Thomas Eddlem | The Libertarian Institute

Madisonian Liberalism Has Utterly Failed (But It Can Be Fixed)

by Thomas Eddlem | Oct 16, 2024 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism

“I had no hesitation to declare that I had but one Gentleman in my Mind for that important command, and that was a Gentleman from Virginia who was among Us and very well known to all of Us, a Gentleman whose Skill and Experience as an Officer, whose independent fortune, great Talents and excellent universal Character, would command the Approbation of all America, and unite the cordial Exertions of all the Colonies better than any other Person in the Union. Mr. Washington, who happened to sit near the Door, as soon as he heard me allude to him, from his Usual Modesty darted into the Library...

The Rich Love Inflation, And Will Never Give It Up (Willingly)

by Thomas Eddlem | Oct 8, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles

“The inflation tax, while largely ignored, hurts middle-class and low-income Americans the most,” Ron Paul wrote back in 2006, concluding that “Federal spending, deficits, and Federal Reserve mischief hurt the poor while transferring wealth to the already rich.” A friend of mine from Venezuela told me an extreme example of how inflation transfers wealth, which I’ve told before. This Venezuelan saved up a down payment and bought a home for about 300,000 Bolivars in 2007 (roughly $25,000). After five years of payments, he still owed far more than half the principal, but his monthly payments...

Wage Stagflation: The Government’s All-Out War on the Middle Class

by Thomas Eddlem | Oct 2, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles

If you are middle class and lately feel like you're not getting ahead, you're not wrong. The economic facts bear this out. The middle class household is taking home about the same in inflation-adjusted dollars after taxes today compared to their income in 1971. According to the U.S. Census, in 1971 the median household income (the households in the 50th percentile, the middle-est of the middle class) was $9,030. Adjusted for inflation using Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers for the Consumer Price Index, that's $67,394.56 in December 2023 dollars purchasing power. By 2023 that median...

Lower Interest Rates Don’t Stimulate (Not Ever)

by Thomas Eddlem | Aug 14, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles

Fueled by panic over a weak July jobs report and a one-day crash in global stock markets, an unstoppable growing chorus arose among the political establishment calling for the Federal Reserve Bank to cut interest rates. The reality is that interest rates, as represented by the Federal Reserve’s Federal Funds Effective Rate to banks, have been at historic lows since 2001, with real rates rarely even being positive. Today’s 5.00-5.25% rate in real terms is only about a positive 2% after accounting for inflation. And these lower rates have not brought stimulus to the U.S. economy, but economic...

Is the Economy Headed For a Soft Landing?

by Thomas Eddlem | Aug 8, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles, Politics

Official propaganda is trumpeting that the Federal Reserve Bank is pulling off a soft landing for the economy after the excesses of the COVID deficit/inflationary era. For example, CNN circulated a story on July 25 boasting that: “America’s economy is about to stick what’s called a ‘soft landing,’ which is when inflation returns to the Fed’s target without a recession — a feat that’s only happened once, during the 1990s, according to some economists.” But is the Fed sticking the landing or just giving the country the shaft? First, the good news: the Federal Reserve Bank has in the last...

What Is Government Costing Your Family?

by Thomas Eddlem | Aug 1, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles

What would you do if the government came to you and said your family owes it $75,000 this year, and every year, adjusted upward for inflation? You might respond “I can’t afford it.” Don’t worry, you are already paying that. That’s the price the average American household is already paying (or borrowing on behalf of) your government. You read that right, the average family. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government will spend $6.88 trillion in fiscal 2024 (which ends October 1), including $1.99 trillion in deficit spending. The U.S. Census bureau says there are...

The Trillion Dollar Social Security Trust Fund Robbery

by Thomas Eddlem | Jul 24, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles

It may be the most successful financial swindle in human history, one more than a dozen times bigger than Bernie Madoff’s $65 billion swindle. By suppressing interest rates using federal Treasury bills, the Federal Reserve Bank has managed to deprive the Social Security OASDI trust fund of more than $900 billion in interest payments since 2001. And it’s just getting started. It’s long been a truism among libertarians that because the Social Security program is force-based from taxation, it’s therefore anti-social. In addition, the line goes, there's no security in it, they're not worthy of...

On Wealth Inequality, the Left Has a Point

by Thomas Eddlem | Jun 12, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles

The federal government has been waging a war against the middle class and working poor since at least 1970. Wealth inequality has steadily increased since the early 1970s, and it’s not a coincidence. It’s a result of a series of policies. The government wants the masses of American working people broke, propertyless, and dependent upon elected officials for the crumbs they give back as handouts from taxes taken. The most insidious attack on working people has been inflation, which really took off when the federal government decoupled the dollar from gold in 1971. The inflation tax is the...

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