The Irresistible Promise of Free Money

Posted on November 21, 2025 by MN Gordon

“People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS! We are now the Richest, Most Respected Country In the World, With Almost No Inflation, and A Record Stock Market Price. 401k’s are Highest EVER. We are taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion. Record Investment in the USA, plants and factories going up all over the place. A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”

– President Donald J. Trump, November 9, 2025, TruthSocial

Free Money!

Politics is a dirty trade. To get elected, politicians must make promises they cannot possibly deliver. Then, once in office, they must somehow pretend to be delivering.

Giving away free money to people is one of the more popular devices. Typically, this is in the form of spending programs or tax credits. The objective is to redirect money to preferred areas of the economy – like defense or energy – and those who operate there.

On occasion, however, when the times call for it, politicians will mail out checks directly to people who didn’t earn them. These checks are above and beyond basic welfare and social security benefits. We saw this with Bush the Younger’s rebate checks and then with stimmy checks during the coronavirus fiasco. Continue reading →

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How to Use Game Theory to Protect Your Wealth

Posted on November 14, 2025 by MN Gordon

The stock market further traversed its high wire act this week. Tiptoeing along, while trying to not look down.

Congress even reopened the government – until January 30. That way members can kick back over the holidays before they return to Washington, where they’ll once again pretend to do real work after the New Year.

For sensible investors, staring down extreme valuations and mounting uncertainty, there’s little out there to grab onto. Given these prospects, what can a savvy investor do to find something – anything – that feels genuinely certain?

To answer this question, let’s turn to one of the greatest minds of the 20th century. A Renaissance man named John von Neuman who shaped everything from quantum mechanics to digital computing, and the development of the first American atomic and hydrogen bombs.

Von Neumann was born in Budapest in 1903 and studied in Berlin at a leading scientific institution; one that considered Einstein unqualified for a research grant. He’s also referred to as “the founder of game theory,” and could multiply eight digits by eight digits in his head. Continue reading →

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Chainsaw First

Posted on November 11, 2025 by MN Gordon

One of the mysteries of life is why a large cross section of the population is opposed to freedom. When given the choice of liberty and independence they resist.

They demand more government programs. More government intervention in the economy. And more meddling in their lives.

Like pigs rolling around in their waste, this is where they find comfort. The recent election of Zohran Mamdani, an ardent socialist, as Mayor of New York, bears this out.

On rare occasions, however, when the failings of big government have stacked up to utmost misery, people will finally get it through their thick skulls that more government is not the solution; that, rather, it has been the problem all along.

Argentina, after a near century of big government madness, has happened upon one of these rare occasions. The public has finally awakened from its collectivist hangover. In fact, this was recently reaffirmed by the outcome of the Country’s midterm election.

In today’s guest article, Joel Bowman, our man on the scene in Buenos Aires, Argentina, updates us on the latest happenings with President Javier Milei’s ongoing experiment with libertarianism. After giving it a read, please head over to his website and subscribe to his newsletter so you can continue to follow what’s going on in real time. Continue reading →

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Waiting for a Punchline that Never Comes

Posted on November 7, 2025 by MN Gordon

“When you masturbate with the hand of fate expect the worst because life is a JOKE!”

– Charlie Vurmin

(Artwork by Charlie Vurmin. Source: Institute of Sociometry)

Hard Luck Chuck

Some actions in life are so terrible they’re impossible to reverse. There are no second chances. There are no do overs. The wreckage is lasting.

Charles Twain Clemans, also known as Charlie Vurmin, was a disreputable early ’90s Pacific Beach punk in San Diego, California, and a member of the small-time beach gang, the P.B. Vurmin. Our circles briefly overlapped through the eclectic, and sometimes destructive world of skateboarding.

While sessioning a famous grade-school playground skate spot in suburban San Diego one afternoon, Chuck made a lasting impression on us, and everyone there – a large collection of skaters, punkers, and derelicts – by publicly defecating on the concrete embankment in broad daylight.

Socially deviant behavior. A guy running around with a few loose screws. What could possibly go wrong? Continue reading →

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