St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank Vice President Stephen Williamson admitted that the Fed’s quantitative easing program has failed to produce the “good inflation” it was aiming for. What does Ron Paul think? Tune in to today’s Liberty Report:

Negative inteerst rates are so damaging to real capital accumulation that it almost makes the “conventional” monetary policy of Alan Greenspan look good by comparison. At Mises Daily, Ronald-Peter Stöferle writes:

Conventional monetary policy — that is, the promotion of credit creation by lowering interest rates — reaches its limits once the “zero-bound” is reached. In order to continue the spiral of stimulus, “unconventional monetary policy” becomes ever more important. The multitude of “newfangled” monetary policy measures is seemingly only limited by the imagination of central bankers, whereby recent years have shown that central bankers can be extraordinarily creative…

Numerous fatal long-term consequences of zero-interest-rate policies can be identified, but are generally ignored:

• Conservative investors by nature come under increasing pressure with respect to their investments and take on excessive risks in light of the prospect that interest rates will remain low in the long term. This leads to capital misallocation and the emergence of bubbles.

• The sweet poison of low interest rates leads to massive asset price inflation (stocks, bonds, works of art, real estate).

• Structurally too low interest rates in industrialized nations due to carry trades lead to the emergence of asset price bubbles and contagion effects in emerging markets.

• Changes in human behavior patterns occur, due to continually declining purchasing power. While thrift is increasingly mutating into a relic of the past, taking on debt comes to be seen as rational.

• As a result of the structurally too low level of interest rates, a “culture of instant gratification” is created, which is among other things characterized by the fact that consumption is financed with credit instead of savings. The formation of wealth becomes steadily more difficult.

• The medium of exchange and unit of account function of money increases in importance, while its role as a store of value declines.

• Incentives for fiscal discipline decline.

• Zombie banks are created: Low interest rates prevent the healthy process of creative destruction. Banks are enabled to roll over potentially non-performing loans practically indefinitely and can thus lower their write-off requirements.

• Newly created money is neither uniformly nor simultaneously distributed amongst the population. This results in a permanent transfer of wealth from later receivers to earlier receivers of newly created money.

Read the full article.

For all of the “herd immunity” evangelists who believe that everyone should be shamed into or forced to become revenue streams for the medical-pharmaceutical-government-criminal complex. To quote the article:

The Reno County Health Department tells us a majority of the total cases have been vaccinated.

Same thing is going on in Wichita County, Texas. And the same thing in Massachusetts. So the solution, according to the herd, is to get more people vaccinated.

All the children among these cases were all immunized and their immunizations were all up to date.

..Health officials say the best way to protect your child is to get them immunized as well as the whole family including parents and grandparents.

Because even if they still get the disease, they will most likely get a much milder case of it.

These final two statements are completely illogical and unscientific. But I thought the Vaccination Nation argument was entirely sound, and all else was anti-science? This may be a partial explanation for what is actually transpiring here. Additionally, the National Vaccine Information Center reports:

The Hutchinson News reports that, although “scientists say people are protected from the disease if vaccinated” (an inaccurate statement, given the children infected children in Hutchinson school district), people vaccinated against pertussis can spread the disease to others.

And this is precisely the point to bear in mind as you read about pertussis outbreaks. The outbreaks are not necessarily occurring because of the lack of so-called “herd immunity”—not enough people being vaccinated. They may well be occurring because of the vaccinated population itself.

In Mises Daily, economist Brendan Brown discusses some of the similarities between the current economy and the late-stage surges in the economy that we saw back in 2006 and 2007, and similar episodes that preceded other busts:

We can identify similar late phases of asset price inflation characterized by highly divergent speculative temperatures across markets in past episodes of the disease. In 1927–28, steep drops of speculative temperature in Florida real estate, the Berlin stock market, and then more generally in US real estate, occurred at the same time as speculative temperatures continued to soar in the US equity market. In the late 1980s, a crash in Wall Street equities (October 1987) did not mark the end-stage of asset price inflation but a late phase of the disease which featured still-rising speculation in real estate and high-yield credits.

