Lone Candle
Champion of Truth
Trump’s H1b Visa 100k fee will increase the cost of doing business in America, which means a smaller economy and less jobs. It also incentivizes companies to offshore labor rather than use people in the U.S. who spend some of their salaries in-country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOpw1nTJzxI
‘The Game Is Rigged.’ Elizabeth Warren on America’s Next Story | ‘The Opinions’ podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUdRE1OAH38
As a reserve currency, the U.S. Dollar is slowly losing out to gold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYYkQTngT8M
Jerome Powell says the Gen Z hiring nightmare is real: ‘Kids coming out of college…are having a hard time finding jobs’
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/jerome-powell-says-gen-z-212422015.html
Long term bond yields rose after the Fed cut. This is the bond market signaling to the Fed that the interest rate cut was not needed and that they have less confidence that the U.S. will remain solvent in the long term. We should watch and see if this signal maintains over the weeks to come.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr6pBTKg1VY
“Hungary was once wealthier than Poland—it had a per capita GDP of $21,400 in 1990, when it also emerged from under the thumb of the Soviet Union—but it now lags considerably and seems to be falling farther behind. A share of the blame goes to Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, who embarked on an economic and ideological project during the 2010s that caught the attention of conservatives and nationalists across the globe, particularly in the United States. Along with a crackdown on immigration, Orbán is a ferocious economic interventionist. In 2021, for example, he responded with aggressive price controls on food, fuel, and other essentials to combat inflation.
That shift toward statism brought predictable shortages and, as Balcerowicz warned, stagnation. Hungary’s economy sank into a recession after posting negative growth in the last two quarters of 2024.
Hungary’s brash strongman is skilled at drawing attention to himself. But Poland’s stability and growth ought to show the way forward—not just for central Europe, but for any place that throws off the shackles of authoritarian ideology and the central planning that comes with it.”
https://reason.com/2025/09/18/poland-climbs-hungary-slips/
“Inflation, as measured by the Fed’s preferred price index, remained at 2.6 percent in July, the most recent month in which data are available. The Fed’s target is 2 percent. Moreover, in August, the consumer price index, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses to measure inflation, increased by 0.4 percent—the greatest monthly increase in inflation since January…
The FOMC acknowledged in its own announcement that “inflation has moved up and remains somewhat elevated” while the unemployment rate “remains low.” Increasing the fed funds rate is one of the Fed’s primary tools to combat inflationary pressures; lowering it is the opposite of what the Fed should do if it’s seriously concerned about inflation. Apparently, it’s not.”
https://reason.com/2025/09/18/the-federal-reserve-cuts-rates-with-inflation-still-hot-is-political-pressure-winning/
“The inevitable result is slower growth, less dynamism, and a political economy driven by rent-seeking instead of entrepreneurship.”
https://reason.com/2025/09/18/trump-is-embracing-daddy-state-economics/
The hitting of refineries in Russia is creating a gas shortage that may impact civilians. This could eventually weaken Russians’ support for the invasion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvha2sVzAFE
“Manufacturing has been in decline for six months, nearly the exact amount of time since Trump’s new trade wars began.”
https://reason.com/2025/09/04/american-manufacturing-needs-relief-from-trumps-tariffs/