ECONOMICS: Explaining cooperative behavior in nature? It’s not survival of the fittest!

Sunday, October 11, 2026

https://nautil.us/survival-of-the-friendliest-236515

Evolution
Survival of the Friendliest

  • It’s time to give the violent metaphors of evolution a break.

By Kelly Clancy 5:11 PM CDT on March 17, 2017

*** begin quote ***

In the Black Queen model, organisms shed genes coding for functions that other species in the environment already provide. It’s a foil to the better-known Red Queen hypothesis, which posits that organisms are subject to a sort of evolutionary arms race, ever adapting new weapons and defenses just to avoid extinction. Though evolution is often characterized as a forward march of complexity, organisms actually shed genes quite often. Biological functions are metabolically costly to maintain, and if they aren’t strictly necessary, they’re best excluded from a genome. (The Black Queen Hypothesis takes its name from the game of Hearts, wherein players try to avoid picking up the queen of spades to avoid a particularly heavy penalty.) A canonical illustration of the Black Queen Hypothesis is found in two free-floating marine cyanobacteria, Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus. They use photosynthesis to feed themselves but are both harmed by a toxic byproduct of the process, hydrogen peroxide. An enzyme that can neutralize hydrogen peroxide, catalase peroxidase, is particularly costly to produce. And, though both need it to survive, only Synechococcus carries the genes for it. Synechococcus mops up all the hydrogen peroxide in the environment, while Prochlorococcus enjoys protection at an energetic discount.

*** end quote ***

An interesting insight. It’s not “dog eat dog” that always succeeds.  It appears that there is an alternative evolutionary explanation.  Species can cooperate and both gain an advantage.

I was thinking the shark with its pilot fish.  The pilot fish get a “free meal” and the shark gets a “free cleaning”.

Maybe that’s how humans first formed tribes?

From that principle pops out “division of labor”.

While a surgeon can probably transcribe surgical notes better and faster, it’s a better economic result if they stick to surgery. 

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ECONOMICS: … … x when the bubble bursts!

Friday, October 9, 2026

https://talkmarkets.com/article/america-looks-richer-than-ever-what-happens-when-the-feds-asset-bubble-bursts

America Looks Richer Than Ever. What Happens When the Fed’s Asset Bubble Bursts?

by David Stockman

*** begin quote ***

The geniuses at the Fed, however, should not be confused at all. It’s all their handiwork.

In the land of the central bank printing presses, the rich do get richer, indeed, and not because they earned it on an honest free market operating based on sound money.

In fact, the chart above reflects the true failure of Greenspanian central banking. And when the massive inflationary bubbles embodied in this graph above finally do blow sky-high, don’t blame it on the free market.

In short, what amounts to free money has been the real culprit all along.

Editor’s Note: The Fed can inflate asset prices, but it can’t guarantee those gains will survive a crisis. The challenge for investors is to protect their savings—and recognize the opportunities that emerge when the bubble bursts.

*** end quote ***

Early in my college days, the class was assigned to read about the Dutch Tulip Bulb mania.  

If you haven’t heard about it, then your “Economics” and “Investing” education is sorely lacking.  And you probably bet in the prediction markets, buy all the latest crypto, and a few lottery tickets with your spare change.

Basically, “Economics” is easy TANSTAAFL (“There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch” From Robert Heinlein’s classic).  Everything is a trade off.  Do X and you can’t do Y.  Everything changes.

Equally simple, “Investing” is putting your capital (savings) at risk in the prospect of getting it returned with some added value.  If it’s “guaranteed to skyrocket to the moon”, then run away screaming “Ponzi”.  If it seems too good to be true, then it ain’t. 

I can cite some of the great financial wizards and moral philosophers:

“If it doesn’t make sense, it’s not true.” — Judge Judy

“But there is no foole to the olde foole, folke saie.” — John Heywood’s 1546 glossary

“The art of getting riches consists very much of thrift.” —  Ben Franklin

“Patience is the companion of wisdom.” – St. Augustine of Hippo

“Price is what you pay; value is what you get.” – Warren Buffett

In summary, all empires end badly and it begins when they “counterfeit” the money.  

I like to tell the story of when I visited to the Smithsonian, I saw a display of the French franc of Louis I to Louis XVII which went from a hockey puck of gold to a paper thin shirt button. 

That’s the silent tax of “inflation”.  All you have to look at it is the total amount of money put in circulation by the Gooferment.  Sure they will hide it in all sorts of confusing numbers, but just add all the numbers up from year to year.

If you see a reasonable growth that matches our national productivity, then you’re safe.  But you won’t see that.

The USA until 1910, didn’t manage money.  Money was gold. Hard to fine and limited supply.  The effect was deflationary.  Prices DECLINED from the 1850’s to the 1910’s.  Then the FED came in and started printing.