In the next episode of asset price inflation (the mid-late 1990s), the Asian currency and debt crisis in 1997, and the bursting of the Russian debt bubble the following year, accompanied still rising speculation in equities culminating in the Nasdaq bubble. In the episode of the mid-2000s, the first quakes in the credit markets during summer 2007 did not prevent a further build-up of speculation in equity markets and a soaring of speculative temperatures in winter 2007–08 and spring 2008 in commodity markets, especially oil.

I was on RT’s Crosstalk today discussing the odious US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, and the weaponization of human rights:

According to this story yesterday on NPR’s “All Things Considered”:

In South Africa, 55 percent of the content on radio stations as well as community and public TV has to be local.

Nigeria has a law that more than 70 percent of the music played on radio must be by local artists.

Kenyan artists want Kenya to do the same. Musicians there are pushing for a law that would force Kenyan radio stations to devote 70 percent of their playlists to Kenyan music (and 70 percent of TV programming to Kenyan films).

Sounds utterly ridiculous. But just as ridiculous are Americans who want tariffs, quotas, restrictions, and bans on all or certain imported goods.

KFC is having huge success with its new commercials–more than 5 million views on the one below–that bring back the Colonel, sort of. When he was 80, I had the honor of having lunch with the actual Colonel, thanks to one of my authors when I was senior editor at Arlington House, Publishers. He was the late Abe Ellis, author of the prescient Social Security Fraud. We found Col. Sanders to be smart, articulate, dignified, and beautifully mannered. He also had a good sense of humor, and yes, wore his trademark white suit and black tie. He was also slim, a great entrepreneur, and the opposite of a clown.

Recently 340 US rabbis from across the spectrum of American Judaism signed a letter to Congress urging approval of the Iran deal. Is it possible that the US Jewish community is not as united against the deal as AIPAC would have us believe? Today on the Liberty Report.

Is anyone surprised that the perverts who grope us on our dime as well as other associates of their pimp, the Fedgov, constitute many of the “customers” for the horrific “Ashley Madison infidelity website”? (Thanks to Bill Martin for the links.)

I eagerly await the TSA’s usual endorsement of this wickedness, which will run something along these lines (forgive my lack of Jargon here; though I wade through reams of it daily in reports from Our Rulers, I’m not yet fluent in speaking or writing it): “TSA expects the highest standards from its employees, who valiantly fight at the front lines of the War on Terror.” Yep, you’ll notice there’s nothing about how such sin’s “finding you out” might well render one susceptible to blackmail from the very “terrorists” the TSA supposedly bars from planes. Yet the agency’s accomplices in Congress will continue stealing our money to finance this utter insult to our intelligence, common decency, and the Fourth Amendment.

Meanwhile, I was vastly amused to read of yet more lies from the TSA regarding Friedman Memorial Airport in Sun Valley, Idaho. Seems the manhandling of passengers there has prevented them from making their flights; “I saw some very angry people waiting for their bags to be inspected at the end of the TSA line while other people passed by,” according to one witness, who also happens to be “Blaine County Commissioner.” And one of LRC’s readers who passes through that airport filled me in on the context: Sun Valley “is a playground of the rich[,] and everywhere, from the restaurants to the ski shops to the bike shops, the service is second to none. Crime is virtually non-existent. There is one place where complaints about the ‘service’ are increasing: the airport. And guess what aspect of the airport isn’t cutting it for the rich people who are used to people doing things right?”

Ah, but not according to the TSA, which alleges, “Complaints that the time required to get through security screening at Friedman Memorial Airport has caused passengers to miss flights are unfounded…” Right. All those CEOs, entrepreneurs, and the celebrities my correspondent spotted have nothing better to do than invent bogus complaints.

Two women have become the first to complete the U.S. Army Ranger course. It was only this Spring that the Army allowed women to try. Nineteen tried, but only two finished. The Army hasn’t yet decided if it will open up combat roles for women. It will eventually, just like it has opened up the military to everything and anything. I suppose that some libertarians will think this is progress toward granting full equality to women that they have been denied for so long, blah, blah, blah.

