In our current era of expanding government, there has been a dramatic resurgence of anti-establishment sentiment that seeks to fight against the powers in charge of government.  Ironically, the people who were most vocal in opposition of the government during the 1960′s have risen to positions of power and are now the target of opposition by people who don’t appreciate the dramatic escalation of government that has occurred over the last 40 years, capped off by the near-complete abandonment of traditional checks and balances in a deterministic quest to pass …

There is a famous statement that an optimist will see a glass half that is full, while a pessimist will see a glass that is half empty.  The basis behind these distinctions is that people who possess a more optimistic worldview tend to focus on what is there, what is present, what is available.  Conversely, people who possess a more pessimistic worldview tend to focus on what is missing, what is gone, what cannot be attained.
To many people, the color of reality is closer to the view of the pessimist …

In the midst of persistent economic turmoil, there is a growing sentiment that somebody should do something about all of these problems.  This is a natural reaction to what feels like an opaque and impersonal market.  The actions of Washington and Wall Street show no semblance of connection with that of the regular people who drive the economy forward.  In light of this clear lack of interest to do anything that is not oriented toward special interests, there is a persistent feeling that ‘somebody’ should do something.  Unfortunately, nobody seems …

Knowledge and power are both deep and influential topics.  There is a popular sentiment that knowledge is power.  This sentiment stems from the fact that people who are educated and skilled have much greater opportunities to influence the shape and direction of their lives.  As time has moved forward, knowledge has become increasingly specialized and increasingly dispersed among a larger number of people.  In short, the power of knowledge comes from specialization and that specialization is no longer concentrated in a handful of metropolitan areas.
This is where the impact of …

One of the logical fallacies that is becoming increasingly prevalent in the contemporary world is that of the false dichotomy.  This is also referred to as the either-or fallacy, fallacy of false choice, black and white thinking or the fallacy of exhaustive hypotheses) is a type of logical fallacy that involves a situation in which only two alternatives are considered, when in fact there are additional options.  Unfortunately, the false dichotomy has become a dangerous tool for pushing public policies that are not necessarily in the public interests by presenting …

Robin Hood is a popular figure in contemporary culture.  In the story of Robin Hood, the King of England had left the country to fight in a war and his brother Prince John usurped the throne in his absence.  During this time, Prince John increased taxes prodigiously and used his power to seize the property of many people in England.  As the jails began to fill up with people who failed to pay their taxes, a cadre of outlaws exiled themselves to the Sherwood Forest.  From there, “Robin Hood and …

When life becomes difficult, it can become very easy to believe that we are the victims of circumstance.  It is comforting to blame the economy, or whichever political party happens to be in power.  (Ironically, the political party in power typically blames the people that were in power beforehand as a way to try and absolve themselves of responsibility)
However, as individuals there is only a narrow scope of things that we can really control.  I do not have the ability to directly influence the political system since my one vote …

One of the concepts that can emerge from irresponsible fiscal and monetary policy on the part of the government is what Dan Amerman refers to as the financial “reset” button.  Practically speaking, this is the phenomenon that occurs when a government floats away its debt by inflating the currency and reducing the purchasing power of the dollars already in circulation.
The danger posed by this “reset” button is that it will destroy the purchasing power of all people who have dollar-denominated assets, and dollar-denominated payments from annuities, pensions, or government programs.  …

There is a popular belief that knowledge is power.  This sentiment is the motivation behind most programs of education that endeavors to create a more knowledgeable workforce.  It is certainly true that knowledge creates vast potential and opportunity.  But it is also true that there is one major piece that still needs to be added in order for opportunities to be realized.  Knowledge must be accompanied by intelligent action to produce results. This insight is extremely important for the emerging workforce of the twenty first century.  The reasons for …

One of the most pervasive intellectual fallacies that people at large fall into is a heuristic known as “money illusion” or the tendency to view money in ‘nominal’ instead of ‘real’ terms.  The impact of this is that people seem to ignore the purchasing power of money and simply anchor on the nominal values.  This can have a catastrophic effect on your financial wellbeing if it is allowed to influence your actions and decisions.  The root of this fallacy comes from the modern fiat currencies that lack a fundamental value …