I don’t keep up much with the politics of Central American countries. It’s always the same story, let’s try socialism for the 400th time. But El Salvador has been making some noise lately, and they’re doing things that deserve attention. So what exactly is going on in El Salvador?
The 19th century wild west is portrayed in movies as a lawless wasteland where the only rule was survival of the fittest. Thieves ruled the land, bank robberies were common, and violence was always right around the corner. This couldn’t be any further from the truth. Voluntary institutions established rules and norms, and property rights were absolute. This is a great book for understanding how property rights actually develop, and a harsh condemnation of rule of law through coercion.
Everyone knows about the Great Depression that kicked off with the 1929 stock market crash. However, the crash of 1921 was much worse. Why is it that the 1921 crash is ignored by economists and historians? For one, it was not a “great” depression. The depression of 1921 was over in a year, while the depression of 1929 raged for over a decade. There are a multitude of reasons for this, and James Grant tackles the causes in this book.
Africa is home to some of the oldest civilizations on Earth. Yet, by all metrics, it is the poorest continent. Whether it is GDP per capita, life expectancy, political freedom or literacy rates, Africa ranks dead last. Why is this? The answers you will often hear are white (European) colonialism, racism, corruption, lack of unity, instability and lack of resources. There are elements of truth to some of these, yet the reasons you often hear from today’s mainstream historians and race hustlers are misleading. For one, Africa is a continent, not a unified nation of people. There are 54 recognized countries in Africa, each with its own unique circumstances. I’m going to take an in-depth look at all of the perceived causes of poverty and use statistics from individual nations to challenge each.
Economic uncertainty hangs in the air. Inflation is rising, supply chains are disrupted, and global conflict only compounds those problems. I’m not going to talk about the ongoing crisis in Ukraine as that is beyond the scope of this post. But the fallout of Putin’s actions, and the U.S. response, may set an interesting chain of events into play that could reshape the world.
