This month marks 10 years since John C. Beale‚ the highest-paid employee at the Environmental Protection Agency‚ was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison. Beale told his bosses he was a CIA spy working in London‚ India and Pakistan when he was actually kicking back at his vacation home. That fakery was hardly his only problem. Beale reported to EPA administrator Gina McCarthy. In the wake of the spy scandal‚ she was promoted to head the agency. When he applied with the EPA in 1989‚ John Beale claimed he had worked for former senator John Tunney of California. He didn’t‚ and nobody bothered to check. Beale said he served in Vietnam‚ where he contracted malaria and therefore needed a handicapped parking spot. He didn’t serve in Vietnam‚ and didn’t contract malaria. Nobody checked those claims either and Beale got his handicapped parking spot. (READ MORE from Lloyd Billingsley: Newsom’s COVID Coverup) In 1994‚ Beale told his bosses he was a secret agent for the CIA but nobody at the EPA picked up the phone to verify that whopper. That empowered Beale to take more than two years off‚ with full pay‚ claiming to be in London‚ India‚ and Pakistan when he was actually performing no work. Beale pulled off his CIA ruse for nearly 20 years‚ not exactly the model for a good employee. With degrees in political science‚ administration‚ and law‚ Beale boasted little if any scientific expertise for his job as a “senior policy adviser” in the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. October 2013 hearings in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee found no evidence that Beale produced anything of value in that role. Even so‚ the EPA ponied up “retention bonuses‚” authorized by deputy assistant administrator Robert Brenner. As investigators discovered‚ Brenner co-owned a vacation home with Beale‚ and at the time Beale was staying at Brenner’s house. Brenner cooperated with the investigation of Beale but retired after the EPA’s inspector general investigated favors from a lobbyist who had previously worked on the EPA’s Clean Air Act Advisory Committee. Beale also retired‚ continued to draw a paycheck 19 months after his retirement dinner cruise on the Potomac. Beale also got retention bonuses even after he retired. As one representative asked in hearings shown on C-SPAN‚ “was that so he wouldn’t retire again?” All told‚ the EPA’s agent 007 bilked taxpayers of nearly $1 million. Judge Ellen Huvelle found Beale’s crimes “inexplicable” and “unbelievably egregious.” Beale served time at the Federal Correctional Institute in Cumberland‚ the favored soft landing spot for the government’s white-collar criminals. The fraudster gained release after 18 months‚ but there’s more to the story. Beale reported to EPA administrator Gina McCarthy. In the wake of the spy scandal‚ she was promoted to head the agency.  In 2015‚ EPA contractors released three million gallons of contaminated wastewater into the Animas River‚ unleashing a veritable tsunami of lead‚ arsenic‚ and other toxic materials through southwest Colorado and northern New Mexico. Despite the disaster‚ McCarthy kept her job as EPA boss. In the wake of the Beale scandal‚ no reports emerged about CIA officers claiming to work for the EPA. On the other hand‚ the spy agency also has special personnel issues. As Ron Radosh (The Rosenberg File) noted‚ Clinton national security advisor Anthony Lake failed to become CIA director partly because he believed Alger Hiss might be innocent. (He wasn’t. See Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case‚ by Allen Weinstein.) (READ MORE: Gov. Gavin’s Gun Gambit) In the 1976 presidential election‚ college student John Brennan voted for the Stalinist Gus Hall of the Communist Party USA‚ a wholly owned subsidiary of the Soviet Union. That should have barred Brennan from any job with the CIA‚ but the agency hired Brennan in 1980 and in 2013 the Gus Hall voter came to run the place. With all its money and resources‚ the CIA failed to prevent the events of September 11‚ 2001‚ the worst attack on America since Pearl Harbor in 1941. Despite the death and destruction‚ CIA director George Tenet kept his job and the money kept coming. By now it should be clear that‚ as a prosecutor said of John Beale‚ the CIA and EPA are also “the poster child for what’s wrong with government.” Lloyd Billingsley is a policy fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland‚ Calif. The post Lessons from the EPA’s Agent 007 appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

