Welcome to the first edition of The Freeport Navigator Sunday Reads.
As you know, at The Freeport Society, we aim to guide you toward achieving greater financial freedom… to help steer you clear of the effects of government ineptitude, fiscal irresponsibility on a catastrophic level, and capitalism-destroying oversight.
We advocate the idea that free minds, free speech, and free markets made America the greatest country in history… and that a return to those ideals will perpetuate American exceptionalism and benefit our portfolios as well.
The journey toward a return to those ideals is a long one. And it’s only possible with knowledge. So, starting today, most Sundays I will share with you the opinions and insights that stood out for us during the week… the information that will further empower you.
The pieces we share below and that we’ll share in subsequent Sunday editions represent a progress report on our journey. Some will show there may be some wins ahead, but too often will report where bad ideas and bad incentives are creating distortions in markets and limits to progress.
With this knowledge, we can better invest, trade, and prepare our portfolios.
One more thing before we dig into this week’s Sunday Reads: I encourage you to share your opinions and insights with us and your Freeport Society fellows. When you come across an essay or article that you believe would provide further insights, I ask that you share it. You are also welcome to communicate with us at [email protected].
Before we dig in, one last note: Sometimes, the articles we find valuable are behind paywalls. We make every effort to share with you pieces that don’t require a subscription, but we also don’t want to ignore those that do require one. Please understand that there might be some articles you won’t be able to read unless you’re a subscriber. For this we apologize and hope you find as much value in those that are freely available.
Right, let’s dig into what we found the most valuable reads this week…
Migrating Back to the Center – With a Notable Exception
The craziness of the era of wokeness and bald cynicism is starting to correct itself. The DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) tide is receding, and law and order is becoming popular again in blue states and cities.
This is news we applaud. It demonstrates the beauty of the American system, which is self-correcting.
There is one hold-out in the re-normalization of our institutions however, and based on what we’ve seen on many college campuses over the past several weeks, it is one that may take a while to correct.
This column from Dan Denninger of The Wall Street Journal explains (please note that this essay is behind a paywall).
The Counter-Revolt Finally Begins
The Climate Lobby’s Obstruction to Progress
AI will be at the core of the most revolutionary technological advances of all-time. Appropriately, Larry Fink of BlackRock shared the next AI trade at the World Economic Forum: Energy (you can watch that YouTube video here).
As it turns out, the demand for power for AI data centers is exponential, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. You can watch the free video here: AI Is Fueling a Data Center Boom. Can the Power Grid Keep Up?
However, the climate lobby will be sure to stand in the way of progress. When will the clean-energy movement finally face the music… that intermittent and unreliable power sources (wind, solar) won’t meet demand… and that energy abundance policies – with prioritization on cleaner solutions, like nuclear – are the only viable path?
As Doomberg explained in this story of regulatory hypocrisy, the climate lobby will do what they can to stifle progress (please note, half of this post is behind a paywall).
Regulatory capture by the climate lobby has even taken hold in the Senate Budget Committee, as detailed by James Freeman of The Wall Street Journal in this subscriber-only essay: You Had One Job.
Instead of the Budget Committee focusing its debate on our massive budget deficit or on uncovering waste and fraud in our $7 trillion budget, committee leadership instead devotes time to the supposed abuses of “Big Oil.”
Per U.S. Senator Mitt Romney, as reported in the Deseret News on March 12:
We’ve had 28 hearings before today. Do you know how many of those hearings have been on the budget? Two. Now, I’m concerned about the climate, but 14 of our hearings have been on climate change. … This is a committee that’s about performing, getting on stage and acting like we care about these things, but there’s actually no work being done by this committee to deal with our budget and to deal with federal spending. It’s now or never for our political leadership to get their eye on the ball.
Where the Debt Goes From Here
Our own Chief Investment Strategist Charles Sizemore accurately predicted in our recent Election Shock Summit video that there would be no rate cut announcement in this past Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting given current economic conditions that are likely to persist. The continuing high cost of funding the deficit hasn’t presented a problem yet, but it inevitably will, and speculation that the Fed may lose its independence in a bow to political pressure could make things worse.
This Politico article is well worth the read: The Fed Thinks Time Is On Its Side. That Could Get Awkward.
Threats to the U.S. Dollar’s Reserve Currency Status
A threat to the U.S. dollar’s world reserve currency status is not only its continued debasement by the overspending of irresponsible politicos, but also from other central authorities – namely, the IMF – who would seek to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC) to wrest control of the world’s monetary system for the “greater good,” as they define it.
This could serve to motivate the U.S. to make our own move toward a CBDC, as Charles addressed in his recent Empire Killer video, which you can watch here.
Such an outcome would present a material threat to our liberties. This post from Brandon Smith at Alt-Market U.S. explains the IMF’s plans:
Unification of CBDCs? Global Banks Are Telling Us the End of the Dollar System Is Near
That’s all for this week. Again, let us know what you’ve read of late, and we’ll consider sharing those stories with our readership here as well. You can reach us at [email protected].
Until next time…
To life, liberty, and the pursuit of wealth.