Argh!

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ECONOMICS: A great example of “mal-investment”!

Saturday, February 28, 2026

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-15587165/inside-eerie-abandoned-hotel-spain-millions-demolish.html

Inside the eerie abandoned hotel in Spain that will now take millions to demolish – and the scary story behind it
By JOWENA RILEY, TRAVEL WRITER
Published: 20:15 EST, 24 February 2026 | Updated: 20:15 EST, 24 February 2026

*** begin quote ***

A beachfront hotel in Spain that has been lying in ruin for over 50 years has been earmarked for demolition – a project that is expected to cost taxpayers €2.3 million (£2 million).

Hotel Añaza – known locally as the ‘Ghost Hotel’ – has stood as an urban eyesore for over five decades on the coast of Acorán, just south of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

The 22-storey Y-shaped structure, first constructed in 1973, is one of the most notorious abandoned landmarks in the Canary Islands – not just for its haunting appearance, but for the dark history of five lives lost within its walls.

*** end quote ***

I have no idea of the total cost of the loss.  Aside from the demolition and construction, all the costs should include the hopes and dreams of the local population.   The investors take a hair cut; no sympathy there.  But where are the insurers and performance bonds?  Of course, the Gooferment politicians and bureaucrats pay no price.  If anything they claim “successful” regualtion for getting rid of an eyesore and hazard.

Wonder how this will become DJT’s fault?

Argh!

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ECONOMICS: in libya, stable coins get a better exchange rate than the U$D?

Thursday, May 15, 2025

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1922004098192494598.html?utm_source=tldrcrypto

@tikhbana

May 12 • 1 tweets • 1 min read •

Read on X

*** begin quote ***

had a call with a freelancer in tripoli, libya last week

he found us by asking perplexity:

“how do i send an invoice where my client pays by card and i receive crypto?”

we got on a call. he said he uses stablecoins because shops in libya will swap them for cash at a better rate than USD. but his client don’t want to pay in stables, but he wants to receive it. so he needed a way to bridge that.

then he said:

“getting paid in stablecoins is like your client handing you cash, instantly, across a border.”

*** end quote ***

here’s an interesting factoid about the U$D and stable coins.  in libya, stable coins get a better exchange rate than the U$D?

Very interesting to me.  A use case for stable coins in international trade?

So if you’re going overseas or on an international cruise, then carrying some stable coins makes sense.

How will the various Gooferments enforce “money laundering” or “capital controls” when there’s nothing to show that value or wealth is crossing the boundary?

The use case for ₿ (bitcoin) of that Ukrainian crossing into Poland (I think that was the fact) with the clothes he had on and his memorized 24 words.  

Demonstrates the freedom of ₿ and crypto in general.

YMMV

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ECONOMICS: Just End The Fed now for good

Monday, May 12, 2025

https://x.com/rickydoggin/status/1902482549609545959?s=51&t=fNifJ9M-EU2FgGneNcz51w

G. Edward Griffin, author of the legendary “The Creature From Jekyll Island,” outlines seven compelling reasons why the Federal Reserve should be abolished. 

1) It is incapable of accomplishing its stated objectives.

2) It is a cartel operating against the public interest.

3) It is the supreme instrument of usury.

4) It generates our most unfair tax.

5) It encourages war.

6) It destabilizes the economy.

7) It is an instrument of totalitarianism.

# – # – # – # – # 

As Ron Paul pointed out, the fiat money steal wealth from the poor, those on fixed income, and the young trying get ahead.

My particular gripe is with the “2% inflation target” that devalues our savings.  The Ponzi scheme of “Social Security Insurance” (what a joke)  — while transfer wealth from poor minority men to rich white women  —  take my dollars in “contributions” and returns inflation ravaged “dollars” decades later that are worth a few pennies in purchasing power.  Argh!

Wake up people!

When we were on a gold standard, prices deflated, savings were easy in gold coins, and life was predictable.  Now with fiat dollars (it’s a dollar because the Gooferment says it is), the Gooferment gets an endless spending spree, forever wars, and welfare to but votes.

Sigh!

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ECONOMICS: Second corpoation puts reserves in ₿itcoin to avoid inflation

Sunday, March 30, 2025

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/bitcoin-for-corporations/gamestops-bitcoin-move-looks-bold-but-it-might-be-brilliant?_kx=pYguJkB4-5NWNPpHSMMFBEIA8mUlSirEDlJPaB68tH8lzIRLbKOSwm282F8TWY5D.RLfipm

GameStop’s Bitcoin Move Looks Bold—But It Might Be Brilliant

  • GameStop’s Bitcoin move left many scratching their heads. But behind the confusion is a clear, calculated strategy that more CFOs should be watching closely.

