Jp Cortez | The Libertarian Institute

To Attack the Root of Evil, Fix the Money

by Jp Cortez | Jan 13, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles

After the Consumer Price Index surged last year to its highest level since 1982, politicians are feeling pressure from constituents to do something about it. Last Monday, President Joe Biden announced $1 billion in grants, loans, and other assistance for small meat producers. Another costly government program will, supposedly, help tame rapidly rising beef and poultry costs. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has been on a tear lately, and there is a startling commonality between all these ideas: This is your brain on fiat monetary systems and central banking: price inflation is caused...

Corruption at the Fed: Are America’s Money Masters Engaged in Self-Dealing?

by Jp Cortez | Sep 28, 2021 | Economics, Featured Articles

America’s central bankers are tasked with impartial oversight over aspects of the American economy. But could these individuals be making decisions on interest rates and bailout operations based on what is best for their own personal investment portfolios? After some embarrassing revelations regarding the trading activities of two senior officials, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell abruptly ordered a comprehensive examination last week into internal compliance with an ethics rule directing Fed employees to avoid “actual and apparent conflicts of interest.” According to the Fed’s...

A ‘Sound Money Caucus’ Has Launched On Capitol Hill

by Jp Cortez | Aug 15, 2020 | Economics, Featured Articles, Politics

As the political and central banking establishment in Washington continues to bail out the economy and markets by creating trillions of unbacked pieces of paper and electronic digits, a handful of congressmen hope to shine a new spotlight on the devastating effects of this runaway financial profligacy. Congressman Warren Davidson (R-OH) recently announced the creation of the Congressional Sound Money Caucus. According to Congressman Davidson’s office, the caucus exists to promote sound fiscal and monetary policy in the United States with the goal of preserving the purchasing power of the...

The Fed’s War on Savings

by Jp Cortez | Apr 9, 2020 | Blog, Economics

During a March 17 address to the nation in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, President Donald Trump asked that Americans work from home, postpone unnecessary travel, and limit social gatherings to no more than 10 people. Ten days later, Trump signed a stimulus package of over $2 trillion dollars to provide relief to an economy on the precipice of collapse. The aid package includes handouts and loans to individuals, small businesses, and other distressed industries. Read the rest at the Tenth Amendment Center.

Crisis Exposes Devastating Consequences of Fed Policy: Americans Have No Savings

by Jp Cortez | Apr 8, 2020 | Economics, Events, Featured Articles

Two weeks ago, during a March 17 address to the nation in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, President Donald Trump asked that Americans work from home, postpone unnecessary travel, and limit social gatherings to no more than 10 people. And last week, on March 27, Trump signed a stimulus package of over $2 trillion dollars to provide relief to an economy on the precipice of collapse. The aid package includes handouts and loans to individuals, small businesses, and other distressed industries. Despite Trump’s “having created the greatest Economy in the history of our Country,” when the...

Money, Fake Money, and Sound Money

by Jp Cortez | Aug 25, 2018 | Economics, Featured Articles

Americans no longer carry gold and silver money in our pockets and purses as our grandparents did. But we still carry the history, legacy, and spirit of those gold and silver coins in our language. “Sound money” embodies a clear message recognized for centuries around the world. It describes the musical, metallic ring of a gold, silver, or copper coin dropped on any hard surface of glass, stone, wood, or metal. Sound money literally refers to real wealth, with a natural, unmistakable signature of authenticity, as opposed to the paper, plastic, and electronic debt instruments used almost...

Why Good Economics Matters Now More Than Ever

by Jp Cortez | Apr 26, 2017 | Economics, Featured Articles

In a newsletter published in 1970, economist Murray Rothbard wrote, “It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.’ But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.” This is an oft-quoted platitude within circles of libertarian philosophy and Austrian economics. Today, we are seeing the embodiment of Rothbard’s fears. The woeful state of economic understanding has reached a critical mass. Economics has...

Idaho Bill Would End Taxation of Gold and Silver

by Jp Cortez | Feb 24, 2017 | Economics, Featured Articles

The Framers of our nation established that gold and silver are money, but federal taxing authorities in recent decades have required taxpayers to pay taxes on this form of money when its exchange for Federal Reserve Notes results in nominal capital “gains.” But that problem may soon be mitigated, at least in Idaho. A prominent Gem State state representative has advanced legislation to remove state income taxes when Idaho taxpayers sell their precious metals. House Majority Leader Mike Moyle introduced House Bill 206 on February 23rd to amend Idaho revenue statutes, providing “that capital...

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