Source: Center for a Stateless Society
by Kevin Carson
“Part I of this two-part paper will examine a number of loosely related and considerably overlapping conceptual issues concerning the nature of money and credit: metallism vs. chartalism, money theories of credit vs. credit theories of money, and advance vs. synchronization economics. They all hinge, in one way or another, on the question of whether money and credit are ‘real’ material entities, on the one hand, that must be in some way ‘saved’ or ‘accumulated’ before they can be ‘lent’ or ‘invested,’ or simply units of account for allocating resources and tracking the balance of exchange of material goods, on the other. That is, is money a store of value — a commodity with intrinsic value in its own right — and does credit require a stock of past savings to be lent against?” (04/17/26)
“The knives are out for OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, both figuratively and pretty close to literally. Last week—a few days after publication of a New Yorker piece featuring tons of anonymous attestations to Altman’s duplicitousness, and a few days before a Wall Street Journal piece about his conflicts of financial interest—an anti-AI extremist threw a Molotov cocktail at Altman’s house. Altman suggested a causal link between the two kinds of attacks.” (04/18/26)
“Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) still has much to teach us if we want a society in which individuals freely pursue their happiness. The economist and social philosopher lit the path to that widely shared goal in his magnum opus, Human Action (1949). especially chapter 24, section three, ‘The Harmony of the ‘Rightly Understood’ Interests.’ The title alone is refreshing, considering how preoccupied political philosophy, economics, and history have been with mankind’s supposedly fated and endless conflict — racial, national, or class — and power struggles. That alone should draw us to the work of a thinker who understood that this emphatically is not man’s destiny.” (04/17/26)
“If you want to get a sense of Donald Trump’s deepening dementia, look no further than his self-annihilating vendetta against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. As you may recall, Powell’s term as chair expires soon, on May 15, but his term as a Fed governor continues through January 2028. Trump has appointed a successor, former Fed governor and investment banker Kevin Warsh, who would ordinarily have his confirmation hearing next week. Warsh would then become Fed chair, succeeding Powell, who would likely leave the Fed entirely. So the quickest way for Trump to oust Powell would be just to let Warsh’s confirmation proceed and avoid screwing it up. But Trump being Trump, his vanity, rage, and muddled thinking are causing Powell to stay in office.” (04/17/26)
“New York City Mayor Commie Mamdani is putting into action, sort of, his plan to introduce government-run grocery stores and bring down grocery prices. Renting a Brooklyn storefront may cost anywhere between $60,000 to $600,000 a year depending on location and square footage. And there are other costs. Investors profit when they’re right about the opportunity and revenue exceeds costs. This means that they must satisfy customers. Or … taxpayers can fund everything regardless of success or failure.” (04/17/26)
“For decades, the fight for full health freedom—as defined by a system in which full informed consent replaces the legislative reality and culture of vaccine mandates—has been an arduous one. However, there are important parallels between the fight for health freedom and the success that advocates of a constitutionalist view of the Second Amendment (2A) have achieved over the last 25 years. By learning from the success of 2A advocates, supporters of health freedom can change the culture, change the law, and change legal precedent, all in favor of health freedom.” (04/18/26)
“Trump administration officials are discovering that a daunting number of longstanding U.S. allies and security clients are adopting hedging policies or even openly opposing Washington’s decision to wage war against Iran. That sobering reality has become even clearer over the past week than it was during the earlier stages of the armed conflict. On April 12, the president called upon NATO members to join U.S. naval forces in blockading Iranian ports. The proposed move was in response to Tehran’s continuing efforts to selectively close the vital Strait of Hormuz to foreign shipping. However, most of Washington’s alliance partners refused to join the retaliatory blockade.” (04/17/26)
“The U.S. Treasury Department has been publishing its consolidated financial statements annually since 1997. In every single one, the U.S. government’s projected liabilities over the next 75 years from when the reports were published have outweighed the projected value of its assets. What has been true throughout these years, and also in 2026, is that the U.S. government doesn’t really face the risk of insolvency. To be insolvent, the U.S. government would have to have no way of paying its bills. If a business had a similar balance sheet, it would be headed to bankruptcy court. Unlike a business, the U.S. government has options. It can raise taxes. It can inflate the nation’s currency. It can use tools of financial repression to artificially lower its borrowing costs, making it seem more affordable. These are all things the U.S. government is already doing and has been for years” (04/17/26)
“Elon Musk claims AI-driven growth could fund UBI transfers without inflation. But relative prices — not just totals — still drive economic allocation.” (04/17/26)
“Counseling, by its very nature, is value-laden, and the process and results are greatly influenced by both the therapist’s and the client’s worldview. One critical question that must be asked is what to do when there appears to be a conflict of values related to the therapeutic process. How should a treatment provider respond if a client seeks therapy because his or her behavior is incongruent with their deeply held spiritual or religious values, and those values appear to take precedent above all others? Which set of values is more valid? Should the client have the autonomy to make that decision? The ethical answer to the last question is an unequivocal ‘Yes!'” (04/19/26)