By Nick Ward  —  March 26, 2025

*** begin quote ***

This week, GameStop quietly updated its investment policy to include Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset. With approximately $4.78 billion in cash—nearly 37% of its $12.9 billion market cap—this move marks more than just a diversification of reserves.

*** and ***

For companies with material cash holdings, the erosion of purchasing power is no longer theoretical—it’s measurable. Over the past decade, the U.S. dollar has declined in real terms by more than 25%, driven by inflation, expansionary monetary policy, and global fiscal uncertainty.

Bitcoin presents a compelling counterweight to this degradation, particularly for balance sheets with the flexibility to tolerate mark-to-market volatility in pursuit of long-term strategic payoff.

*** end quote ***

Now a corporation doing this can spend resources ensuring the security of its assets.  

However, the average consumer retail type needs to be extremely careful not to lose their “wallet”.

Considering the 25% loss of purchasing power over 5 years, that can put a hole in anyone savings.

It’s the same problem as Social Security “Insurance” (see my many rants about that  —  the prepaid Death Tax).  You pay in with “good” dollars say in 1970 and get out “bad” dollars that have lost 90+% of their purchasing power.

Given the state of Gooferment finances (i.e., the current 140T+ national debt and the guesstimated 200T+ in unfunded liabilities that our posterity will have to deal with) how does one preserve wealth in this disastrous era.

I, personally, have some savings, but not enough, in ₿itcoin, gold, silver, and Goldbacks.  As always YMMV.

How does the consumer, to use a military term, “get small in your hole”?  Where is your “underground bunker” for this “tornado”.  Everyone should have one.

In the pre-1913 era, you could save your gold dollars in jar or bury some in your back yard.  Then in your old age you’d find that the money had actually increased a little in purchasing power.  What can you do today?

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ECONOMICS: … as a nation we have been collectively robbed by both inflation and currency debasement

Monday, March 24, 2025

https://survivalblog.com/2025/03/17/preparedness-notes-monday-march-17-2025/

Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 17, 2025

James Wesley Rawles 

*** begin quote ***

Here is another example: An Old Timer Schrade Two Blade Folding Knife, priced at $110, plus $15 postage. (Total of $125, divided by 24.7 = $5.06. When rounded down, that would be just $5.00 face value in 90% silver coins. So mailing us 20 silver quarters would buy you that knife.)

As you can see from that example, as a nation we have been collectively robbed by both inflation and currency debasement. The real tangible VALUE of a knife or a silver coin has not changed much since 1964. It is the overproduced Federal Reserve Note “dollars” (both paper and digital) that gradually have had less and less purchasing power.

*** end quote ***

Yeah, yeah, I rant on this all the time.  

Fiat (i.e., it has value because the Gooferment says so) has declined in value somewhere around 95%.  I’ve posted about: penny candy, nickel cigars, dime store novels, and 30¢ a gallon gas. Also, the minimum wage of five silver quarters per hour would be worth about $25 per hour today. 

Funny how that works but yet “We, The Sheeple” refuse to see Gooferment politicians and bureaucrats as the parasites and thieves that they are.

Imagine what the Dead Old White Guys would think of all this? 

#endthefed would be a policy not a hashtag.

Ron Paul was, and is, right.  When you cut out a cancer, what do you replace it with? Nothing!

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ECONOMICS: 108 Economists were wrong because they saw Milei’s Results through their politics as opposed to their science

Thursday, February 27, 2025

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/how-did-108-economists-predict-mileis-results-exactly-wrong/

How Did 108 Economists Predict Milei’s Results Exactly Wrong?

  • Leading lights on the left said Milei’s free market reforms would be disastrous. Instead, they’ve been hailed as a miracle.

Jon Miltimore
February 15, 2025

*** begin quote ***

“Their understanding of how markets work and of how governments work is superficial,” writes Henderson. “I wonder if any of them, seeing the apparent success of Milei’s policies, are questioning their prior views. We can always hope.”

Indeed we can. But for now, it’s not unfair to assume from their silence that they’ve learned little from Argentina’s economic progress. 

As President Donald Trump begins his own second term as president, there’s much he can learn from Milei’s first year in office. 

This includes ignoring economists who claim that cutting government spending, regulations, and bureaucracy will result in economic devastation. And perhaps most importantly, the danger of using government printing presses to avoid making difficult budget decisions.

*** and ***

Jonathan Miltimore is Senior Editor at AIER. His writing/reporting has been the subject of articles in TIME, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, and the Star Tribune. He is a contributor at the Washington Examiner and has had bylines in Fox News, Newsweek, National Review, the Epoch Times, Real Clear Politics, the Washington Times, and other media.