The Warner Brothers By Chris Yogerst (University of Kentucky Press‚ 360 pages‚ $34.95) I visited Hollywood California in the summer of 2022 and shared my LA story in these pages. I toured some of the major sites‚ including Warner Brothers Studio where the studio tour plays homage to its most well-known classic films such as Casablanca  (1942) starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman‚ the movie that gave us the famous line “Here’s looking at you‚ kid.” LA is also home to the Griffith Observatory‚  the location of the climactic scene in the celebrated Warner Brothers film Rebel Without a Cause  (1955)‚ starring James Dean‚ Natalie Wood‚ and Sal Mineo. Given this recent experience‚ I was delighted to learn of film professor Chris Yogerst’s latest book‚ The Warner Brothers‚  a comprehensive history of the legendary film studio and its four founding brothers‚ Harry (1881-1958)‚ Albert (1884-1967)‚ Sam (1887-1927)‚ and Jack (1892-1978).Chris Yogerst is to be commended for writing such a thoroughly researched portrait of these cinematic pioneers. With the purchase of a $1‚000 projector these brothers launched what would ultimately become an international multibillion-dollar film production and distribution powerhouse. The Warner Brothers tells the story of the four brothers and their groundbreaking contributions and enduring legacy to cinema. They cultivated the medium’s potential to not only entertain audiences but to also educate and influence them. Now more than 100 years since inception‚ Warner Brothers remains a force in the film industry with their recent distribution of last summer’s $1.442 billion blockbuster Barbie (2023)  starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling‚ and this month’s much anticipated prequel Wonka  starring Timothée Chalamet. (READ MORE from Leonora Cravotta: Fauci Lied‚ People Died: Sen. Rand Paul Dissects the COVID Cover-Up) The Warners’ parents Benjamin and Pearl immigrated from Poland to the United States in the late 1800’s and eventually settled in Youngstown‚ Ohio. Ben‚ the father of twelve‚ saw the value of assimilation and ultimately decided to Americanize his family’s Yiddish names. However‚ he also encouraged his children to retain their Jewish identity‚ a lesson that was not lost on the brothers who continued to acknowledge their Jewish heritage while building their Hollywood careers. This was not typical at a time when Jewish actors‚ directors‚ producers‚ and writers shied away from any outward expression of Jewishness to avoid prejudice. The book begins with the Warner family’s immigration to the United States and ends with the death of the youngest son Jack in 1978‚ nine years after his retirement as Warner Studio’s company president. Yogerst provides a comprehensive portrait of the Warner brothers’ childhood and the genesis of their interest in moving pictures. Due to some instability in Ben’s work and the sheer size of the family‚ the Warners moved multiple times while living in Youngstown‚ a situation that made the children more resilient. Since money was scarce‚ the sons all had jobs. It was while working at a penny arcade at Cedar Point Amusement that Sam first witnessed a kinescope projecting a motion picture. He later learned of a local business person who was selling a projector for $1‚000 along with a copy of Edwin S. Porter’s film The Great Train Robbery (1903). The brothers pooled their money to purchase the projector. When they came up short‚ Ben pawned his gold watch to cover the balance. The author details how the brothers used the projector to exhibit The Great Train Robbery in their backyard for a fee and negotiated with local venues to create their makeshift theaters. As legend has it‚ they ran out of money to purchase chairs for the Cascade‚ their first theater‚ and they borrowed chairs from a local funeral home on the days when a funeral was not taking place. As the money started coming in‚ the brothers would invest it in purchasing used films. By 1907‚ the Cascade and its sister theater the Bijou were bringing in $2‚000 a week. Harry decided to sell the Cascade for $40‚000 and then invested the proceeds in a new film exchange. The author details the brothers’ various early partnerships and exhibition efforts. And while they had no shortage of creativity and continued to invest in content and distribution‚ they were often strapped for cash. In 1913‚ they made the pivotal decision to sell their stock in Warner Features‚ Inc. while retaining the rights to their name. The new organization had Pat Powers as president‚ Albert Warner as vice president‚ and Harry Warner as sales manager. This re-organization proved to be a match made in heaven. “Powers had the capital‚ and the brothers had the ideas. If the Warners could secure funding‚ their tested methods of exhibition‚ distribution‚ and production were sure to provide big returns.” The Warner family would ultimately resume control of their organization. On April 4‚ 1923‚ Warner Brothers was incorporated in the state of Delaware with $50 million in capital and the Warners creating three corporations and issuing five hundred shares of stock. “By 1930‚ Warner Brothers held 51 companies‚ 93 film exchanges‚ and 525 theaters in 188 American cities‚ in addition to the studio lots. The company stock was valued at over $200 million‚ and it employed a total of 18‚500 people.” The brothers were endowed with different talents. Harry‚ the oldest who served as the company’s president for many years‚ had a firm understanding of the industry from a financial perspective. He was also an even-tempered person who cultivated relationships. Albert was the master of distribution and exhibition. Jack‚ was the consummate showman with an eye for content with a mercurial personality. Sam was the technology wizard‚ who is credited with forming a partnership with Western Electric to create the Vitaphone‚ a synchronized film sound system that Warner Brothers deployed to produce the first sound picture The Jazz Singer  (1927). Unfortunately‚ in a cruel twist of fate Sam