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In the year 6 AD, the Roman emperor Augustus set up a special trust fund known as the aerarium militare, or military treasury, to fund retirement pensions for Rome’s legionnaires. Now, these military pensions had already existed for several centuries in Rome. But the money to pay them had always been mixed together
By the time Louis XIV passed away in 1715, seven decades of his absurd extravagance had nearly bankrupted France. His reign was marked by constant warfare and the most excessive spending imaginable, from opulent palaces (including Versailles) to a costly welfare state– public hospitals, parks, monuments, museums. Louis XIV had turned France into
It’s hard to imagine, but today is actually Sovereign Man’s 9th birthday. Nine years ago, on June 19, 2009, I sent out the first ever Notes from the Field email. To commemorate the occasion, I thought I’d republish that first article… because I think it still captures the challenges we face, as well
On January 23, 1995, President Bill Clinton signed into law a piece of legislation that had been almost unanimously approved by both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives. It was called the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995– CAA. The idea behind the CAA was to force Congress to abide by
Earlier this week while most of the world was transfixed on the World Cup, the Trump/Kim handshake, or a multitude of other sundry events, Julius Malema, aka the Hitler of South Africa, was busy telling white people in his country that he’s not going wage genocide against them. Yet. In an interview with
It’s typically pretty hard to find anything exciting to say about drywall. Yes, drywall… as in, the building material that’s used for interior construction. Drywall, also known as wallboard, is manufactured from rehydrated gypsum to produce a calcium sulfate plaster, that’s later mixed with mildew-resistant foaming agent. . . hello? Are you still
Hallelujah. After almost a decade since Bitcoin was created, the SEC announced last week the creation of a new, senior position to coordinate the agency’s cryptocurrency and ICO efforts. As usual, the government showed up late to the party. But at least they showed up. The good news is that the person chosen
Two days ago the respective Boards of Trustees for Medicare and Social Security released their annual reports for 2018. As usual, the numbers are pretty gruesome… and the reports plainly stated what we’ve been talking about for years: the trust funds for both Social Security and Medicare are going to run out of
This morning after my plane landed from Bangkok, I was having breakfast in the business lounge in Sydney and glanced at the local paper, The Australian. The front-page headline told the story of yet another banking scandal: “Cartel case nets six bankers” The article was about how six prominent investment bankers in Australia
We’ve all seen the headlines: the middle class in the United States (and much of Europe for that matter) has been in decline for years. CNN May 18, 2018: “Almost half of US families can’t afford basics like rent and food” Marketwatch June 2, 2018: “50 million American households can’t even afford basic
Trying to trace the origins of the latest political crisis in Italy is like… well… trying to trace the origins of the decline of the Roman Empire. There simply is no good starting point. You can’t talk about the decline of Rome without a lengthy discussion of how destructive Diocletian’s Edict on Wages
Last June, in one of the most egregious displays of economic insanity, Argentina was able to raise $2.75 billion by selling bonds with a ONE HUNDRED YEAR maturity. Even more miraculously, the bond turned out to be wildly popular with investors. So basically investors willingly forked over billions of dollars to a country
On April 2, 1792, George Washington signed into law what’s commonly referred to as the Mint and Coinage Act. It was one of the first major pieces of legislation in the young country’s history… and it was an important one, because it formally created the United States dollar. Under the Act, the US
We just finished a really -sensational- conference here in San Juan over the weekend showcasing Puerto Rico… with all of its challenges and opportunities. We’ve talked about this before– Puerto Rico is an attractive place to live and do business thanks to some forward thinking tax incentives which stem from its unique status
Last week, the financial services giant Northwestern Mutual released new data showing that 1 in 3 Americans has less than $5,000 in retirement savings. It’s an unfortunately familiar story. And Northwestern Mutual’s data is entirely aligned with other research we’ve seen in the past, including our own. The Federal Reserve’s most recent Survey
