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Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, your finances, and your prosperity… and on occasion, poetic justice.

Street Gangs enforce lockdowns in Brazil

Last week we highlighted how Brazil’s president claimed Brazilians don’t get sick.

Unfortunately for President Bolsonaro, his driver is now in the hospital, sick, being tested for Covid-19.

But Bolsonaro is[...] Click here to continue reading

By the mid 1300s, the Republic of Florence in modern day Italy had experienced one of the greatest economic booms in human history.

In less than a century, Florence had grown from a tiny, irrelevant backwater to become one of Europe’s largest cities and preeminent financial center.

The expansion was truly impressive. Florence’s population had grown 10x. It had become a leading manufacturer in both weapons and textiles.

(Many etymologists believe the[...] Click here to continue reading

First thing’s first-- I screwed up.

Yesterday I wrote to you about the US government’s initiative to loan money to small businesses, and I was wrong about an important detail.

I said the maximum amount of the loan was equal to 2.5x a company’s annual payroll expense. That’s incorrect.

The correct maximum loan amount is 2.5x a company’s average MONTHLY payroll expense over the past 12 months.

[The total amount that[...] Click here to continue reading

[Editor's note: this article was corrected on 30 March 2020; the proper way to calculate your loan is based on your average monthly (not annual) payroll multiplied by 2.5]

As you’ve probably already heard, the US government unleashed a giant tsunami of money on Friday, passing a $2 trillion stimulus bill to help boost the economy during the Covid pandemic.

Let’s put that number in context:

$2 trillion is more than it[...] Click here to continue reading

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, your finances, and your prosperity… and on occasion, poetic justice.

Alcohol to go: Why wasn’t this always a thing?

You realize how absurdly micromanaged the economy is when the government starts lifting pointless restrictions.

For example, New York and Washington DC will now allow people to order takeout[...] Click here to continue reading

Yesterday the Chair of the FDIC released an astonishing video asking Americans to keep their money in the bank.

Accompanied by soft piano music playing in the background, the official said:

“Your money is safe at the banks. The last thing you should be doing is pulling your money out of the banks thinking it’s going to be safer somewhere else.”



Amazing. I was half expecting her to waive her[...] Click here to continue reading

One day back in the late 1990s when I was a wide-eyed 20-year-old cadet at West Point, we were told that a distinguished visitor was coming to speak, and to be seated in the auditorium by 1pm sharp.

This was pretty routine; one of the great things about attending West Point was the seemingly endless line of world leaders, athletes, scientists, and even celebrities who would address the Corps of Cadets.

During my[...] Click here to continue reading

[Editor’s note: This letter was written by Tim Staermose,  Sovereign Man’s Chief Investment Strategist and Editor of the 4th Pillar newsletter.]

I’m writing from my remote rural villa in Southern Bali. I made a mad dash to get back here from Hong Kong before the borders effectively shut to visitors, and airlines cancelled virtually all flights.

Nearly a quarter of a million tourists and other temporary visitors have left Bali in February and[...] Click here to continue reading

Well, at least there’s a bit of good news from the Corona Virus. In a few cases, it at least seems to be making government more efficient, and calls into question why so much bureaucracy existed to begin with.

We think there’s a LOT more to come in terms of streamlining government.

Millions of people will lose their jobs, and that includes government workers too. With tax revenue drying up, federal, state, and[...] Click here to continue reading

This morning I reached out to my old friend and colleague Peter Schiff to talk about some uncomfortable truths that very few people are discussing right now.

I wrote to you about this yesterday: banks are in trouble. You can’t expect to shut down practically an entire world economy that is in debt to the tune of $250 TRILLION and not expect massive loan defaults.

The last financial crisis in 2008 was caused[...] Click here to continue reading