Bio

Does the world need another political and economic blog? And what qualifies me to write one?

My name is Mike Scully. I have no formal education or training in economics or politics. Or, as I prefer to think of it, I have no baggage. I’m more apt to look at the world empirically than to pick a side and contort the evidence to fit that view.

I’m a product designer by profession. The design side of my job requires me to think about problems in imaginative ways and dream up creative solutions. The engineering side of my job requires an application of real world constraints and analytical problem solving to make those dreams a reality. Put the two together and you get a point of view you’ll rarely hear from political pundits and economists.

I consider myself a political atheist, or more accurately, a small “l” libertarian. I prefer to deal in ideas instead of political parties. For years I’ve watched, disenfranchised and disgusted, as the government slowly eroded our freedoms one small nibble at a time; all in the name of keeping us safe or fighting poverty or any number of noble sounding ideas.

Then, two main events inspired me to get up off the sidelines and jump into the social and political discourse. The first was Ron Paul’s presidential campaign in the 2008 Republican primary. For the first time in my adult life, a Presidential candidate was espousing my political beliefs of limited government, personal freedom, and a humble foreign policy on a national stage; and he had the track record to back it up. For me, and millions like me, there was finally hope (remember that word?) that the philosophy of liberty could finally get some traction in the national debate.

The second event was the collapse of the housing bubble and the subsequent bailout of the banking system. Over the past few years I have been studying Austrian Economics and the Federal Reserve banking system. What I’ve discovered is that our current monetary system is inherently unsustainable, completely corrupt, and on an accelerating trajectory to end badly.

Prior to the crash, Austrian economists warned us that our low interest rates and misguided government policies were blowing up a housing bubble. Unfortunately, these ideas were rarely heard as the mainstream economists assured us that everything was just dandy. Today the mainstream economists who completely missed the collapse continue to misdiagnose our problems and guide our economic policies.

The purpose of this website is twofold:

The first objective is to give readers the resources and insight to understand the economic realities we face as a nation. Austrian economic theory suggests that the bank bailouts, various stimulus programs, perpetual deficits and Fed money printing, are setting us up for an even bigger collapse. I hope to explain this viewpoint to help people protect their wealth and their livelihood in a world of a stagnant economy, a rapidly depreciating dollar, and mounting national debt obligations. The dynamics of our world are changing quickly so I will do my best to keep readers apprised of the latest developments that affect our economy and our way of life.

The second objective is to help explain the virtues of the philosophy of liberty in novel ways. I believe an abandonment of this philosophy and our constitution has gotten us into this mess; and I believe a revival of these ideas can bring us forward to a bright future.

A note about decorum…

It seems to me that political discussion on TV and in the media has devolved into a shouting match these days. (I don’t know; maybe it was always like this.) Anyone who doesn’t agree with you is either a far-right extremist or an extreme left-wing liberal, depending on who you ask. In political blogs it can be even worse, where anyone with a differing opinion is either a complete moron, a wackjob, or Hitler reincarnate. This problem is especially bad in the comment section where anonymous people will call people names they would never say to someone’s face.

Political discussion is supposed to be about debating ideas and discovering the best ideas and policies for our country. Calling someone a wingnut or a fucktard in the comment section isn’t going to win you any points. Let’s keep the comments classy people. I will never delete a negative comment unless it is blatantly obscene or uses profanity in a way that is not fucking awesome. I may respond to particularly valid arguments that further the discussion but no promises. Thanks for reading.

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This website is dedicated to Leo Scully; a staunch believer in personal freedom and responsibility, a brilliant stock analyst, and a caring and sincere friend and father.