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How Much Did It Cost to Build the Titanic   I recently received a link to an article in The Vintage News with an eye-catching headline: “The replica Titanic cost $435 million & is set to launch in 2018”. I was intrigued, so I couldn’t resist reading the article. It reported that an Australian billionaire wasRead more

The US federal government’s financial accounts end each year on September 30th. Last week the Treasury Department reported the government’s financial position for the fiscal year ended 2016, and it does not look good. I will ignore for the moment the government’s negative net worth, which itself means that the federal government owes more thanRead more

The following exchange occurred on December 18, 1912 when J.P. Morgan – the most influential American financier and banker of his time – was called to testify before Congress. Mr Untermyer: I want to ask you a few questions bearing on the subject that you have touched upon this morning, as to the control ofRead more

It is assumed that before the most primitive currencies emerged, civilizations sustained themselves through subsistence and barter. This meant that most people either, produced all they needed by themselves, and later, exchanged basic goods like vegetables, livestock, tools, and weapons to meet needs. As civilizations grew, and more efficient systems were needed, gradual change began,Read more

Inflation is an intrinsic property of fiat currency. This vulnerability lays the foundation, for chaos in any poorly managed economies facing a recession. Commonly defined as a period of rapid and uncontrolled inflation, Hyperinflation is characterized by a rate of inflation that exceeds 50% per month. Hyperinflation not is some obscure and rare phenomenon thatRead more

The monetary history of the Swiss Federation is almost as eventful and momentous as the rest of its history between the 17th century and the present. Banking Secrecy The notorious culture of secrecy, Swiss banking traditions are known to predate the federation itself. As Financial News explains: The 1713 Great Council of Geneva formally adoptedRead more

Ever noticed your pizza getting just a bit smaller over time, while you are charged just the same. Sometimes your chocolate bar, uncannily seems to be missing a few squares. That subliminal feeling that you are getting less for your money, is actually your gut becoming aware, of ‘shrinkflation’! Just last year the internet wasRead more

Following frenzied speculation leading up to the big day, gold prices soared sky high, as investors rushed to safe havens. As the Wall Street Journal quotes: It was just pandemonium. It was absolutely insane,” said Peter Hug, global trading director at Kitco Metals. “It was unbelievable, almost to the point of being funny.  The onlyRead more

Despite, numerous enlightening contributions by the Austrian school of thought towards ‘mainstream economics,’ it is thought by many as a heterodox approach to economics (lying outside the mainstream). This is possibly due to its repudiation of popular concepts like aggregate macroeconomics, and econometrics. A School of ‘Thought’ in Every Sense Both of the above facts,Read more

Over millennia money has taken a plethora of forms, emerging from primitive exchanges of minerals, and culminating in the digital abstraction we use today. The evolution of currency can largely be divided into three phases. These phases may not have occurred in any particular chronological order, as some civilizations developed faster than others, allowing forRead more