually modified since the 1980s to make it look better) was 4.2% higher than a year earlier. But even if the Federal Reserve was able (har!) to meet this target, it smells suspiciously like a plan to gradually devalue the currency over time. This makes political sense — a cheaper currency benefits debtors, at least for as long as interest rates don’t reflect expectations of continual currency debasement. Since the government is the biggest debtor, and since a lot of voters are also big debtors, there is a kind of constant Read More ›

^{Gale Pooley
May 20, 2026
Abundance, Politics, Wealth Creation

7}

Sorry AOC, We’re All Billionaires Now (and Billionaires are Trillionaries)

_{Gale Pooley
May 20, 2026
Abundance, Politics, Wealth Creation

7}

New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) recently said "You can't earn a billion dollars. You just can't earn that." Actually we're all billionaires now. Let me explain. Read More ›

United States Treasury Savings Bonds Financial Security concept

^{Nathan Lewis
May 19, 2026
Economic Policy, Inflation

8}

Hank Paulson’s Emergency Plan

_{Nathan Lewis
May 19, 2026
Economic Policy, Inflation

8}

Hank Paulson, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, and US Treasury Secretary during the 2008 Financial Crisis, is a serious fellow. So, when Mr. Paulson shows up in Washington DC and tells people that the US Treasury needs an emergency "break the glass" plan if market demand for US Treasury bonds collapses, maybe you should take it seriously. Read More ›

Advanced Fighter Jets Flying Together Above The Clouds. Accelerates And Disappears. War And Air Force Related 3D Illustration Render.

^{Scott S. Powell
May 17, 2026
Debt, Politics

5}

In War, There Is No Substitute for Victory

_{Scott S. Powell
May 17, 2026
Debt, Politics

5}

Armstrong, who may be more esteemed in international financial capitals than he is in the United States, is on record that "we are on the verge of a sovereign debt crisis globally." International debt has now reached $110 trillion, with over $200 trillion in unfunded pension, entitlement, and other obligations, an aggregate amount which can never be paid off. In the United States our national debt service expenditure now exceeds our military spending. And the Trump administration has proposed raising our military budget for next year by $500 billion. Read More ›

Money. American one hundred dollar bill on the grate of the storm drain.

^{Donald Nielsen
May 12, 2026
Economic Policy, Energy, Homelessness, Housing, Taxes

5}

Seattle’s Transformation Spawns a Long List of Problems

_{Donald Nielsen
May 12, 2026
Economic Policy, Energy, Homelessness, Housing, Taxes

5}

My wife and I returned to Seattle in early 1993 after nearly 23 years on the East Coast. We were delighted to come home. Our fair city was booming, with the qualities we always loved about Seattle still intact. Over the past three decades, however, we have witnessed a steady erosion in the livability of both our city and our state. Today, Seattle bears little resemblance to its former self, and Washington is becoming a less attractive place to live or work. Read More ›

Close up woman hand using calculator and writing make note with

^{Gale Pooley
May 8, 2026
Abundance

3}

Become a Superabundance Accelerator: Your First Challenge

_{Gale Pooley
May 8, 2026
Abundance

3}

Today I'm challenging you to become a Superabundance Accelerator. An accelerator doesn't just consume abundance—they see it, measure it, celebrate it, and spread the good news. They turn data into hope. They fight the Thanos economics of fear and scarcity with facts. Your first step is simple. Our Time-Price Calculator makes this easy. Read More ›

Young beautiful woman using smartphone in city. Smiling student girl texting on her mobile phone. Coffee break. Modern lifestyle, connection, business concept

^{Gale Pooley
April 20, 2026
Abundance

2}

iPhones Cost 22.9 Hours Less

_{Gale Pooley
April 20, 2026
Abundance

2}

Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone on January 9, 2007. The 4GB model sold for $499. At the time, limited-service restaurant workers earned an average of $9.16 per hour, making the time price of the iPhone 54.5 hours. Fast forward to today: the iPhone 173 is priced at $599, while today’s limited-service restaurant workers are earning $18.95 per hour. That brings the time price down to 31.6 hours—a reduction of 22.9 hours. Today you get 2.4 iPhone 17es for the same time price of one 2007 model. The real question is: How much more are you getting for 22.9 hours less work? Today’s iPhone offers vastly superior memory, speed, screen quality, and functionality—not to mention access to over two million Read More ›

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang delivers remarks as President Donald Trump looks on during an “Investing in America” event, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in the Cross Hall of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)

^{George Gilder
April 10, 2026
Information

6}

Jensen Huang’s Information Theory of Economics

_{George Gilder
April 10, 2026
Information

6}

As I put it, wealth is knowledge, created by learning new information, defined by its surprise. As Information Theory inventor Claude Shannon put it, information is "unexpected bits," gauged by their surprisal. Money is time, defining the scarcities of human hours and years. As Huang says, in human intelligence and labor, "we are always millions of people short." Read More ›

^{Nathan Lewis
April 9, 2026
Currency, Economic Policy, Inflation

8}

Inflation Without Money Creation

_{Nathan Lewis
April 9, 2026
Currency, Economic Policy, Inflation

8}

Most theories of "inflation" revolve around some kind of money creation. In the past, this was commonly done with a printing press; thus "money printing." Today, it's mostly digital. But, as we described in our 2022 book Inflation: What It Is, Why It's Bad, and How To Fix It (the updated paperback edition is the one you want), it is much better to understand "monetary inflation" as a decline in the value of a currency. This might be accompanied by an increase in the "money supply," or it might not. Read More ›