30 Comments
Mar 26Liked by Joel Bowman

A grand libertarian experiment indeed which should be watched intently by

the world. Thanks for keep us abreast of Sr. Melei's progress. He certainly is

refreshing.

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Mar 26Liked by Joel Bowman

Love the video. When was the last time you saw any prime minister or president cut loose like that?

Love the security detail guy right behind them. Lol. "One of these things is not like the other."

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author

Lolz, I thought the exact same thing!

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Love the cut to Paul Krugman, the insulting ultimate collectivist parasite, who's great economic knowledge gets paid for supporting economic ignorance for the elite. Also the Greedy capitalist argument fades into obscurity, I hope. What trash!

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Krugman is such a reliable contrarian indicator at this point. When he says to buy crypto, you’ll know we’re at the very top.

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Mar 27Liked by Joel Bowman

Hi Joel. Frequently, I'm viewing/reading and audio transcription does not work. Maybe It's because you posted a video. I don't know. I like to listen to it as I read or listen as I drive.Not a big deal, but if you have any ideas appreciate it.

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Will look into it. Cheers!

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Mar 26Liked by Joel Bowman

Joel, I like your; "it takes a Herculean effort to turn the gigantic “ship of state” around." However for this to succeed the cleaning out of the Augean stable of " witless bureaucrats" is going to be the next Herculean task to perform.

Watching that video of him living it up at a rock concert has me fearing for his safety. A little novichok or a polonium pellet might put an end to this libertarian Austrian economics project. He appears to be as unconcerned to his safety as Navalny.

Thank you for an excellent picture of what is happening in Argentina never to be reported in the MSM

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Thanks for reading along! Reckon the guy behind him, with the sour face, was on the job. He’s also enjoying a soaring approval rating (about which more in future Notes.) But yes, he’s certainly making a lot of powerful enemies in his fight against the “caste.”

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There appears to be a second Security Dude behind the girlfriend, too.

Good plan.

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Mar 26Liked by Joel Bowman

Thank you, thank you for your wonderful, insightful and very knowledgeable missives and musings. Please don't ever stop writing,. Yours and Bill's writings are the only sane and real stars in this very murky and strange world.

Thank you Benny Jensen. (from a real H... Hole. Ca..li ph. .nia)

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author

Thanks for the kind words! And no worries about the ongoing writing…couldn’t stop if I tried. Cheers!

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So, how does the exchange of dollars go lately?

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author

Peso rallying, hard.

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Mar 27Liked by Joel Bowman

Love the "Chainsaw" :)

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It has no chain on it. I pray that it will never need one.

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founding
Mar 27Liked by Joel Bowman

To all you readers of these notes, Joel is a great author as well! For just a few dollars you can enjoy his novels by buying them on Amazon or for just a few dollars more subscribe and he might send you one. Cheers

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Ah, too kind, good sir! Muddy politics and filthy lucre for the vocation… unfashionable literary fiction for the avocation. Yin and Yang of my world. Thanks for the testimonial!

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Mar 27Liked by Joel Bowman

Joel fantastic! Searched your money printers list twice looking for the grand US of A. Are we one step below the UAE. Just off the list ? Hope all is well with you and the family. Cheers

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US didn’t make the top twenty…though not for lack of trying!

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Mar 27Liked by Joel Bowman

I think our friend Jim Rickards would call the phenomenon you’re witnessing “disinflation” (the slowing down of inflation), rather than “deflation” (price roll-backs!). Still, very encouraging for such a short time. Keep the good news coming…we need it!

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Yes, indeed. Must reach out to Mr. Rickards soon. Would be interested to get his take on all this. Stay tuned…

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Mar 27Liked by Joel Bowman

I always look forward to your interviews. Please also ask him what he thinks of the assertions made in the recent book by David Webb, “The Great Taking”.

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Probably not this inflation yet. Pricing in retail is pretty much based on replacement cost. People always complain about the price going up on a can of corn while it's on the shelf. The price is marked up because of the cost of the new can of corn. When the value of currency becomes lessentially inflated time for a price adjustment. This is a wonderful example.....

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I enjoyed this, Joel. Nice to see something encouraging in the news for a change. But I do have two questions.

1. If inflation goes down but remains above zero, how can prices at the register be reduced? On average, wouldn't they have to keep on going up? Kind of a sensitive issue in the U.S., where our president touts declining rate of inflation and avoids mentioning that prices are still rising.

2. Could restrictive monetary policy lead to deflation? If so, I'm assuming the consequences would be even more dire than those you are describing. Obviously both Argentina and the US are a long way from deflation now, but I'm wondering what we should look for that might tip us over the edge.

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Thanks, Charles. Kind of you to write...and thoughtfully so. In quick response to your queries (I may have to devote entire columns to expound properly)...

1. You are correct to observe that prices are indeed still rising... though not as fast (what Jim Rickards calls "disinflation.") But it's the trend that matters here... and expectations based on that trend. Producers (and vendors) discount based on future expectations. Also, competition between vendors as they "race to the bottom" to attract customers. There's much more to it, but that's the gist.

2. Jim Grant calls deflation "the working man's dividend." It's what producers promise customers in the form of everyday lower prices. We've long been led to believe that anything below 2% inflation would be disastrous for the economy, but that's a special kind of FedThink. Look around the world... the countries with consistently strong currencies are not wanting for commercial activity or enviable living standards. In fact, they're only too happy to purchase both at a growing discount. Again, much more to this part... fodder for future Notes.

In the meantime, here's a useful article from the good folks at Mises.org that you might find of interest:

https://mises.org/mises-wire/forget-what-experts-claim-about-deflation-it-strengthens-economy

Thanks again for reading. Please feel free to share our humble Notes with others...]

Cheers!

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Thanks, Joel. Good explanation of how future expectations figure into the equation. Makes perfect sense. I'll check out the von Mises material and try to get a better understanding of deflation.

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founding

"nor must cows be excused a natural, midfield emission, lest the world combust in flames" - so funny!

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Joel, its great to see him having fun with his people.

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He better dolkarize quickly or all will be lost. Some pundits say he should have done that first

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