contracted a mastoid infection of the brain and died of pneumonia shortly before the premiere of The Jazz Singer‚ which garnered millions of dollars and turned the Warner Brothers into household names. (READ MORE: From Deconstruction to Wokeness: French Conservatives Fight Back) In the 1930s‚ Harry Warner started advancing the notion that due to the increasing number of moviegoers‚ Hollywood had a social responsibility. “This steadily increasing influence over recreational hours of millions has grown a corresponding responsibility‚ and we have not shirked it.” To that end‚ the studio believed in creating realistic “ripped from the headlines” dramas that brought attention to important social problems such as crime‚ poverty‚ and mental disorders. During the depression of the 1930s‚ Warner Brothers produced many gangster films such as Little Caesar  (1930) starring Edward G. Robinson and The Public Enemy   (1931) with James Cagney. The brothers also maintained that it was equally important to provide the movie-going public with other film genres. Consequently‚ they balanced their social dramas with musicals such as Gold Diggers of 1933  (1933) and 42nd Street  (1933).  It is important to note that even though these films featured beautifully choreographed dance sequences‚ they were not escapist fare. They were punctuated by references to the social and economic realities of the Depression. The Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration was also aware of the moving picture’s potential to disseminate messaging and influence thought. In the wake of the poverty associated with Herbert Hoover’s presidency‚ the Warner brothers who were previously Republicans‚ saw that FDR could regain the nation’s trust with his proposed recovery plan. Consequently‚ Warner Brothers cultivated a  reputation as  ‘the studio that most explicitly upheld the New Deal in its production.” The studio and the White House were not shy about promoting this collaboration. In advance of FDR’s inauguration‚ Warner Brothers promoted its 1933 portfolio of films as “inaugurating a NEW DEAL IN ENTERTAINMENT.”  Warner Brothers also ran a full page advertisement in Film Daily with a photo of FDR which read “OFF WITH THE OLD LEADERS. ON WITH THE NEW! WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES‚ THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE.”  Interestingly enough‚ Jack would later return to the Republican party to support Richard Nixon in his failed bids for the presidency in 1960 and the California Governor’s office in 1962‚ The Warner Brothers also provides in-depth coverage of the many times that the film industry was at risk of being censored or silenced by various entities‚ including the Hays Commission‚ the Production Code Administration‚ the House Un-American Activities Committee etc. In 1941‚ the industry had to defend itself against allegations of propagandizing films. In 1947‚ they were on the hot seat for the House Un-American Activities Committee’s communist blacklist hearings‚ and in 1955‚ the industry had to fend off allegations that films such as  Rebel Without a Cause  (1955) and Blackboard Jungle  (1955) promoted juvenile delinquency. During the 1955 hearings‚ Jack Warner reinforced the comments that his brother Harry had made twenty years prior about the social responsibility of filmmakers. “I have very rarely ever seen a film that hasn’t had some kind of moral‚ either for good or bad‚ but they have some kind of moral … Motion pictures must be entertaining and therefore‚ must have dramatic content. You cannot make motion pictures about a tranquil world or a utopia because it does not exist. When you make films‚ you have to show the bad and how good triumphs.” Yogerst also does an effective job of conveying the film industry’s behind-the-scenes perspective.  For aficionados of movie lure‚ the book is peppered with anecdotes about why a certain actor was cast instead of the original choice‚ who exhibited diva behavior on the set or some other offputting behavior. The author also includes several examples of Warner family internal discord. Most notably‚ he depicts Jack’s famous betrayal of Harry. When the brothers decided to sell a 90 percent stake in the studio to Semenenko in the late 1950’s‚ Jack struck a deal with the new owners to buy his way back into the company and assume the presidency‚ effectively pushing out Harry. Jack’s behavior created a rift between him and Harry that was never resolved. And when Harry died in 1958‚ Jack did not attend his funeral‚ although he later attempted to make amends with other family members. (READ MORE: Barbie Questions the Success of Feminism)  The Warner Brothers is a highly engaging book about an ambitious family and their namesake studio who revolutionized the film industry with their instinct for content and talent‚ their mastery of technology‚ their optimization of distribution‚ and of course their passion for storytelling. Chris Yogerst is to be commended for writing such a thoroughly researched portrait of these cinematic pioneers whose contributions to the seventh art continue to cast a big shadow to this day.   The post The Warner Brothers and American Cinema appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

