Is Debt Inflationary? © Martin A. Armstrong   One of the ideas being kicked around in Germany is that of issuing debt to cover the costs of unification. The German government argues, as most other nations, that inflation will not emerge if the costs of unification are covered by new debt rather than the outright of […]

A Crisis in Democracy The Price of Intervention © Martin A. Armstrong Arthur William Edgar O’Shaughnessy once wrote in his classic Ode back in the 19th century… “We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale […]

How to Hedge Real Estate © Martin A. Armstrong Hedging real estate always offers a few new problems. Some will argue that buying gold will provide an adequate medium to hedge against a collapse in real estate. Such suggestions usually tend to draw on 1929 as an example. As usual, suggestions of this sort know a […]

Copyright Martin Armstrong All Rights Reserved April 17th, 2012 Happy Tax Day Welcome To America – The Land not of the Free – but of Economic Slaves I have been warning that as we approach 2016, government are so desperate for cash, they will destroy everything we once cherished about Democracy and Freedom. There is […]

Jean Baptiste Say 1767-1832 Jean Baptiste Say was a French economist who originally intended to pursue a business career. However, reading Smith’s Wealth of Nations inspired him to take up political economy. He taught at the Conservatoire des Arts et Meitiers, and the College de France. His most important works are Traite’ d’economique politique (1803) […]

The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederik Engels Translated by Samuel Moore A spectre is haunting Europe- the spectre of Communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: Pope and Czar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police spies. Where is the party in […]

Monetary History of Russia The Russian Monetary System began also with cattle (skot) during the Kievan period. Skins of small animals and precious metals were used as fixed-value exchange rate based upon barter goods. Up until the end of the 12th century, cattle was the unit of account but commerce took place with the skins […]

Monetary History of Korea South Korea Korea did not begin to use money until the Koryo Period (Goryeo 高 麗) (936-1392 AD) when coins from China’s Song Dynasty (宋朝) (960-1279 AD) were actually imported and began to circulate. Prior to this time, barter based on rice and cloth was the principal means of exchange. The […]

Monetary History of Japan As legend has it, Japan was founded around 660BC by a direct descendent of the Sun Goddess. It is from this basic legend that Japan derives the name of “Land of the Rise Sun.” Japan has a long monetary history which dates back to when coins were first introduced from neighboring Korea […]

Monetary History of China   The monetary history of China extends back in time at least 3,000 years. At first, money was sea shells, namely the cowry shell during the Shang Dynasty. Barter was always a dominant means of exchange in China that remained largely an agrarian society. Merchants and moneylenders were not well regarded […]