Jonathan Newman writes in Mises Daily: When one CEO set his company’s minimum wage at $70,000, some denounced the move as “socialism.” But the real situation is more complex than that, and we should look at how CEOs can use wages to achieve a variety of personal goals.

I recently came across a Youtube video from 1988, in which Ron Paul appeared on the Morton Downey program. Mr. Downey ranks among the rudest and most grotesque television personalities of all time. Compared to him, Joe Pyne was mild-mannered, and Jerry Springer a paragon of good taste. Over much ranting and raving from Downey, Ron Paul eloquently calls for an end to the war on drugs, at that time a much more controversial position than it is now. At one point in the program, Downey runs up to Ron Paul and says. “If I had slime like you in the White House, I’d puke on you!” (This appears around 5:30 in the video) Ron Paul, unfazed, continues to argue for liberty.

Ron Paul elaborates on his weekly column in today’s Liberty Report. Many liberals and conservatives fail to see how economic and personal liberty goes hand in hand:

Military children are more likely to use drugs and alcohol. Is this a surprise? Aren’t members of the military more likely as well? Parents, protect your children. Stay out of the military and keep them from joining.

The White House has hired its first openly transgender staff member, Raffi Freedman-Gurspan. He/she will be an outreach and recruitment director for presidential personnel in the Office of Personnel. He/she was previously with the National Center for Transgender Equality’s racial and economic justice initiative.

My only question is: Which restroom will he/she use?

Update: Some libertarians wonder why I care which restroom will be used. Does anyone want their wife or their daughter or their granddaughter using a restroom frequented by men who are dressed as women, but are still men, and have altered their body to resemble a woman, but are still men? I can’t imagine any man, libertarian or otherwise, who wouldn’t care. Is it libertarian to not care which bathroom these people use? Of course not.

I believe that in the near future, the federal government will decree that anyone must be allowed to use the restroom of the gender he/she identifies with. Really, is there any doubt that this is what will be coming next?

The Mises Institute held a thrilling 80th birthday party for Ron Paul in his hometown of Lake Jackson, Texas. 675 of his friends and admired joined him for country music, BBQ, and birthday cake. We were sold out, as you can imagine. Ron’s speech was for the ages, as were the remarks of his introducers Judge Napolitano and Tom Woods. (Audio available soon.)

Ron has also received these two greetings:

From movie star, writer, and producer Vince Vaughn:
“Ron Paul is so sound money. He’s been a consistent advocate for liberty over his many years in public life. I just want to take a moment to wish him a Happy 80th Birthday!”

From WWE star and executive Glenn Jacobs:
“Happy Birthday, Dr. Paul! Thank you for staying true to your message of individual liberty, sound economics, and peace.”

Donald Trump’s proposal to ban automatic U.S. citizenship to children who happen to be born in America, but whose parents are not citizens, has potential if carried to the its logical conclusion. What about legislation providing that no child, born in America, shall automatically be considered an American citizen unless, and until, that child makes a voluntary choice to be so considered? This process has long worked for the benefit of organized religions: just because one happens to be born within a predominantly Methodist, Catholic, Jewish, or Presbyterian community, does not bind them to membership in such a church. The child becomes a member only upon freely so choosing – after reaching the age of consent [21 years?] – and, until such time, is subject to no such formal, hierarchical authority.

Just like the proverbial broken clock that is right twice a day, Donald Trump may have inadvertently stumbled upon an important libertarian principle – one that even John Locke recognized – namely that the American state – like the Baptists, Catholics, and all other religions – must depend for its membership upon the voluntary choices of free men and women. Those who do not so choose would remain free to pursue whatever course of conduct that is consistent with the natural liberty of all humans.

According to FLAGS Up Mississippi, “Prayer is back in schools throughout Mississippi and on the first day kids prayed around the flag pole!”

But why pray around the flagpole? Are they praising and thanking their government for letting them pray? T.B., who sent me this, comments: “To whom are they praying? Are they encircling their deity? From a photographic standpoint, the focal point of the picture is obviously the flag, is that also the focus of their prayers?”

Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio has missed more votes in the Senate than any of the other five Senate candidates for president. He missed almost 30 percent of Senate votes. But perhaps this is a good thing. Perhaps we should just pay every member of Congress to campaign or vacation every day of the year and never come to DC to vote on anything. No more new legislation. Things would certainly be better off.

That’s apparently the theme of a “summer program” for children at Christ Fellowship Church in Stuart, Florida, which has had a World War II tank and machine gun on display all summer.  Unfortunately for this gang of warvangelicals, someone has stolen the machine gun.   One wonders what the Prince of Peace would think of this.

No word on how many more foreigners the Pentagon will kill or maim. Is there any doubt that the Department of Defense is really the Department of Offense? The military budget should be slashed to the bone, not increased like the Heritage Foundation and other conservative outfits are perpetually calling for.

Patrick Barron in Mises Daily: Europe’s problems will not be solved by a Greek exit, and a breakup of the euro certainly won’t fix things as long as the Europeans remain in the thrall of many economic fallacies that have long driven the debate over the euro.

The neocons are full speed ahead toward rehabilitating the Iraq war as the “good war” where they had the best intentions but it was only “faulty intelligence” that was to blame. Meanwhile Dick Cheney has penned a new book arguing for more pre-emptive war and more money for the military merchants of death. Today in the Liberty Report it feels like 2002 all over again…

“A Washington D.C. councilmember is considering proposing legislation that would decriminalize prostitution in the district.” And why not? The place is full of whores who take money from lobbyists to perform services.

I note also that Amnesty International will support “the decriminalization of all elements of prostitution.”

Prostitution should, of course, be completely legal, as I argue here and here, even though it is immoral and not something any father would want his daughter to do.

He should have asked his fellow Republicans: Will you pledge to support me if I am the Republican nominee?

Dr. Nair recently spoke at the Mises Institute’s Boot Camp seminar, and did a great job presenting our introductory course on money. She explains the origins of money, how it evolved, how it derives value, and how it should function in society. Her lecture is a great 30 minute refresher course for anyone familiar with the evolution of money from the perspective of Menger and Mises, and it’s the perfect introduction to share with your friends and family who haven’t studied economics.

Tom Woods’s new RonPaulHomeschool.com.

Says Ron: the Fed may not dare to raise rates, because “everything is vulnerable.”

The New York Times reports that “AT&T Helped NSA Spy on an Array of Internet Traffic.” This is not surprising news. In 1967, an incredibly prophetic movie predicted all this. It was called The President’s Analyst.  The sinister yet seemingly benevolent villains of the film were TPC – “The Phone Company” – (AT&T) who were intent on seizing control of the government, programing the public to love TPC, while covertly monitoring the communication of everyone on the planet. I saw it along with my best friend and his family. His step-dad was an AT&T executive who was curious about what he had heard about it. The heroic take home message of the movie was “Everyone Should Hate The Phone Company!” Sound advice which has never left me and has only intensified over decades. The film ruffled the lace panties of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, who was responsible for the movie’s disappearance from theaters and the director being blacklisted in Hollywood.  It was the first time I learned about psychedelics (LSD) and of the fierce rivalry between the CIA and the FBI, brilliantly portrayed by the actor’s characters Ethan Allan Cocket (Allen Welch Dulles) of the Central Enquiries Agency (CEA) and Henry Lux (Hoover) of the Federal Bureau of Regulation (FBR).

After a ten year run of killing U.S. sailors and Filipino natives, ex-President Theodore Roosevelt took to killing elephants, rhinos, hippo, cheetahs, antelope, zebra, giraffes, leopards and lions as a hobby. On African safari, the Great Conservationist, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and bully boy, together with his war party, slaughtered more than 1000 large beasts, including five hundred twelve big game animals and six rare White Rhinos. Later, at the urging of his House of Morgan paymasters, TR will urge the murder of The Hun. From hunting lions in Africa to Germans in Europe, truly the markings of The Strenuous Life.

(The top photo was shot after TR completed his third party presidential run in 1912 against Wilson and Taft. Forget that Bull Moose nonsense. “I feel like a triceratops!” exclaimed Teddy.)