The Mont Pelerin Society held its 2023 annual meeting at the same venue as the historic 1944 Bretton Woods international monetary conference‚ the Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods‚ New Hampshire. The conference was held from October 29 to November 1 and I was privileged to attend. The Mont Pelerin Society was named after the location of its initial meeting in April 1947‚ the mountain village of Mont Pelerin in Switzerland overlooking Lake Geneva. The original impetus and founder of the group was Austrian-born British economist Friedrich Hayek‚ who would later win the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1974. He was concerned about the advance of socialism and totalitarian regimes around the world and the challenge of restoring classical Western principles of human freedom following the end of World War II in 1945. This compelled him to recruit like-minded intellectuals for creating an international group to revive and propagate those principles of freedom. (READ MORE from Steve Dewey: The Deep State’s Deeper Involvement in Biden’s 2020 Election Campaign) The first meeting occurred over the course of ten days‚ April 1-10‚ 1947‚ and included 39 participants from 10 countries. In addition to Hayek‚ other attendees included acclaimed free market economists Ludwig von Mises and Milton Friedman. Hayek served as the president of the Mont Pelerin Society until 1961 and the Society has held annual meetings almost continuously since then‚ always in different international locations. The Mont Pelerin Society’s 2023 annual meeting at Bretton Woods hosted over 30 acclaimed featured speakers covering a wide range of topics‚ such as economic policy‚ monetary policy‚ international trade‚ foreign policy strategy‚ classical libertarian philosophy‚ etc. The conference included 21 panel discussions and four keynote dinner speeches. The American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) did a superb job in organizing the meeting on behalf of the Society. Senator Gramm’s talk was an eye-opener as it exposed the extraordinary misinformation widely spread … about American income inequality. Some of the most noteworthy speakers included former U.S. Senator and economics advisor/writer‚ Phil Gramm; former President of the World Bank‚ David Malpass; economics professor Douglas Irwin of Dartmouth College; former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City‚ Thomas Hoenig; monetary economists Judy Shelton of the Independent Institute and Lawrence White of George Mason University; and foreign policy scholar John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago. In an attempt to provide a wide-ranging‚ high-level sampling of the many great discussions held at the conference‚ the following provides summaries of two panel discussions and two keynote speeches that I found particularly insightful and relevant to today’s important public policy issues. Gold‚ Exchange Rates‚ and Monetary Systems In this panel session‚ Judy Shelton discussed her upcoming new book scheduled for release in August 2024‚ Good as Gold: How to Unleash the Power of Sound Money. She argues that the United States and other countries flourished under a gold-based monetary system throughout the 19th century and much of the 20th century until President Richard Nixon ended the U.S. dollar’s convertibility to gold with other countries‚ thereby establishing an international floating exchange rate system based on fiat money‚ i.e. currencies not backed by any physical commodity. Dr. Shelton believes a fiat monetary system under the control of central bankers and government officials is inherently inflationary‚ because it can be manipulated and inflated without the discipline of any kind of commodity (gold) backing the money. Thus‚ fiat money is not inherently sound money or a reliable store of value. For the above reason‚ Dr. Shelton proposes a return to some form of a gold-based international monetary system. One of the interesting ideas that she proposes as a means of reintroducing gold into the international monetary system is the creation of a new U.S. Treasury Trust Bond that would be convertible into gold‚ collateralized by official U.S. gold reserves. (READ MORE: Here’s What the Fed’s Postmortem on the Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank Missed) Professor Lawrence White shares many of the same ideas on monetary policy as Dr. Shelton. He is a staunch proponent of allowing the free market to determine monetary systems and the types of money used in economic activity. He argues that an international monetary system based on gold or silver has the following merits: (1) It is apolitical‚ i.e. not dependent on government central banks or treasuries to issue; (2) it is not dependent on risks that may be associated with an issuer’s solvency‚ activities‚ or reputation; (3) stable store of purchasing power value; and (4) allows free cross-border‚ international banking. Professor White concludes that in order to restore classical free market ideals‚ we need to begin considering fundamental reforms in money and banking. These reforms include consideration for the abolition of central banks and government-issued money‚ i.e. allowing the free market to determine the types of money and banking used in economic activity. The abolition of central banking is now being considered