Lives and Times Of The World’s Most Interesting People

We’re mostly interested in stories about people. The economy, the financial markets– even the mores of business– are boring! Everyone knows it. Ever sit down and watch Bloomberg TV for fun? You can write it in what you do for intellectual fun, here. [The Wiggin Sessions] November 12, 2022 [WEBSITE]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( Lives and Times Of The World’s Most Interesting People “Normal is not something to aspire to, it’s something to get away from.” – Jodie Foster [Addison Wiggin] Addison Wiggin Dear Reader, A couple of decades ago, when Bill Bonner and I were trying to describe our writing style for the editors and publishers at John Wiley & Sons, we came up with the hopefully descriptive term: literary economics. We’re mostly interested in stories about people. The economy, the financial markets– even the mores of business– are boring! Everyone knows it. Ever sit down and watch Bloomberg for fun? You can write in what you do for intellectual entertainment, [here](mailto:WigginSessions@5minforecast.com). The people who inhabit the rarified air(rogance) of Wall Street, Washington, Silicon Valley and the academic institutions that feed these postage stamps are, on the other hand, interesting. There are some real characters out there; money and influence have a strange impact on one's behavior. Mark Skousen is a character; at once a political economist, an author and a tenured professor. [He’s also somewhat of a tongue-in-cheek comedian](. His exploits at conferences through the years that I have known him, have been, uhh, hmn, legendary. Who else would dress up like Benjamin Franklin and deliver a speech in character… at an investment conference? Only a unique and doughty individual. One of the reasons I like Mark is he is also interested in the lives of economists and policy makers, rather than the headlines and the data points. It’s not about math for him. It’s a story of human action and consequence. Plus, he’s a tireless advocate for human liberty. If you care to learn the sordid side of the dismal science, pick up a copy of Mark’s latest edition of [The Making of Modern Economics](. In the meantime, you can hear our conversation on The Wiggin Sessions, [right here]( or check out this week’s musings listed below for your convenience and pleasure. Enjoy – Addison --------------------------------------------------------------- 7 November 2022 [Forecasts & Strategies for 2023]( [Click here to learn more]( In this Session we talk about: - A Fed pivot– or lack thereof– and the struggle to find sound fiscal policy… - Sing Sing… or teaching economics to prisoners (there is a lot to learn from the imprisoned; the extended metaphor does not escape me). - The Mt. Pelerin Society – 36 scholars invited by Professor Friedrich Hayek to meet at Mont Pelerin near Montreux, Switzerland, to discuss the state and the possible fate of liberalism (in its classical economic sense) in thinking and practice in 1947. [Continue reading…]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 8 November 2022 [A Viennese Waltz Down Wall Street]( [Click here to learn more]( Skousen’s thesis: The dance of profit and loss is one which all money earners and investors must learn to swing with grace. The idea extends into Austrian economics and free market liberalism, both of which Dr Skousen is a strong proponent… and avid proselytizer. “The world economy has been at sea without rudder,” he muses. Skousen: Free-market followers are convinced that the instability and crises existing in the world economy today are caused not by free enterprise, as the government interventionists would have us believe, but by government intervention itself, and that there are numerous benefits, both personal and national, that can come from adherence to hard-money principles. Meanwhile, tremendous investment opportunities are created by these volatile government policies, opportunities from which intelligent investors can profit. This approach is different from most Austrian economists, who spend most of their time fighting the powers-that-be and trying to change the markets at the institutional level. Rather, the waltz à la Skousen encapsulates the idiosyncrasies of a flawed market, accepts them, then turns a profit. Consilience, if you will. [Continue reading…]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 9 November 2022 [Dining With Milton Friedman]( [Click here to learn more]( Milton sponsored Mark to a couple of meetings with the Mont Pelerin Society. The Mont Pellerin society is so named because when the economist Frederich von Hayek assembled the first one to promote free markets at the close of World War II, they held it in Mont Pelerin, Switzerland. To join the club, so to speak, you have to be sponsored twice. Mark was sponsored by Milton Friedman twice in the 1980s and has been a member since. The good doctor Skousen said during our Wiggin Session he’d be willing to sponsor me for the next two. The next meeting is in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. (Ahem). The one after that is in New Delhi, India. [Continue reading…]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 10 November 2022 [At Last, A Better Economic Measure]( [Click here to learn more]( By only tracking GDP, journalists and policy makers are operating on a “misguided Keynesian notion that consumer and government spending drive the economy,” rather than saving, business investment, technology and entrepreneurship.” If you’ve been following along with The Wiggin Sessions, you know we call this anomaly “fictitious capitalism.” Like companies that prop up their own stocks by using their capital to buy back shares, measuring the economy by GDP only gives you what you want to see. Not what you can’t. [Continue reading…]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 11 November 2022 [The Soul of Liberty]( [Click here to learn more]( Roger Williams called it “soul freedom.” At the time it was the largest liberty event in the New World, setting the standard in our blessed Thirteen Colonies for what civil liberties in America should look like– not to mention his fair treatment of the natives. Almost a century later the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America echoed Williams’ declarations, reading: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. By now we have the First memorized… If you don’t, you ought to, for it is our God-given, Madison-written, Franklin-scrawled right! [Continue reading…]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Enjoy your weekend, [Addison Wiggin] Addison Wiggin Founder, The Wiggin Sessions P.S. Feel free to write in with any comments or suggestions [here](mailto:WigginSessions@5minforecast.com). We are always open to change. Sponsored by Eagle Financial [Click here to learn more]( Politicians Loading Up on One U.S. Energy Stock Senator Ted Cruz, Bill Haggerty of Tennessee, Congressman David Price, Patrick Fallon, Brian Babin, August Pfluger, Tom Malinowski, Pete Session. [Both the GOP and the Dems are loading up on one stock](. Why? That’s the most interesting part. Ed note: Got something to say? Send your feedback to The Wiggin Sessions [here.](mailto:WigginSessions@5minforecast.com) LISTEN ON [The Wiggin Sessions]( The Wiggin Sessions is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We do not rent or share your email address. 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