Prior to joining AIER, Jon served in editorial roles at the History Channel magazine and the Foundation for Economic Education. He also served in the Bush Administration as an intern in the Department of Speechwriting. When he is not working, Jon enjoys reading, watching movies, and spending time with his wife and three children. He also coaches youth football, baseball, and wrestling.

*** end quote ***

All the little L libertarians knew that, if allowed, Milei’s free market reforms would radically change the incentive structure in that socialist economy.  Just like that, freeing people’s competitive skills and ability from the chains of a Welfare State would stun all the pessimists.  And it did.

Inflation from 300% to 2.4%. GDP of 5%. 

I guess that the people of any country would want stats like that.  Now it’s time to get the leadership that will give it to them.

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ECONOMICS: The “true cost” and environmental impact of wind turbines

Sunday, February 23, 2025

https://dailyreckoning.com/blissful-ignorance-now/

Blissful Ignorance Now
By Sean Ring
Posted February 13, 2025

*** begin quote ***

I was recently watching Landman, which is a TV series about the oil industry in West Texas. Tommy Norris, the Landman, explained to his female lawyer colleague the economics and environmental impact of wind turbines and how oil companies use them to power the wells. They need to use those monstrosities because the wells are off-grid.

*** and ***

Tommy: “Do you have any idea how much diesel they have to burn to mix that much concrete or make that steel, and haul this shit out here, and put it together with a 450-foot crane? You wanna guess how much oil it takes to lubricate that fucking thing or winterize it? In its 20-year lifespan, it won’t offset the carbon footprint of making it. And don’t get me started on solar panels and the lithium in your Tesla battery. And nevermind the fact that if the whole world decided to go electric tomorrow, we don’t have the transmission lines to get the electricity to the cities. It’d take 30 years if we started tomorrow. And, unfortunately, for your grandkids, we have a 120-year petroleum-based infrastructure. Our whole lives depend on it. And hell, it’s in everything. That road we came in on, the wheels won’t every car ever made, including yours. It’s in tennis rackets, and lipstick, and refrigerators, and antihistamines, pretty much anything plastic. Your cell phone case, artificial heart valves, any kind of clothing that’s not made with animal or plant fibers, soap, fucking hand lotion, garbage bags, fishing boats, you name it. Every fucking thing. And you know what the kicker is? We’re gonna run out of it before we find its replacement.”

Rebecca: “It’s the thing that’s gonna kill us all as a species.”

Tommy: “No, the thing that’s gonna kill us all is running out before we find an alternative. And, believe me, if Exxon thought them fucking things right there were the future, they’d be putting ’em all over the goddamn place. Getting oil outta the ground is the most dangerous job in the world. We don’t do it ’cause we like it, we do it ’cause we run outta options. And you’re out here trying to find something to blame for the danger besides your boss. There ain’t nobody to blame, but the demand that we keep pumping it.”

*** end quote ***

Funny how we have to rely on TV fiction to “explain” why “green energy” is fictional concept.

And, even more peculiar, that we need nuclear power before we run out of oil.

The alternative is we die off as a species.

ECONOMICS is truly the dismal science of limited resources and the recognition there of.

Argh!

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ECONOMICS: Economics teaches that monopolies don’t last

Sunday, February 16, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/02/07/business/investors-take-aim-at-nba-with-plans-to-create-5b-basketball-league/

Investors take aim at NBA with plans to create $5B basketball league: ‘Opportunity is massive’
By Reuters 
Published Feb. 7, 2025 Updated Feb. 7, 2025, 5:54 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

A group of investors are looking to create a new basketball league that will span Asia and Europe to one day rival the NBA, with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund as a strategic partner and Swiss bank UBS serving as an adviser.

The Financial Times reported that the $5 billion basketball competition plans to create six men’s teams and six women’s teams that will compete in eight host cities.

*** end quote ***

​Interesting. The NBA is a “monopoly”. Economics teaches that monopolies don’t last since competition seeks to “eat their lunch”. Here’s real life proof of that economic ‘lesson”.

From Standard Oil on to every other attempt to corner the market, we see monopolies destroyed without Gooferment intervention almost immediately after they come into being.  Remember Standard Oil went from 100% market share to under 70% in a decade due to competition.  And, then the Gooferment got involved.

The only way you can have a monopoly today is with a Gooferment grant of immunity.  Like Baseball, the Post Office, or Amtrak.  And, it usually comes with subsidies (i.e., why does the Gooferment build NFL stadiums?) that return to the politicians and bureaucrats as payoffs (i.e., campaign contributions).

 In the end, the Taxpayers and the Customers get <synonym for the act of procreation>!

Argh!

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