Wealth & Poverty Review

AOCRabb1-Wikimedia-Commons
Image by Morgan Rice at Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AOCRabb1.jpg

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

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-conc-83890569-stockpack-adobestock
United States Treasury Savings Bonds Financial Security concept
Image Credit: larryhw - Adobe Stock

Hank Paulson’s Emergency Plan

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-accel-558900143-stockpack-adobestock
Advanced Fighter Jets Flying Together Above The Clouds. Accelerates And Disappears. War And Air Force Related 3D Illustration Render.
Image Credit: Yucel Yilmaz - Adobe Stock

In War, There Is No Substitute for Victory

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-s-414622708-stockpack-adobestock
Money. American one hundred dollar bill on the grate of the storm drain.
Image Credit: Mikhail - Adobe Stock

Seattle’s Transformation Spawns a Long List of Problems

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-w-134298160-stockpack-adobestock
Close up woman hand using calculator and writing make note with
Image Credit: wutzkoh - Adobe Stock

Become a Superabundance Accelerator: Your First Challenge

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-stude-530101785-stockpack-adobestock
Young beautiful woman using smartphone in city. Smiling student girl texting on her mobile phone. Coffee break. Modern lifestyle, connection, business concept
Image Credit: kite_rin - Adobe Stock

iPhones Cost 22.9 Hours Less

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 ›

54489843330a16f1e2029o
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)
Image from White House Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/54489843330/in/album-72177720325772030

Jensen Huang’s Information Theory of Economics

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 ›
the-money-printing-machine-stockpack-adobe-stock-769511812-stockpack-adobestock
The money printing machine
Image Credit: Valeriia - Adobe Stock

Inflation Without Money Creation

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 ›
PresidentDonaldTrumpparticipatesinabilateralmeetingw
President Donald Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Gimhae International Airport terminal, Thursday, October 30, 2025, in Busan, South Korea. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
Image from White House Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/202101414@N05/54890689554/

Trump’s Trifecta: Advancement for America and Setbacks for China

Iran is understandably the number one news story, with primary focus on the progress of U.S. military and diplomatic engagement and the responses of the Shia Mullah regime in Tehran. Almost no one is thinking or talking about the equally important spiritual and cultural ramifications for Iran, and the region, if the United States prevails—driving the current regime in Iran out of power. There’s even less analysis of the shifting geopolitics resulting from the combined effects of successful U.S. operations restoring control of the Panama Canal, Venezuela and its resources, the collapse of Cuba, and the degradation of narco-terrorism—all in the Western Hemisphere, and the fall of the current Iranian regime—in the heart of the Middle East. Christianity has ancient Read More ›

unusually-high-gas-prices-at-pump-stockpack-adobe-stock-494093746-stockpack-adobestock
Unusually high gas prices at pump
Image Credit: Chad Robertson - Adobe Stock

Why Gas Prices Will Never Go Back Down

Last month, I warned that gasoline prices could rise to perhaps $10 a gallon. I made comparisons to the Oil Crisis of 1973, especially the apparent decline in the dollar's value (as expressed by the number of dollars it took to buy an ounce of gold) that preceded the Oil Crisis that erupted in October of that year. But when I was outlining the eerie similarities between 1973 and today (including a Federal Reserve that did not seem to be doing anything inflationary), I didn't expect that we would actually have another Arab Oil Embargo. Read More ›