in Argentina after years of hyper-inflation. Professor White’s ideas are further explained in detail in his recent book published in March 2023‚ Better Money: Gold‚ Fiat‚ or Bitcoin. International Relations From the Cold War To Present This panel discussion featured three foreign policy scholars with differing views on a grand strategy for U.S. foreign policy. The scholars presenting their views included the aforementioned Professor John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago‚ Professor Eugene Gholz of the University of Notre Dame‚ and Ambassador John Herbst of the Atlantic Council. This was one of the most interesting discussions in the entire conference. Professor Mearsheimer is renowned for developing the international relations theory of “offensive realism‚” which is an extension on the dominant “realism” school of thought in international relations. The realism school of thought holds that international relations around the world lack a central authority and are therefore centered on the decision-making of individual nation-states continually seeking to protect their own self interests in competition with other nation-states. Mearsheimer’s offensive realism accepts some fundamental assumptions of realism‚ but postulates that nation-states are also inherently power-maximizers concerned with the global balance of power and therefore prone to act in an aggressive‚ or “offensive‚” manner in order to further national self-interest at the expense of other nation-states and within a perceived desired balance of power among nation-states. In contrast to Professor Mearsheimer’s offensive realism views‚ Professor Eugene Gholz is a proponent of the “defensive” realism school of thought in international relations. The defensive realism theory postulates that nation-states inherently act in a safe‚ reserved‚ or “defensive” manner to avoid conflict with other nation-states and ensure national safety and security. Professor Gholz is also very critical of the United States’ support of Ukraine in its war with Russia. He believes that the United States should be working with other nation-states to achieve a diplomatic solution between Ukraine and Russia rather than an open-ended commitment to supporting Ukraine. Friedrich Hayek (far left) was the first president of the Mont Pelerin Society (Mont Pelerin Society website/Spectator.org) Ambassador John Herbst‚ a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006 and Uzbekistan from 2000 to 2003‚ has written extensively on Central Asia‚ Ukraine‚ and Russia. His ideas on U.S. foreign policy are far different than those of either professors Mearsheimer and Gholz. He has been an advocate of aggressive global interventionism that is dominant in the U.S. foreign policy establishment in Washington. His views are particularly contrary to Mearsheimer and Gholz with respect to the Russia-Ukraine War. Ambassador Herbst has consistently advocated a strong and unwavering U.S. commitment to assist Ukraine in the defeat of Russia on the battlefield and the restoration of Ukrainian control over land lost to Russia in eastern Ukraine. The Myth of American Inequality Former U.S. Senator and economics professor Phil Gramm‚ gave a keynote speech on his book‚ The Myth of American Inequality: How Government Biases Policy Debate‚ published in September 2022 with co-authors Robert Ekelund and John Early. Senator Gramm’s talk was an eye-opener as it exposed the extraordinary misinformation widely spread by progressive academics‚ politicians‚ and the media about American income inequality. For the less developed countries‚ access to global capital is increasingly difficult as their populations and resource needs for infrastructure grow. Senator Gramm methodically described how U.S. government data has been used to grossly distort the differences between the top and bottom income earners in the United States. For example‚ based on basic income data from the U.S. Census Bureau in 2017‚ the average income of the top and bottom quintiles of American income earners was $221‚846 and $13‚258‚ respectively. This calculates to the average income of the top quintile of income earners being 16.7 times greater than the bottom quintile — a massive disparity that provided seemingly credible ammunition for progressives arguing for redistribution of income policies. (READ MORE: Back-to-Back Bank Closures: The Fallout From the Failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank) But not so fast‚ progressives. Senator Gramm explained that additional data is needed to properly reflect the reality of income between the top and bottom quintiles of American income earners. The additional data includes the massive amount of government transfer payments to the bottom quintile and the income taxes paid by the top quintile. After including the net effect of government transfer payments received and income taxes paid‚ the adjusted average income of the top and bottom quintiles amounts to $197‚034 and $49‚613‚ respectively. This adjustment dramatically reduces the disparity between the top quintile and the bottom quintile of American income earners from 16.7 to 4.0 — an enormous difference that discredits progressives’ case for more income redistribution. Senator Gramm also highlighted the gross misrepresentation of the American poverty rate based on faulty U.S. Census Bureau data. Based on the Bureau’s 2017 data‚ the poverty rate in the United States calculates to 12.3 percent. However‚ the poverty rate is enormously overstated‚ because it does not properly account for all government transfer payments received by lower-income Americans. When an adjustment is made to properly reflect government transfer payments‚ the calculated poverty rate drops from 12.3 percent to only 2.5 percent. This adjustment to properly reflect the true American poverty rate also discredits the case for more income redistribution policies. The Crisis Facing Development Former President of the World Bank‚ David Malpass‚ delivered a keynote speech on the monetary and fiscal policy crisis facing global economic development. President Malpass focused his talk on two primary topics: (1) The Federal Reserve’s misguided policies and need to change direction; and (2) the dangers of extended periods of slow economic growth in developing countries and the need to restore free market economic policies around the world. President Malpass was highly critical of Federal Reserve policies in recent years. He explained that the Federal Reserve has expanded its authority into three new policy areas since the 2008-09 financial crisis‚ which include (1) borrowing excess reserves from commercial banks; (2) buying and holding U.S. Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities; and (3) implementing broad new regulatory authority with little notice. He characterizes the Federal Reserve’s expanded authority as “post-Monetarism‚” meaning that the Federal Reserve has shifted from a monetary policy framework to a regulatory policy framework. He believes this negatively affects U.S. dollar stability. President Malpass emphasized that the Federal Reserve needs to refocus on its legal mandate of attaining maximum employment and price stability. He explained that the Federal Reserve is on a dangerous path of unsound management of its own balance sheet by borrowing short and investing long. This asset-liability mismatch leads to uncertainty in the future value of the U.S. dollar‚ which leads to high-risk dollar substitutes‚ i.e. crypto currencies. He also advocates that the Federal Reserve reverse its recent trend of heavy regulatory involvement in the economy. Former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX) and author Steve Dewey at 2023 annual Mont Pelerin meeting (Steve Dewey/Spectator.org) He expressed concern over the current U.S. national debt of over $33 trillion and remarked that the current path of deficit spending with an ever-increasing national debt projected to reach 200 percent of national GDP is unsustainable. He believes that the current debt-limit law is badly flawed and needs to be repealed and replaced with a new debt-limit law that is based on the national debt to national GDP ratio that would mandate spending cuts if the ratio exceeds a certain limit. (READ MORE: Abolish the IRS: A Massive System Beyond Repair) President Malpass concluded his remarks with an additional concern over slow global economic growth and its particularly negative effect on developing countries. Advanced economies are absorbing more capital with higher interest rates on massive debt levels along with growing entitlement spending on aging populations. For the less developed countries‚ access to global capital is increasingly difficult as their populations and resource needs for infrastructure grow. But President Malpass believes these concerns can be addressed if governments around the world can begin restraining their spending to lower their debt burdens‚ reduce regulations‚ and allow markets to work freely to restore market-based capital flows. Concluding Thoughts The Mont Pelerin Society is not well-known by the general public‚ mostly because it is specifically intended for scholars and policy makers committed to the exchange of ideas on the preservation and advancement of free markets and free societies around the world. The Society already has its next two annual conferences planned with the 2024 and 2025 conferences to be held in New Delhi‚ India‚ and Marrakech‚ Morocco‚ respectively. More information on the Society and its criteria for membership are provided on the Society’s website. Steve Dewey is a retired federal financial regulator and founder of GeoFinancial Trends‚ LLC. He writes on Substack. The post The View From Mont Pelerin appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

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by Martin Armstrong‚ Armstrong Economics: Canada has announced a plan to use a cap-and-trade system to impose greenhouse gas emission limits on its oil and gas industry. Under the “draft framework‚” Canada will issue emissions allowances to oil and gas producers‚ which will be capped at levels between 35% and 38% below 2019 levels‚ beginning […]

by Rhoda Wilson‚ All News Pipeline: – Deterioration in the health of all the animals with each advance in wireless communication In a letter to Arthur Firstenberg‚ custodian of an animal sanctuary in the Rocky Mountains described how animals in the sanctuary are falling sick and dying after most people in the area installed a […]

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